Battle Magazine — March 1997

Tetsuya Komuro once said Tomomi Kahara had a voice that could make you cry, but Sheryl Crow moves me a hundred times more. Where does this melancholy come from? Because I got married…? Or because I heard new life was on the way…? The past, the things I used to do, and even driving bring all sorts of worries. One of the few people who understands me is the leader of the team I’m introducing, Dead or Alive, and guitarist in Shimane’s famous hard-rock band Kounotori: Rude Nishimura. Sorry to jump straight into the story. He used to be quite a delinquent, but now he’s a good family man, proudly talking about his beloved daughter (though he says he looks like Tomoya Nagase). His team is one of the strongest young groups in Shimane, where team unity is strong. They don’t have one signature technique, but they have tremendous momentum: the kind of all-or-nothing driving I like. Their aggressive drifting is always on the edge of danger. They make their own road and cannot manage a moderate middle ground. When they succeed, the run is spectacular; when they fail, they may end up in the dirt or guardrail—often damaging the car. Still, they do it because they love this style…