Lots of fun!　Interview with Director Keiichiro Kawaguchi and Kotobukiya staff about the toy box-like anime "Frame Arms Girl

Finally, we enter the second half of the season! ......Before that, let's talk about the "Frame Arms Girl" anime,
Before that, we will talk about such and such things about the "Frame Arms Girl" anime.

───First of all, please tell us how you came to be the director of the "Frame Arms Girl" anime (hereafter, "anime").

Keiichiro Kawaguchi (Kawaguchi): I originally got this anime job when the president of XXS asked me, "I have a job that I think you would like, can I name you as a potential director?
At the time, I had not yet been told the title of the project, so at first I was just like, "Well, okay," but after a while, I found out that the job was an anime about Frame Arms Girl (hereafter, FA Girl), and I really wanted to do it.

─ So you already knew about FA Girl at that time?

Kawaguchi: Yes. Recently, I've been doing a lot of bishojo anime work, but I've always loved toys and plastic models, and it's as if I entered the anime industry because I wanted to do hobby-related anime. I asked the president of Zexis, "I want to do it anyway, so please sell me to Kotobukiya!

Shohei Chiba (Chiba) Thank you (laughs).

Kawaguchi: I am relieved that the animation is receiving a good response. If it had been poorly received, we wouldn't have been able to count on it (laughs).

─ ─ Fleswerk has finally made his appearance, and things are really picking up toward the climax of the series. From the manufacturer's point of view, Kotobukiya, what has been the response from users so far?

Chiba: Thanks to the popularity of the anime, not only model fans who have enjoyed our plastic models, but also anime fans who had never heard of plastic models are increasingly picking up our products.

───What were the most impressive user reactions?

Chiba: After the first episode aired, it was interesting to hear the comment, " The Todoroki at my house isn't moving" (laughs). It was very interesting to see how the FA Girl community expanded through the anime.

─ By the way, from the standpoint of the model makers, did you have any requests for the anime adaptation?

Chiba: Originally, FA Girl as a plastic model was a series of products that users could freely develop and enjoy themselves by thinking of various settings and stories. Therefore, Kotobukiya asked the director to make an anime that would expand on this trend. We wanted the anime to be a work that would stimulate people's imaginations in various ways.

Kawaguchi: I also asked that all the girls be depicted in a cute way and that there not be any dark plot developments. There are already a variety of plastic models and movable figures of the FA Girls, and every character in the series has fans, so we were careful not to make any one of them the villain.

─ By the way, the FA Girl in the movie is designed to be assembled with armor on a pre-finished body, isn't she? This is different from the specifications of plastic models, but what was the reason for this depiction?

Kawaguchi: Even though the original is a plastic model, it is still a character in the anime. I felt that it was not good for the picture to have the characters in pieces, so this is how they are depicted. This is also the reason why there is no depiction of arms being removed or broken in battles.

Chiba: Yes. For this reason, in the anime, the armor is assembled onto the finished body, which is different from the actual product.

─ I see. By the way, how widespread is FA Girl in that world?

Kawaguchi: In the world of the work, there is a commercially available FA Girl that can execute very simple commands, and that is the FA Girl that Takekiko knows. The FA Girls that came to Ao, such as Todoroki, are prototypes of next-generation models equipped with AS (Artificial Self) and capable of self-growth.

Chiba: In that sense, this work has a very detailed worldview and sci-fi setting that is not mentioned in the main story. The "Charge-kun" and "Session Base" were also created after thinking about such things, and each of them is backed up by a solid setting. I think it would be good if we could gradually introduce these details as the work progresses.

Kawaguchi: Charge-kun alone has enough settings to make an entire anime (laughs).

─ ─ I would love to see that (laughs). Now, I would like to ask you about the actual production of the animation.

Kawaguchi: A lot of things happened, but it turned out completely different from what we initially envisioned. Currently, we are using drawing and 3DCG, but at first, it was a full 3DCG animation, and the story was planned to be a FLASH animation that took place only in Ao's one-room apartment. As you might expect, that was the way we wanted to go with .......

Chiba: I was worried that I wouldn't be able to create a character with that approach. But when I made a timetable of "let's have this character appear in this episode," it was inevitable that all 12 episodes would take place in Ao's room.

Kawaguchi: So, in the end, we decided on a rough framework at the beginning and discussed ideas for the content during the scenario meeting. Then, we realized that we couldn't fit it all into 12 episodes. In fact, the division of the story into A and B parts was a measure to somehow fit them into 12 episodes. If we split the story in half, we could digest twice as many ideas! (laughs).

Chiba: As a result, I think it was good that each story was shortened. Many people said that it was easy to watch and that the story didn't get boring. As expected of director Kawaguchi, he did a good job of putting it all together.

Kawaguchi: Actually, I was a bit nervous about whether or not it would all come together until about halfway through (laughs). (Laughs) Also, if you look at episode 4, for example, from a cool perspective, the story is actually complete only in Ao's house, but since there are two separate episodes, it doesn't really bother you.

One of the charms of this work is the variety of developments that catch the audience by surprise, such as the sumo wrestling match that starts out unexpectedly!

Kawaguchi: What were some of the ideas that came out of the meeting?

Kawaguchi: "Going to school" is a story that came out of that meeting. I thought, "Since she is a high school girl, she should go to school at least once (laughs). Also, what was impossible was "going on an overseas trip" and "going to a hot spring. ...... However, a little? We changed the setting, but we kept the idea itself. Another impressive episode was "Acorns".

─ Acorns?

Kawaguchi: In the composition plan that Deko Akao made, it says "a touching story with acorns" all the way through. For anime fans, it seems that "Donguri" is the name of Ms. Akao's script, and it is quite a touching story. I am sure you will enjoy it.

(C) KOTOBUKIYA/FAGirl Project