Long interview with Sei Komatsubara, animator! (The 10th "Inside Man" of Animation and Games)

In this series of articles, we hear valuable stories from creators active in the animation and game industry. In this 10th installment, we will talk with animator Sei Komatsubara. Mr. Komatsubara is known as the animation director of "Shakugan no Shana III -FINAL-" and "Toaru Kagaku no Railgun S." He came into the limelight as the character designer and chief animation director of "Ochidai Knight no Hero Tan" and chief animation director of "Tanaka-kun ha Itsumo Kedaruge". In this interview, he talks in detail about his influences, his career, his commitment to his work, the qualities and abilities required of an original picture and production supervisor, and his goals for the future.

Influenced by "The Shape of Happiness" and Fujishima's works

First of all, could you tell us about the works that have influenced you?

Sei Komatsubara (Komatsubara): I used to draw pictures of "Dragon Ball" when I was a child, but the first strong influence was "The Shape of Happiness" by Tamakichi Sakura. I often had my brother's friends play with me, and I enjoyed it with them. And it was also made into an OVA, which I didn't know about at the time, but it was made by amazing members such as Kazuya Kise and Takayuki Goto. I was surprised when I found out.

In high school, I had friends who were on the wrong side, and I was shocked when I came across a game called "Sakura Taisen". I started reading "Oh My Goddess!" and other works by Kosuke Fujishima, and began to imitate his drawings. I have also been playing "Tales" since high school, and have played most of the games in the series.

Incidentally, when "Tales of Symphonia" was animated by Euphoria Table (2007-12), I was able to get involved through an acquaintance. I think "Symphonia" was the first time I got involved with a work I was a fan of. Eleven OVAs were made over an unusually long span of time for a game, and I was able to participate in most of them, which was a valuable experience.

I was in charge of more of the daily plays than of the action. I learned a lot by watching Akira Matsushima, the character designer and animation director, and Haruo Tonozaki, the director and producer. I had only been doing original drawings for about three or four years, so I was still in my infancy, and I think I caused a lot of trouble (laughs).

You seem to have a lot of "Fate/Grand Order" related tweets.

Komatsubara: I was involved in chapters 3 and 5 (2008) of "The Garden of the Sinners" at Euphoria, which led me to "Fate/Zero" (2011-12) and "Fate/stay night [Unlimited Blade Works]" (2014-15), in which I also participated a little. I became attached to the game and got into the game as well.

Do you have a mentor?

Komatsubara: I became freelance at the same time I started working on original drawings, so I was not affiliated with any company. In that sense, the directors and supervisors I worked with were like mentors to me. However, I think it is different from direct communication, so I envied the environment where I belonged to a company and had someone close by whom I could ask questions.

-Who is your target person now?

Komatsubara: The people I have worked with are all great people, and I respect them, but I don't have a specific person as a target. There are many people whose paintings I like, but I don't really go in the direction of "I want to paint like this person. There are a lot of people I would like to work with, though, if I had the chance.

It's good enough that they don't know what I've done.

-Komatsubara: "I am good at this.

Komatsubara: I don't have anything that I can't beat. I can draw anything that is so-so, average, or safe (laughs). I don't really like to stand out as an animator, and I think it's just fine if my work isn't obvious. Of course, I have no problem with scenes and cuts that are immediately recognizable as long as they are in line with the work. Well, that's just my personal preference.

-I would like to ask you about your career.

Komatsubara: I attended Nihon Kogakuin. The one in Kamata is more famous, but I went to the one in Hachioji, and I was one of the first students. At the time, "Furikuri" (2000) was quite a major hit, and I had at least heard of GAINAX, but I had no idea about the other companies. Then, a teacher from the industry introduced me to Venetto, which had produced the "HAPPY★LESSON" OVA (ed. note: Volumes 1-3) and an animation based on an adult game.

-Did you always want to be an animator?

Komatsubara: At first I thought it would be okay to be a freelancer. But when I saw my friends around me going on to college or vocational school, I wondered if it was a bad idea, and I began to think about what I could do.

At that time, I saw a rerun of "Neon Genesis Evangelion" (1995-96) that was on late at night every week, and I became interested in working in the animation industry. I had always loved drawing pictures and had a certain amount of confidence in myself, so I decided to go on to higher education with the naive idea that "I can make it somehow, can't I? I decided to go on to higher education with the naive idea that "I could make it work. However, when I entered the Engineering Academy of Japan, I found out that everyone there was very skilled, and I realized that "I'm not very good at this" (laughs).

(laughs) - What was your first job?

Komatsubara: I worked at Venetto for about a year doing animation, and then I was allowed to do original drawings for "Bakutou Sengen Daigander" (2002) as a trial job. It was really only a trial job, so I don't know if I can put it in my history (laughs). However, I quit when I was asked to go to Korea to train at a partner company.

After that, Mr. Doken of the company was also taking videos privately, so I helped him with videos at his home for about a year, and I also did videos for another production company for about a year. After that, I went freelance and started working as an original picture artist.

-So you went freelance at the age of 23?

Komatsubara: I was introduced to the production staff of Triple A and Animation Studio by a senior student at the vocational school. The first original picture I did as a freelance artist was for episode 26 of "Fullmetal Alchemist" (2003-04) (ed. note: directed by Seiji Mizushima, Animation Studio gross times).

-How did you decide which film to participate in?

Komatsubara: At first, I was not in a situation where I could afford to be extravagant, so I said, "If they let me do it, I will do it. Fortunately, there was no work that was out of my taste, so unless I had a tight schedule or something, I generally accepted the work.

You also participated in "Elfen Lied" (2004-05) as an original artist (episodes 7, 10, and 12), but do you have any resistance to depictions of extreme violence?

Komatsubara: I am not in charge of depicting grotesque scenes. I don't like it that much, so it's better if I don't do it (laughs).