Long interview with Yoshikazu Beniya, producer! (The "inside man" of anime and games No.52)

In this 52nd installment of our writer crepuscular series, we introduce Yoshikazu Beniya, a renowned producer who has been creating animations for many years in the Animation Production Department of TV Tokyo Corporation. It is no easy task for a producer of a terrestrial key station to create a major hit that can be called a "social phenomenon. However, Mr. Beniya has been involved in many "social phenomenon" productions, including "Sergeant Keroro," "FAIRY TAIL," the "Nonnobiyo" series, the "Yokai Watch" series, and "Re:Zero kara Hajimari no Isekai Seikatsu. He has been involved in a number of "social phenomenon" productions. Currently, he is also the producer of such popular works as "YOKAI WATCH," "Shinkansen Transforming Robot Shinkarion Z," "SHAMAN KING," "Boundary Warfare Machine," "takt op. Destiny," and "Furumi-san is a commie," and has demonstrated his abilities without regret. In this exclusive interview, we reveal for the first time the secret to his evergreen productions. In addition, he talks about staffing and casting, turning points in his career, issues in the animation industry, the relationship between TV and distribution, and future challenges. What is the reality of Japanese animation as told by a key person at Teletext Animation? We hope you will read to the end.

Producers at TV stations "broadcast works that the production site wants people to see".

Thank you very much for taking time out of your busy December schedule. My first question is, what does an "animation producer" mean to you, Mr. Beniya?

Yoshikazu Beniya (hereinafter referred to as "Beniya"): There are producers of production companies, producers of investment companies participating in production committees, and producers of TV stations like myself, each of whom has a different role. The most important thing for a TV station producer is "to deliver a work that the production company wants the audience to see and to have it broadcast. To achieve this, our role is to "bow down to everyone. For example, if we respect the wishes of the production site and delivery is delayed until the very last minute, we go around to each department in the company and say, "I'm sorry, but we're going to have to drag this out until the very last minute!　Please let me pull it until the very last minute! I have to do that.

Producers at TV stations are always in a dilemma between the TV station, the production site, and the production committee, and they must decide which side they will take on a case-by-case basis. I don't think it is the ideal way for a TV station producer to protect the TV station rather than the production site. Since the TV station has chosen our works to be shown on TV Tokyo, we should make the best of what the production site or the committee wants to show to the viewers. I believe that is the most important job of a producer at a TV station.

I think that is the most important job of a producer at a TV station.

Kohya From the moment I accept the responsibility for a program, I am inseparable from the work, and I am determined to do my utmost to make it a success. I always think about what I can do to make the work a success. I think that a TV producer is the most ordinary salaryman among those who are involved in a production. What I mean is that the people who draw the pictures at the production company, the people who make the music, and the voice actors are professionals who are working on the spot to create the work. The producers of the production committee are also professionals who understand the animation business. However, producers at TV stations are ordinary salarymen, and it is quite possible that they are transferred to a completely different job due to personnel changes. In the Animation Department of TV Tokyo, there are many producers who originally worked in different departments such as sales, news, sports, and advertising, and I also have a sales background. If we were to be transferred again, we would have no choice but to leave the animation business. So, at least while I am an animation producer, I want to make sure that the production site is satisfied with the broadcast.

What is a "producer" at Teletext Animation?

Mr. Beniya's credit has been "Producer" since his debut work "Sergeant Keroro" (2004-2007). Considering your career history, I think it is about time you were listed as "Planning" or "Executive Producer". ......

Kohya This is not my intention, but rather the stance of the TV Tokyo Animation Bureau, which is to have the person in charge of animation production assume responsibility for broadcasting as a "producer". When you see the opening of an animation, you will see "Yoshikazu KURITANI (TV Tokyo)" with his affiliation in parentheses, but this is also a decision made within the station. The reason for this is to make it clear who is responsible in the event of a complaint from the audience, such as a person falling ill after watching the broadcast, a mistake in the video, or someone being hurt by the content of the broadcast. Therefore, I am solely responsible for the broadcast of animated programs labeled "Yoshikazu Beniya (TV Tokyo). It is similar to the "bowing down" mentioned earlier, but not only me, but all of TV Tokyo's animation producers never run away from their broadcasting responsibilities. The "00 (TV Tokyo)" is an expression of that kind of determination.

I see. So, you assume responsibility regardless of whether there are many or few members on the production committee.

Kohya As long as "SHAMAN KING" is broadcast as an animated program on TV Tokyo, I am responsible for it.

For "SHAMAN KING" (2021), Mr. Beniya is the only "producer. Does this mean that you were involved in the project from its inception?

Kohya: That is not the case. SHAMAN KING" was proposed by Kodansha and King Record, and Teletext worked with them. This is only because of the credit regulations of the animation station. In the case of TV Tokyo, the only people who are listed as "producers" for productions whose production costs are covered by programming are the station's staff, the staff of the company that paid for the production, and the staff of the animation production company. In the case of "SHAMAN KING," there was no one who was particularly qualified for the job, so I proposed a different title, and as a result, I was the only one left.

When do you find your work rewarding?

Kohya When a work becomes a hit, I feel "I'm so glad I did it! I feel happy to have done it. When I do a survey on a children's film, I ask, "How did you hear about the film? the answer is almost always "TV animation," even if the original work is a manga or a game. When the original work or a derivative product becomes a hit, the TV animation is the most important trigger, so I feel happy to have been involved in the work.

There is another moment that I find rewarding. I believe that human relations are important in the creation of a work, so I am very happy when the people on the site or in the committee think, "I am glad that TV Tokyo put Beniya in charge of this project. When there was a problem, they stood by the site and fought for us, and that kind of thing leads to all kinds of relationships, which in turn leads to people saying, "Mr. Beniya, let's work together again the next time. The animation industry is a small one, so I want to make sure that we end on a good note, and that our next job, and the next job after that, will lead to a good feeling.

Learning "how to deal with late-night anime" through "School Days

What works have had the greatest influence on your production activities?

Kohya I wondered what would be the most appropriate answer, but the one I thought was the easiest to understand and talk about was "School Days" (2007). When I was assigned to the Animation Production Department at Teletext, I was told that "there should be no cruel or erotic depictions" in the production. However, just one week before AT-X was to air the final episode of "School Days," tvk (an abbreviation of TV Kanagawa) decided to stop broadcasting the program, and we were asked what AT-X should do.

We watched the brutal scenes that were not aired at that time, but to be honest, it was a work that we could not have faced when we were in TV Tokyo. Of course, there are many different kinds of works. Of course, I thought it was fine to have all kinds of works and all kinds of expressions, but at the time, I was shocked, "They were going to show this on terrestrial wave? I was shocked. So "School Days" made me think about "what it means to deal with late-night anime" and "what procedures would need to be followed if it were to be broadcast on TV Tokyo.

Kohya: There was also cruelty in "Re: Zero kara kara Hajimari no Isekai Seikatsu" (2016), wasn't there?

Kohya Compared to the past, Teletext's approach to cruelty has completely changed. When I joined the Animation Production Department, there was an assumption that "anime is for children to watch," and we were told to "make anime that is appropriate for children to watch, no matter what time of day it is shown. Therefore, we were very strict about things like blood, cruelty, and not showing underpants. Gradually, however, the trend changed, and it became clear that late-night programs should be aimed at people who turn on the TV at that time of night. I took this into consideration while proposing my own limits of expression to the field.

I love "tokusatsu heroes" and "Seibu Keisatsu" (Western Police).

Could you tell us about some of your favorite works?

Kohya: If it were just a hobby, I would say that I like action films, not just anime, and I especially love tokusatsu heroes. When I was a child, I watched more tokusatsu than anime, and I love tokusatsu so much that I can say that I know everything about tokusatsu from the 1970s. But even more than that, I love "Seibu Keisatsu" the most. To be honest, I think "Seibu Keisatsu" is a cartoon. In real life, a detective with a shotgun would never shoot an enemy, and in the first episode, there is an enemy armored car driving through an intersection in Ginza (laughs).

Gags" are fun to make.

Do you have a genre that you are good at?　Looking at your filmography, we have the "Sergeant Keroro" series and the "Yokai Watch" series (2014~), as well as "Metal Fight Beyblade: Bakudan" (2010~11), "Cross Fight Bidaman" (2011~13), "Beast Saga" (2013), "Shinkansen Transforming Robot Shinkarion Z" (2021), etc. It seems that there are relatively many works for children.

Kohya As I have said, I think that works for children are one of the unique characteristics of Teletext animation. Among them, I myself like "gag works. Gags" are fun to make, and we producers are able to come up with more and more ideas, which I find very rewarding. In scenarios where the emphasis is on the story, the story is left as is and is rarely touched upon, or the director or series director has a clear direction in mind and the producer is often hesitant to express his or her opinion. In this respect, I was blessed with many works that allowed me to express myself easily, such as "Sergeant Keroro" and "Yokai Watch," which are slapstick gags with lots of action.

I felt that there were many "parodies" in the works that you were involved in. For example, in the 15th episode of "Shinkarion Z," there was a parody of "Bratamori" called "Bragembu.

Kohya: "Bragembu" was not my idea, but I was aware of it and said, "Let's definitely include a parody of that! or "Why don't you include a parody of that one? I'm not really supposed to do that. I know I'm not supposed to do this, but I feel a sense of satisfaction as a producer when I am able to include parodies in a work. If you cross a certain line, the rights holders will get angry, and in some cases, sue you for parody. However, it is a producer's ultimate satisfaction to be able to create a parody while searching for the limits of what is acceptable. It is the privilege of those who take responsibility.

However, there is no point if no one notices that the work is a parody, so I tell the staff not to make maniacal parodies. For example, with "Sergeant Keroro," we were aiming for a parody from the beginning. At that time, we were doing a parody that children did not know, but their parents' generation knew the original story. When parents and children watched the movie together, I thought it would be great if they could start a conversation saying, "This is a story about something my dad used to watch when he was a kid. I am aiming for the same thing with "YOKAI WATCH," and I want people to watch it as a family if possible.

In episode 16 of "Shinkarion Z," there was a "Hello Kitty" Shinkarion, in episode 21 a character from "Neon Genesis Evangelion," and in episode 26 a character like Mater from "Galaxy Express 999.

Kohya This is not a parody, but an authorized collaboration. The collaboration was not my idea, but the production committee gave the OK in advance.