Long interview with Toshihiro Maeda, producer! (People in the Middle of Animation and Games No. 50)

The 50th installment of this memorable series features Toshihiro Maeda, Deputy General Manager of the Contents Business Department and Producer at Mainichi Broadcasting System, Inc. The Gundam series is the most distinctive feature of the MBS anime series. Mr. Maeda has worked on "Gundam G Reconguista" and "Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans. In addition, he has produced many other original anime, including "Yuna Yuki wa Yusha wa Yusha de Iya", "Classroom☆Crisis", "91 Days", and "RELEASE THE SPYCE", all of which Maeda has been involved with from the start of the project. Mr. Maeda is also known for creating powerful and moving visuals from original works, and has been involved in such masterpieces as "Sengoku BASARA," "Shinkoku no Kyojin," "Haikyuu‼" and "Jujutsu Kaisen. In this article, we interviewed Mr. Maeda about his career, production theory, work techniques, and his thoughts on the current animation industry. We hope you will read to the end of this exclusive interview with a top producer who supports Japanese TV animation and creates the future of Japanese TV animation.

A producer who "centrally manages and guarantees business and creativity

It is a pleasure to meet you. Let me start with a question that I would like to ask all producers. What does "animation producer" mean to you, Mr. Maeda?

Toshihiro Maeda (Maeda): This may sound a bit stiff, but I think it is "a person who centrally manages and guarantees the business and creative aspects of an animated film.

So the producer's role is not only "management" but also "assurance"?

Maeda That's right. Let me explain from a business perspective. Suppose an executive company says, "We are looking for investors for an animated film we want to produce. We interview the company that is considering investing in the project to find out what they think about the profitability and income/expense plan of the work. Then, we make business projections such as, "Considering the current package business, a realistic figure would be 0," or "With this type of work, it is likely to sell well overseas," or "With automatic public transmission, it is likely to reach this level of sales.

As for creative assurance, the people onsite are naturally trying to create something good, and we are also trying to gather investors by saying, "This work is interesting! We are trying to attract investors by saying, "This work is interesting!" So we think about how we can make the investors understand how interesting the work is, and then we make a persuasive presentation by saying, "The production company is 00, and we have such promising and star creators here.

Maeda: Do you and Mainichi Broadcasting System (MBS) always make such presentations to the investors?

Maeda: In some cases, of course, I do it, and in other cases, MBS receives the investment, but even when MBS does invest, it is often a small investment. So, for most of the remaining investment, we have to find a partner. In many cases, MBS works with the management company to find a production company and gather the rest of the investors together. The executive management company is better at preparing proposals and materials at that time than MBS is, so we often leave the work to them.

─ ─ "Juliet at Boarding School" (2018), "Maidens of the Rough Season!" (2019) and "She, I Borrow" (2020, 2022), and you are credited as "Chief Producer" for "Fire Brigade" (2019-20) and "Executive Producer" for "Fire Brigade" (2019-20).

Maeda: It's a pipe dream, but most of the productions I know are decided according to the position, MBS doesn't include it, but in other companies, "planning" and "production" are done by the senior manager of the bureau or department of that company. Chief Producer" and "Executive Producer" are the next in line, and "Producer" is the person who is in charge of the field. And those with "Assistant" or "Associate" are those who assist the producer on site.

Is it true that a "chief" or "executive" does not go out to the field?

Maeda: That is not true. Chief Ps and Ps have a good grasp of the field, and in many cases, they work hard. Among them, I think Ps sweat the most.

Kevin Figi of Marvel Studios is still credited as "producer" on theatrical productions, even though he is the president of the company. Maeda-san is also often credited as "producer," even though his current position is Deputy General Manager of the MBS Content Business Department. Both Mr. Maeda and Figi have a hands-on approach, don't they?

Maeda I think a producer should be like that. In Japan, there are many people who believe that only those who attend scenario meetings, recordings, and editing, in other words, those who properly produce the work on site, should be credited as "producers.

What is an "animation producer for a TV station"?

Maeda: As a producer at a TV station, do you have any unique ideas or roles that differ from those of a producer at a planning or production company?

Maeda: The basic premise that you need to understand is that the role of a "producer" at a TV station who makes variety shows is completely different from that of a "producer" in the content industry, especially in the animation industry. I believe that a producer in the content industry is essentially a producer. I think that "producer" for TV stations was a cool name that Japanese TV, which had become Galapagosized, came up with at the time. The "producer" of a program does not guarantee any revenue, and the risk of recovering production costs through advertising revenue is left entirely to the sales department, so I don't think they consider secondary use operations at all. On top of that, as for the role of TV station producers in anime, I believe that producers at production companies specialize more in the creative side, while producers at planning and production companies try to create and advertise productions that appeal to anime fans, and producers at TV stations appeal to anime fans. TV station producers are aware of their role to appeal to anime fans, but also to the viewers who don't usually watch anime.

I see. ......Maeda-san, you started your career in radio sales, so you are different from a typical "producer" at a TV station.

Maeda: MBS animation does not rely on the in-house sales department. Therefore, there is no sales department to find sponsors, nor do they give us instructions such as, "We have this much money, so make a program with it. When we decide, "I want to do this! When we decide that we want to do this work, we gather investors on our own, and since MBS is also investing in the project, we write an internal request for approval and explain to them that we have this kind of recovery plan and these are our friends, and then we decide the percentage of the investment. I think only a few people know how to make money and knowhow in the animation business.

What I felt while producing "Jujutsu Kaisen" and "Horimiya

Maeda: Being an animation producer is hard work, but what do you find most rewarding about it?

Maeda: It is very rewarding when a work that I thought "this work is good" or "looks good in an anime" actually reaches the stage of visualization and is broadcast, and when the viewers respond to it as I had originally intended.

The "Jujutsu Kaisen" series (2020-), which ran until March of this year, became an explosive hit. Was this also as you had hoped?

Maeda: First of all, I did not work on it alone, so it would be very presumptuous of me to say, "It was right on target! I always try to produce works that have the potential to be a big hit. When I first read the original manga for "Jujutsu Kaisen," I knew it would be a work that would look great in an anime. This was also my impression when I first read the original manga of "Shinkyu no Kyojin" (2013-).

I also felt this when I first read the original manga "Jujutsu Kaisen" (2013-).

Maeda: MAPPA never makes any compromises. They persist until the very last minute to raise the quality of their work.

Did you initiate the project of "Jujutsu Kaisen"?

Maeda: No, I did not. I participated in the project after the main part of the project was decided to some extent, so I did not participate completely from scratch.

I heard that "Horimiya" (2021) was well received.

Maeda "Horimiya" has been loved by fans of the original work for a long time, and I think it was a long-awaited anime adaptation. The producer of Aniplex had also dreamed of animating this work for a long time, and his wish was fulfilled. I believe that a work with such a passionate producer is strong because he pays attention to every detail. I think it is because of the hunger of the original fans who have been waiting for an anime for a long time, the enthusiasm of the producer, and the high quality of the images produced by CloverWorks.

What works have had the greatest influence on you?

Maeda: It may not be the same as influence, but the work that made me feel happy to be doing this job was Kentaro Miura's "Berserk. When I was in high school, there was a guy who brought his manga to school, and we all passed it around and read it together. I was shocked. At the time, I was not in the habit of reading youth magazines, so I had never heard of "Berserk" at all. Later, when I was put in charge of "Berserk" (2016-17) at MBS, I was deeply moved by the fact that I was able to work as an animation producer on a work that I was so crazy about as a child, but now as an adult.

Did you take on the project yourself?

Maeda: At the time, the visualization project was already underway. But when I first heard about the project from a producer at Fields, I said, "I want to do it! I said, "I want to do it!

Focusing on "workmanship

Do you have any projects that you are good at?　Looking at your filmography, I get the impression that you tend to work on romantic comedies.

Maeda There is nothing in particular that I am good at. In terms of the color of MBS nearly 20 years ago, we did "Mobile Suit Gundam SEED" (2002~03) and "Fullmetal Alchemist" (2003~04), so I had the impression that there were a lot of hard-core, big productions. When I was transferred to the animation department in 2008, my senior colleague at the time told me, "In the future, you should be able to do moe works. So, MBS does not have a preference for a specific genre, whether it is original or based on an original story. What determines whether or not we fund a project is the quality of the work.

However, many of MBS's previous productions have involved the death of people, so we are proud that we have more expertise in the depiction of atrocities than other stations. We have received various complaints from viewers, so we have accumulated knowledge on the depiction of atrocities. I don't think we would have been able to create "Shinkage no Kyojin" without our accumulated knowledge. I know that other stations had second thoughts about "Shinkage" in terms of their screening process.

The first episode of "Maidens of the Raging Season" had a shocking scene of Izumi's masturbation from the first episode. Is MBS tolerant of sexual depictions?

Maeda: The reviewers at MBS understand the nature of the work. As for "Araubu," it was clear from the original work that this was the key point of the first episode, so we could not say "We cannot broadcast" about it even if it were out of line. So we worked backwards to see what we could do to make it OK. I had a lot of know-how, such as, "This angle would work," "Please don't show the hand at this moment," or "Please make the composition so that the viewer can see that the subject is watching the AV on a PC, not in a full-screen zoomed-in version.

Maeda: Is there anything you are particular about when creating a proposal?

Maeda: There are various types of proposals, including those for attracting investors, those for line sensitivities, and those for internal use (......). The points I focus on vary depending on the target audience, but one thing my senior colleagues from my radio sales days told me, and something I also pay attention to, is "Don't write a proposal that won't be finalized. It is a waste of time to spend all that time writing a proposal only to find out that the client has not decided on the proposal. Instead, I would write only the minimum necessary information in the proposal, and then make a persuasive presentation on my own. That's why I don't write information in my proposal.