Tropical~Ju. the Movie! Pretty Cure Snow Princess and the Miracle Ring! Interview to commemorate the release of the movie! Director Shimizu and producer Ito reveal the secret story of the production!

The blockbuster screening of "Tropical - The Movie Ju! Pretty Cure Snow Princess and the Miracle Ring! (hereinafter referred to as "Tropicuri the Movie"), which is currently showing to great acclaim.

This film is the 18th in the popular Pretty Cure series "Tropical~Ju! Pretty Cure" (hereafter "Troopri"), and is the commemorative 30th film in the series. The setting is the snowy land of Chantia. What awaits Manatsu Natsumi and her friends when they are invited to a celebration for Sharon, the new queen of Chantia? ...... Their activities are, of course, the same as those in the seventh series, "Heart Catch Pretty Cure! ("Heart Catch") also makes an appearance.

How was such a "Movie Troopri" made? We asked director Shimizu and producer Ito about the characters, the theme song, and other points of interest.

Laura, who shows a face she doesn't usually show, is supported by Manatsu, who remains the same.

--It has been a week since the film was released (at the time of this interview). What do you think of the response to the film?

Shimizu: I am very grateful to hear that many people have seen the film.

Ito: It was the first time in a long time that the film was ranked No. 1 in its first week, and above all, when I went to see it in the theater on the morning of the opening day, the theater was filled with parents and children. I was most happy to see so many children coming to the theater again. I was also happy to hear some of the children singing as they left the theater.

--I was very happy to hear that. The setting of "Tropuli the Movie" is a snowy country, in contrast to the TV series, which was set in a bright city by the sea. Could you tell us how you decided to set the movie in a snowy country?

Ito: The TV series was set in Aozora City, and it didn't look like we would be going much outside of there, so I thought that if it was going to be a movie, I wanted to give it a sense of scale and have it go to places we don't usually go. And as I was thinking about expanding my ideas to include the sky, since it is usually the ocean, ......, I came up with the word "snow".

I wondered how it would look like since it is the exact opposite. I wondered if the word "snow" would make sense since they are like the sun, but I thought that the image of "melting snow" would make sense since they are like the sun. Besides, the color scheme of Cure Summer is based on white and tropical colors, which is unique among the previous Precures. Snow is a pure white world, so I thought it would be possible to create a vision of "Let's go and dye this white world in tropical colors! We decided on the Land of Snow because we thought it would be a good choice for our vision.

--I was also excited to take a train to Chantilly, the land of snow, as it was a bit like a trip. Although it is a movie, it is a fun way to travel, something that has been difficult to do in the past. How did you go about creating such a production?

Shimizu: It's a standard practice in Pretty Cure movies for everyone to go somewhere else after being invited, but I thought the "Troopri" team could also enjoy the "process" of going. In fact, we could have taken 30 minutes just for the process of getting there (laughs).

--(Laughs.) - The process of going was shown in digest form, but it really looked like they were having a good time. Another element not found in the TV series is that Laura is the central character in the story. Can you tell us how you decided to focus on her?

Ito: This time, there are two generations of Precures, so I wanted to make it a Precure story, not from the guest's point of view. （I wanted everyone (from the two generations) to have a meaning to be there, and I wanted the children to be emotionally involved as well.

At first, of course, I thought of Manatsu (as the main character), but I had the impression that Manatsu was like the "unchanging goodness" or "the sun that is always shining there. In contrast, Laura is the type of girl who can say what she wants to say as it is and express her emotions, so I thought it would be better to have a relationship where "Laura shows a face that she doesn't usually show, and Manatsu, who never changes, supports her".

--I thought it would be better to have a relationship where "Laura shows a face that she doesn't usually show, and Manatsu, who never changes, supports her. Was the director conscious of how to show this?

Shimizu: In the TV series, at the beginning, I portrayed Laura in a slightly unpleasant way, but recently I have been trying to bring out her gentle side and charm. When we started working on the film, the story hadn't progressed that far yet, but I thought it would probably happen, so I made Laura look rather calm.

--So, the director directed the sixth episode of the TV series, but did you start work on the film after that?

Shimizu: Yes, that's right. It was after that that I started working on the film.

There are some things we can see from the conversation between Erika and Manatsu.

--As you mentioned the second generation, one of the highlights of the film is the appearance of the "Heart Catch" members. Could you tell us about the background of their appearance as well?

Ito: The spring movie "Healty Cute ♥ Pretty Cure: The Movie" will be released in the spring of 2012, and it will be called "GoGo! GoGo! I wanted to make people who used to watch the movie face the work again.

--How was it to work on the characters for the first time in 10 years?

Shimizu: I did a lot of research on what was happening back then. However, since I wasn't the director, I wasn't sure how much of what I was doing was correct.

--I see that was the case. I thought it was interesting that the interaction between the members of the two works seemed to move the story more through the interaction between Laura and Erika (Erika Raikai) than between Manatsu and Tsubomi (Tsubomi Hanasaki).

Ito: During the scenario meeting when we were working on the story, we discussed the impression that the "Tropuli" children were surprisingly kind to Laura, or rather, that they accepted her without saying anything too bluntly or to the core of the story. I thought that Erika might be able to objectively portray the relationship between Laura and Manatsu in a way that would be more penetrating than expected.

Narita-san (Yoshimi Narita, who wrote the script) did a great job of putting it all together. The conversation between Erika and Manatsu actually reveals what she usually thinks about Laura.

--I was very excited to see the interaction between the new characters as well as nostalgic for those who watched "Heart Catch" back in the day. How did you two feel about working together on these two works?

Ito: I thought the balance was really good, and it was a challenge to combine the two generations of Precure so well. （It was a challenge for me to combine two generations of Pretty Cure so gut-wrenchingly. The nine members of the two series have a strong meaning, but it is the children of "Toro Pre" who are the core of the film's story. I think you were able to strike a good balance between the two.

Shimizu: That's Narita-san's strength. If you look at it from a different perspective, it could have been a new episode of "Heart Catch".

Ito That's right. But at the same time, the content is also acceptable to those who enjoy "Tropuli" every week, so I hope you will feel the overall balance.

--I hope you will feel the balance of the whole film.

Shimizu That's right. We tried to recreate the image as much as possible, blending the motifs of "Tropuli" and "Heart Catch".

I also want people to pay attention to the way Sharon's facial expression changes and the way her eyes are drawn.

--I would like to ask you about Sharon, who is an original character in the film. She has a rather heavy backbone, but how did you create her?

Shimizu: I think she was born out of the scenario meeting.

Ito: The theme of "Tropuli" is "Let's do what's most important right now," and all the girls are moving toward the "now," but we decided to put a girl who is the complete opposite. Sharon was created as a girl who is not bound by anything but the "past" and who, like Laura, will become a queen. Regarding Sharon's appearance, Director Shimizu wanted her to have an Asian flavor and not be a simple princess, didn't he?

Shimizu: Yes, that's right.

--Sharon herself and the country of Chantia have an exotic atmosphere.

Ito: Mr. Ueno (Ken Ueno, character designer and chief animation director) really put a lot of effort into Sharon. Her hairstyle changes in various ways, and even the treatment of her eyes changes.

Shimizu: Yes, it does change.

Ito: To be more specific, the stars in her eyes change. It is really a small detail, but it shows her mind, so I think it is interesting to pay attention to it if you see the show for the second or third time.

--It was very impressive to see her facial expressions change little by little, but there are also details like that. Did you pay attention to the facial expressions of other characters, such as Laura?

Shimizu: Laura's facial expression goes from cheerful at first to shocked, and I tried to create a wide range of facial expressions.

--Are there any parts of the story that are different from the TV series?

Shimizu: We were working on it in parallel with the TV series, so we didn't pay much attention to the TV series. Of course, I did have the TV team look at the storyboards and give me guidance on how not to use this kind of facial expression.

--Back to Sharon, what was the reason you chose Marika Matsumoto to play her?

Ito: This time, instead of having many guests, we focused only on Sharon, and since Sharon is an important role that appears from the beginning to the end, we wanted to ask someone with voice acting experience to play the role. As we were thinking about who to ask, Director Shimizu suggested the name of Ms. Matsumoto. I thought she might be a good voice actor because she had a distinctive voice from a TV show she was in before.

Shimizu: I heard that you had a lot of experience in voice acting.

Ito: She also has a calm but strong core, and as a result, she was perfect for Sharon. And since Sharon is a character whose duality is important, I think she showed her range as an actress in the postrecording as well.

--By the way, did you record the postrecording separately?

Shimizu: The four members of "Heart Catch" were recorded together, but the others were recorded separately.

--What was it like for the four "Heart Catch" members?

Shimizu: It was a friendly atmosphere.

Ito: As expected, there were some scenes where the techniques didn't match (laughs).

(laughs) -- Did director Shimizu give you any orders regarding the acting?

Shimizu: I left it up to him. I didn't have anything to say as long as it was done in the old style. I was grateful that he recreated the scene exactly as it was back then.

The theme song was inspired by "the songs of the four seasons sung by the people of Chantilly

--The theme song "Shantia: Land of Happiness" was also impressive. The play and the ending are two different versions, right?

Ito: Yes, they are. The arrangement is different.

--What kind of order did you receive for this song?

Shimizu: I was inspired by the Christmas song from Pretty Cure ("Precious Holy Night" sung by Yuka Uchiyae) and wanted to make it like that. Also, I wanted everyone to sing in chorus like Litoguri (Little Glee Monster). Instead of everyone singing in unison, I wanted to make the audience listen to the song in their own harmony. Everyone is a good singer, so I thought it would work.

--I was very moved by the scene where everyone relayed the song and passed the baton to each other.

Ito: The ending of the song has a different choreography for each of the singers.

--I would like to ask a little more about the ordering of the lyrics. I thought it was very clever to link the singers, such as Manatsu singing the part "Midsummer Sun" and Tsubomi singing the part "Budding Spring.

Shimizu: As for the lyrics, I wanted the lyrics to be something that would be widely listened to, such as a song about the four seasons, rather than a typical love song.

Ito: It is a song about a country (Chantiers), so I think it was important that it was not a so-called "pre-cure" song. After reading the scenario, Ms. Junyo Rokutsumi came up with wonderful lyrics based on the image of "a song of the four seasons sung by the people of Chantiers. Based on the lyrics, we decided who would sing which part of the song.

--Lastly, please tell us again what you would like us to see in the show.

Ito: The relationship between Manatsu and Laura (Cure Summer and Cure La Mer). For example, in one scene where they hold hands, there was a line at first.

Shimizu: It was in the scenario.

Ito: But I heard from the director that he eliminated it during the production process to make it "cool without saying a word. When I saw the film, I thought, "I see. I think this is also the "unchanging coolness" that I mentioned at the beginning, so please pay attention to the bond between Manatsu and Laura.

--Please give a message to those who are going to see the film for the first time or the second or the third time.

Shimizu: This film is made for young children, but I think there are some parts that are difficult for them to understand. I would appreciate it if you could communicate with their parents or guardians, saying, "This is what I was talking about," so that the children can grow up.

Ito: The children who are usually cheerful and playful meet the "Heart Catch" children in a world that is the complete opposite of their usual world. I believe that if you watch it a second or third time, you will be able to understand the depth of the story more deeply. I would be happy if you could watch it as many times as possible.

(Interview and text by Kenichi Chiba)