Why is it necessary to digitally archive the "Blocker Army IV Machine Blaster" now?　We asked the Terada Warehouse, which stores animation as "cultural heritage! Anime Industry Watching No. 74

Those who watched the 1976 TV animation "Blocker Gundan IV Machine Blaster" in real time must now be in their late 20s. It was produced by Nippon Animation Corporation, known for its "World Masterpiece Theater" series and "Conan: Future Boy. Machine Blaster" is a robot animation for boys that is unique in the company's filmography, and was once released as a DVD box set.
Now, a crowdfunding campaign is underway to raise funds to create a digital archive of "Machine Blaster. Nippon Animation is cooperating with the Terada Warehouse, which last summer succeeded in digitizing "Charge Man Kenkyu! last summer. What is the motivation of Terada Warehouse, which not only provides film storage services but also operates its own museum and other cultural projects, in promoting the digitization of animation works?　We interviewed Mr. Yasuhiro Ogata, Executive Officer of the Terada Warehouse Archive Business Group, and Mr. Atsushi Noguchi and Mr. Daisuke Katsumata of the same group, about the current status and future of this project.

Why didn't they destroy the original 16mm film when it was converted to DVD?

Katsumata: You own a lot of video equipment, but you are just a company that takes care of things and stores them, right?

Katsumata Yes, our core business is the preservation and storage of all kinds of things. In addition to media storage, we also have facilities for repair work because we want to provide our customers with video works in the most appropriate form for the era in which they are stored. It would be meaningless to keep a film if it were no longer viewable because we no longer have the equipment to reproduce it. We not only want to physically store the films, but also to make them available for viewing in their original form in the future - this is the basic philosophy of our archive business. We have 12 million video works, both animated and live-action, in our custody.


Noguchi: In addition to film, we also store videotapes, sound films, LP records, and other analog sound sources.

─ ─ How did you come to the idea of digitizing and preserving "Blocker Gundan IV Machine Blaster" this time?

Katsumata Last year, we launched a crowdfunding campaign ( "Charge Man Kenkyu!") for "Charge Man Kenkyu! became a hot topic in the video industry, and we were able to set a precedent for digitally archiving animated films shot on 16mm film.
Last May, our company became an associate member of the Association of Japanese Animations. Nippon Animation is also a member of the Japan Animation Association, and through this relationship, we asked them if they would be interested in working on the digital archiving of past animation works, which is how this CF started.

─ Isn't Nippon Animation a production company known for the World Masterpiece Theater series? Why "Machine Blaster"?

Noguchi: We believe that it is easier to monetize content that is widely known, such as the World Masterpiece Theater series, without having to raise funds through a CF.


Ogata: Because these are unorthodox works, it could be said that without the support of their fans, they would not have the opportunity to be digitally archived. 70s robotics have many core fans, and I think the fact that they are willing to help preserve these works is a big advantage.

──The CF announcement page includes a comment from Kunio Okawara, who was in charge of the mechanical design.

Katsumata: "Machine Blaster" was actually produced by Reed Productions, which branched off from Tatsunoko Productions, and because of that, Mr. Okawara, who had worked at Tatsunoko Productions, was in charge of the robot design. Since it was a work for another company, I used a pseudonym, but Mr. Okawara pointed out to me that my name was "Go Matsuda," not "Yonosuke Shichinohe" as it says on Wikipedia.

──It seems that you can get existing soft vinyl dolls, toys, can badges, and other items as a bonus for the CF, but I heard that you made a new "folding umbrella pouch".

Noguchi: When I asked myself, "What is an item that can be a part of everyday life? Noguchi: When we were thinking about what kind of item would be most appropriate for daily life, Nippon Animation suggested the "Folding Umbrella Pouch". It is a white on black design with a mature look.
Machine Blaster" is a work that people in their 40s and 50s used to watch. In the case of "Charge Man Kenkyu! was featured in a terrestrial TV program in the 2000s and became a buzz on the Internet, so we received support from a wide range of age groups, both men and women. Machine Blaster" is targeted at a limited generation of people in their late 40s and 50s, so the challenge for us is how to communicate the value of the product.

─ ─ However, a DVD-box of "Machine Blaster" has been released in the past. Since we can watch it on that, I would think that it is already good enough?

Katsumata: In most cases, when animated television works are released on DVD, the aspect ratio is 4:3, as it was at the time of broadcast. However, TV animations from the 70s to the 90s were shot on 16mm film, and in most cases, the left and right images of the negative were cut to fit the TV screen. In the digital archiving of "Machine Blaster," we will scan the left and right sides of the original 16mm negatives, which were cut off at the time of broadcast, and preserve the information in 2K quality. 16mm film has the potential to be more than 2K, and we can digitize it at the highest quality. We can digitize at the highest quality.


Ogata: First of all, I would like people to recognize that "16mm film from an earlier era records images at an overwhelmingly higher quality than DVDs. The reason why the original 16mm film plates were not destroyed when DVDs were released is because DVDs only record data in a compressed, low quality format. Since DVD came out later than film, people tend to think that DVD has higher image quality, but the resolution of film is far superior. However, the resolution of film is far superior to that of film, and it is only when the full amount of information can be recorded digitally that film as an original becomes meaningful. In recent years, thanks to advances in film scanners and other equipment that have become less expensive, it has finally become possible.