This is a new start! Commemorating the release of "Mazinger Z: Infinity the Movie," a trilogy interview with director Junji Shimizu, assistant director Yoh Nakano, and producer Yutaka Kanemaru!

Mazinger Z: INFINITY the Movie," the latest installment of Japan's world-class robot animation classic "Mazinger Z," is currently screening as a blockbuster hit, and a cross-talk session was held to commemorate the event!

Director Junji Shimizu, Assistant Director Yo Nakano★, and Producer Yutaka Kanemaru, who worked on the film, talked about the behind-the-scenes production of the film and their passion for "Mazinger Z" to the fullest.

If you haven't seen it yet, you will want to see it right away, and if you have already seen it, you will definitely want to see it again and again!

You should definitely keep your eyes peeled for it!

In addition, a present campaign is currently underway to win a poster autographed by the cast (Shotaro Morikubo, Ai Chino, Sumire Uesaka, Natsuki Hanae) and director (Junichi Shimizu, assistant director NAKANO★Yoh) for three lucky winners.
For details, please click here.

Mazinger Z" returns to the roots of Toei's feature-length animated films

─ First of all, please tell us about the origins of the "Mazinger Z: INFINITY the Movie" project.

Kanemaru: About nine years ago, there was a plan to make a "Mazinger Z" movie, and there were various discussions with Dynamic Planning. At that time, someone else was in charge of the project, and they had various ideas, including live-action and full CG. Then, about six years ago, I entered the planning process. At that time, Mr. Go Nagai and Dynamic Planning gave me one order: "We want to make a new animated movie based on Mazinger Z and Kouji Kabuto.

Nakano Did you decide at that time whether it would be a remake, a reboot, or a sequel?

Kanemaru Yes, that's right. We hadn't decided on those specifics, but anyway, since it was a movie project, we wanted to make a movie with Mazinger Z and Kouji Kabuto. I told them that I wanted to have Great Mazinger appear in the movie, and they said yes. In the course of my discussions with the producer of Dynamic Planning, I decided to make a sequel to "Mazinger Z" so that it could be taken to the next generation, based on the fact that Toei Animation (Toei Doga at that time) had the experience and assets of having produced a TV series. I would like to make a sequel so that we can take "Mazinger Z" to the next generation. I asked them to let us make a sequel to "Mazinger Z" so that we can properly take it to the next generation. I think it was around this time that I mentioned this to Director Shimizu.

─ When did the director join the project?

Shimizu: About three and a half years ago.

Kanemaru I think it was around the time of the second draft of the scenario.

──Did the director have any feelings for the work Mazinger Z?

Shimizu: I had watched this work since I was a child, so of course I had an attachment to it. When I was offered the chance to direct the film, I was very grateful and felt very honored.

─ For the director's generation, is Mazinger Z the most famous Toei Animation (Toei Doga at that time) work?

Shimizu: I have the impression that Toei is known for robot movies, not just Mazinger.

───When did you join Toei Animation?

Nakano: I think it was much later. When I joined, we had just finished revising the scenario, and I think it was around the time of the semi-final draft. After Precure was finished, I was approached by someone who said, "Mr. Nakano, if you like robots so much, we have just the project for you. It was still an outside secret, so I came to him and said, "It's a work called Mazinger Z" (laughs).

Kanemaru That's right. The director came in, the direction of the script was set, and we were ready to start storyboarding.

Nakano: By that time, I think the designs for Mazinger and Great were already almost complete. Before director Shimizu, mechanical designer Takayuki Yanase and scriptwriter Takahiro Ozawa came in and started working on the mechanical aspects first, didn't they?

Kanemaru That's right.

Nakano: The project started in earnest about two years ago, after auditions for character design were completed and Hiroya Iijima was chosen, and it was about a year and a half after I joined the project.

─ Was it quite a long production period?

Kanemaru: Many Toei Animation films are extensions of the TV series, but "Mazinger Z" is an original story that is a sequel to the TV series, and it took about a year and a half to produce as a single film.

It was a concentrated year and a half.

Battle scenes that can be enjoyed without logic

─ What kind of work did Director Shimizu and Assistant Director Nakano each do?

Nakano: If I were to use a special effects film analogy, I would say that Shizui-san was the main director and Nakano-san was the special effects director. Mr. Shimizu oversees the entire film, and I am in charge of directing the battles, both mechanical and human. As a result of the many other things I did, I ended up being given the credit of assistant director.

Kanemaru: I think that Mr. Nakano's greatest strength is that he has a firm point of view on what to make edgy and appealing, which matches with Mazinger. On the other hand, when I talked with the director, he would ask me how I wanted Kouji Kabuto to stand up or how I wanted Lisa to be handled, so in that sense, the roles were clear.

Nakano: The special effects techniques that I have used in the past, where the character parts and the monster parts form a single work, really came in handy this time. I was also an assistant director on the "Godzilla" series, and I tried to devise a way to make it easy for both director Shimizu and myself to work together. I would say to the director, "This is what I want to do," and when the director said, "This is what I want to do," I would respond. In that sense, I wanted to abolish the stove-piping system as much as possible.

─ I see.

For example, I asked the CG team members to give their opinions to the animation team, and conversely, I asked the animation team to exchange their opinions on the CG team's images with Hiroya Iijima, the chief animation director, on the acting. As an assistant director, I was allowed to work freely in this area in order to create an environment in which everyone could move easily as a Mazinger team. Koji Kawasaki, another assistant director, helped me manage the actual work of the film, and we had a very good teamwork. We worked so well together that we sometimes talked for hours (laughs).

(laughs). I don't think that's a bad thing at all. In a very concentrated time and environment, there are conversations that are necessary. I think that was important.

───This film can be seen as an animated sequel, but first of all, I felt that it was very worthwhile as a feature film. What was the director conscious of when making this film?

Shimizu: It has been a long time since the TV series was broadcast, so I think there are many people who have a vague recollection of it or have almost forgotten about it. There are probably many people who are seeing the show for the first time, so I wanted to create something that even these people could enjoy.

Nakano: Of course, there will be people who do not know the real-time broadcasts, so we naturally wanted to make it a contemporary work.

Kanemaru: Actually, the staff did not have a target audience in mind. In our discussions, we always talked about "how to convey this" and "how to make it interesting," and how we could concentrate the settings, fun, and umami of the TV series of the time.

Nakano: We did not intend to make a lonely movie that only the generation who knew the original would enjoy. On the other hand, since the theme was "Mazinger Z," it would be meaningless to remake it completely differently, so I tried to be as faithful as possible to the content of the TV series in terms of depicting what happened after the TV series. It was part of our plan to keep in mind the world view of 10 years after the first TV series. We have mellow information and settings from more than 200 Toei versions of TV and movies combined, so it would certainly be an interesting work if we could take advantage of that. We created "Mazinger Z" without changing the settings or characters, precisely so that both people who are familiar with anime and those who are not, and adults and young children alike, can enjoy it.

─ ─ Indeed, the scene where the army of mechanical beasts comes at us was breathtaking without any logic. That scene was terrifying.

Wasn't it easy to understand ? I don't need a setting or text to explain about the Mechanical Beasts. Movies are a visual medium, so you have to get the audience to think at first glance, "These guys are bad guys, so we have to beat them up with Mazinger. No matter how many twists and turns we take or how much foreshadowing we devise, the general framework of the story is fixed: Mazinger Z defeats the bad guys in the end. Working backwards from there, I made a film of the original "Mazinger Z," a simple story that anyone can understand.

The first "Mazinger Z" already had a lot of weapons, was strong and cool, and we tried to make a film with that in mind. We didn't want to force people who don't know Mazinger Z to watch a rerun of the series, but rather to make a film that is easy to watch, so that even those who don't know the series can enjoy it in an honest way. As the person in charge of the battles, I was conscious of directing the film in such a way that it would be 100 times more enjoyable for those who knew the TV series.