Report on the All-Night Screening of "Zegapain ADP" Director Masami Shimoda: "In our 10th year, we were able to create a film that marks a starting point" Surprising similarities with "Galpan"?

Produced as a project to mark the 10th anniversary of the broadcast of the "Zegapain" anime series, "Zegapain ADP" is a prequel to the TV series with a new interpretation that goes beyond a re-edited version. Fans who saw the new story were filled with various speculations, proving that the popularity of the series has not waned.
On the final day of the event screening on October 28, an all-night screening with a talk show was held to unravel the mysteries of the work. Director Masami Shimoda, Tomohiro Tsuboi (who plays Shima), and Sunrise producer Keiichi Matsumura took the stage at Shinjuku Piccadilly and talked about the story behind the film for about an hour.

Although the "Zegapain ADP" all-night screening was held late at night on a weekday, Screen 1, which boasts the largest capacity in Shinjuku Piccadilly, was packed to capacity. Visitors enjoyed the event even before the show began, stamping celebrity icon stamps in the lobby and taking pictures of the life-size panels of the characters. When the show began at 10:00 p.m. and the three guests appeared on stage, the venue was filled with warm applause.
Mr. Tsuboi began by saying, "It was supposed to be a 'staff talk show,' but we had to rush to the podium, and the server couldn't stand the rain today...," said one of the Shimmer's lines. The audience laughed, as it was actually raining on the day of the event, and the event got off to a lively start. When he received the script, he was surprised and said, "This is how it's going to be! I was surprised. He said, "I was surprised when I received the script, and said, "This is how it's going to be!" "The director did a great job editing ....... The director is amazing! The director was embarrassed by the praise, but said, "I've been working on this for 10 years. The director was embarrassed by this and said, "I'm glad I was serious about making this 10 years ago.

Sima is a character who left the TV series in the middle of the film, but he appears in the entire film. Regarding Shima's role in the film, the director confessed, "I made "Zegapain" based on the rule that once a character dies, he or she does not come back to life, but there is an aspect of "ADP" that I made it because I wanted to meet Mr. Tsuboi. Mr. Tsuboi thanked him for his comment, but the audience burst into laughter when he replied, "I feel like you told me that I won't have a chance to appear in the future. ...... Please give us a mini-character comedy series!" The director also showed his positive attitude by suggesting a spin-off series.
Mr. Tsuboi, who plays Shima, confided that he wondered why he had two sides to him: the timid student council president and the cool-headed commander. To this question, the director responded that it was because "Josa Adamar, the original Sima, shares his data with the student council president, who is a broken phantom data. He explained that the original form of the character was the weak-minded student council president, but that the personality of Sima had been transferred to her, making her almost a dual personality.

When the conversation turned to postrecording for the TV broadcast, he recalled how difficult it was for him to speak in a mature and austere voice at first: "Shima had a very low tone among my characters, and I had to make up my own voice to speak. Although he is now able to act naturally, he says with a wry smile that after 10 years of postrecording, he had gained too much dignity and was told that he sounded "a bit like an old man. Mr. Tsuboi told the audience to "interpret this as Shima learning from the "ADP" loop, which is why his voice sounded younger in the TV series.
Since "Zegapain" featured many new cast members, including Shintaro Asanuma and Kana Hanazawa, who played the lead roles, the voice actors seemed to be very enthusiastic about the postrecording of "ADP". They were all surprised at how much their performances had grown. However, Hanazawa's character Ryoko's "ugly cheeks. The director Shimoda said, "If I had changed that, I would have had to change it. Director Shimoda said, "If we had changed it, she wouldn't be Lyoko at all," and it turned out to be a favorite scene for the staff as well.

In the Q&A corner, the staff answered maniac questions prepared in advance by Keisuke Hirota, an official writer for "ADP. The first question was about the new character Lupa, which means "she-wolf" in Italian and "color" in Sanskrit. The question was "What is the origin of this word? Director Shimoda commented that he was aware of the werewolf game for "wolf" and that Lupa "is a character born from the idea of whether artificial intelligence can tell a lie. The Sanskrit word for "color" comes from "shoku soku soku ku" (meaning "color is immediate and empty"), and in Indonesian it also means "to forget," to the surprise of the fans.

As for the main character, Zegapain Altir, he asked, "We know from the dialogue of ZEGA AI that its code name is HLA-24, but were there at least 24 units manufactured?" The question was asked, "Were at least 24 units manufactured? The answer was "HLA-24 is a development number similar to that of the F-22 fighter jet," and although 24 units do not exist, he added, "It is possible that (design director) Hataike Hiroyuki is still concealing the setting.
He said that the scene in which Zega AI is reading French poet Verlaine's "Autumn Song" during the Battle of Oscar is derived from an anecdote that was broadcast on the radio as an Allied code the day before the Normandy landings during World War II. Director Shimoda said, "It was also used in Morse code in "Girls und Panzer: The Movie. Producer Yuji Hirooka, who was also in charge of "Galpan," said, "I was also in charge of "Galpan," but I never thought I'd hear this song twice in one year," revealing a surprising connection between the two works.
(*Director Shimoda also has a connection to the "Girls und Panzer" TV series, for which he was in charge of the opening storyboard and direction.)

In the last question, referring to the fact that Ryoko's future memories are depicted in the film, the reunion scene between Kyou and Shizuno at the end is different from the TV series, and the fact that Hatike had said in a previous interview that "time does not necessarily progress from the past to the future," he asked, "Perhaps 'ADP' is not directly connected to the TV version "Perhaps 'ADP' is not directly connected to the TV version? This is a bold hypothesis.
The director said that he made the film with the intention of connecting it to the TV version, but that he made some adjustments for audiences who had not yet seen the TV version. For example, in the scene where Kyou blows himself up, he revealed that he had already forgotten the name Shizuno and had made the audience call him by his previous name, Yelle, to give the reunion scene a lingering effect. By carefully reconstructing the world, he was able to create a film that would attract a new group of fans.

Producer Matsumura commented on the ambitious film, which is both a compilation and a prequel, saying, "We were able to incorporate ideas that emerged over the past 10 years because we did not set aside various aspects of the TV series. Director Shimoda also expressed his enthusiasm, saying, "There are still a lot of settings that we haven't used yet. I am honored to have been able to create a work that marks the beginning of the 10th year of "Zegapain". I don't know what form it will take in the future, but the entire staff is looking forward to doing something together," he declared to a round of applause from the expectant fans.
The finale was the event's signature "Entangled! a customary call for the event, was performed by everyone in the audience. The audience all chanted "Entangled! which was not said in the main event, and the event ended with a great success.

(Reporting and writing by Katsunori Takahashi)