Mao Abe’s first releases of 2026 are the songs “Ding-dong” and “Buddy.” Billboard JAPAN talked to her about what went into the creation of “Buddy” and of “Ding-dong,” the opening theme song of the TV anime The Invisible Man and His Soon-to-Be Wife. She also shared some anecdotes about the making of the songs.

How did you feel when you were tapped to make the opening theme song for the TV anime The Invisible Man and His Soon-to-Be Wife?

When I write a song for someone else’s creation, I want to bring the same passion to the project as everyone involved in that work, from the creator of the source material to its fans and the anime production team. A song is maybe four to five minutes long. The part of it you can hear in tie-ups like a show’s opening credits is just 89 seconds long. My goal is to match the work as best I can in that short window. In that sense, I find it a very satisfying process. I try to make a song that matches the original, even if it’s not necessarily flashy or packed with lyrics. So more than feeling happy or honored to have an anime tie-up, I’m happy that I was able to write a song of my own that’s a good fit for The Invisible Man and His Soon-to-Be Wife.

It’s a romance between an invisible man and a blind woman, right?

The whole concept is amazing. Through the story, you see that the main character, the invisible man, has been traumatized by the fact that people can’t see him. Because of his own unique nature, people don’t notice him, but none of that really matters much to the woman, who doesn’t see using her eyes in the first place. She knows he’s there because of sound, smell, and the like. That kind of miraculous pairing isn’t something you see every day. The material itself is wonderful, and I think the essence of it is that it’s such a joyous thing to meet someone and to discover a space where you can simply be yourself. I wanted to write a song that expressed the joy of two people meeting, in any kind of relationship, and deepening the bonds that connect them.

It’s a gentle, laid-back country song that brims with the joy and happiness of finding someone you can be yourself with.

I wrote it back in 2024. At the time, I’d been listening to a lot of country. Maybe it was because of that influence, but I felt like the genre was a perfect fit. The art in the original comics is beautiful, but I was especially inspired by the coloring of the cover. Given that style, I didn’t think rock would be a good fit, and even J-pop felt a bit off. I wanted it to have a bit more of an antique feel, more nostalgic. Country seemed like the clear choice.

Touching on the song’s title, too, where did the idea of a ringing bell theme come from?

You know how they say if you meet your soul mate, it’s like a bell rings? First, I came up with melody, then I just put in random placeholder English lyrics, and then I thought about lyrics that fit with the sound I was going for, like “on my way home” and “on your way home.” And then I used that as a springboard to think about other things. The two main characters in the story often go on dates after work. Work ends in the evening, and you know how there are those bells that chime in the evening? So for me, it’s also a reference to the 5:00 p.m. bells. I combined the mental image that when the bell rings it’s time to go home, where that special someone is waiting for you, and the idea that you hear a bell ring when you meet the right person.

The music video is wonderful, too. You look so cute wearing all those different outfits.

We filmed it in Hakodate over the course of two days in mid-November. We woke up at 3:00 a.m., and it was so cold. I talked to the director about my ideas for the song, and she said, ‘I want to film you wearing all kinds of different clothes, like you’re going to meet your significant other, you’re going out on a date, or you’re on your way back home, and connect those all together.’ It felt like that’s the kind of video that would fit the anime’s aesthetic, if there was a live action version. I didn’t really have a mental image of the camera being tightly zoomed in on my face while I sang or anything like that. So I said okay, and they looked for a place with clean, fresh air, a lake, and a lot of nature. It was even nicer than I’d expected, and all that effort that everyone had put forth turned out to be worth it.

Have you seen the song actually matched up with the anime?

Yes, I saw it! The opening credits were so cute, I was moved. You can tell they really took their time with it. I think it’s a wonderful opening for an anime. Also, there’s a subtle link between it and my own music video. In the anime’s opening credits, the backgrounds behind the two characters keeps changing as they walk, and in the “Ding-dong” music video, the first chorus has a similar scene. It’s just a coincidence, but it made me happy to see it.

I hope it strikes a chord with overseas anime fans, too.

Me, too. When I wrote “Keep Your Fire Burning,” the ending theme for the TV anime The Unwanted Undead Adventurer, I got comments from people overseas saying it was the first time they’d heard a Japanese country song. The melody of “Ding-dong” is easy to sing, and I’d be happy if people realized through this that there’s at least one musician in Japan who sings country.

On February 18, you’ll be releasing “Buddy,” right?

Right. My mental image of the protagonist of the song is an older elementary school kid. I thought about how there will be a kid you play with a lot, without particularly thinking about it, and you’ve assumed you’re friends, but then there comes a day when you think, “Wait, I consider us friends, but I wonder how much of a friend he sees me as.” In this song, the boy in that scenario is thinking how he hopes that the other kid also sees them as friends. Like there’s a boy with a bike, and he’s looking up at the sky, and he’s thinking “I hope he thinks the same about me…but either way, I can’t wait to play with him again tomorrow.”

The lyrics share the faint hopes of the character singing the song, but they don’t reveal what the other boy really thinks.

Right. The character expresses his desires and feelings, but he don’t push his friend. He isn’t like “Think of me as your friend.” He’s more modest than that. The song is just expressing that he’s scared, but that he really values his friend. When I started writing it, I envisioned the character of the singer to be very reserved, and I really liked that.

You’re ringing in 2026 with anime theme song “Ding-dong” and “Buddy.” What are your plans going forward?

I’ve been going through a process of personal transformation over the past few years, and the end of last year was really the culmination of that process. I’ve finally gotten a good hold on my own spirit, and I’m ready to perform live. I’d like to write a lot of new songs while I have this sense of release. I also feel like if I performed my past songs, and the new songs I write, the way I am now, I could put on a great show. I plan to take a more active, dynamic approach this year, led by the sense of honesty and acceptance about myself that I’ve finally gotten back.

—This interview by Atsuo Nagahori first appeared on Billboard Japan