The story of "Crayon Shin-chan Arashi wo Yobu Eikou no Yakiniku Road" is brought forward by "the texture of the delicious-looking grilled meat drawn on celluloid!

The first episode of "Girls und Panzer: The Final Chapter" is now showing in theaters. Director Tsutomu Mizushima participated in the "Crayon Shin-chan" theatrical animation series as a director, directing short films before making his feature film debut with "Crayon Shin-chan Arashi wo Yobu Eikou no Yakiniku Road" (2003). In "Glorious Yakiniku Road," Shinnosuke Nohara's family is wanted by a mysterious group calling themselves the Sweet Boys for a yakiniku dinner.
Chase scenes involving cars, bicycles, helicopters, and roller coasters make up the majority of the film's 88-minute running time. Dynamic action with extensive use of background animation and exquisite mechanical depiction of speed and weight are major highlights of the film. There are many attractive features, such as guest characters reminiscent of the movie "Apocalypse in Hell," and background artwork that depicts even the dirt on the buildings.
However, the boss of the Sweet Boys, whom the viewers meet after a fierce chase, is the owner of a collapsed hot spring inn, and his goal is to restore the city of Atami to its former state. The Nohara family merely happened to get involved. In order for Shinnosuke and his friends to escape their pursuers and head for Atami City, they would need a strong motive. Then, "where" and "how" are they motivated?

There are two "motivation" scenes, one at the 22nd minute and the other at the 48th minute of the film.

The first motivational scene comes around 22 minutes into the film. The members of the Nohara family (Shinnosuke, his father Hiroshi, his mother Misae, his sister Himawari, and their dog Shiro), wanted as thugs, try to escape the public eye by disguising themselves, but are discovered by the Sweet Boys and are unable to return home.
In front of his exhausted family, Hiroshi goes to Atami City to meet the Sweet Boys' boss and pleads with him to clear up the misunderstanding. Remember, there is meat waiting for us in the fridge. Immediately after this line, the meat in the Nohara family's refrigerator is inserted. ...... go home and grill!" Hiroshi calls out, and the whole family repeats, "Go home and yakiniku! The whole family repeats, "Go home and yakiniku! In other words, the goal is set to "solve the enemy's misunderstanding and eat yakiniku at home.

Shinnosuke, his mother Misaemon, his father Hiroshi, Himawari and Shiro, and the Nohara family are divided into three, but they all set their sights on Atami.
Furthermore, the second motivation comes around 48 minutes into the film. With Himawari and Shiro in tow, an exhausted Hiroshi crosses the street in front of a yakiniku restaurant. Reflexively moaning, "Oh, I want some yakiniku," Hiroshi's eyes are caught by the sight of a campaign girl offering a beer tasting. Resisting the temptation to drink the beer in front of him, Hiroshi imagines in his mind's eye the scene of eating yakiniku and drinking beer.
Next, baby Himawari also imagines her mother grilling meat for her and letting her suck it. Next, Shiro also imagines a scene in which he shares his family's grilled meat with his mother.
At the same time, Misaemon was riding a two-wheeled vehicle like a Segway on her way to Atami. However, she fails to go around a curve and is thrown onto a field along the road. While lying on her face, Minori says, "I can't wait to eat yakiniku with everyone. ...... Ah, kalbi with bone ......," she murmurs, imagining grilling kalbi with bone and eating it with white rice.
Shinnosuke, who is sweating and cycling hard to Atami, also says, "Ora, why am I doing this ...... Yes, yakiniku! and he imagines the scene of eating yakiniku in his mind. After imagining the yakiniku eating scene in their minds, the family members each set out again for Atami City.
In other words, "yakiniku" is presented as a motive for action twice, once at the 1/4 point and once after the 1/2 point at the beginning of the 88-minute film.

Yakiniku" is depicted with two techniques, celluloid and background.

Yakiniku appears once at the beginning of the film. It is the packaged meat that Misae lays out in front of her family. A total of seven shots are shown of the delicious-looking raw meat and the container containing the sauce. They are brightly colored with celluloid.
The second grilled meat, as mentioned above, is "grilled meat in the Nohara family's refrigerator," so it is depicted darkly throughout. Moreover, since it is treated as a background rather than a cell, it does not look very tasty. This cut is intended to illustrate the fact that the meat is stored in the refrigerator.
The third shot of yakiniku is the one that Hiroshi, Himawari, Shiro, Misae, and Shinnosuke envision in their minds. In this scene, the characters are arranged more realistically than usual, and the cooking process is depicted in a lavish and time-consuming manner: placing the yakiniku on the griddle, turning it over and dipping it in the sauce, squeezing the lemon, dissolving the ginger in the sauce, and so on. Because it is a video, the dish is depicted in cel-colored, delicious-looking colors. Effects such as burn marks on the meat and smoke also stimulate the appetite.
The texture and movement of the images increase in stages, from "cel-colored meat before being grilled," to "meat in a refrigerator drawn as a background," to "meat being grilled in the character's image," and the intensity of the images increases as the viewer follows the process. Whether they were captured by the Sweet Boys or escaped from them and headed for Atami City on their own, the outcome of the Nohara family's journey would have been the same. There is no necessity for them to force their way to Atami City. However, the powerful animation of the yakiniku as a "picture" gives the Nohara family a strong sense of independence. No matter how many inconsistencies there are at the script level, the strength of the "pictures" can overcome them, and this is what makes animation works so poignant.

(Text by Keisuke Hirota)

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