Anime Industry Watching No.6: Interview with Atsuko Kashiwagi, NHK Chief Producer, on what is NHK Animation!

Sorry for the wait. In this sixth installment of "Anime Industry Watching," we interviewed Mr. Kashiwagi, Chief Producer of the Development Strategy Promotion Department of the Programming Bureau, about NHK's animation series, which began with "Conan: Future Boy" (1978) and has continued to influence many people to the present day.

We asked him about how NHK selects its animation programs, and about the works that he himself has been in charge of.

--What kind of work do you do in the animation program?

At NHK, I am credited as "Production Manager," but I am a producer and in charge of programs. The programming decisions are made by the "programming center," and my role is to propose programs to the programming center, and then to decide on the direction of the program, while reconciling the program with the wishes of the programming center. I also give my opinion on-site when producing a program. Both of these are my jobs.


--So, do you sometimes attend scenario meetings?

It depends on the work, but I sometimes attend script meetings and sometimes go to postrecording. Sometimes I attend auditions for casting decisions.


--How do you get the project proposals to Kashiwagi-san?

In some cases, a production company or publishing company comes to me, and in other cases, a producer at NHK Enterprises says, "I want to do this. Or sometimes it is not an independent project, but rather a discussion of "What should we do to make an animated version of this original work? We sometimes have a discussion with them. We try to find the most effective way. It is important to air familiar programs in a given slot, but it is also important to organize unexpected projects that make people say, "Oh, this is something NHK is going to do, too? It is also important for me to propose unexpected projects to the programming department.

--The first work you were involved in was "The Twelve Kingdoms" (2002), wasn't it?

Yes, that was it! Daa! Daa! (2000), so in the sense that I was involved from the beginning of the project, "The Twelve Kingdoms" was the first. It is difficult to say whether the original story of "The Twelve Kingdoms" could be called a light novel, but I think it was the first time NHK adapted a light novel that was not based on a manga into an anime. At that time, satellite broadcasting (NHK-BS) animation was generally a project with an original story. Since satellite broadcasting itself was not that well known at that time, there were many projects that were based on manga. However, the original novel of "The Twelve Kingdoms" was by far the most interesting. The illustrations were also attractive, so I felt no discomfort in making an animated version.


--I think there have been many projects with original works for a while after that.

Recently, "Phi Brain: God's Puzzle" (2011) was an original project. I had talked with Sunrise about the possibility of doing something interesting, and they came up with a good plan. I think Sunrise came up with the plan with the E-television (NHK educational TV) slot in mind.

In the case of NHK, the live-action producer sometimes becomes the producer of the animation, and the live-action production team is located right next to the animation section. We also have relationships with live-action production companies, so it is easy to collaborate with them. I am always thinking about how to take advantage of this.


--What are your criteria for selecting projects?

I think that "something interesting and touching" is probably the same for both commercial broadcasters and NHK. It also depends on the broadcast wave at the time, the frame, and the timing. It is not possible to make all programs in a limited number of slots similar to each other, so we must also consider balance. In some cases, we may say, "We want to take our time and produce the program carefully, so let's decide on a project quickly," while in other cases, we may say, "We just received this project, but it would be better to do it now.

In the case of an animation program, you may think that up-to-date topics are not so relevant, but for "Moshi Dora (If a female high school baseball manager reads Drucker's "Management")" (2011), the decision was that it should be aired as soon as possible.