We asked producer Naohiro Ogata about the reason for the superb quality of "Senko no Hathaway," a modern Gundam work befitting the year 2021 [Anime Industry Watching No. 78

The movie "Mobile Suit Gundam: Senko no Hathaway" will be released this month. The film is an adaptation of Yoshiyuki Tomino's novel of the same title, which was written as a continuation of the world of "Mobile Suit Gundam: Char of the Counterattack" (1988), and is directed by animator Shuukou Murase.
You may be wondering, "Why is a novel from the "Space Century Series" written more than 30 years ago being made into a film now? You may be wondering, "Why a film now, based on a novel written more than 30 years ago in the "Space Century Series"? How did such a novel film come to be made, even though it is a Gundam film?
We spoke with producer Naohiro Ogata, who worked on "Mobile Suit Gundam UC" (2010-14) and "Mobile Suit Gundam: Thunderbolt" (2015), about the staffing and unique production process of "Senko no Hathaway".

Apology] (Corrected 7/2)
When the article was first published, it was stated that "since it was the first Japanese animation to be designed as a native Dolby Atmos system," but the correct statement was "since the sound design was based on the premise that the film would be shown in Dolby Cinema. We apologize for the error and make the correction.

Why was "Senko no Hathaway" directed by Shuko Murase?

─ ─ First of all, I think it is significant that "Senko no Hathaway" is directed by Shukunori Murase, isn't it?

Ogata: I asked Murase-san to create the original drawings for the impressive scenes from the middle to the end of "Mobile Suit Gundam UC": the scene in episode 4 where Mineva stops by the diner, the scene in episode 7 where she recalls the first "Mobile Suit Gundam" in the series, and also episode 3 and episode 5. episode 5. Mr. Murase himself participated in "Mobile Suit Gundam F91" (1991) as an animation director, and was in charge of character design in "New Mobile Suit Gundam W". However, he was only involved in character design for "Gundam W" and was only slightly involved in the main story. I thought that he might have left something behind for "Gundam," so I asked him to direct the film. It was around the time before Mr. Murase directed "Slaughterhouse" (2017). I think you are more suited to films that delve into the inner lives of a small number of characters rather than ensemble dramas with a large number of characters. Slaughterhouse" was a work with exactly that kind of taste.


─ I hear that you are a very demanding director.

Ogata: Yes, he is very strict when it comes to quality. In order to achieve the visual image that Mr. Murase intended, the staff had to be carefully selected. The character design was done by pablo uchida, who was first introduced to us by mechanical designer Akira Yasuda during the "G's Reconguista" (2014-15) project, who told us that he knew a very good illustrator. uchida drew many of the image boards for us. The image boards are also very useful for storyboards. The scene in the hangar at Penelope, where Lane is looking up, is exactly the same as the image board. Mr. Murase also participated in the 3DCG movie "Final Fantasy" (2001), which was produced in Hawaii, and Mr. UCHIDA is also from the game industry, so we must have had good chemistry in terms of direction.

─ The chief animation director is Mr. Naoyuki Onda, isn't it?

Ogata: Yes, Mr. Onda also participated in "Gundam UC". I think he accepted the position of chief animation director because it was directed by Murase-san. Mr. Onda is from Tomoken Kogawa's "Beboo," so his drawings have a realistic touch that captures the human body and skeletal structure well. It was largely thanks to the help of Mr. uchida and Mr. Onda that we were able to materialize the image that Mr. Murase had in mind.


─ The atmosphere of the characters is quite different from previous Gundam works, isn't it?

Ogata: "Mobile Suit Gundam NT (Narrative)" (2018) was designed by Shun Kanase, and the taste of the characters changed a bit from Kumiko Takahashi's designs in "Gundam UC. I think it is good to have a different atmosphere depending on the work. I think the character design will change depending on the direction we want to show.

─ I was surprised to see Shinichiro Watanabe's participation in the storyboarding.

Ogata: I personally liked Mr. Watanabe's "Macross Plus" and wanted to work with him at least once. Mr. Murase had always been good friends with Mr. Watanabe, and when I realized that Mr. Murase was not going to be able to finish the storyboards by himself, I asked Mr. Watanabe to join me. It was right around the time that Mr. Watanabe's "Carol & Tuesday" (2019) had just finished.
Before that, for "Blade Runner Blackout 2022" (2017), Mr. Watanabe directed and Mr. Murase was the character designer and drawing director. I think there were circumstances around that.