Activision Raid - Mobile Assault Room No. 8 - Staff Interview No. 2: Director Noriaki Akitani

In this series of interviews, we will be looking into the secret story behind the production of the TV anime "Activ Raid - Mobile Assault Room No. 8," produced by Production Imes. In this second installment, we meet director Noriaki Akitani, who was in charge of the production. He directed the first episode of the "Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion" series and has been involved with Goro Taniguchi's works for many years. He talked about a variety of topics, including his own career as a cinematographer, the freedom to trust his staff, and the surprising similarities between Daihachi and an animation studio.

Mr. Taniguchi is my mentor

─ Director Akitani has worked on many Taniguchi films. How did you get involved in this film?

Noriaki Akitani (Akitani): First, I participated in "Gun X Sword" broadcast in 2005, then I directed "Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion" and its sequel "R2," and the TV special "Jungle Emperor: Courage Kills the Future. I left the company after that, but I knew I wanted to work with them again someday. So when I heard from the producer of IMS that Taniguchi-san was planning a project as general director, I immediately jumped at the chance. I thought I would be able to learn a lot more if I could be involved in the production as a director. I also decided that I liked Mr. Taniguchi personally.

─ From a director's point of view, what do you find attractive about Mr. Taniguchi and his works?

Akitani: They are full of entertainment that delights and surprises the fans, and I feel sympathy for them in that way. I feel sympathy for them in that way. I am involved in the animation industry, so I want to make sure that the audience is entertained. That is the foundation of my work.

───What did you think when you saw Taniguchi-san's work up close?

Akitani: I was surprised at how he switched from one idea to another. In scenario meetings, we tend to think about how to make the initial plot more interesting, but Taniguchi-san has the flexibility to not stick to one idea. He switches his approach and then just drops it. Not only does he switch irresponsibly, but he also comes up with alternatives. He has a wealth of knowledge, and he knows how to make a story exciting and how to direct voice actors. There are so many things I want to steal from him. I consider Mr. Taniguchi to be my mentor as a director.

─ ─ In this work, Taniguchi-san is credited as the general director and Akitani-san as the director. What are the differences in your work?

Akitani: Taniguchi-san was mainly responsible for the direction of the story and character setting, and I was in charge of setting up the other sub-characters. I am also in charge of the production process. Also, there are many areas where I can freely decide on small details, so I go ahead and do what I can when I am entrusted to do so. In that sense, Mr. Taniguchi is doing a good job of standing up for me. For example, he would decide which parts of each character should be shown in the Will Wear bank, or which angles should be used to show off Rin's poor breasts (laughs).

─ ─ (laughs). (laughs) This is the first time you have directed an original anime project.

Akita: Taniguchi-san is standing in as general director, so it is not completely my own original work. But when I actually started working on the production site, I realized that I couldn't rely on anything more than I had imagined. For games, you can find hints and settings by playing through the original work, and for manga, if you follow the frames for a long time, there are hints and settings hidden there, but basically, you have to create it in your own head. I realized how difficult it is to create an original work.

───What is it about the way you season your work?

Akitani: I think the way I use pauses and the way I proceed with the story differs from Taniguchi's. Taniguchi-san has a tremendous amount of information. Taniguchi-san drops a tremendous amount of information in rapid succession, and then adds more information before the resolution is reached. This is what makes the fans excited, and there is a catharsis when the foreshadowing is digested after all the episodes have been seen. In my case, I often adopt the method of having one major drama and then throwing in the next episode or story after it has been resolved to some extent. The pacing and tempo are naturally different.

─ ─ In "Dandelion of Castle Town" and "PERSONA3 THE MOVIE #1 Spring of Birth," which you directed, you controlled the tempo by dividing the episodes into smaller segments.

Akitani: If the tempo is always the same, the audience will get bored, so we would have a slapstick episode followed by a leisurely short story, and then a more convulsive episode. I try to keep the tempo slow and steady. That's what I did in "Bakuman. I try to make it slow and steady like that. I thought it would be a surprise to the fans if I threw a straight 160 kilometers and then tossed in a curve, and it would also give the work a sense of balance. Mr. Kasai is one of the people I consider to be my mentor as a director.

─ Was the rich variety in the development of "Activ Raid" also created with the intention of adding variety?

Akitani Yes, it was. Although the action is mainly Will Wear action, you can also play poker or have giant robots fight ....... That is also where Taniguchi-san's entertainment aspect comes out strongly.