Concept: Ideon x Secret Tools?　A closer look at the charm of "Bashireion," a "non-moving robot thing" from Sunrise and Yarate Bunko.

Yattate Bunko" ( # ) is a website run by Sunrise, an animation production company that has created many masterpieces and hits such as "Mobile Suit Gundam" and "Armored Trooper Votoms. The novel "Maison de Arms Basileion," which is being serialized on this website that attracts the attention of robot animation fans, features Basileion, a robot of unusual design whose head is an ordinary two-story house.

In a previous interview with Yarate Bunko editor-in-chief Kawaguchi, this work was announced as "a robot that does not move. As predicted, as of March 16, 2017, the robot has only stood up once in the story, and its "immobility," which is uncharacteristic of a robot story, has become a topic of conversation among readers.
⇒Why does Sunrise operate the website "YARITACHI BUNKO"?　Interview with Yoshitaka Kawaguchi, Editor-in-Chief of "Yarate Bunko" [Part 1

We interviewed Yoshitaka Kawaguchi, the producer and editor-in-chief of Yarate Bunko, and George Koopman, the author of the book, about how this unique work came into being and its appeal.

Secret tools × "Densetsu Kyojin Ideon" = Vasileion!
Why was a "robot that doesn't move" created?

Maison de Arms: Basileion" is a robot that really does not move. It is a very unique project.

Yoshitaka Kawaguchi (Kawaguchi): The project started around 2010. Sunrise often produces robot animations (......), and it is very difficult to move a robot (laughs). The animators on site complained a lot, and I had a lot of hardships, so I thought, "Why not make an interesting robot animation with a "non-moving robot," and that's how "Vasileion" was born.
I also thought that if I was going to do a robot story, I wanted to do a story in which the robot was in the middle of the story.

─ ─ What do you mean by "in the middle"?

Kawaguchi: I think that in the old days of robot animation, the robot was in the center of the story. First of all, there was a robot with great power, and the main character rode it to defeat the enemy. The logic was not that the hero was strong, but rather that he was strong because he could ride a powerful robot.
This has changed since "Mobile Suit Gundam," when robots were mass-produced and existed for both enemies and allies, and the ability of the pilots who rode them became mainstream. Most of the robot animations produced by Sunrise these days are basically in this "Gundam" style. In the midst of this trend, I wanted to return to my roots and do a work that focuses on the existence of robots in a big way.

─ So these two reasons combined to create the "Basileion" project.

Kawaguchi: However, while we were working on the project, we realized that it would not work as a robot project. Even if we did an animation, we would never get sponsors (laughs).

George Koopman (Koopman): Because this is not a robot project (laughs). (laughs) It's not a robot, it's more of a "house" type of thing.

Kawaguchi Yes, that's right (laughs). The concept of the Yarate Bunko is to "bring out Sunrise's projects from the storehouse," and in that sense, "Basileion" is a project that was not even included in that storehouse. But since I am also the editor-in-chief of Yarate Bunko, I thought it would be a bad idea if I did not do at least one project myself. So I decided to revive "Basileion" as a novel.

The author is George Koopman, who is writing his first novel with "Basileion. Please tell us why you decided to ask George Koopman to write the novel.

Kawaguchi: "Basileion" is such a slightly twisted work, so I was wondering who I should ask to write it. I consulted with a scenario writer, and he introduced me to George Koopman, who works in theater. George Koopman writes his own scripts and performs them himself, and I found his plays a bit twisted and interesting. So I decided to have him write the play.

─ How did you feel when you were asked to write the novel?

Koopman: I was stuck on the screenplay, so I thought it would be a good opportunity. I thought it would be a breakthrough, or a chance to rethink the production process from a new angle.

───What was your impression of the actual novel challenge?

Koopman: The problem was Mr. Kawaguchi's instructions not to make us fight or move the characters. When I tried to make him stand up, he said, "Don't make him stand up yet." I asked him, "No matter how much he is a motionless robot, he will fight at least once during the story, right? When I asked him, "Don't make him fight yet," he replied, "No, he won't." (laughs).

Kawaguchi: Well, after all that back and forth, he finally stood up in the 6th episode (laughs). Anyway, I wanted to create a story in which the main character, Mayo Roshima, goes out and goes shopping at a convenience store, and it becomes a big adventure.

Koopman On the other hand, it sounds strange for a robot story, but I don't know what I would do if someone said, "You can fight. It is certainly interesting to write about.

─ Incidentally, the story takes place in the central wholesale market, which is a hot topic right now (mid-March 2017), isn't it?

Kawaguchi: I had an image of a more mountainous or rugged place.

Koopman: I wasn't trying to convey a message, but I knew the area well, so I chose a place that looked like Toyosu (laughs).

Kawaguchi: But I think it turned out to be a very good image. The main visual drawn by Mr. Suzuki also has a nice atmosphere.

Koopman: It's an amazing picture of a giant robot sitting on a riverbed, isn't it (laughs)?

Kawaguchi──Basileion has a distinctive design, with its head being an ordinary two-story house.

Kawaguchi: The mechanical design was done by Masahisa Suzuki. He is a veteran of illustrations for the novel "ARIEL." When I read his proposal for other works, I was impressed by the edgy and sharp robot design, so I asked him to do it for this project.
It was Mr. Suzuki's idea to make the head a house at ....... The original concept, or rather the source of the idea, was the "secret tool" that appears in a famous manga. It is a secret tool that looks like a snail shell attached to the waist, but inside it is spacious, comfortable, and safe like a shelter. I really like those tools (laughs).

Also, in terms of design, I wanted the robot to look invincible at first glance, so I asked Mr. Suzuki to incorporate the image of Ideon into the design. The power of the figure when you look up from below, the linear design, and the coloring are the essence of what we took from Ideon. Bacilleon does not move during the production process, so it is important for us to know that it is "strong" the moment we see it.

Koopman: It already looks strong from the design (laughs). (Laughs.) Also, the weapons that Kawaguchi-san gave us are all special kill weapons. The plasma weapon "burnout ray," which was almost used in the story, and the "floor-don system," which was actually used in the story, can be found at ....... There is also something like an earth-destroying bomb, but there are only strategic weapons and no tactical weapons.

Kawaguchi: Basically, Basileion's armament is "deterrence. They say, "We have all these weapons, so please don't attack us.

Koopman: So, if Basileion fights, the story ends there. Since the main character is such a robot, it is mainly people who fight. The main character is a recluse who goes to a convenience store or to buy pork cutlet sauce, and the heroine is bullied at her part-time job. The introduction says, "A slapstick story of encounters and battles, here's the boot up", but it doesn't say that it's robots that fight (laughs).

─ ─ In that sense, this work is interesting for the conversations and psychological descriptions between the characters, isn't it?

Kawaguchi: We asked that there be no deep themes or heavy topics in the work. The concept is that as long as the conversations between the characters are interesting, that's all that matters.

(C) Sunrise Inc.