Animation "Mouichipon! Commemorating the End of Broadcast] Interview with Animation Producer Yutaka Omatsu Part 2 ── BAKKEN RECORD's Challenge to Go Back to the Roots of Anime Production

Broadcast from January to March 2023, the popular youth women's judo work, the TV anime "Mouichibon! .

Based on the manga of the same title by Yu Muraoka (serialized in Akita Shoten's "Weekly Shonen Champion" and on the free manga site "Mangacross" from April 2023). The judo scenes depicted by Mr. Muraoka, who has experience in judo, are superb, and the storyline, which depicts the heat and excitement of a match and the preciousness of youth, is also appealing.

The anime was directed by Ken Ogiwara, with Aya Satsuki as series composition and Airi Mukawa as character design.

How was this work created? Akiba Research Institute spoke with the animation producer of this work, Mr. Yutaka Omatsu of BAKKEN RECORD. We hope you will enjoy this interview, which is a continuation of the first part.

Casting was decided based on merit and not on differences of opinion.

--You mentioned teamwork, but the cast is also an important element in the creation of the work and characters. Could you tell us how you decided on the casting of the main cast, the Aoba Nishi High School Judo Club?

Ohmatsu: Regarding casting, there were no particular conditions or restrictions, and we really chose the cast based on their abilities. Moreover, we had Mr. Muraoka participate in the casting process, and the decision was made easily, including him. I am not an expert in the field of voice acting, so I had no idea who was popular and who was not, but the five were chosen based on their abilities, without any differences of opinion.

--What were your impressions of their performances, and what memories do you have of them?

Ohmatsu: Now that I think about it, the main five of us got together for the recording of the first episode. If possible, I would have liked to have done something like idolizing before that. Of course, everyone had great skills, so it was great from the start, but as the episodes progressed, I felt that the cast members became more and more comfortable with each other, just like the characters in the story, and their acting became more and more energetic.

Especially after the Kinwashi-ki (Kinwashi-ki High School Judo Tournament), I really enjoyed the play. The last part of the play requires a strong performance. I was very impressed that all five members did their best without missing a beat in the parts that would otherwise lose their power as a piece.

--I was very impressed by the way all five members did their jobs without missing a single beat.

Ohmatsu: Yes, it was. I got the impression that the characters were an extension of the voice actors themselves. So I got the impression that they were acting naturally, not as if they had "made up their act after a great deal of work. Of course, there must have been some fine-tuning, but I think the recording was done at a good tempo thanks to everyone's efforts.

--I felt that the subtleties of each player's feelings, frustrations, and emotions came out in the Kinwashi-ki competition.

Ohmatsu: I think that episode 6 was the climax for Nagumo, who did not compete in the Kinwashi-ki, but Michi, Sanae, Eien, and Himeno all showed various emotions after entering the Kinwashi-ki, so it was wonderful that they did not miss that part.

-Well, let me ask you about the story as a whole. If you had to pick one episode or scene in the whole story that left a particularly strong impression on you, where would it be?

Ohmatsu: Episode 4. I thought episode 4 would be a benchmark for the series, since it's the first episode where we do judo properly. Also, it was my mistake, but actually the director was changed from the director I had asked for to Director Ogihara halfway through.

--It is true that Director Ogiwara himself directed the fourth episode, isn't it?

Ohmatsu: Director Ogiwara covered my mistakes, and he also corrected the storyboards and did the processing himself. Thankfully, a super animator named Hajime Mitsuda joined us at the same time, and we were able to make a film that was very responsive in terms of the cuts that go around and the depiction of judo.

I remember telling producer Tomoki Ueda, "I can't say it myself, but episode 4 was great. I thought that if we missed it, we wouldn't be able to recover, so I think the fact that we didn't miss the 4th episode sealed the fate of the series, or at least was one of the paths that led to its success.

--I think that the series was doomed, or rather, it was on the road to success.

Ohmatsu: It was great, wasn't it? When you become an adult, you don't want to make up with someone. It's been a long time since I lived my life thinking, "If it doesn't work out, I'll never work with that person again" (laughs). (Laughs.) I honestly thought it was precious to have the feeling of "I want to make up with him! I honestly thought it was very noble of him to say "I want to make up with him!" I also thought it was genius of Muraoka Sensei that he was motivated by this emotion to have a judo match.

Eien and Amane have been through so much, but their desire to make up with each other through this match was just too beautiful. I can't say much about it to the staff, but it was so good that I cried by myself.

--I can't say too much about the staff, but it was so good that I cried myself to sleep.

Ohmatsu: This time I was given the opportunity to work on a film with a strong sense of youth, and although I myself did not have such a bright youth, I felt as if I were reliving it. I felt as if I was reliving my youth, which is very short, energetic, and precious.

I would seriously consider a second season if I were approached.

--What do you think about the final episode?

Ohmatsu: "One more! is about 20 minutes and 20 seconds in length, but the final episode has a special ending with a crushed opening, so the total length is about 20 minutes and 20 seconds plus 3 minutes. Before the content, I wondered if it was possible to do such a thing at the last minute in terms of quantity. It was a big challenge to make a video that was just over 23 minutes long, so I think that was the first major issue we had to address.

--The special ending was also interesting. The ending of the final episode depicts the scene in the original story where everyone went to the beach after the competition.

Ohmatsu It's like an off-shot. The costumes in this work don't change that much, so I wanted to give them something a little different to wear.

--I was also happy that the number of people increased as the number of episodes progressed, although this may not be such an unusual technique when it comes to endings. The opening also started to cut to a five-person version in the middle of the episode.

Ohmatsu: From my point of view, I was thinking that even though the main story was already very difficult, you shouldn't do such a small thing like this (laughs). (laugh) But, surprisingly, everyone was happy with it. I got a taste of it and decided to do it in various animations.

--The production staff knew exactly what they were doing.

Ohmatsu: Pony Canyon came up with the idea for that part, and although it was difficult to draw five additional characters, the ending was well worth the effort.

--The opening and ending are of course original to the anime, but there were no major changes from the original work, nor were there any original anime episodes in this work.

Ohmatsu: I really felt that we borrowed an important original work. I felt that I had to return the original work when it was finished without destroying the image of the original work. In that sense, there were some minor revisions (for the anime adaptation), but I feel a sense of relief and accomplishment that we were able to return what we borrowed without tarnishing it.

--I think we were able to return the borrowed material to the original without tarnishing it, and that's a sense of accomplishment. Personally, I would like to see the continuation of the original work made into an anime, but what do you think about that?

Ohmatsu: To be honest, I can only say that it is not up to me. Animation studios have a fixed schedule for years to come. However, Mr. Ueda of Pony Canyon planned this work, and I agreed to work on it because I resonated with his ideas. Mr. Ueda accompanied me enthusiastically until the very end, and I am very grateful to him. So if there is another opportunity, I would seriously consider it. I read the rest of the story again too, and there are a lot of good episodes. As for the design, since we have created the infrastructure this time, I would like to reorganize things and work on it with a fresh mind when the next opportunity comes along.

BAKKEN RECORD's concept is "digitalization" and "in-house

--I would like to take this opportunity to ask you about BAKKEN RECORD. I understand that it is a new label launched by Tatsunoko Productions.

Ohmatsu Tatsunoko Productions is a great name, and I respect from the bottom of my heart what they have done so far and the ideals of (founder) Mr. Tatsuo Yoshida. Besides, I am from Production I.G., so I have a lot of respect for Mr. Ishikawa (Mitsuhisa Ishikawa, founder of Production I.G. and currently Chairman of the Board and Representative Director. I believe that the DNA of Tatsunoko Productions flows through me as well, considering the fact that Mr. Ishikawa (Mitsuhisa Ishikawa, founder of Production I.G. and currently chairman of the board and non-executive director of Tatsunoko Productions) is also from Tatsunoko Productions.

However, without choosing a word, I felt that we were stagnating as a production studio. And when I wanted to create something with a new vision, I felt that the great Tatsunoko Productions name might be a hindrance. The president of the company at the time recognized my arrogance and said, "You're right, let's do it under a new name," and BAKKEN RECORD was born.

--Please tell us about the concept of the label and what it aims to achieve.

Ohmatsu: There are two things that are important to us. They are "digitization" and "in-house production. These two concepts are important to us as a label.

--What are your reasons for setting these concepts in light of the current state of animation production?

Ohmatsu: I think the way of thinking and methodology in anime production has changed dramatically over the past few years. Compared to a decade ago, anime production has become much more difficult, to the extent that it is no longer unusual for productions to be postponed. Considering this, it would be unrepeatable to "gather freelancers and disband" or "gather freelancers and disband again. In a sense, it is almost an impossible game. Before creating a good product, it is inevitable to go in-house in order to create a proper animation in the first place.

So, although it may be too late to do so, in April of this year, we started hiring all of our in-house animators as employees. We felt that if we were to create truly high-quality products with high reproducibility, we had no choice but to do what Kyoto Animation and ufotable have done. That is why we set up in-house production as one of our major visions.

--Did you make use of this in "Mouichipon! Did you make use of that in "Motto Ippon!

Ohmatsu: Yes, it was. The in-house professionals are still young, but because they are young, they keep growing. I often wondered how well they would develop over the course of the series, and I felt a great sense of responsiveness. I felt that if we work with this team, we will be able to create higher and higher level products, and I think this is the biggest advantage of going in-house.

I want to create great works by working as a team.

--You are aware that the situation of Japanese animation itself in the world has changed from a decade ago, and in that sense, you recognize the necessity of going in-house, don't you?

Ohmatsu Looking back at the history of commercial animation, animators were company employees when Toei Animation Co. Thereafter, there were restructurings and bankruptcies, and from around the 1980s onward, the trend was for everyone to work as freelancers, but I have a sense that I am going back to my ancestors. I myself am very used to freelancers getting together to create, and I find it wonderful, but I have always thought that in the past, production was done through more discussion of various things. By going in-house, we can finally do that.

Animation is something that gets better the more you communicate and share images. Therefore, doing what animation studios did in the 1960s and revamping it in the 2021 era is both an ancestor's return to the past and a refreshing change. I have been working in animation for more than 20 years, but I am very excited about animation production once again.

--When you talked about your work, you used the word "teamwork.

Ohmatsu: Of course, yes. I understand why Kyoto Animation has been able to produce such wonderful works for so long. The team talked about various things and shared detailed information with each other. The fact that we were able to achieve that level of quality is a result of the sense of teamwork. It is not a case of "create a team and then break up" or "create another team and then break up," but rather a case of working with the same team for a long time, and I keenly realize that the length of time accumulated leads to great works. We would like to enhance the sense of teamwork and produce good works.

--I have recently heard a lot of talk on the Internet about how people would like to hear more about what animators have to say. One of them said that animators face the work and characters more than the cast. It seems that by working together as a team, the characters can come to life even more.

Ohmatsu: I think so. (An original animation by BAKKEN RECORD x Pony Canyon featuring five high school girls from a bowling club in Chikuma City, Nagano Prefecture), for which three employees were selected to direct the production team, and regular meetings were held while the storyboards were being drawn. We have regular meetings while the storyboards are being drawn. We hold regular meetings while the storyboards are being drawn, because there are things that we notice while drawing the storyboards and things that we think should be shared. This helps us to better understand the work and its characters, and most importantly, it motivates us. I feel that motivation is also heightened when we talk together. If I let that kind of enthusiasm at the work site burn out if I let it roar too much, I might burn out, but I would like to start the fire early and keep it burning until the delivery of the final episode.

--I want to start the fire early and keep it burning until the delivery of the final episode.

Ohmatsu: Animation is cruel. If you want to cut corners, you can cut as many corners as you want. However, there is a fear that this can be easily conveyed to the viewer. As I said at the beginning, I don't think it is necessary to make animation in a more difficult way than necessary, but there are always parts that must not be skimped on. Whether or not you can do your best depends largely on the mindset of the creator. The creator must enhance that mindset and make sure that the key expressions (by cutting corners) do not become trite. The accumulation of such details makes for a good work, and that is the kind of team I want to build.

--I am sure that "Mouichibon! was a work in which I could feel the love and passion for the work and its characters.

Ohmatsu: It is gratifying to hear you say that, and it makes all the hard work we put into the production worthwhile.

(Interview and text by Kenichi Chiba)