Mamoru Oshii's New Work "Buradorabu" Production: Ichigo Animation President Minoru Nakanishi Talks about the Meaning of an Animation Production by a Real Estate Company

The world was shocked when it was announced that Mamoru Oshii would be producing a new "Buradorabu" in 2019, with Mamoru Oshii as the general director. The name behind the production of this master's first animated series in a long time is Ichigo Animation Corporation, an unfamiliar name in the production of traditional anime. The company's parent company is Ichigo Corporation, a real estate company known as the top partner of the J-League soccer team and the owner of Akihabara's "AKIBA Cultures Zone". What is the reason for a real estate company from a "different industry" to enter the animation production business?　When we interviewed Mr. Minoru Nakanishi, President of Ichigo Animation, he shared with us his business ideas that overturn the conventional wisdom of anime production.

Why we can say, "Please make what you want to make," without interfering in the production process

─ First of all, could you tell us how the production of "Buradorabu" started with Mamoru Oshii as the general director?

Jo Nakanishi (hereafter, Nakanishi) I learned about this project around 2017. At the time, I was investing in a large shopping mall at my previous job, and I was highly interested in the ability of anime content to attract customers. However, when I heard about the project, we had not yet decided on a production company, and I heard that it takes about three years from planning to completion for an animated cartoon, so the time frame did not match our business. After that, I joined Ichigo Corporation (hereinafter referred to as Ichigo) and was able to invest in AKIBA CULTURES ZONE, so I checked what had happened to that animation project, and I heard that a production company was about to be decided, so after meeting with Mamoru Oshii (general director), I decided to invest in the company independently.

─ ─ Since you mentioned AKIBA CULTURES ZONE, I would like to ask you how do you see the momentum of Akihabara in recent years from the perspective of a company in the real estate business?

Nakanishi: As the Akiba Research Institute, we are very concerned about this (laughs). Before the Corona disaster, AKIBA Cultures Zone itself was doing well with a high inbound ratio and no tenants moving out overall. My impression of the city was that the color of idols was gradually losing momentum. However, I was impressed by the efforts made by each company to change the way they create content, the types of content, and their "individuality". In the case of the Corona Disaster, it seems that tickets are sold out for events and performances focused on more core audiences, despite the various restrictions. There was a time when it was called a maid café boom, but when something is booming, there is always a downhill slope. In that sense, I believe that Akihabara is now in a phase where we should think about what we should aim for and build up.


─ ─ Akihabara has continued to change since the days of radio parts stores, hasn't it?

Nakanishi Still, Akihabara is a very attractive town from the perspective of a real estate company. As a landlord business, it is easy to create an investment scenario in a town that has color and the ability to add color, and it is easy to make it work. Conversely, a common, ordinary town without much difference will not do well even if you want to try some new initiative. Akihabara, like Shibuya, Shinjuku, Ginza, etc., is a town with color, and in that sense, it is a town that does not blur. I believe it is the role of a real estate business company to develop this.

─ ─ What is the significance of a company whose main business is the real estate business engaging in a cultural business such as animation?

Nakanishi: The conventional real estate business is, in the extreme short term, a business of buying at a low price and selling at a high price. However, in order to continue this business over the medium to long term, it is necessary to graduate from this business of buying and selling. Instead of making money by selling, we are looking to hold on to the property, increase its value, and build it into a form that generates stable rental income. In order to increase rental income, we need to attract more customers, and the foundation for this is urban development. This is the same story for shopping malls, which I mentioned at the beginning, and it is also proportional to sales. Therefore, the idea is to build something that attracts people first and have them follow the rent later, putting the rent aside.

──An example from another company is the flagship store in Odaiba that features a life-size Gundam and Gunpla models, isn't it?

Nakanishi That's right. However, it is very difficult to say whether Ichigo will take the approach of a very large developer like that. But when I thought that there was a way to create a town that did not involve tearing down and building up, a leading example was the revitalization of the community through animation. The term I use is "content x real estate. Oarai" for "Girls und Panzer" and "Love Live! Sunshine! Even those of us who are not familiar with anime understood the examples of the great success of "Girls & Panzer" in Oarai and "Love Live! On the other hand, we also know that there have been cases in which the aim has not been successful. It is better to have a connection with the city as a result rather than aiming for it. However, you never know if the content will be successful until you try it, so we decided to try it ourselves first.

───And how did you proceed once the "Buradorabu" project was actually launched?

Nakanishi One of our philosophies at Strawberry Animation is "Let's have fun and be serious. We also believe that entertainment can never be good unless the creator thinks it is interesting. Therefore, we drew a line where we do not interfere with the works, and we are only concerned with business. I only told Mr. Oshii, "Please make what you want to make and what you think is interesting. He may have appreciated that.


─ ─ That is also a very detached stance. How were you able to do that?

Nakanishi It is because I am an amateur in image creation. When I asked Mr. Oshii about the outline of the work, he used other works as examples, so I did not understand it well (laugh). (laugh) One time, we had a meeting for an hour and a half, and Mr. Oshii talked for about 1 hour and 25 minutes out of that time. He used that familiar tone (laugh). (Laughs) Through such communication, the theme song was decided at the stage where I could somehow grasp the world of Mr. Oshii and his image.

───So the theme song came surprisingly quickly.

Nakanishi Even though I thought about what Mr. Oshii said and the script, I could not catch up with his understanding. What I realized was that what Mr. Oshii wanted to convey could not be contained only in this animation. If that was the case, I decided to convey it from multiple viewpoints, using the theme song as well. This was a business idea, and also a means of publicizing an original work without an original story.

─ ─ In addition to the usual opening/ending songs, there are also foreign versions, and the variety of people singing the songs is very rich.

Nakanishi First of all, "Where you are," the opening theme sung by BlooDye, is based on the theme of "fragile bonds" in this work. This is Oshii's way of saying that "the bonds of friendship and affection are fleeting satisfactions. For example, I think everyone has had the experience of being friends in junior high school and high school and seeing each other every day, but then falling apart after graduation. The lyrics, of course, as well as the opening video, should give you some sense of this theme! （Another song, "Winds Of Transylvania" by LOVEBITES, the theme song of "My Version," is inspired by the image of "coexistence. In Mr. Oshii's worldview, vampires are a medium and a foreign entity in human society. Each heroine lives in a completely different world, but they can "coexist" with each other when Mai enters. The band is a symbol of "coexistence" in which various instruments and elements combine to create a single worldview, and their musicality is a good match for vampires, so we asked them to join us.