Animation Industry Watching No.41: Bringing out the middle-aged charm of "The Monkey King　Goro Miyazaki, Japanese dubbing production supervisor for "Journey to the West: A Hero is Back," talks about the appeal of 3DCG animation.

The Chinese-made 3DCG animation "Journey to the West: Hero is Back," which opens in theaters on January 13, 2018, is a tantalizingly pleasant film. It is not the well-known story of a journey to Jersey. It is about a boy who awakens Sun Wukong, once the rampaging king of the heavens, from his 500-year slumber. However, the middle-aged Sun Wukong is troubled by the dilemma of not having the same power as before, and turns away bluntly, saying, "I'm not the same person I used to be. However, upon hearing of the legendary hero's resurrection, the chief demon desires a showdown with the Monkey King.
The entire film is interspersed with acrobatic action and wry humor, making it a rather chic film for adults. Animation director Goro Miyazaki, who supervised the Japanese dubbing production of "Journey to the West: A Hero Is Back" and wrote the theme song and lyrics for the insert song, talked about the charm of the work, the actual work, and the fun of CG animation.

A work full of enthusiasm that took 8 years to complete

─ ─ What was your first impression of "Journey to the West: A Hero is Back"?

Miyazaki: First of all, I thought the colors were amazing. It is neither American nor Japanese, but a uniquely Chinese sense of coloring, so it was very fresh to me. As I watched the film, I was overwhelmed by the energy of the filmmakers. I was overwhelmed by the energy of the filmmakers. Moreover, this is the first film directed by Tian Xiaopeng, who spent a whopping eight years to make a single animated film. I just want to make films! How many people around you, including myself, can work this hard with such a simple motivation? ......　I was very impressed by the director's enthusiasm.


─ ─ When you first saw the film, you had not yet been asked to supervise the Japanese dubbed version?

Miyazaki Yes, there was a discussion with Director Tian at the Tokyo University of the Arts, Yokohama in 2016. There were many students from Korea and China, so I told them, "The technical foundation of CG animation is the same no matter where you make it in the world, so as long as you have the ambition, you can create an amazing work that can be accepted internationally. Director Tian's "Journey to the West: A Hero is Back" is a very good example. I told him, "I hope you will all do your best. Director Tian is a man of few words, so we didn't have much of a conversation (laughs).

(laughs) ─ Was it during that interview that you were asked to supervise the Japanese dubbed version?

Miyazaki Yes. After the discussion, we had a party at an izakaya (Japanese-style bar) in Yokohama. At that time, Director Tian suddenly asked me to supervise the Japanese dubbed version. The film was interesting, and I had never supervised the dubbing of a foreign animation before, so I decided to accept the job. I told him that I wanted to create a Japanese version that retained as many nuances of the original as possible. For example, in the original version, Sun Wukong is called the "Great Sage Equal to Heaven. The boy is referring to him with respect. But if we called him "Sun Wukong" in the Japanese version, the nuance would be different. ...... When we were talking about this, Director Tian asked me to supervise the project. And I also want you to rewrite the song for the insert!" He said.

───That must have been quite a rapid succession of requests.

Miyazaki That's right. There was a reason why Director Tian asked me to redo the insert song. The original version used a song that was popular 10 years ago, and it was not well received by the Chinese fans. After all, it took eight years to produce the film, so the songs that were initially new became old during the production. The younger audience members asked him, "Why do they keep playing songs from that old man's generation?" They said, "Why are those songs from an old man's generation? So, they wanted the insert songs to be completely rewritten. After a while, they said, "And while you're at it, we'd like you to rewrite the theme song, too" (laughs). I was told that the composer of the theme song was a very strict person, and I was afraid that even if I brought a Japanese singer, I would not get an approval. So I thought it would be better to start from the beginning and remake the film in Japan.


───Mr. Miyazaki also wrote the lyrics for the insert song and the theme song.

Miyazaki: Although he directly asked me to create the song, he did not give me any specific order. The original insert song was a rock song with male vocals. I suggested that the Japanese version should have a female vocalist, just like the theme song. Since "Journey to the West: A Hero Is Back" is an austere story with an all-male cast, I thought a female voice would add a bit of richness to the story.