I want to express the soft boobs of the original work in the anime! Interview with Hirazawa Hisayoshi, General Director of the anime "NTR

Yuma and Hotaru, two high school girls who have boyfriends with each other, weave a forbidden secret ....... The summer anime "NTR" is currently attracting a lot of attention for its extreme drama and depiction. We interviewed the director of this work, Hisayoshi Hirasawa, about the production episodes of this work and the origins of the anime production studio Creators in Pack!

Creators in Pack, a studio that produces short animated films

─ ─ This time, we would like to talk to Hirazawa Hisayoshi, the general director of "NTR," a hot topic in the 2017 summer cool anime season, about the appeal of this work and production episodes, but before that, we would like to ask a little about the director's career.

I think my career is quite unique, so I would like to talk about the company Creators in Pack, the production studio for this film. First of all, I am the chairman of Creators in Pack, and I am also the chairman of a production company called "Passione" (*1).

(*1 PASHONE...... is an animation production studio. (Representative works include "Hinako-to" and "Rokka no Yusha")

In the case of animation, the larger the scale of the work, the more power and name value is demanded from the staff.

In the case of short animations, the names of the staff may not be so important, although it may be bad to say. Therefore, I take responsibility in the form of a general director and select staff members from within the company who have momentum and will come on strong in the future. In contrast, PASCHONE is in charge of long animation titles.

As for myself, I have had a career in various creative companies, such as making games and pachinko/pachislot machines, as well as in human resource development, which has led me to where I am today.

─ ─ Creators in Pack is also a training organization for up-and-coming creators.

Yes, it is. That is the intention of Creators in Pack, and that is why we make many short animated films. One example is "OZMAFIA! which was directed by a staff member named Saori Tachibana. Tachibana had been filming before that, but was recommended by Taichi Hatanaka, a producer at Creators in Pack Osaka, and was chosen to direct the film. Of course, there was another chief director at that time, but she later became the series director for "According to Miss Bernard. She was in charge of the series director for "According to Miss Bernard," which was well received.

After that, I directed "Little Witch Academia" for Trigger. I will be entrusted with the directing of "Sake wa matataku ni natta kara" which will be aired this fall. It has been about a year so far.

You may say, "Is such a career really enough?" But of course, the entire company will support you. It is not a rotation, but we will give a new person who we think is good a chance. At that time, for example, I will ask Tachibana to go around directing as well. I am sure she will provide support as well. In this way, we are thinking of raising the level of the entire staff by raising other staff members in the same way.

Therefore, a child who is a production assistant with a short career may become a production P or production assistant P, and I hope that the color designer, cinematographer, character designer, etc. will also be able to advance their careers in the same way. Of course, I don't think it is necessary for all of our staff to aim for such positions, but I would like to secure those paths and keep the possibilities wide open.

─ So if you are motivated, you can keep moving up the ladder.

This may sound strange, but I think short animation has value as a gateway to success for animation production companies. If you develop your skills through short animations, you will eventually be asked to work on larger budget productions. I think that is one thing, but personally, I would like to continue doing short animations. I also feel a bit sorry to publishers and manufacturers that have taken the trouble to hire us as the prime contractor for short animations, but now that we have a certain level of skill, we will only work on big productions from now on (laughs).

I would like to be responsible for the budgets and other expenses received, and I would like to be in the position of general director, including as a gateway to success for young people, so that those who achieve good results and receive recognition in the field can go on to direct half-hour animations and various other fields, or become chief director, director of photography, color designer, character designer, supervising producer, etc. We hope that those who have achieved good results and received high evaluations in the field will go on to direct half-hour animations and other productions. That is one of our efforts.

I also hope that my being in charge of general supervision will serve as a guarantee to reassure publishers, investors, and others that Hirasawa-san will be there as always.

That said, I myself do not have much of a track record or ability yet, so I will do my best so that I will be appreciated as well.

─ Does Creators in Pack have studios outside of Tokyo?

Yes, we do. As the name suggests, Creators in Pack means "a group of creators," but the reason why we established studios in the provinces is because we felt that "Tokyo is not the only place (where animation can be created). Now that the Internet environment is becoming better and better, the distance between Tokyo and the provinces is becoming less and less.

Currently, we have an Osaka studio, a Nagoya studio, and a Sapporo studio. We also have staff in Okinawa and other locations in Japan who work from their homes. I have a desire to make animation anywhere in Japan in this way.

The Osaka Studio, which is ahead of the others, has done everything except post-production of the TV animation "According to Miss Bernard. We were able to achieve the goal of producing everything in Osaka except for the post-production of the TV animation "According to Miss Bernard". I would like to continue this trend.

─ What are the advantages of having staff in the regions?

We can recruit a wide range of human resources. If you want to be a dancer, you should aim for New York (laughs), and if you want to be an animator, you should aim for Tokyo (laughs)! （If you want to be an animator, you should go to Tokyo! (laugh), or "If you want to be an animator, go to Tokyo! It may have been true in the past because of time and distance, but now I think you can do it anywhere if you want to.

Also, even if you have great talent, your family may be against you coming out to Tokyo, and there may be some people who think that you should go to Tokyo and do ...... as well. When we offer jobs in Okinawa or Osaka, such very talented people also apply.