How to revive the "naughty anime" of the 80's in the modern age?　The general director of "MUTEKING THE Dancing HERO" is Ryosuke Takahashi! Animation Industry Watching No. 79

Tatsunoko Productions' hero animation "Muteking the Dancing Warrior," originally broadcast in 1980, will be rebooted this fall as "MUTEKING THE DANCING HERO. The new film will be directed by the up-and-coming Yuzo Sato, but will be executive directed by the heavyweight Hiroshi Sasagawa. Ryosuke Takahashi has been named as the general director.
MUTEKING THE DANCING HERO" is the first joint production between Tezuka Productions and Tatsunoko Productions. How did Ryosuke Takahashi, known for his work on Sunrise's robot animation, come to be involved in the latest Tezuka Productions and Tatsunoko Productions animation?　We asked him about it.

Sunrise also tried to do a gag story, but each studio has its own characteristics.

───First of all, please tell us how you came to participate in "MUTEKING THE DANCING HERO".

Takahashi: I am a freelancer in the animation industry, but for the past 10 years or so, my relationship with Tezuka Productions has been revived. I had worked for Tatsunoko Productions when I was young and working for Mushi Productions, so I was nostalgic and casually said, "That sounds great," and they asked me to help them out. I was approached by producer Sumio Udagawa of Tezuka Productions, with whom I often worked on projects together, and I thought, "I'd like to meet Hiroshi Sasagawa, too, so I might as well give it a try.

─ Your title is "general director," isn't it?

Takahashi: I'm sorry, that was a request from the production side, and I myself was not aware that I was the general director from the beginning to the end. I just wanted to help director Yuzo Sato.
Recently, I have been asked to accompany young people on projects other than the ones I want to do myself. Yoshiyuki Tomino and I were classmates when we were at Mushi Productions, and he often says to me, "If the younger generation asks you to do something, don't refuse. Mr. Tomino was like a russel on a snow-covered mountain, carving out a path where there was no path, and I was following the path he had created.


─ ─ When I think of Mr. Takahashi, I have a strong impression of the serious works such as "Fang of the Sun Dougram" (1981), "Armored Trooper Votoms" (1983), and "Aoki Ryusei SPT Reisner" (1985), but "Muteking" is a gag, right?

Takahashi: However, I have participated in Studio Gyaroppu's gag series as a series director and directorial assistance, so I don't feel that much different. I think that gags are the royal road of manga and animation. I even made a pilot film called "Choro-Q Dougram" (1983) using materials from "Dougram" as my own project. I wanted to do a gag film next, since I had not yet established my own style. However, Mr. Eiji Yamaura of Sunrise rejected my idea rather gently, and I ended up making "VOTOMS. If "ChoroQ Dougram" had been adopted, Sunrise would have developed a gag line like the "Time Bokan Series" (......), but I doubt it. I don't have much of a sense for gags, and Sunrise actually made gags at one time, but they just didn't seem to take root as a disposition of the studio.
On the other hand, Tatsunoko Productions has three pillars: the action line of "Science Ninja Team Gatchaman" (1972), fairy tales such as "The Insect Story: Minashiago Hatch" (1970), and gags such as the "Time Bokan" series. The animation director of "Gatchaman" was Sadao Miyamoto, who came from Mushi Productions, but Miyamoto's original style of drawing does not have a cheerful touch. However, when he works on a Tatsunoko film, his drawings have the Tatsunoko style, and they look beautiful. For my directorial debut, "Zero Tester" (1973), I gathered the Tatsunoko staff and aimed to defeat "Gatchaman. However, when I opened the door, it was not even close. Even though we had the same staff, the quality of the animation was completely different.