Question by /u/lamoragirl:
Tatami Galaxy was one of the few works that really influenced my life and I am deeply grateful to you, the rest of the staff and the original writer for making such a beautiful series. Personally, what did you enjoy the most in the making of Tatami Galaxy, and what would you say was the most challenging/difficult part of it?
Even the difficult parts were fun to do, but in the original story the monologues were very long. Creating movement in interior monologue scenes was difficult to do.
Question by /u/xiomax95:
After three very different works (The Night is Short, Lu over the Wall and Devilman Crybaby) that still all ooze of your style, what kind of anime would you like to direct next? Would you be inclined to doing another adaptation of an old manga like with Devilman or Ping Pong?
Thank you very much. I would like to make many types of stories and I have a few original stories that I am thinking of that I would like to animate. But I am seriously thinking about creating animation works aimed at children. But, when I come across interesting or fun manga or fiction, I wold like to work on animating those as well. I am also looking forward to creating original animation works, and also look forward to enjoying the difficult process of challenging works.
Question by /u/DragonsOnOurMountain:
1. You've used a lot of Flash in your anime. Have you experimented with using other non-conventional techniques for animating series, such as 3D CGI or other kinds of computer-generated animation? Or maybe some other unique kind of process for making traditional hand-drawn animation on paper?
2. What would you personally say was the most difficult part of your career?
3. Many people love how you direct anime, but what do you think you can improve the most on, regarding your directing?
4. Finally, what's your favourite breakfast?
My favorite breakfast is to not eat anything. When I was starting out as a director, it was just the time when hand drawn animation was shifting towards digital animation. So I incorporated photographs on occasion or hand drawn animation into digital works. If that kind of mixing of styles seems interesting to people, then I would like to challenge myself to work on that. But, I have learned that being too experimental doesn't play well for audiences. So I would like to continue to make films that more people in the audience will take to and will enjoy watching. But merging these different styles is an issue that I am interested in and I would like to continue thinking about using those techniques.
Question by /u/eygenthefool:
-do you have any major influences, like animators/directors, or movies? If so, I'd love to check them out myself! :)
-do you have a favorite genre of music, or any bands you like best?
There are many animators and directors who I am influenced by. The main animators would be Hayao Miyazaki, and Yoshifumi Kondo, who was also at Studio Ghibli. Tsutomu Shibayama and Shinya Oohira as well. You might be surprised that I am influenced by Osamu Dezaki. There are less and less of those very expressive type of animations, as Dezaki has created. I like all kinds of musical genres. But recently what I like most is music that has rhythm, and noise-type (Noise-kei) music. I am also interested in ethnic music that is not necessarily created by musical instruments. Like something explosion band, the first song that is in Baby Driver. I also like The Beatles. For Japanese music, I listen to music because of the lyrics. I like RC Succession, Tamio Okuda, and the Blue Hearts.
Question by /u/Patureau:
Your most recent work, Devilman Crybaby, is currently streamed via Netflix and I would like to know how big of a part do you think these new streaming services like Netflix will play in the future of anime industry. Do you believe they will be a useful tool to popularize anime in a worldwide scale ? And to end, a more personal question, who is your favorite character from your own works ?
In terms of the distribution of the films, I am currently using the Netflix type of streaming format, and it is very easy to use, and I think it gets many people to watch it. So I expect that it will expand further. So that is on a massive scale, to show something like Devilman Crybaby where many people will enjoy seeing at once. But for smaller works that might appeal to a smaller audience, this format may not work that well, so I am hoping that something will allow for that smaller unique audience to be able to see those works as well. But I am also reluctant to let go of the large screen (theatrical style showing of films) because I believe that that is a very important aspect of feature length films. I also think that something like virtual reality will be a big part of the future soon. My favorite characters in the recent works, if we are talking about Lu Over the Wall, Wangyo the dog (merdoggy). For Tatami Galaxy, the character Oz.
Question by /u/faux_wizard:
My question for you: what are your thoughts on animated shorts? I have found that a lot of the most interesting and thought provoking anime I have watched have been in the form of a short (your "Happy Machine" being a prime example and one of my personal favourites), but they seem to be put out quite irregularly and the quality of them can be over the place.
Would like to just hear your thoughts on the whole ordeal. Do you think they are good to have around (for experimental stuff/upcoming directors ect.)? Do you have any favourites?
Thank you for your comment. Regarding short films, I don't have many chances to see short films, but I do like them. I find that it is probably very difficult for them to be commercially available and successful. I was raised on and started my career on television and film animation so that is where I have put in my efforts. I do like shorts, but they have to be a very high quality. And I would like to make more short films, but unless they are of very high quality the audience would not be satisfied. So short films are even more difficult to make than feature films or television programs. There are many short films that I like, but usually I see them all at once so I don't really remember the titles of all of them. A long film that was made in an experimental fashion like how short films are made is Boy And The World (dir. Ale Abreu).
Question by /u/Spiranix:
This leads to a question I’ve been wanting to ask: in light of some recent discussion about your works in certain critical circles, as well as some of your recent successes in international film festivals and crossover projects like Adventure Time, would you consider yourself more of a director for a world market than an otaku anime director? If so, do you believe it’s in the best interest of the industry to follow your lead as far as reaching out to international audiences?
Thank you very much for that comment. I started out working on very popular television programs, such as Crayon Shin chan and Chibi Maruko Chan. So I think from the beginning I was working on a popular level. As a director of films I have gotten some good reviews, but some of these comments are that my films are not for everyone. But now I am thinking of a wider audience, as I still want to make films that I am interested in. For me, it is not a matter of if the otaku anime fans are the ones who are interested in my films. And I find that what is interesting to Japanese audiences, seem also be interesting to a worldwide audience. I used to think that foreign audiences were different from Japanese audiences, because of networking and more availability to the international audience I think that difference has become much less, and it seems that what is interesting to a Japanese audience is also interesting to a worldwide audience.
Question by /u/G-0ff:
Every show you make has an OP sequence that's packed with little details and subtle foreshadowing (for instance, the moon in the background of the first shot of the devilman crybaby opening). the direction of your openings also tends to be very different from the standard format we see in most shows. So
1. Overall, what role do you think OPs play in the audience's experience with a show? What compels you to pour so much effort into the openings you direct?
2. Are you making a conscious effort to break the mold with your OP sequences, or does this just tend to happen as a consequence of your style as a director?
In many animation worts the opening is very action packed and it seems to cram in a lot of things. This kind of digest version of what the actual content is is more interesting than the actual film series itself. And so I don't like to do that kind of thing, I don't want to put that much effort into the opening. I would rather have more of my effort go into the actual story line and story itself. So what I like to do is to have a very simple opening which may just have a few staff credits, and that simple opening may seem to lack a lot of impact, but when you see it again, you find out that there is more hidden in the opening sequence. The kind of openings that I mentioned first that seem to be more interesting than the program itself, those are probably my memories of openings I saw when I was one. I think that nowadays there are many more artistic openings.
Question by /u/animayor:
What was it like to open your own studio? Was there any parts that you and Miss Choi thought would be easy but turned out to be difficult?
Now that you have your own studio, what's the biggest difference between directing a project at Tatsunoko/Production IG/etc versus directing a project at your own personal studio?
You've often been not only the Director of your projects but also the Screenwriter and Series Composition for your projects, as well (Ping Pong, Kaiba, Kemonozume). Is it hard for you to let others have control (joking)? Do you feel that having full control of the script, storyboards, and director's chair lets you achieve more than you can as just the Director?
I knew that forming an animation studio would be a big task, so I wasn't really interested in doing it. But there were many people around me who wanted to create animation works, and so with Ms. Choi when we first opened an office, it eventually became a studio. Since I didn't have any management experience, I suppose that is the difficult part. But I have found that having a studio allows us to make the kinds of films that we want to make and what had been impossible at other studios are made possible by the fact that we have our own studio. So it is hard, but it is very worthwhile.
Ms. Choi here too - What was most difficult in starting an animation studio was the lack of people and things. We had to gather together people and this required persuading them to work with us, and explaining to them what kinds of films and projects we wanted to work on. It involved a lot of team formation. So when we think about a company, its not the formation of a company, but actually working with people that has been challenging. The good aspect of having our studio Science Saru is that we have a platform to express what we want to express. And with Mr. Yuasa and the other animation staff that we have gathered together, we can work on the projects and topics we are interested in, and can communicate that to the outside world. I think it is a place where we can all gather together and express ourselves to the world, so that core gathering together is a very important aspect.
Mr. Yuasa here again - And to the second question, the difference between working at other studios versus my own, there is not that much difference. Depending on the project, I worked out different ways of doing things whether I am at a different studio or my own studio. One difference is that in our company we don't have other directors, so I'm continually making films as director.
My concept of a director is that a director is the one that oversees the entire work of a film. So the director gives direction to different sections to realize the image that the director has of the finished product. And if those don't fit that image, then the director changes things so that the image fits for the finished work. At the same time, the director also needs to be aware of allowing the creators to work in an effective way. So various adjustments as to what works best need to be considered by the director. I think I'm one of the directors that just allows the staff to work as they feel is best. So I work as much as possible in a way that I can support the animators on a film so that they can fulfill and develop their talents. But, I of course oversee and control the entire process so that the project will not fail.
Question by /u/uuid1234567890:
You've recently worked on both original works like Lu Over the Wall and adaptions like Devilman: Crybaby. Do you prefer one over the other? And how (if at all) does the existence of an original work influence your own style?
In the past, I wanted to create original works and stories, and I wanted to be able to express in animation what came to my mind. More recently, I have found a very craftsman-like satisfaction in animating stories as adaptations. Those original works are fiction or in a written or manga form, and I find it very interesting to animate those types of work. So when I work on adapting original works by other people, there is always a kind of animation style within myself that I want to express as well. And I think that works well in terms of animating those works.