Nostalgic Anime Retrospective No.14] Enjoy the chaotic period at the end of the 1990s!　Gasaraki" pursued the "truth" in the increasingly digitalized world of anime!

Goro Taniguchi, the general director of the new January program "Activ Raid - Mobile Assault Room Section 8" is a hit maker known for "Planetes" (2003) and "Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion" (2006). Did you know that the year before his debut film "Infinite Leviathan" (1999), Taniguchi worked as an assistant director on "Gasaraki" (1998), directed by Ryosuke Takahashi?　Going back even further, he also directed several "GaoGaiGar, King of the Braves" (1997), for which Ryosuke Takahashi was the producer. Both "GaoGaiGar" and "Gasaraki" were early works in which Sunrise began to actively introduce digital expression.

The late 1990s was the period when digital technology was introduced to animation.

What was "Gasaraki" like?

The main character is Yushiro, the fourth son of the Gowa family. He has the ability to summon a mysterious energy called "Gasaraki" by performing Noh. At the same time, Yushiro also shows his outstanding talent as a pilot of the "TA (Tactical Armor)," a robotic weapon of the Special Self-Defense Forces (tokushijin). The story is about the Gowa family's plan to monopolize the power of "Gasaraki" and the organization "Metal Fake" which owns a robotic weapon "Metal Fake" using the same technology as "TA". The conflict between the Gowa family, which seeks to monopolize the power of "Gasaraki," and "Symbol," an organization that owns "Metal Fake," a robotic weapon that uses the same technology as "TA," and the mystery of Yushiro's birth. With a total of 25 episodes, it was difficult to grasp the vast story structure, including the Heian period, but as mentioned above, the "active introduction of digital expression" was remarkable.

For example, a large amount of 3DCG was used for the monitor screens and data graphs in the base, and digital expressions were also used effectively for physical phenomena such as spatial distortion.

What is "real" in the digitally processed animation?

In the first episode directed by Goro Taniguchi, the first half depicts an operational test of TA at Tokuji, the first half depicts an operational test of TA at Tokuji, and the second half depicts a Noh dance deep in the mountains called a stone stage. In both scenes, Yushiro is the experimental subject. And in both scenes, digital images through cameras and sensors are used in vast quantities.

For example, the three-dimensional operational map projected in the cockpit of the TA is entirely created by computer graphics. The face of the SDF officer giving orders is drawn in celluloid, but the dots are emphasized because they are seen through a monitor; there is no scenery that Yushiro can see with the naked eye aboard the TA, and it is finally revealed that the entire operational test is a simulation using virtual reality.

What about the Noh dance on the stone stage in the latter half of the film?　The purpose of this dance is to summon "Gasaraki," so the stone stage is surrounded by an array of observation equipment. As in the test at Tokuji, digital monitor screens were used in many scenes. However, as Yushiro dances wearing a Noh mask, he sees a strange image in his consciousness. It is the heroine, Michal, who belongs to the hostile organization "Symbol," cutting at him with a dagger. This image is depicted only with a pitch-black background and cells. In other words, it is a raw image that has not been digitally processed.

To put it simply, digitally processed images (surveillance cameras, graphs, maps on monitors, etc.) are scientifically "real" and are depicted as objective facts. On the other hand, unprocessed images depicted only in cellular form can be divided into the "real" world that humans perceive with the naked eye and deep consciousness. ...... In other words, the two kinds of "real" are intermingled in the work.

The story then immerses us in the subjective world of Yushiro, who is struggling to discover his true identity. Yushiro discovers that he has been deceived by the Gowa clan and loses his identity. His confusion seems to coincide exactly with the confusion of the animation industry at the end of the 1990s, when the industry was shaken by the rapid intervention of digital technology.

(Text by Keisuke Hirota)