What is the true nature of the cisisps and seriousness of "Stardust Telepath": ......? Special roundtable discussion between Rasko Okuma (original author) x Kaori (anime version director) x editor in charge of the original work [Manga Time Kirara 20th anniversary project].

Manga Time Kirara" (Houbunsha) celebrates its 20th anniversary with the December issue, on sale November 9, 2023. The TV anime "Stardust Telepath" is currently being broadcast at such a memorable time.

In this round-table discussion, the original author of "Stardust Telepath," Ms. Rasko Okuma, and the editor in charge, Mr. Masahiro Suenaga, talk about the TV anime "Stardust Telepath. We also had a talk with the director of the TV anime "Stardust Telepath," Kaori, about her memories of the "Kirara anime" and the charm of "Stardust Telepath.

Please also refer to the following page!

⇒ Autumn Anime "Stardust Telepath" is not only cute! Please pay attention to the passionate drama that realistically depicts the struggles and joys of adolescence! Main Cast Interview with Yurie Funado, Seria Fukagawa, Moe Nagamuta, and Shiki Aoki

Encounter with Manga Time Kirara

─ ─ This time, as a project commemorating the 20th anniversary of Manga Time Kirara, I would like to talk about Kirara through anime. First of all, as the publisher, Houbunsha, how did you feel about the popularity of your manga works as "Kirara anime"?

Suenaga I joined Houbunsha in 2017, so I have experienced less than half of the total period of its history, but from that standpoint, I think the existence of the anime medium was very significant. In the zero years, "Hidamari Sketch" ('07) was the first, followed by "K-ON! (2009) was broadcast, and by the first half of 2010, the number of anime adaptations was increasing rapidly. (2009). Around the first half of 2010, the number of anime adaptations began to increase rapidly. I think it is significant that anime reaches a wide range of people all over the country.

─ ─ Is there anything that is important in common among the works related to "Manga Time Kirara"?

Suenaga: Our slogan is "Doki-Doki☆Visual," and we emphasize that we want readers to be thrilled by the cuteness and charm of the girls. I think it is fair to say that this is the only common thread among the various works in Kirara.

─ You mentioned the word "diverse works," but in fact, Kirara's works vary considerably, don't they?

Suenaga That's right. The individuality of each manga artist and the "Kirara view" that each manga artist has is different, and I think that's what makes it so wide-ranging.

───Okuma-sensei, you discovered Manga Time Kirara because of "Hidamari Sketch," didn't you?

Okuma: "Hidamari Sketch" was definitely the manga that led me to Manga Time Kirara. When I saw the illustration of "Hidamari Sketch," I thought, "How cute! I looked up what manga the cute illustrations were from, bought the manga, and fell in love with it.

I originally liked game anthology four-frame manga, and I had been buying and reading them with my allowance since I was a child. However, the content of many of them had a different taste from that of "Manga Time Kirara" because they were more gag-like in nature. So when I read "Hidamari Sketch," it was a shock to me, not only because of the freedom of a four-frame manga, but also because I felt that the characters were really living freely there. I could feel the bittersweetness and warmth throughout the story, and it was a wonderful four-frame manga experience, but I didn't start drawing manga in earnest until a little later.

─ ─ I heard that you brought your work to the Kirara editorial department.

Okuma Yes, I drew a four-frame manga and brought it in. When I started drawing, I naively thought that since one four-frame manga is only eight pages, I would be able to finish it quickly, but that was not the case.

Kaori Basically, the page count is very small.

─ ─ In fact, when I read Kirara's four-frame manga, I feel that the density of information per page is very high, or rather, very voluminous. Even if the content could be drawn over several pages, it is expressed in just four frames. There are no big sesame seeds, so I think it is more difficult to pack information into a comic than in a normal comic.

Okuma: That's right!　Since one punchline is digested in a single four-panel comic, I have to come up with a variety of material at a very high speed. I think that's the great thing about being a four-frame manga artist. I am ashamed to say that I didn't realize this until I started working on the series.

─ By the way, what did you think was the beauty of "Hidamari Sketch"?

Okuma: I mentioned earlier that the manga was the part that really shocked me, so I'll talk about the anime. I started with the manga and was asked by a friend, "Why haven't you seen the anime?" I started with the manga, and then my friend said to me, "Why haven't you seen the anime? At first, I wondered how the manga would be expressed in anime.

It was like a four-frame manga, and while the story unfolded at a comfortable pace, it was not choppy, and I could feel the continuity of the drama. The tempo is good, but the characters' humanity and sense of life are depicted deep within the manga, and I felt that it was very expansive.

The background music was also very effective. The background music was also very effective. In a good sense, it was the kind of background music that you don't care about and it comes naturally and easily into your mind. I thought the anime version had that kind of charm.

─ ─ In that sense, I think "Stardust Telepath" is exactly that kind of work. Director Kaori was the director of "Yuyushiki" ('13), which was also a Kirara work. What is your impression of Kirara's works from the animation field?

Kaori: I knew that the explosive success of "K-ON! became an explosive hit, I think it was the recognition of the magazine "Manga Time Kirara". I also gradually became aware of Kirara (through my involvement in "Yuyushiki"), but the Kirara series is not limited to "Manga Time Kirara," there are also "MAX," "Carat," "Forward," and many other derivative magazines, and there are many cute works that have been made into animations. There are many cute works, and they have been made into anime.

I originally read "Manga Time" every week, which carried manga by Masashi Ueda, under the influence of one of my seniors at the studio. Then "K-ON! became a hit, I was surprised that there was a magazine that only featured such cute girls! I had no idea that I would be offered a job in the KIRARARA anime series. So I thought that the reason I was offered the "Yuyushiki" and "Stardust Telepath" jobs was because I used to read "Manga Time" (laughs).

──As a director, did you have some difficulties in adapting a four-frame manga into a TV anime, for example, having to come up with original parts to connect the different episodes of the original work?

Kaori: Yes, because a four-frame comic has a series of plot twists and turns, so you can't just say, "Here's the ending! The ending is this! in the anime as well, I think the viewers would get tired of it. That's why we went through a lot of trouble with "Yuyushiki," such as not using the punchline as an punchline and moving on to the next four-panel episode, and we had to think about how to incorporate the punchline into the 12-panel story. Because of that experience, I did not have that much trouble with "Stardust Telepath" this time. Rather, it was more difficult to find a way to express the rocket. Also, in terms of the difficulty of making an animation, there are gags, but I didn't want to lose the emotional atmosphere of the story, so I struggled to find a balance between the two.

The gradation of expression that we are particular about

──Can you tell us about a Kirara animation work that has left a lasting impression on you?

Suenaga: The first "Kirara anime" I ever saw was "K-ON! so naturally I have an emotional attachment to that, but in terms of content, I would have to say "Hanayamata" ('14). It is a work in which cute girls in gorgeous costumes do their best in a yosakoi dance, and it is a beautifully animated film. Of course, it also depicted the girls' conflicts, clashes, and even setbacks, and I was able to feel the intensity of their youth very powerfully, so it left a lasting impression on me.

Okuma: Apart from "Hidamari Sketch," I would have to say "Yuru Can △" ('18). I know there are many people who like it, so I don't think I need to mention it, but personally, when I saw the characters exchanging messages on the app, I thought, "They're friends! (laughs). (Laughs). It's the same tension I feel when I communicate with my friends! (Laughs). In a sense, I was shocked to see how the characters' interactions fit into my daily life, and I thought, "This is exactly what everyday life is like. I think it is a wonderful anime in the way it depicts the sense of distance. Also, the accompaniment, the depiction of food, and everything else was great.

Kaori I would have to say "K-ON! I've been in the industry for longer than I've been in the past, so I don't have anything like "I used to watch this when I was young! I don't have anything like that at all. So, I've only been exposed to works after I entered the industry, but among them, "K-ON! was amazing.

It was produced by Kyoto Animation, and from my point of view as an animator in the industry, the talent was incredible. The animation moved very smoothly. I was impressed by the fact that it was all done in two frames! I was impressed by the fact that it was all done in two frames, and I was surprised and shocked to see how much could be done in an everyday animation! I was surprised and shocked that such a thing could be done in a daily life story.

I thought that the content was a bit vague and the story didn't progress very well, but I was also impressed by the drawing and layout skills, and the way it was made to be seen through the composition. When it was decided that I would be working on "Yuyushiki," I bought the Blu-ray of the movie "K-ON! (2011), I checked out the storyboards for the Blu-ray bonus.

─ ─ And the anime "Stardust Telepath", how do you like it from the original work's point of view? I think you may have already seen the earlier part of the story. ......

Kaori: Well, Mr. Okuma had not seen the completed video before! (Laughs) I thought he was checking the video, but Mr. Suenaga was checking it.

Okuma: That's right. I was trying to watch the animation together with the viewers, so I didn't watch it first.

Kaori I also learned about it recently.

Okuma I'm sorry. ...... I had received the data and asked Mr. Suenaga, "Is it okay if I watch it later?" I asked Mr. Suenaga if it was okay to watch it later, and he said it was (laughs).

Kaori I understand how you feel (laughs). (Laughs.) I know you were there for the postrecording, but at that time, it was just a conte shot, so it will be interesting to see how it will be completed from there.

Okuma: But actually, there are a few scenes that I was checking out! That ...... is so good!　It's so good! I just watched the parts I was interested in and grinned and said, "Wow! and then I stopped the video, like I didn't want to go any further.

─ ─ So you trusted the animation staff and were absolutely sure that it would be good.

Okuma Yes, that's right! I watched the script meeting, the storyboards, and the voice actors' postrecording, so I knew that there was no doubt in my mind that this was going to be a good one.

Kaori Thank you (laughs).

─ I think there are some elements and episodes that will be added to the anime, how did you feel about them?

Okuma: It's great! Sorry about my vocabulary. ...... I was going to say this when you asked me about my favorite scene, but I thought the original anime scene was really good. I really liked the scenes that you included in the anioli, such as the scene in episode 2 where Yu and Kagami (Saya) are sunbathing on the balcony, and the scene where Umika and the others go to the lighthouse with the plastic bottle rocket!　I felt that it made the anime easier to watch.

───There is a happy relationship between the original comic and the anime, isn't there?

Kaori That is very true. The reading sessions (script meetings) were a lot of fun. I wondered if it was a burden. I was wondering if it was a burden, but I thought it would be wrong if I was reserved, so I asked many questions to the professor and Mr. Suenaga, such as "What is going on here? I asked them a lot of questions, and they would get back to me pretty quickly, so I thought, "Thank you! I was thinking, "Thank you! Mr. Suenaga didn't mind connecting me to the doctor, and he even did some research for me. He even came up with a cosmic word for the subtitle, so I really appreciate it. Thank you very much.

Suenaga: No problem. I think it is because you cherish the original work that you asked me so many questions. It is a great honor for us on the original work side to be able to create something like that, so we would like to say thank you very much! I would like to say thank you very much.

Kaori: Talking about anioli, I remember that you said you wanted to include Yu's quick change of clothes in the first episode (laugh).

Suenaga: When "Stardust Telepath" had not even been published yet, and there was no talk of an anime version, I told Mr. Okuma about my fantasy that if "Stardust Telepath" was made into an anime, I wanted to see this kind of scene! I told Mr. Okuma about my fantasy.

Okuma: You wrote that in a long e-mail (laughs).

Kaori: Because she is an alien, she changes quickly, so I would like to see a scene where she changes her clothes! I want to see her change her clothes! In response to that sentiment, I thought, "Let's get Kaika's belly button out! I thought.

Suenaga: Thank you very much. Except for the changing scene, Okuma-sensei draws the eyes of the characters really beautifully. I was impressed by the fact that even in the anime, they are still sparkling and shining. Kaika is also a crying child, and I thought her crying face in the anime was also beautiful.

Kaori: I was particular about the atmosphere of the work from the beginning! I had a certain idea of what I wanted to do. I had an idea in my mind of what I wanted to do. I would ask the main staff members, such as the director of photography, art director, and color designer, "Please do this for me! I want to create this kind of atmosphere! I talked a lot with the main staff, including the cinematographer, art director, and color designer. I think I got it just right, so I am very happy that I was able to do that. I'm very happy about that.

Suenaga That's wonderful.

Okuma Thank you very much.

Kaori After this, it will continue to get more beautiful at an accelerated rate. How can I reproduce your beautiful color pages? I was thinking, "How can I reproduce your beautiful color pages?

Suenaga: If that is the case, we will send you a new one!

Kaori──Even the gradation of the hair has been beautifully reproduced and expressed.

Kaori: I worked with Takahiro Sakai, the character designer, to figure out what to do, and we also talked with Daisuke Chiba, the director of photography, and Utagawa, the color designer, about how to make it look like that. We were applying a common gradient expression, but it is the power of color and cinematography to blend the colors to bring it out beautifully. However, when I set up the hair color in that way and put it in the classroom as an animation, Kaika became gaudy in the class. So to balance it out as a whole, I made the girl in the next row have blue hair.

Okuma So that's what that was all about!　I had never heard of that before.

Kaori If we only use brown and black hair colors, Umika would stand out, so we add green hair color girls and so on to keep a good balance.

Okuma: I see! I learned a lot from that!

Suenaga I supervised all the hair color settings for the classmates, but I didn't know that was the intention.

Kaori What about the hair color of the characters who don't have color in the original work? When I asked her, she replied that there was no specific color. So I asked her, "Is it okay if we decide on that? I don't think I had told them what I intended to do. I don't think I even told them my intentions. They said yes, so I worked with the color design staff on the color scheme, saying things like, "This is a possible color.

Okuma: I kind of want to have a collection of such work!

Wrapping up the seriousness of the characters with soft expressions

─ ─ What do you want to convey to the viewers of the "Stardust Telepath" anime?

Kaori I know that some people say that the story is too serious for "Kirara," but I have always thought that it is not. This is a story about the growth of Konohoshi Kaika and her friends, and I have taken the liberty of receiving the message from "Stardust Telepath" that there is no one who can live without getting involved with others, so you shouldn't run away from it. When people say that the process of bumping into people is serious, I think to myself, "Everyone is doing that in real life. If people don't want to see that in an anime, then that's the end of the story, but I also want teenagers to grow up by bumping into other people, so I'm really happy if they feel that way when they watch the anime.

I myself was a communicator, so I would immediately want to run away from getting involved with other people. But I hope that this work will make people realize that it will be hard to live with such a situation in the future.

But you can make a serious story as serious as you want. But if you do that, it becomes too much work. So I try to wrap it up in something soft and fluffy, such as cute, beautiful, or emo, so that it doesn't make people feel "I don't want to see this anymore because it hurts my heart. In Okuma's original work, Chloe is very close to the characters because of the "Odeko-Pashii" invention, and there are more scenes where everyone is having fun together, so if we can expand on that, it can be seen as a traditional "Kirara So I'm making this anime in the hope that if I can expand on that, it can be seen as a traditional "Kirara anime" as well, with that message in between.

Okuma: I know it's been called "cryptic and serious," but I think it's inevitable that the characters are taken that way because they are serious. But I draw with the feeling that this is occurring because the characters are serious.

I am sure that the hard parts of the story will be conveyed directly and sensitively in an anime, so when Mr. Suenaga told me that he had received an anime proposal, I asked him if he was okay with such a dark story (I even confirmed that I was). (laugh).

(Laughs.) But director Kaori did a great job of controlling that, and she and (Takahashi) Natsuko worked out the structure of how much to include in one episode, so I think it is very easy to watch as an anime. So I would be happy if you could watch the anime without being so defensive.

─ It's true that a character like Shun who speaks outright is a rarity in Kirara's works.

Kaori: He's like a jackknife, he's sharp! kind of character, so there certainly weren't many like that.

─ Incidentally, this work is about space and rockets.

Okuma: I didn't always know much about them, but I knew about as much as most people. I didn't start "Stardust Telepath" thinking, "I like space, so I'm going to write a space manga! I was told that one of the five or so ideas I had was a good one for a space story, and that's when I started studying. I am not a science person either. I am well aware that I am an amateur, so I have interviewed people who have expertise in model rockets. In that sense, I think the contents of this film can be enjoyed by people who are familiar with model rockets.

─ ─ Personally, I think that there are many good animated films that take on niche subjects. The fact that the world is unfamiliar to most people makes it interesting, and it also creates a sense of youth where everyone works together and tries their best, just like in a club activity. In that sense, I thought the model rocket was a very good subject.

Suenaga: That was really a result of Mr. Okuma's research and study.

Okuma: When people think of rockets, they tend to focus on PET bottle rockets or huge rockets, but there are actually model rockets that are in between the two, that are affordable and can be made in earnest. But in Japan, I feel that they are not that well known yet, so I would be happy if you could let people know about them.

Kaori: I also learned about it for the first time through this work.

─ ─ You always write words of gratitude in the afterword of the book. I thought it was a very exciting subject and I would like to see the competition. Lastly, I would like to ask why "Manga Time Kirara" has been loved for 20 years.

Suenaga: Starting with "Hidamari Sketch" and recently "Bocchi Za Rokku! and recently "Bocchi za roku! and now "Hoshikuzu Telepath", I think it is because we have been able to release works that are loved by many people in each era. This has allowed each generation of viewers to say, "This is the Kirara anime of my generation! This is the Kirara anime of my generation! I think it is very significant that such works continue to be produced.

Kaori: I guess "kawaii" is justice after all. That's what it comes down to. I think that's why it has continued for 20 years, because it always provides healing.

Okuma: I think it is because it is easy to get into the lives of viewers. It goes along with what I mentioned earlier about "YuruCan△," but there are often moments when the words and actions of the characters in the anime are linked to my own experiences up to that point or what I want right now. I think that is why Kirara's works are so loved by people, because it is so easy for this to happen naturally.

Thank you very much!

(Reporting and writing by Junichi Tsukagoshi)