Long interview with producer Masuro Ueda! (The "inside man" of anime and games No.54)

The first person we interviewed in 2022 was "legendary" producer Masuro Ueda, president of Skyfall Inc. If you like anime, you probably don't know who Mr. Ueda is. After leaving Sunrise, Mr. Ueda has continued to produce various works as the head of Aniplex and A-1 Pictures, bringing a new style to Japanese animation. After leaving Sunrise, he continued to produce various works as the head of Aniplex and A-1 Pictures, and made his abilities known to the world. Currently, as president of Skyfall, he focuses on preserving the animation heritage, improving the industry, and fostering the next generation. Despite the adversity of the new coronavirus, Mr. Ueda continues his energetic activities, such as offering the "Anime Producer School. In this exclusive interview with writer crepuscular, we take an in-depth look at Mr. Ueda's producing theories and personality, looking back on his career to date and behind the scenes of the birth of his masterpieces. He talks not only about staffing and casting, but also about the serious problems facing the animation industry and Mr. Ueda's next challenge. This year, he will be working on a project that has been in the works for 20 years. He is also the coordinator of the "Creator Special Zone" for Mitsui Fudosan's recently announced "Future Special Zone Project," a project commemorating the 80th anniversary of the company's founding. What is the "legend" of Japanese animation thinking, creating, and worrying about? We hope you will read this article to the end!

Anime Producers are "Project Managers

Thank you very much for taking time out of your busy schedule in the new year. My first question is, what does an "animation producer" mean to you?

Masuro Ueda (Ueda): In a nutshell, I would say that I am a "project organizer.

In the opening credits of your works, you have various titles such as "Planning," "Executive Producer," "Chief Producer," "Production," etc. No matter what title you have, you are still an "Anime Producer" who "organizes" the work?

Ueda: That's right. In the case of Japanese animation, the name "producer" has become so common that it is hard to know what the producer is doing, but no matter what the credit, "producer" is a coordinator and the person in charge of the project.

Ueda: What do you find most rewarding and attractive about your job?

Ueda: I feel most happy when I get a good response from the clients. When the client's reaction is good, it motivates me to "Okay, let's make an even more interesting piece next time! It motivates me to make even more interesting works next time.

I hear that it is hard work, but you have consistently followed the path of a producer since the 1980s, haven't you?

Ueda: There are many different types of jobs in animation production, but I found that being a "producer" was the best fit for me. Rather than directing, writing scripts, or drawing pictures, I thought that producing would be more useful to the animation industry.

What's new?" is the most important motivation for production.

What do you value in your work?　Do you have a favorite work or a work that you look up to as a role model?

Ueda: There is a slight difference between the works that I like and the works that I use as references in my production. With this in mind, since becoming a producer, I have been thinking about the content of the work and at the same time, what's new, or "what's new" for the company and myself, has become the primary motivation for my productions. In my case, I go forward with a strong conviction, "I have to do this! I do not go forward with a strong conviction that "I have to do it this way," but rather, once the minimum is set, I try to do something new when the situation arises. I do things like that.

I'd like to know about your favorite works, if you could.

Ueda: Movies, manga, novels, and everything I came into contact with as a teenager was important to me, and I still love it. In terms of manga, I like Fujio Akatsuka's "Osomatsu-kun," Shigeru Mizuki's "Gegege no Kitaro," and Shotaro Ishinomori's "Cyborg 009.

Producing everything from "Gundam" to "Obatarian

Do you have any projects or genres that you specialize in?　I have the impression from your background at Sunrise and from your filmography that you are strong in robotics and science fiction.

Ueda: I wish I could be involved in productions without worrying about money or staff, but that is not always the case. I am not particular about what genre I am good at or what genre I like, but I can do anything if I am given the chance. I think about how to make the most of a given theme, how to make it interesting, and how to make an impact on the industry.

In my case, for "Mobile Suit Gundam" (1979-80), I was part of the studio of the people who first said, "We want to do a Gundam," and for "City Hunter" (1987-89), Michihiko Suwa of Yomiuri TV was the first to say he wanted to do the project, He asked me if I would be willing to work with him on the project. The project started when Michihiko Suwa of Yomiuri Television first said he wanted to work on it. Both "Gundam" and "City Hunter" are important works for me, and I love them, but they both started when I was approached by others. So, if I was given the opportunity, I would do anything from "Gundam" to "Obatarian" (1999) (laughs).

(laughs) Have you ever written a proposal before?

Ueda Of course I have written many proposals. I haven't had many go through, though (laughs). I once wrote a proposal for "Crayon Shin-chan," but at the time no one thought it would be such a big breakthrough, so Sunrise did not propose it. I was also involved in the planning of a theatrical animation project called "Maimu" from the planning stage. I was involved in the sales planning, had the work decided on, and had the production started, but the director became ill, and as a result, the production was cancelled. This was really unfortunate. If it had been completed, I think it would have been a great work.

Ueda: Regarding the "Gundam" series, you worked not only on the Space Century series, but also on "Mobile Fighter G Gundam" (1994-95), "New Mobile Gundam W" (1995-96), and "Mobile New Century Gundam X" (1996).

Ueda: I had many feelings about the so-called "Heisei Gundam," and it was a time of great conflict in the relationship between myself, Sunrise, and Gundam. To put it simply, in my mind, "Gundam" ended with the "Mobile Suit Gundam" TV series and the theater trilogy. The work was a huge hit and the company was profitable. At the time, the atmosphere in the company was, "We've done our job, so why don't we just let "Gundam" go? I was a new producer, too. As a new producer, I thought, "If I am going to work with Mr. Tomino again, I would like to work with him on something other than "Gundam. However, for various reasons, the company decided to direct "Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam" (1985-86) with Mr. Tomino as the director, and although "Zeta Gundam" was an important work that started the history of the "Gundam Saga," I myself stopped working on "Gundam" after that. I had been trying not to get involved in "Gundam" after that. However, I became involved in "Gundam" again around "Mobile Suit Gundam 0083 STARDUST MEMORY" (1991-92) and "Mobile Suit V Gundam" (1993-94), and after that I was forced to think about "What should we do with 'Gundam' in the future? I became in a position where I had to think about "What should be done with 'Gundam' in the future?

Ideas" and "strategy/know-how" are the keys to original production

What do you keep in mind when creating original works?

Ueda: First of all, I think it is a "battle of ideas. When we talk about it, the first impression is whether or not I can say, "That sounds interesting! I think it's important to have a good idea. As a producer, it is also important to be able to incorporate the idea into a business scheme that can be used to produce animation, including from a financial standpoint. However, it is difficult to make a blanket statement because the importance of this depends on the position of each producer and the situation in which the company finds itself.

In the early days, Sunrise's approach was, "We can't afford to pay for the original work, so let's make an original robot animation. On the other hand, Aniplex, where I was in charge of production, is a package maker, but we thought that we would eventually reach our ceiling if we just made animated versions of original works and sold them as packages, so we decided to develop our own content by producing our own original animated series. We still don't know the name of the flowers we saw that day" (2011) and "Puella Magi Madoka" (2011). (2011) and "Puella Magi Madoka Magica" (2011). These are things that are difficult to judge at the level of a single producer, and I think I was able to do this because I was in a senior management position.

In my series, producer Tetsuro Satomi said, "If you can't compete with the original work, it is more correct to work on the original work.

Ueda: In a sense, I think he is right. Therefore, it is very important to think about "how to present original works to the world. If the producer does not have the strategy and know-how to do so, the project will usually fail at the planning stage. If an original work goes well, the enjoyment will multiply many times over, and it is encouraging for the creators to receive recognition for something they created from scratch, so I think it is worth being proactive.

I hope you will watch "Galactic Drift By-Phantom" and "FLAG," which are the things I wanted to do the most.

Ueda: Could you tell us how you came up with the idea for "Brenn Powered" (1998)?

Ueda: "Brenn Powered" was initially planned as a movie. I approached Director Tomino and asked him if he would like to make an original film of about an hour in length on a regular basis, and he gave me the idea of "Bren Powerade. However, as I talked with the director, more and more ideas came to me and the story became longer and longer, and I realized, "This can't really be put together into one movie" (laughs). (Laughs.) So, I decided to make it into a TV project. I had already told WOWOW that I wanted to work with them on an animated film someday, so I decided to make a Brempowered film with them. When I brought "Bren Powered" to WOWOW, they were overjoyed to be able to show Director Tomino's new work on WOWOW! He was overjoyed that we were able to show his new work on WOWOW.

Ueda: Although not an original work, you also worked with WOWOW on "Emblem of the Star World" (1999), didn't you?

Ueda: Mr. Shigeru Watanabe, who was working at Bandai Visual at the time, said to me, "I heard that 'Emblem of the Star World,' illustrated by Takami Akai of Gainax, is interesting. Why don't you give it a try? I was asked if I wanted to try it. I also talked to Mr. Masaki Kaifu of WOWOW, with whom I worked on "Bren Powered," and he said, "I was surprised!　I had talked about it myself before I came to this meeting!" He said, "Well, let's do it! And we agreed to do it. By the way, Mr. Watanabe is a partner of Skyfall Inc.

The web animation "FLAG" (2006-07) was also an ambitious work. There is no similar work in terms of scenario and artwork, and I really felt the creative spirit in this work.

Ueda: I think it is an amazing work, even if I say so myself. However, it didn't get much recognition. ...... (wry smile). When I joined Aniplex, I wanted to do a robot movie, but there were many "Gundam" fans, but no robot movie projects came from within the company, so I said to them, "Aniplex has to do at least one robot movie! But at the time, there were not many animators who could draw robots, so the producers shied away from this project. So I asked Director Ryosuke Takahashi, "Why don't you do a robot project? He gave me the idea of "a story about a robot and a female war photographer. I believed that there should be at least one film like this, and we would distribute it first. It was a little too early in the day. I really want everyone to see this work, but as a professional, I should have made it a little easier to watch.

Ueda: Speaking of Aniplex's original robot anime, "Aldnoah Zero" (2014-15) is also a must-see.

Ueda: The director, Ei Aoki, the story's original designer, Gen Urobuchi, and the chief producer, Atsuhiro Iwakami, are all staff members who grew up watching "Gundam". Therefore, "Aldnoah Zero" was created with the feeling of "What if the Gundam generation were to create a robot story in this day and age? I am "FLAG" and I am a member of "Ald Noah Zero". In a sense, I failed in sales with "FLAG," so when the "Aldnoah Zero" project came up, I thought it would be different if they did a robot story, and I said, "Oh, great, go for it! I thought, "Oh, great, let's do it!

I was thinking, "Oh, good, let's do it!" I wanted to ask you about the development of the screenplay. Lala in "Gundam," Saeko in "City Hunter," Nina in "Gundam 0083," Shakti and Katejina in "V Gundam," Rain and Allenby in "G G Gundam," Lilina and Dorothy in "Gundam W," Tiffany in "Gundam X," Kiel and Deanna, etc.

Ueda I have never been conscious of this at all. I think it was a decision made by the director and creators, and as a result, there are many such characters. In terms of taste, "Galactic Drift By Pham" (1983-84) was the closest to what I wanted to do, and I actually got to do most of what I wanted to do.