Zegapain ADP", Interview with Director Masami Shimoda [Preliminary

Sunrise's robot anime "Zegapain" was broadcast on TV for 26 episodes in 2006. Although DVD sales were poor at first, a fan vote led to a Blu-ray release four years after the broadcast, and now, ten years later, "Zegapain ADP," a special edition of the TV series with new cuts, will be screened at eight movie theaters nationwide for a limited two-week event. Akiba Research Institute will interview Masami Shimoda, director of both the TV series and "ADP," on two separate occasions. First, this time, we would like those who have not yet seen "Zegapain" to read this [preliminary] article before seeing "ADP".

ADP" is a "slightly different compilation

─ ─ Now that you mention it again, what kind of work is "Zegapain"?

Shimoda: I simply created it as entertainment.

─ Even so, the world setting is unique, isn't it?

Shimoda It is a work that appeals to the viewer's intellectual curiosity with its slightly mysterious and mysterious science fiction flavor. In 2006, when "Zegapain" was broadcast for the first time, the number of rather difficult works was increasing, so I wanted to go back to the NHK "Shonen Drama Series" that I and the original author watched, as well as to the juvenile dramas by Yasutaka Tsutsui and others, so that viewers could wait excitedly for the 6 p.m. broadcast like the boys of those days. I created this site with the thought of ....... I tried to make it an easy-to-approach work with a main character that would make people think, "There is a guy like him in my class, too.


─ ─ At the time, this was after the release of "The Matrix," which was based on a virtual world, wasn't it?

Shimoda: Yes, I explained at every meeting that it was "The Matrix" in which all the characters were dead, and they somehow understood the world setting of "Zegapain. If I said, "It's a story about people who have died and are left with only the data of their memories, but are fighting to regain their physical bodies," I think they would understand.

─ ─ You are reviving a story with such a special world setting for the first time in 10 years in a new work. ......

Shimoda: It's a surprise, isn't it (laughs)?

(laughs) ──Is it correct to call it a "compilation"?

Shimoda: The Blu-ray of the TV series will eventually be re-released, so I was asked if I could make a compilation that would allow viewers to understand the whole story of "Zegapain" as a gateway or introductory chapter to the series. I was asked if I could make an introductory compilation that would allow people to understand the whole story of "Zegapain". However, an ordinary compilation would be boring, so I proposed a slightly different compilation that took advantage of the looping world of "Zegapain.

─ ─ At that time, did you know that you would need a new cut?

Shimoda: Usually, new cuts for compilation works are usually flashy and catchy scenes to sell the work. However, for this "Zegapain ADP," the concept was to "create new pictures that are dramatically necessary. There are many simple but difficult scenes, and the drawing staff in charge of the new cut put in a lot of effort, even to the extent that I did not draw in the storyboards, saying, "This character should play this way," or "No, I want him to play this way! They went to a lot of trouble to make sure that the character would act this way, or that I would make him act this way.


─ For those who have seen the TV series, "ADP" is quite an adventurous work.

Shimoda: Because it is so adventurous, we went over it again and again in great detail to make sure that fans who were avid viewers of the TV series would not be confused by the dialogue or the setting. That said, there are some parts that were deliberately left out or blurred out (laugh), but I am confident that the film will be fine. I hope you will be able to see it with peace of mind.