Nostalgic Anime Retrospective No. 15] Musicality created by the prescoring method: The range of "Beni"'s performance, which is not bound by patterns.

Now, middle-aged writer Keisuke Hirota is enjoying watching "Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt" online. The second episode has already been distributed, and it is directed by Hira Matsuo. Matsuo's works are all solid. In "Thunderbolt," the matching of music and images is well calculated.

Prescoring breaks the pattern of the voice actors' performances.

Among the many films directed by Koh Matsuo, I would like to focus on "Beni" (2008).

Director Matsuo himself adapted Kentaro Katayama's novel into 12 episodes. Not only that, but Matsuo wrote the scripts for 7 of the 12 episodes and storyboarded 10 episodes on his own.

This may seem like a natural job for a "director," but what is remarkable about "Beni" is that Matsuo also serves as the sound director (who provides acting guidance to the voice actors).

It is rare for a director to also serve as sound director. It should be noted here that "BENI" was made using the "prescoring" method, in which the voice actors' performances are recorded first, rather than using postrecording.

The three-frame method is the basic method used in animation, where eight pictures are shot in three frames each, resulting in 24 frames (one second) of movement. I have heard the slang term "three-frame speech" used by voice actors to describe the ability of voice actors to deliver their lines in sync with the pictures, as long as they remember the rhythm of the three-frame movements.

I do not remember the nuance of this "three-frame speech," but the reason why the movements and performances of animated films tend to fall into patterns is that the production system is constructed in a very digital way. A prescreening that respects the voice actors' physiology increases the likelihood of breaking from the pattern.

The Rough Attraction of Everyday Musical Scenes

Let me explain the basic story of "Beni. The main character is a high school student, Beni Shinkuro, who is hired by a mysterious woman, Benika, to handle disputes. At the request of Benika, Shinkuro, who possesses special abilities, rescues a young girl named Murasaki, who has been isolated in a remote house called "Okuno-in" from the Kuhoin family, a large financial conglomerate.

(Kuhoin is read as "Kuhoin" and Okunoin as "Okunoin. These proper nouns are quite pleasing to the ear when uttered from the mouth of a voice actor.)

Shinkuro hides Murasaki in his room at his old apartment, "Sagatame-so. The word "Samidare-sou" is also very musical.

What is interesting is the awkward interaction between Murasaki, who was raised in the inner sanctum, and the women who live in the May House. The tempo of speech between these women and the seven-year-old Murasaki is different, so their interactions are a major highlight of the film.

The highlight of the episode is episode 6, which features a musical rehearsal scene. The members of the May House, along with Shinkuro's classmates, are practicing together, but the pitch of the songs just doesn't match up. Shinkuro gives each of them a cue in the middle of the song, "Hi, Murasaki," or "Yamiie-saan. In other words, he is talking as he sings. This performance would have been impossible without the freedom of the presko.

Accompaniment is added to the rehearsal scene in this sixth episode, and finally, the performance evolves into a freewheeling musical.

In recent years, anime has seen an increase in the number of singing scenes on stage. When hand-drawn, the music is completed first and drawn based on spotting sheets. There is already a well-established method.

However, the musical in episode 6 of "Beni" is an extension of the daily play, composed by prescoring. Looking at the rough and ready musical scene, one cannot help but think that there is a fertile field yet to be explored in the field of theatrical performance and voice direction in animation.

(Text by Keisuke Hirota)

TV anime Beni [DVD] (Japanese)