Anime Industry Watching No.29: Director Kenji Kamiyama talks about the long road to "Princess Hirune: The Unknown Watashi no Monogatari

Director Kenji Kamiyama's latest film "Hirunehime: The Unknown Watashi no Monogatari" will be released in theaters on March 18, 2017. This is his first new film as a director in five years, since "009 RE: CYBORG" (2012). The protagonist of "Princess Hirune" is a high school girl. The story takes place in Japan three years later, and transforming robots appear. The content of "Hirune Hime" is a departure from the socially-conscious dramas of the past, but in order to reach this point, the filmmaker had to go through a difficult path that made him question the meaning of creating an animation.
Director Kamiyama, who is busy putting the finishing touches on the film at his production company, Signal M.D., looks back on the path that led to "Princess Hirune".

Is he really helping people as an animation director?

─ Director Kamiyama has long described himself as "a man who saves the world without being asked. Your new film, "Princess Hirune," seems to deviate from that line of thinking. Is the "man who saves the world" series on hiatus?

Kamiyama: No, it's not like that (laughs). (laughs) I am often approached with projects or asked to work on them, so when I decide to "make this anime," I set some criteria. So far, I have made works based on questions and anger toward the world. For example, "Why is the Gulf War happening even though people all over the world are against it?" or, on a smaller level, "Why is such a bill being passed? Or, on a smaller level, "Why do we have to take out the trash like this?　We have been creating works of art based on these little tidbits of information. When you try to correct social dissatisfaction in a story, you inevitably end up with a story about saving the world. Since film directors are in a kind of service industry, I think they have saved the world as a result of their efforts to please the people who came to them with their projects and to please the people who see their works. ......
However, when I was working on "009 RE: CYBORG" (2012) and another project that was put on hold, for the first time, there was a gap between my true intentions and my work. After the Great East Japan Earthquake, I felt defeated and thought that even if I solved the case in the story, there would be no result for the reality of what had happened.　I felt a sense of defeat, and for the first time, I questioned the way I had been creating my works and the message I had been trying to convey.


─ So the earthquake was one of the triggers for you.

Kamiyama: I remember that the building of the studio was shaken by an earthquake while we were discussing another project after the script for "009" was completed. My master (director Mamoru Oshii) said, "It is precisely in times like these that we should create fantasy," but I, on the contrary, felt that fantasy was a terrible thing to do. Immediately after the earthquake, I was given the opportunity to screen "Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex Solid State Society 3D" (2011) in Sendai, which was in the midst of reconstruction. It was still in the middle of reconstruction, but we managed to get the film ready to be shown, so I took the film to Sendai with a group of producers. The people there said to me, "Thank you for bringing the film to such a devastated area," but I felt bad about it. We were paying to show the film, and I wondered if it was really useful for us to bring the film to them.　I wondered if I was really making films that would make people say, "Thank you.　I remember feeling uncomfortable in my seat.
Even after the release of "009," I still felt uncomfortable.
At that time, NTV producer Seiji Okuda suggested to me, "Why don't you make a movie you want to show to your daughter? I was not presented with an original story or anything. I was so grateful that he suggested that I try an original project with no original story.　I was very grateful for the offer. I felt a little more at ease, thinking, "It's okay to make a film that way. I was able to change my way of thinking and reframe my mindset.