P.A.WORKS' highly anticipated new work is a bold fantasy action film! Interview with Ao Jumonji (Series Composition/Screenplay) and Masaya Saito, Producer of "Fairy gone Fairy Gone

The TV anime "Fairy gone Fairy Gone" will begin airing in April 2019. The story takes place in a world where fairies are treated as "weapons. The story is about "fairy soldiers" who have lost their way after the end of a long war and have chosen their own way of life.

Ao Jumonji is a novelist and this is his first TV anime series composition and screenplay. Producer Masaya Saito, who was also involved in the TV anime "Grimgal of Ashes and Illusions," which was based on Jumonji's novel, talked to us about this work filled with many mysteries.

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⇒A fun and difficult scene to work in! Interview with Kana Ichinose, who plays Maurya Noel, and Ayaka Fukuhara, who plays Veronica Thorne, in the highly anticipated spring anime "Fairy gone: Fairy Gone"!

At first, it was a story about a dark knight having an adventure (P. Saito)

--How did this project come about?

Saito: During discussions with P.A.WORKS about the project, they said they wanted to do an action piece, and I suggested that I wanted to do a fantasy piece.

Later, at the launch of the "Grimgar, Live and Act" event for "Grimgar of Ashes and Fantasy" broadcast in 2004, I asked Mr. Jumonji, "A new work is about to start, are you interested in writing an anime script? I asked him if he would be interested in writing an anime script. That was the beginning of the project in earnest, wasn't it?

Jumonji: I was also interested in writing screenplays, so I said, "By all means! I answered, "Yes! However, although I had experience writing scripts for drama CDs, this was my first time working on an animated film, so I honestly wasn't sure if I could do it. But when I tried it, I felt that I could make it if I cooperated with the staff.

Saito: Basically, the reading sessions are conducted in a friendly atmosphere, but there are some points that we can't agree on (laughs).

--Did you decide to introduce "fairies" as a fantasy element from the beginning?

Saito: Actually, at first we made a proposal with the setting of "all the party members are dark knights possessed by an evil god and go on an adventure. After a lot of brainstorming, we decided to replace the evil god with a fairy. I also thought it would be interesting to bring in something different from the fairy that generally comes to mind, even though it is a "fairy. I came to the conclusion that it would be interesting to bring in something different from what people generally think of when they think of fairies.

Jumonji: You were a little reluctant to use the word "fairy" at first, weren't you?

Saito: When I thought of fairies, I couldn't help but have a strong image of fancy. ......

Jumonji P.A.WORKS was positive and said, "Why not? Saito-san was outnumbered by P.A.WORKS, who was very positive (laughs). (Laughs.) But, as I keep repeating, we decided on the setting that "although she is called a fairy, her appearance and contents are different from those of other fairies" and it all came together well.

Saito: Jumonji-san made a kind of "historical timeline" from the birth of the people in this work to the present. It was not just a chronology, but you wrote down the details of what kind of culture, what kind of religion, what kind of circumstances led to the use of fairies, etc.... The content was so profound that I was convinced that it would be possible to write a novel about fairies.

Jumonji: Unlike writing a novel by myself, this time I was working with a large group of people, so I thought it would be necessary to share a common understanding of the work. The chronology was created at a stage when we had already made some progress in discussing "the setting and content of the work," so I had a bit of a "winning chance" that everyone would agree on this.

I might have thought that I was fighting with Jumonji Sensei at the meeting (laughs) (P. Saito).

(laughs) -- I don't think Jumonji Sensei has ever worked with such a large group of people before.

Jumonji: It was fun. It is challenging to create a story by yourself, but it is also good to work together with a large group of people like this. I am basically the type of person who doesn't take other people's opinions into consideration, and I don't take the editor's opinions into account that much (laugh), but when I participated in the project with the assumption that we would all work together from the beginning, I discovered that it is surprisingly possible to incorporate other people's opinions.

--Saito-san, do you also feel that "everyone builds the project from scratch" in the meetings?

Saito: Yes, I do. However, between me and Jumonji-sensei, I give my opinion without hesitation. ......

Jumonji Saito san and I sometimes have rather heated discussions, so at first I might think, "Aren't these two really fighting?　Maybe they don't get along?" (laugh).

Saito: We still say to each other, "I don't agree with that. We think it is a normal exchange between us (laughs).

(laughs). We are working on the story like a weekly manga series, making several episodes at a time.

--Saito: There are a lot of characters in the story, and each of them seems to have its own foreshadowing.

Saito: The four main characters are Maurya, Free, Veronica, and Wolfrun, and although it is not a ...... that features all the characters, I had to pick up the backbones of the other characters, so the flow of the story from the middle part was quite difficult. I had a lot of trouble figuring out the flow of the story from the middle of the book. There were quite a few episodes that I finished writing but unfortunately had to put them on hold because I had a more interesting idea.

Jumonji: I am not the type of person who thinks about the development of the story and the movements of the characters ahead of time when I write novels. ...... Is that not a good idea for an anime script?

Saito: That's right. The most common way might be for the series director to create the general flow of the story before the first draft of the scenario. However, in this case, I had an ending in mind, "This is what the final episode will be like," and I proceeded by using the method ......, where I thought of an episode for roughly every three episodes.

Jumonji: It's like a weekly manga series.

Saito: In an original work where the future is unpredictable, there is no point in saving such interesting episodes for later, so I still work on developing the story in a way that will be interesting to the audience, while gradually tweaking the character settings.

--What kind of communication takes place during postrecording?

Jumonji: I really like watching the voice actors perform, and I would love to be there, but I live in Hokkaido, so it is difficult for me to go to the scene. However, there are many staff members, including director Kenichi Suzuki, who know a lot about anime production, so I leave everything to them.

Saito: "Fairy gone Fairy Gone" was created as a joint work, so I feel that each of us has a place where we can play an active role. I also go to the recording studio, but I rarely communicate directly with the voice actors. I give my opinions to Director Suzuki and Sound Director Hitoshi Akutagawa, who then directs the voice actors.

What I want the voice actors to keep in mind is the difference in tension between battle scenes and everyday scenes. For example, Maurya has a dark past and is called "the child of misfortune," but I want her character to be cheerful at the core of her personality, not dark.

Personally, I find it very interesting that all the fairy scientists talk like bad guys (laughs).

Jumonji: I can't go into details because it would be a spoiler, but there are a lot of characters who have an impact, so I hope you look forward to that as well.

--Speaking of characters, the illustrations of fairies are also unique, aren't they?

Jumonji: The illustrations drawn by Haruya Nakata, the character designer and fairy designer, are difficult to describe in words. I think it is a one-of-a-kind design that only Mr. Nakata can draw.

Saito: When we place an order, Director Suzuki gives us reference materials and textual information such as "this fairy has this kind of atmosphere and this kind of ability," but when Mr. Nakata cooks it up, it comes out looking different from what we imagined. ....

Jumonji: I think Mr. Nakata has some kind of special "black box" that he uses to output the information, and that is how such amazing pictures are created.

Saito: The battle scenes, in which fairies also play an active role, are full of realism while also making use of CG!

--The theme song and music for this work is sung and produced by (K)NoW_NAME.

Saito: "Fairy gone Fairy Gone" is a dynamic work, so we wanted to liven it up with music and give it a sense of entertainment.

The music is produced by K)NoW_NAME to powerfully support the production with songs that suit each scene, such as symphonic music for intense battles, rock music for one-on-one battles, and ...... for scenes that make you cry. I call it the image of a Hollywood movie. I want to make the audience feel as if they are in a Hollywood movie.

--As you mentioned, the story itself is easy to get into.

Saito: The word "fantasy" may make some people feel uncomfortable, but I think it would be better if you can get an image of a "detective story" in which Maurya and Free fight as buddies in a setting inspired by Europe in the early 1900s.

As Jumonji Saito-san said, we hope that the audience will genuinely enjoy the story and be excited by the fact that something happens in every episode.

--Lastly, what are the highlights of the film?

Saito: "In a world where nine years have passed since the great war that engulfed the whole continent, how will the people who have been injured in various ways face the present? I hope you will enjoy watching the characters fight against each other's beliefs, while having the major axis of the story, "How will the people who have been injured in various ways face the present?

Jumonji: Just as when I write a novel, I am very careful in how I depict each character, and many of the characters in this work have experienced setbacks in their lives. I would be happy if you can empathize with their way of life.

(Interview and text by Atsushi Saeki)