Interview with Tomoya Takashima, director of TV animation "KAGEWANI-Sei". He talks about everything from production secrets to solo events!

The anime "KAGEWANI" has been the talk of the town as a panic horror story about UMAs called "strange beasts" that attack people. The second season "Kagewani -KAGEWANI- Sei" started in April 2016, with its lingering effects still fresh in the minds of viewers. The second season "KAGEWANI Sei" started in April 2016, again shocking viewers with its fast-paced development, which even included action not seen in the previous season.

Akiba Research Institute conducted an interview with director Tomoya Takashima following the first season. How did he overcome the unusual schedule and what feelings did he put into the various characters? We also asked him about his enthusiasm for his first solo event coming up on August 20.

Three Months of Production

───First of all, please tell us how the decision to produce the second season was made.

Director Tomoya Takashima (Takashima): In December 2015, Executive Producer Tsutomu Nagae asked me, "If there was a second season, would you like to do it? I was asked by Executive Producer Tsutomu Nagae in December 2015 if I would like to work on a second season. The first season ran from October to December 2003, and the second season started in April, so I knew I was on a crazy schedule.... But....

Did you have confidence that you would be able to complete the project?

Takashima No, I had no confidence at all. Hirotake Kumamoto, who wrote the script, had experienced working on a tight schedule for a variety show, but he was still surprised that I had never worked on a schedule like this. There was even a suggestion to cut it in half instead of one season. But after producing the first season, we realized that there were still aspects of the show that we had not been able to talk about. We also realized that there were many fans who wanted a sequel, and we wanted to respond to their voices. Then I decided that I had no choice but to finish the one-cour production.

─ ─ When did you decide on the title "Kagewani - KAGEWANI - Sei"?

Takashima We announced the production in February, and it was the night before that (laughs). (Laughs.) The first idea was "弐", but producer Nagae had some ideas, so we decided on "承". Of course, we wanted to create a story that would lead to the next story, and since the Kagewani is a strange beast born from a chain of hatred, I thought it would go well with the Chinese character for "Cheng". I also thought that the shape of "Cheng" looked somewhat like a shadow crocodile.

──What direction did you aim for in the second season?

Takashima: In the first season, I didn't even know if the work was viable, so I was conscious of making an omnibus horror story that followed the same line for each episode. But in the second season, I decided to completely change the genre itself and go the dark hero route with Banba, who has obtained the power of Kagewani. If we just rehashed the same story over and over again, we would become tired of it. But even so, I had decided that Banba would not play much of a role. If the story was about Banba killing strange beasts, it would be like "Gegege no Kitaro" or "Jigoku Sensei Nu~be" (laughs). I wanted the story to be about a strange beast called "Kagewani" and the people who are drawn to it. It was difficult to find the right balance.

─ ─ Episode 5, "Collision," has an action scene, and you challenged new expressions in terms of visuals.

Takashima: There are not many examples of using flash animation to depict action scenes, so there were many objections, but I wanted to see how far I could go. But I wanted to see how far I could go. But the action was still difficult. I received a lot of help from Shuichi Ankuro, who was in charge of editing and directing the fifth episode. He objectively looked at the complete packaged footage and helped me to change the cuts and rearrange the tempo of the story to make it more interesting. There were times when Mr. Ankuro made major changes to the ending of the story during the editing stage, and he went above and beyond his position as an editor.

──I heard that you also incorporated 3DCG in the second season.

Takashima That was one of the challenges. For example, the ruins in episode 10 were done in 3D, allowing the camera to move freely. The biggest challenge of all was the train in the second episode. I found a person on the Internet who was using the 3DCG software "MikuMikuDance (MMD)" to create a model of the train, and I was able to use it. We have people who can create CG within our company, but it was difficult to create an elaborate model of the train's interior and driver's seat, so I contacted the creator and asked for permission.

─ Did you negotiate with the director yourself?

Takashima Yes. It was directly related to the quality of the work. I was grateful that they prepared the brakes and other details for me.

─ So you did whatever you could to make the film interesting within the limited schedule.

Takashima Yes, that's right. There were many factors that contributed to the success of the second phase, but the most important factor was that we had a very small, elite group of people working on the production, so we were able to handle the work very efficiently. Everyone was able to come up with ideas as if it were a live performance, and we were able to respond to problems in a flexible manner. I really appreciate the staff.