Animation Industry Watching No.32: "I want to go back to my creative roots"--Why Director Hiroshi Yamamoto is making "Dusk" now

Crowdfunding for director Hiroshi Yamamoto's new film has raised more than 10 million yen. 500 investors are backing "Usukure," an animated film set in the city of Iwaki in Fukushima Prefecture. which started six years ago in the wake of the earthquake disaster.
What is the reason for making an animated film set in Fukushima Prefecture, and what is the reason for raising funds through crowdfunding?　Director Hiroshi Yamamoto once delivered spectacular hits such as "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya" and "Kannagi. Now, however, he seems to be seeking a simpler, plainer environment. We asked him about it.

Crowdfunding is a "vote of confidence for Yamakan

───Director Yamamoto, you have now set up your own private office (Hiroshi Yamamoto Office Co., Ltd.), haven't you?

Yamamoto: Yes, I founded the company in October 2015, so more than a year has already passed. 10 years at Ordet (production company for "Fractal" and "Wake Up, Girls! I don't get along with the animation industry at all, so I'm trying to live and work as far away from them as possible. In fact, I have thought about discontinuing my career as an animation director, and we had a family meeting. When I was thinking about what I should do for the rest of my life in Tokyo (......), I met Mr. Koji Wada, who runs a company called "Tsukasa Seika" and who has nothing to do with animation production at all. I don't mean that I got to know him, but he seemed to get along well with my staff. Whenever I invited my staff to go to a sauna, Mr. Wada would always come along. He also comes to my events. But I didn't want Wada-san to be involved in the animation industry. I had been deceived and betrayed by people in the industry so many times. But in the end, Mr. Wada said, "I want Mr. Yamamoto to make animation with that understanding," and "It would be really frustrating if he were to go out of business, so please make animation. If you insist, I told him that of the several ideas I had, I had a short film project called "Dusk" that I had been thinking about since I was a student.

─ That is the prototype of the "Dusk" for which you are collecting crowdfunding funds, isn't it?

Yamamoto: Yes, I tried to make it into a novel for the time being. But investing in an animated film is like betting on horse races. People lose their senses because they think that they will surely make money. I spent a long time talking with Mr. Wada's financiers about the idea of making "Hagure" if Mr. Wada were to become a patron and make it just for him and donate it to his house. As expected, the other party pondered, "Hmmm. At that time, I heard about a crowdfunding campaign for "In This Corner of the World". However, I thought at the time that there was no way they would be able to raise money even if they raised it under my name. However, Mr. Wada was a very straightforward and enthusiastic person, and he convinced me to the contrary, saying, "Please don't live your life distrustful of people. He directly asked each anime fan, "What do you want to watch and what don't you want to watch?　What are you into and what are you tired of? I began to think that crowdfunding might be a good way to appeal to these questions. It's a "vote of confidence in Yamakan," so to speak.


─ ─ Currently, you have raised over 10 million in crowdfunding, haven't you?

Yamamoto: Now that I was penniless, I felt ready to do whatever I could with nothing. I even stood in rainy Akihabara and handed out flyers on my own. I don't want to see the fans being pushed around by rumors or adult situations anymore. I want to have a simple relationship with them, saying, "I will do my best to create a work, so if you enjoy it, please evaluate it. To achieve this, I will do everything I can. I have chosen to distance myself from the village society of the animation industry and create works at the grassroots. It's a fresh start. I don't know if it will work out yet. If crowdfunding fails, we will have to think of another way.