A report on the stage greeting for the first part of the theatrical animation held at the 28th Tokyo International Film Festival has arrived from the anime "Ajin.
Ajin" is an anime work based on the manga series by Sakurai Gamon in "good! Polygon Pictures, which gained worldwide acclaim for "Knights of Sidonia," is producing the film version as a trilogy, with the first part, "Ajin -Impulse-," to be released in November. It has also been decided that the TV series will begin in January 2016. The general director is Hiroyuki Seshimo of "Knights of Sidonia," the director is Hiroaki Ando of "Short Peace," and the series composition is by Koji Seko of "Seraph of the End. This science fiction suspense film features Nagai Kei, a high school boy who turns out to be a "subhuman," an unknown new creature that never dies, and depicts a battle between subhumans, who are hunted by all mankind, and mankind, which sees them only as objects of study.
The first part of the theatrical animation had its world premiere in the Panorama Film section of this year's Tokyo International Film Festival, and a report on the stage greeting has arrived. In addition to voice actors Mamoru Miyano, Yoshimasa Hosoya, Takahiro Sakurai, Mikako Komatsu, Daisuke Hirakawa, and Aya Suzaki, general director Hiroyuki Seshimo and director Hiroaki Ando also took the stage. The following are their comments.
--Mr. Miyano, who plays the lead role of Kei Nagai in the film, greeted the audience.
My name is Mamoru Miyano, and I play the role of Kei Nagai. Today is a very special day for us, as we have poured our hearts and souls into the work that we have created. Thank you very much for your kind attention today.
--What are your impressions of the film?
Mr. Hosoya: "I felt like I was watching a Hollywood movie when I saw the atmosphere of the film that I could read from the script and the way the staff was moving so quickly during the recording. I believe that this work is the result of a fusion of the staff's power and our cast's passion."
Sakurai: "I think it is a work that appeals to human instinct and makes us think about what it means to live. What is it to be human? It was a good opportunity for me to think about what it means to be human.
--On the scenes that were memorable or that he put his heart and soul into
Komatsu: "All the scenes left a deep impression on me because they are filled with many detailed movements and gestures that are not easily seen in animation, and because they realistically depict actions that emerge from the human psyche."
Ms. Hirakawa "The IBM battle scenes are one of the highlights of the film, but it was very difficult because we imagined the images from the text and shared them with the actors."
Ms. Susaki: "I was honored to feel that the staff trusted us because our acting was directly visualized in the film. I was also very nervous because I had to get into the characters more than I do in normal anime postrecording.
--Highlights of the film
Director Seshita: "I believe that the synergy of various factors, such as the extremely unique original story, the voice actors' wonderful performances that could be used as radio drama, the visuals created by the animators who were inspired by their performances, and the tremendous theatrical accompaniment and sound effects by the sound staff, resulted in a work that exceeded the director's imagination. The main character, Kei Nagai, is a boy who can't die but tries desperately to live. I think this is a new image of a hero, and I hope that the audience will pay attention to the choices that Nagai Kei makes in the future.
--Last words
Mr. Miyano: "I like Nagai Kei's human, untruthful and vivid nature, and I enjoyed playing him. This work is a very pleasant fusion of realism and fantasy, and I hope you enjoy it. Please continue to support "Ajin" in the future."