Special Talk Show Report on the Masterpiece Anime "Saint Dunbine! Two major anime creators, Tomoken Kogawa and Yutaka Izubuchi, give a rich talk show!

Sunrise Festival 2017 Shoun, an event featuring select screenings of Sunrise films, is currently being held at various movie theaters in Shinjuku, and on Saturday, August 19, 2017, an all-night screening of "Seisenji Dunbine" was held at Theatre Shinjuku. Danvine" is an animated robot TV series that aired in 1983. It was a very innovative and challenging work even at the time, with its story set in a fantasy world and its robot weapon, Aura Butler, which was based on an insect motif.

Today's program included a special talk show featuring Tomoken Kogawa, character designer, and Yutaka Izubuchi, mechanical designer. Mr. Kogawa's live drawing was also included during the talk show, which lasted a full hour. Here is a report on the talk show.

Was it cooler?　Secret Story of Birvine Production

At 10:00 p.m., Ryusuke Hikawa, an animation researcher in charge of MC, invited Mr. Kogawa and Mr. Izubuchi to the stage to applause. The talk started with the story of how the two met. It is said that the two had almost no contact with each other when they first worked together on "Battle Mecha Zabungle" (the program before "Danbine"). On the other hand, in "Danbine," Mr. Izubuchi and Mr. Kogawa shared some of the work in creating the worldview of the mechanical parts from the middle stage onward. (*Mechanical design was initially handled by Kazutaka Miyatake, a well-known mechanical designer, and Mr. Izubuchi took over after Mr. Miyatake left the board for various reasons.)

Mr. Kogawa's sense of style and talent were highly regarded by director Yoshiyuki Tomino, who asked him to go beyond the boundaries of character design. Incidentally, Mr. Kogawa also designed the second aura battler "Bilbine" that the main character flies, but his first proposal (which Mr. Izubuchi said was very cool) was rejected by Director Tomino, who said it was an "adult's hobby.
Also, the toy company was involved in the design of Birvine. The curvy, biological form of "Dunbine" was very innovative in an industry where angular designs were the norm at the time, but the toy company wanted something more toy-like. As a result, the only Birvine in the series with a variable design suitable for toys was created.

Mr. Kogawa is also famous for his bold designs, such as the afro-haired protagonist in "Ideon, Legendary God of the Colossus" and the distinctive black shading under the nose and chin. According to him, these were all experiments. He says that he tried painting the shadows solid because he could not find anyone who could draw the nose and under the chin well, and he thought he could cover it up by painting them black. In the end, however, the nostrils were still visible, and Mr. Kogawa says, "It was a failure. This episode shows the enthusiasm and diligence of a professional who is never satisfied with the status quo.

A textured illustration story reincarnated in a later OVA

The talk show continued into the second half as the topic shifted from Mr. Kogawa's many challenges as a craftsman to the music of "Dunbine" and other topics. Mr. Kogawa started live drawing while Mr. Hikawa and Mr. Izubuchi talked about the OVA version of "Danbine" scheduled to be shown today. The illustrated story "AURA FHANTASM" was the impetus for his participation. Director Toshifumi Takizawa (*anime director and producer who participated in "Armored Trooper Votoms" and "Dirty Pair") saw it and told him that he wanted to do an OVA with it.

Mr. Izubuchi thought that it would be impossible to animate a work in the style of a painting, but the director said that he wanted to create a texture using harmony processing (a technique in which background materials created by art staff are transferred and pasted onto a cell and animated) and to stick to it, so he decided to get involved. Incidentally, he only provided a rough idea for the storyline.

By the way, during the show, there was a figure of "Zwaas" (one of the enemy aura battlers) with its wings spread, which will be released soon, sitting on the table on the stage. This "Zwaas" has been given dragon-like wings to give it a more villainous appearance. It is a modeling that shows off Mr. Izubuchi's love of fantasy.

In the end, Mr. Kogawa completed a total of five illustrations with his brilliant skills!　Time ran out just as he handed out the illustrations to the visitors in a rock-paper-scissors-paper tournament. Mr. Kogawa's relentless spirit of experimentation and craftsmanship as an animator and Mr. Izubuchi's unique sense of visual imagery. It was a truly intense talk show, and one could feel that the meeting of these two elements has given "Dunbine" a unique appeal in the history of robot animation.

(Reporting and writing by Tomoko Endo @ TRAP)