Commemorating the End of Broadcast! If we are going to make a sequel, we should make a human drama of the younger generation" TV animation "BIRDIE WING -Golf Girls' Story-" Season 2 Interview with Akihiro Sekiyama, Producer Part 2

The TV animation "BIRDIE WING -Golf Girls' Story-" (hereafter, "BIRDIE WING"), Season 1 of which aired from April to June 2022, is an original TV animation with women's golf as its motif.

Directed by Takayuki Inagaki, who worked on "Jewelpet Sunshine" and "Time Bokan 24," and featuring series composition by Yosuke Kuroda, who has created many popular works including "Mobile Suit Gundam 00," this work gained popularity for its dramatic story development, hot special shots, and shocking direction. It gained popularity for its dramatic storyline, hot special shots, and shocking direction.

Season 2, which began airing in April 2023, maintained the "BIRDIE WING" style, with the "Japan Arc," set in a Japanese school, and the "Pro Arc," in which Eve and Aoi Amawashi become professional fighters. The hot battles and the ending were greeted with excitement and surprise by viewers.

Akiba Research Institute interviewed Akihiro Sekiyama, producer of Namco Bandai Pictures, who has been involved in the project since its inception, as in the interview commemorating the end of the Season 1 broadcast. We talked with him again about everything from the story to the characters and minor details.

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I would have liked to dig a little deeper into Yuha and Aisha if there had been more time.

--If you had to pick one scene in Season 2 that was particularly difficult, where would it be?

Sekiyama: The scene I wanted to do right was the scene where Eve and Aoi are talking about her father in the rain after winning the high school tournament (ep. 16). 'I haven't lied either. Aoi is not lying either. Then someone is lying!" I wanted to depict this scene in a serious way since I was writing the scenario. This is the final episode of the "Japan Arc" and the reason for Eve's departure from Japan, so I wanted to make sure that the scene was depicted accurately.

--I wanted to make sure that the story was well written since it is the final episode of the "Japan Arc" and the reason for Eve's departure from Japan. However, when Kazuhiko (CV. Kosuke Toriumi) said, "I am your father," in a reminiscence scene, I thought it was interesting that he said it exactly as he did! I thought it was funny.

Sekiyama: I think these parts were probably directed with the Daiei drama in mind. When I heard it directly during postrecording, I thought, "Hmmm......... doesn't sound right. But as I listened to it several times during the check, I thought, "Yes, that's possible" and "Daiei dramas would have this kind of direction", and during the final check, I thought, "It's okay. It was exactly what I was aiming for" (laughs).

--Did you have any trial and error in the way you made the characters stand out?

Sekiyama: I left most of the work on how to make the characters stand up to the director. However, the only character that I gave an order to was "Catherine. At first, she was a well-dressed old lady who looked like a typical image of a miser. But I told them I wanted her to look more like a beautiful woman in a trendy drama.

--Speaking of Catherine, I was also happy to see the reappearance of the underground golf course in episode 18, and to see the automatic course generation system again.

Sekiyama: This is the structure that Kuroda-san came up with here. It's Eve's resolve to make a clean break with the underworld, or rather, her determination to single-mindedly pursue Aoi from here on out. Let me do it! Let me play real golf!!!!" and it ends with her saying, "Let me play real golf!" So I think it was really a match of Eve's determination. I was glad that they were able to use the CG that we worked so hard on in Season 1 once more (laughs). (Laughs.) But it's amazing that they won overwhelmingly here. If he went into the world of backstage golf, he would be a millionaire! (laughs).

--The last character to make an appearance was the "Empress of the Moon," Yuha Hamilail. How did you feel about the character of Yuha herself?

Sekiyama: Watching closely, I thought that Yuha was a character that Director Inagaki was able to create easily without much difficulty. However, I wanted to delve a little deeper into the relationship between Eve and Aoi, which took up a lot of the length of the film. I think I was able to express the absolute champion, but I regret that I was not able to delve deeper into the human side of Yuha and her character. In the second half of the film, the characters come out like a raging torrent.

--I think I did not get to explore the human side of Yuha as much as I would have liked.

Sekiyama: Aisha was an interesting character in her own right, so I think it would have been good to have an episode in which she was the main character. By digging deeper into Aisha and Yuha, we were able to dig deeper into Eve and Aoi, or rather, we were able to associate them with each other and form an image of them. I had an idea of what I wanted to do with both Aisha and Yuha, but it was just a matter of how much time and space I could spend on them. It was a battle.

--I heard that Aisha's running and hitting method is not a problem according to the rules.

Sekiyama: Basically, yes.

--I've heard some people comment that it is OK according to the rules, but no one does it because it's not stable.

Sekiyama: That's why Aisha's score is so rough. Even if you get a birdie, there are bogeys, or something like that.

I also want to create a human drama for the generation "below" Eve and Aoi.

--I heard that you came up with the names of the special moves, and the ones in Season 2 had easy-to-understand names.

Sekiyama: The names of the techniques were easy for us to understand when we were making them, like how many of the seven colors, the first one being "Blue Bullet" and the second one being "Orange Bullet", which allows the player to perform flag pinching.

-As far as the name is concerned, I also noticed that the 48-inch Shining Wings that Aoi was given by Director Amuro (her father) was called "Shining 48 (forty-eight)".

Sekiyama: I think this was named by associate Inui. He said, "Forty-eight because it is 48 inches," and I don't think he was aware of any other meaning.

-I would also like to ask you about the music. The ending theme was changed to "Kimi ga iru kara (Because you are here)" by Sarasa Kadowaki, but the opening theme continued to be "Venus Line" by Kami Hirose in Season 2. Was this decided from the beginning?

Sekiyama: Yes. When we asked Ms. Hirose to write a song for us, we decided to use it for all episodes from the first to the 25th. We did change the pictures a little bit, though.

--I changed the pictures a little bit, but the song is exactly the image of "BIRDIE WING".

Sekiyama: On the other hand, if it wasn't Hirose's music, then who should we ask to open Season 2? I thought, "If it is not Mr. Hirose's music, then who should we ask to open the Season 2? I wanted to use it until the very end because he had created a truly wonderful piece of music. That was my first thought. As for the ending, my initial plan was to make three songs for the trilogy. But that would have meant that each song would have to be played eight or nine times. I thought that would be a waste of the music, so I decided to make two songs.

--Lastly, if there were to be a sequel to "BIRDIE WING," what kind of story would you like to tell?

Sekiyama: I think it would be possible to make a sequel with Eve and Aoi as the main characters, where they fight new strong enemies as professionals and overcome hardships, but if I were to make a new series of "BIRDIE WING," I would like to depict the "next generation" of Eve and Aoi. I would like to depict the "next generation" of Eve and Aoi.

I would like to portray the children who admired the activities of Eve and Aoi as the main characters, regardless of whether I would portray golf behind the scenes or whether there would be only two or one main character. Of course, Himekawa (Mizuho) is so talented that she has probably become a pro, and I don't know if Aisha is touring professionally or if she is following Leo around, bringing along lots of patrons and perfecting her ideal golf game, but she has many strong opponents. I think it would be interesting to see the younger generation fight again against the strong opponents that Eve and her friends have fought against.

--Everyone has a strong character. I think it would be interesting to see the younger generation fight again against the strong opponents that Eve and her friends have fought against.

Sekiyama: "BIRDIE WING" has depicted human drama while playing golf, so I would like to create another human drama in the lower generation, not just the great part of golf.

--I would like to make a human drama again, not the great part of golf, but the human drama of the younger generation.

Sekiyama: I think it's more enjoyable for me to create, and I think it's also more enjoyable for the viewers. If I delve too deeply into golf, people who like golf may find it interesting, but people who are not so interested in the game will probably say, "Even if you explain such technical details, it's still not interesting. ...... Of course, to some extent, we will delve into golf with a sense of reality, but the main axis is human drama. Golf, as a competition, is like a "battle with oneself," so I would like to portray the human drama in the same way as in this project.

--Is there a subject you would like to work on next, not limited to "BIRDIE WING"?

Sekiyama: My biggest goal is to make an animation for families that everyone knows, like "Doraemon" or "Crayon Shin-chan". It's not easy, though.

--How do you feel about the genre?

Sekiyama: Thankfully, I have been able to work in a variety of genres, but the ones I haven't worked on as a producer are "mecha" and "robot" ones.

--Hebot! wasn't a mecha-movie? ......?

Sekiyama: My colleagues around me said, "You're doing mechs (in "Hebot!"). ), but for my part, I wondered if I could count it as a mechanical ......? (laughs). (laughs) Also, I have never made a feature film, so I would like to make a film on any subject. I would like to work on a format I have never done before.

--I am looking forward to making a sequel to "BIRDIE WING" as well as other subjects. Thank you very much.

(Interview and text by Kenichi Chiba)