Animation Industry Watching No. 18: What are the pains and joys of being a "genius in opening animation"?　Interview with Director Yasuomi Umezu!

In the mid-1980s, he released "Megazone 23/Part II: Secrets, Please" with stylish character designs that overturned conventional wisdom. Recently, animator and animation director Yasuomi Umezu is known for his original directorial works such as "Galileadonna" and "Wizard Barristers: Cecil the Benmamushi".

Did you know that Mr. Umezu has been involved in the opening and ending of many animated television productions? We asked Umezu, who has been working energetically as an "opening director" for the past several years, about his techniques for drawing viewers in.

Don't show too much of your color.

─ ─ Regarding the opening (hereinafter referred to as "OP"), if we count your participation only in drawing, you started around the time of "Mobile Suit Z Gundam" (1985), didn't you?

Umetsu: I participated in the "Z Gundam" OP as an animation director. Z Gundam" was the first work in which I was not involved in the animation of the main story, but only in the OP.

For "Galileadonna" (2013), which I directed, I also storyboarded and directed the OP, but for "Wizard Ballisters: Cecil the Benshi" (2014), I had too much work as a director to concentrate on the OP, so I had to make the OP by arranging the pilot film as a desperate measure. Considering this, I can understand why you would want to order only the OP from a different director.

─ ─ How long does it take to produce one OP?

Umezu: Two to three months, with an average of 40 to 50 cuts for an OP, but that's plenty of time for production. The OP of "Dimension W" (2016) had nearly 70 cuts, so this is a bit unusual.

───Do you gather staff just for the OP, regardless of the main story?

Umetsu: If you limit it to animators, yes. In my case, I have a long career, so I can gather familiar animators who are competent. However, each animator can only work on two to three cuts of the OP animation. That is not enough for the staff I have assembled, so I also bring in animators from the production studio.

──Does the director of the film give you any orders as to what kind of OP to make?

Umetsu: It depends on a case-by-case basis. Some directors leave it completely up to me, while others give me detailed instructions. Since the OP is the face of the film, I don't want my color to come out too much and deviate from the direction of the film. That is the most difficult part. I can play with the ending (ED), but not the OP, so I have to read the original work to understand the setting and worldview, and if the script is ready, I read it over at ....... That huge preparation period is the most difficult part. It takes me about three weeks to read all the materials and listen to the theme song about 100 times before I finally start storyboarding. I am currently working on two OP/EDs at the same time, and it's tough (laughs).

───After preparation, you work on storyboarding and directing.

Umetsu: Sometimes I also work as a production supervisor and an original illustrator. However, that would bias my taste in drawing, so for the OP of "Seraph of the End" (2015), I asked Satoshi Kadowaki, the character designer of the main story, to join me as the animation supervisor. In "BLOOD-C" (2011), Kazuya Kise, the character designer, also supervised the OP. I only work as a storyboard artist and director.

─ ─ Now that you mention it, the skin peeling off in the OP of "BLOOD-C" is very "Ghost in the Shell" like.

Umetsu: People often say that, but that scene is not a homage, but a symbol of evolution. The key is when the peeled skin turns into a crow and flies away. In "BLOOD-C," some of the words in the staff credits are smeared with blood, right?　That was one of the things I was particular about.

─ I see. Other than that, your OPs also include dancing, don't they?

Umezu: No, there are not that many dances. Only "Dimension W" has that, right?

───"Soredemo Machi wa Mawaruaru Suru" (2010) had you dancing the whole time.

Umezu Oh, that's because Director Akiyuki Shinbo asked us to make it a musical. I asked the production staff at the production studio to do that dance.