P-Model

• Susumu Hirasawa (平沢　進) – guitar, vocals, synthesizer, Miburi, Heavenizer, Graviton, Amiga, programming (1 January 1979 – 20 December 2000; 2004–2005, 2013–2014, 2018 as KAKU P-MODEL)

Timeline

P-Model, as well Susumu Hirasawa through his solo career, have been influential both on musicians, as well as on artists that work on other mediums, with a reputation for having many fans in the manga and anime industries.[1] Their creative collaborators (and even 6 of the band's members) often started out as big fans of and directly influenced by their work: Berserk mangaka Kentaro Miura has found that listening to Hirasawa's songs has helped him regain focus on the themes of his writing multiple times,[2] mangaka/anime director Satoshi Kon wrote that Hirasawa's work was "a source of imagination and creativity for me" over the last 20 years of his life,[3] film director Daihachi Yoshida considers Hirasawa as the creator of "about half of my way of thinking".[4]

Beyond associates, P-Model and/or Hirasawa have been cited as influences by musicians such as Fukusuke of Metronome,[5] Hiroyuki Hayashi of Polysics,[6] Daoko[7] (whose song "Welcome to the Parade", from 2012's HyperGirl: Mukōgawa no Onna no Ko, was directly influenced by Hirasawa's worldview[8]), Toby Driver of Kayo Dot (who claims the album Plastic House on Base of Sky was an attempt to "make [his] version of [Hirasawa's] music")[9] and Kenshi Yonezu (who has said that a Hirasawa song "changed [his] life").[10]

Other artists that have expressed adoration for their work include Klaha of Malice Mizer,[11] Shiroi Heya no Futari mangaka Ryoko Yamagishi,[12] Arika Takarano of Ali Project,[13] Roujin Z/JoJo's Bizarre Adventure director Hiroyuki Kitakubo,[14] voice actress/singer Sumire Uesaka,[15] musician/actor Gen Hoshino,[16] Hellsing mangaka Kouta Hirano,[17] Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba mangaka Koyoharu Gotouge,[18] Fullmetal Alchemist/Concrete Revolutio director Seiji Mizushima,[19] Fate/stay night [Réalta Nua]/Taiko no Tatsujin composer Satoshi "hil" Ishikawa[20] and actress/singer Ko Shibasaki.[21]

The five main characters of the K-On! franchise are named after the late '80s members of P-Model (Susumu Hirasawa, Katsuhiko Akiyama, Sadatoshi Tainaka, Teruo Nakano and Hikaru Kotobuki), are in a band and share the surnames of P-Model members who play their respective primary instrument (save for Nakano).[22][23] All referenced members who are still active have acknowledged the connection.[24][25][26][27][28][29][30] Besides that, P-Model references can also be found on the manga The Sorrow of a Perfectly Healthy Girl[31][32] and Opus;[33] as well the anime Sailor Moon, Perfect Blue,[34] BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad and Space Dandy. In the world of theatre, musician/playwright Keralino Sandorovich named 2 of his stage plays (Frozen Beach and Blue Cross) after P-Model songs and 1 (Haldyn Hotel) after a Hirasawa solo song.

Citations

• P-MODEL's Site (English and Japanese)
• P-MODEL Fansite
• P-Model discography at MusicBrainz