Long interview with Takumi Yokota, animator! (The "inside man" of animation and games No.38)

The 38th installment of writer crepuscular's exclusive interview series features animator Takumi Yokota. Mr. Yokota, a young hope of the animation production company AIC, participated in "Ghoul Reaper", "Strike Witches 2", "Sora no Otoshimono Forte", "R-15", "Ebiten", "Ebisugawa High School Tenmonbu", and other works featuring beautiful girls, and made a name for himself in the field of character design in "Pupipaw! Yokota-san, who first took charge of character design in "Pupipo! After going freelance, he has been active as an original picture and animation director, and is well known among fans as the chief animation director for "Sachi Belly Graffiti" and character designer for "Mitsuboshi Colors". His character design for the new work "Nami yo Kikimete" has presented some unprecedented challenges, and we can't wait for the start of the broadcast in April 2020. In this article, we delve into his career and creative theory, as well as talk about the challenges facing the industry and his aspirations for the future.

Animator is "an easy profession to study as an artist

Mr. Yokota, I would like to start by saying thank you for joining us today. First of all, how long have you been in the animation industry?

Takumi Yokota (Yokota): I joined a production company called ufotable after graduating from college, and switched to drawing about a year later, so it's been 13 to 14 years somehow.

What do you think is the attraction of animation drawing?

Yokota: I learn a lot about drawing. There are many amazingly good animators. Maybe there is still some part of the heart of the fans left in them. I want to draw like him! I want to draw like him! Also, I never get tired of drawing animation. I am basically bored, but I have never felt "I hate my job. Except when I have to work all night long.

Yokota: In addition to the animators, there are specialists in each department in animation production, and some artists seem to feel constrained in this respect. ......

Yokota: I like the fact that I can work with a large group of people. I think that manga and novels are probably the most suitable for expressing 100% of one's own ideas and expressions. When I was in college, I was thinking of becoming a manga artist, and I did a lot of submissions, but the hardest part was that I had to do it all alone and in silence. I was very happy when I finished a piece.

─ What works have influenced you in your creative process?

Yokota: In terms of animation, my childhood memories are of Hayao Miyazaki's works and the early works of GAINAX. When I watched "Nadia" as a child, there were many scary scenes, and the screen clearly left a traumatic impression on me. Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995-96) was also scary. I was the same age as Shinji when it was on the air.

The first time I became aware of being an animator or an original picture was in "Neon Genesis Evangelion The Movie Air/Magokoro wo Kimini ni" (1997), the so-called "Summer Eva". Heavy things look heavy.

Yokota: You uploaded a picture of "Sister Princess - Repure" (2002) on Twitter.

Yokota: I bought the DVD of "Sister Princess" when I was just becoming an animation geek after becoming an animator. I heard that there was an episode with outstanding artwork, and that was the B part of episode 6, for which Yuka Shibata did the storyboard, direction, and art direction. It was unbelievably cute. At that moment, I thought, "This is the cutting edge! and I watched it on repeat endlessly.

How do you feel about the game?

Yokota: "Final Fantasy VI" was released when I was in the 5th or 6th grade of elementary school, and I started drawing pictures after "FFVI. The package was really cool with Yoshitaka Amano's drawings, and I was copying them. When I showed it to my classmates, they praised it, and I have been drawing pictures ever since.

I enjoy drawing "beautiful girls," "atmosphere," "animals," etc.

Yokota: Is there any genre of drawing that you are good at?

Yokota That's a very difficult question. ...... Ideally, an animator should be able to draw anything from "Ghost in the Shell" to "Sazae-san," but what I personally enjoy drawing is "bishojo" (beautiful girls). But the difficult thing about "bishojo" is that it has to be a beautiful girl. The moment it falls apart, everything falls apart, so in that respect, it is easier to draw old men.

I like drawings that can express heavy things in a heavy way. It is the expression of "atmosphere. In "Heidi, Girl of the Alps" (1974), Heidi's cheese looks really delicious with a very small amount of information.

I also like the moment when "animals" are expressed in animation and become cute. Recently, the cat in "March Lion" (2016-18). Animals are hard to control when they are live-action. I heard that the filming of the movie "Antarctic Tales" was quite difficult, so I feel that the ability to control something that cannot be controlled in real life, such as animals, is one of the advantages of animation.

In "Strike Witches the Movie" (2012), there is a scene where Yoshika saves a dog from drowning in a river.

Yokota: That part was not me. I only helped by drawing the tank effects.

Yokota: You drew the effects for the tank?　That's a little surprising.

Yokota Effects are fun too. Effects can be drawn realistically, or you can choose to make them look tacky. In the movie "The Hana to Alice Murder Case" (2015), there is a shot where smoke billows out when the car starts. The form of the smoke is really ugly, but it fits the film perfectly.

Mr. Yokota's old car, "Kawasaki Z900RS

No resistance" to adult-oriented works

In terms of beautiful girls, your Twitter icon is an illustration of a beautiful girl. It has been changed several times, but it seems that many of the characters have relatively fishy eyes. ......

Yokota: I like girls with fishy eyes. I think that is probably due to the influence of Yoshihiro Togashi. In Togashi's works, I copied Princess Saki from "Level E" and so on. I also copied a lot of manga artists such as Sameda Koban and Gironoue Kikaro.

Sameda Koban-san's works include not only general-interest manga such as "Sprite Spiegel" and "The Yuga Who Returned from Another World is the Strongest in the Modern Age! and "The hero who returns from another world is the strongest in the modern age! Do you have any resistance to such adult-oriented works?

Yokota: I have drawn a lot, so I don't have any particular resistance. The company I worked for, AIC, itself had a strong focus on bishojo (beautiful girls). I think there are a lot of animators who have resistance, but I have no resistance at all.

Yokota: Although your work is aimed at a general audience, the third episode of "kiss x sis" (2010), in which you participated as an original artist, contains a sexually explicit scene that makes me wonder why it wasn't rated.

Yokota: I did a scene where Mikazuki licks a chocolate banana he made during a cooking class. This kind of scene is fun to draw because it gets a good reaction from the audience.

Yokota: You also participated in "Ebiten: The Public Ebisugawa High School Tenmonbu" (2012) as an original artist. What kind of cuts were you entrusted with?

Yokota: I did the transformation cut of the Sailor Suit Bishojo Senshi in the second episode, for example.

Yokota: What cuts did you make for "Sequel to the Last Story" (2019)?

Yokota: The scene in episode 3 where Nadeko gulps down a Coke to the narration by Koyomi. I was asked to draw Nadeko's weirdness, so I did it. I like drawing strange things.

Yokota: For example, the scene where Nadeko takes off her tights.

Yokota: For example, I would love to do a scene where Nadeko takes off her tights, even though it is very difficult to do. I am also willing to do dance scenes.

Yokota: There were many unusual movements in the ending of "Kosaburo Graffiti" (2015). Like the cut of "Tako Tako Wiener" where Kirin moves her hands in an undulating motion.

Yokota: I drew that part under my supervision. Yuki Yase asked me to make the movements look like an octopus, and I don't know how I came up with that, but Yase was pleased with it, so I thought it was OK.

Three things I keep in mind when designing characters

Yokota: What are the three things you keep in mind when designing the characters?

Yokota: There are three things that I keep in mind when designing characters: First, "the characters should be convincing to fans of the original work," second, "they should be easy to draw as animation," and third, "the character designs should be appealing on their own.

My ideal animation design is that of Takahiro Kishida, the character designer of "Puella Magi Madoka Magica" (2011) and other works. I like that Mr. Kishida's designs make me want to draw when I see them. Whenever I do my own character design, I always think about how I wish I could do it like that. The road is too steep.

Yokota: Are you involved in deciding the colors?

Yokota: I attend every meeting. Ideally, I would like to control everything, even the colors. Actually, I used to work as an illustrator under a different name, and I am used to controlling the colors by myself.

Designers such as "Pupidpaw! and "Listen to Me, Wave" as a designer.

What was your first character design? (2013-14)?

Yokota: Yes. I was a fan of Mr. Rensuke Oshikiri, so I was very happy to be able to work with him. It was my first character design and my schedule was tight, but I tried to do it well without losing the feel of Oshikiri-san's drawings.

What are your impressions when you look back on it?

Yokota: Oshikiri-san's pictures are close to my own original pictures, so I was not stressed when I was drawing them. Oshikiri-san also said that cute girls basically have fish eyes. Also, we are of the same generation, so it was easy to talk with him. We also play the same games. I hope we can work together again somewhere. Also, the most fortunate thing about this work was that all of the animation staff were wonderful. I just did a search for the people who participated in this project, and found that they are all amazing people.

Yokota: Are you aware of the latest trends?

Yokota: I am always aware of the latest designs. When I see the latest anime and think, "This is the new style! I try to incorporate them into my work.

Yokota: The costumes in "Mitsuboshi Colors" (2018) were also very stylish.

Yokota: The original author, Katsuo-san, was very careful in this area, so for "Mitsuboshi" I left everything to Mebachi-san, who is good at fashion. Animation is a group effort, so I think it's important to let those who are good at what they do do what they do best.

May I also ask you about the design of "Nami yo Kikimete" (Listen to Me, You Wave), which is scheduled to air in April 2020?

Yokota: The original author, Hiroaki Samura, is incredibly good at drawing. So it is very difficult for me to become good at drawing as well. Also, Mr. Samura has a sophisticated way of using black and white lines, and there are many touches in the original work. I had a lot of trouble deciding whether to use lines or shadows.