The girls' heated battles and drama depicted through deformed robots are the focus of attention! Interview with Takayuki Nagatani, P of "Granbellum," a new anime that will be the talk of the town this summer!

The anime "Granbellum" will air in July 2019. This unique work, in which girls fight on deformed robots called "Almanox," has attracted the attention of many anime fans.

The staff working on this work includes Watanabe Masashi, director of "Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu" and character designer Otsuka Shinichiro. The animation is produced by Nexus, the animation studio that worked with Watanabe on the "Wakaba*Girl" animation series. series, "Hibike! Euphonium" series and "Wakaba*Girl.

The cast also includes popular voice actors such as Miyuri Shimabukuro, who plays the main character, Mitsutsuki Kohinata, and Atsumi Tanezaki, who plays the role of Ernesta Fukami, the new moon.

We interviewed Mr. Takayuki Nagatani (infinite), the producer of this work. We asked him about his love for the anime he has seen and his passion for the work. We would like you to feel his love for the anime he has seen and his passion for the work.

Hand-drawn deformed robot action with the staff's best efforts!

─ ─ "Granbellum" is an anime about deformed robots, which is rare these days.

Nagatani: Deformed robots have a kind of deformed character, and we believe that the character's own personality (who controls the robot) is projected onto the robot. In so-called robot anime, most robots are tactical weapons that are independent of the characters, but I think that by deforming the robot, the character that is shared by the pilot can be incorporated into the robot. From the very beginning of the project, we had the idea that we could create a robot that viewers would become more attached to.

In the past, we had "Wataru: The Legend of the Magus Heroes," "Ryuunite" and "Grand Zoth," and in the 2000s we had "SD Gundam Force," "Medarotto" and "Danboru Senki," but for the past 10 years or so, those were all kind of thin on the ground. I launched this project because I wondered if there were still creators in the industry who felt the same way.

─ How did you decide on Nexus as the production company?

Nagatani When we first spoke with Nexus, it was the first time we had worked together, so we first asked them, "What kind of project do you want to do? I asked them what they wanted to do, and they came up with a project just like "Granbellum," so I immediately said, "Let's do it! I just took it upon myself to make it a mission.

It was just my own sense of mission, but I felt that we had to do it now. I felt that if I didn't do it now, I would never be able to do it again. In particular, I had decided at the beginning to hand-draw the robot depiction for this project, but I wondered if I would ever be able to meet a studio again in my future career as a producer that would want to do it by hand-drawing, or that would be willing to do it for me. If that was what they wanted, I felt that this was the work that I should decide on now, and that was the deciding factor for this project.

─ ─ Did you fear that if you did not make a work in this genre now, the lineage would be cut off?

Nagatani Yes, that's right. There may be a time in the future when someone will remember and do another work in this genre, but by then, hand-drawn robot animation itself may have become a lost technology. I am 41 years old now, and if I am wrong, by the time I am in a coffin, people may say, "I heard that animation used to be hand-drawn in the old days. Under such circumstances, I understand that there are advantages to both hand-drawn and 3D animation, and if I can pass on to the young people of today what I have gained and felt through my childhood contact with animation, I would like to do so. My sense of mission was not so much to decide on this project for the field, but rather to create this kind of work at the beginning of the new era of 2025, so that I could leave something behind in the animation industry. That was my sense of mission.

──I think that depicting the action of a hand-drawn robot is a very calorie-intensive task, but was the burden somewhat reduced by using deformed robots?

Nagatani I thought it would be somewhat easier because the number of lines would be reduced, but it seems that this is not necessarily the case. For example, in scenes where mechas collide with each other, it seems that the full body of the robot is more packed than that of a normal robot with a realistic head, making it difficult for them to interact with each other. I also understand that there are scenes that can be drawn only with deformation, but there are also restrictions.

So, in that sense, there may have been a concentration of calories on those with specific skills.

─ ─ What are your impressions of the actual finished video?

Nagatani First of all, the basic premise is that all 13 episodes have already been completed, and I myself have already seen all of them. After that, my impression is that you have created a work that is considerably over-spec. Of course, we want the work to be of high quality, but we hope that the creators and staff at the site will do their best to make it cost-effective within the budget. Thanks to the creators and the onsite staff who put a lot of effort into this project, we have received images that show that they took on a more difficult challenge, and I think it must have been more difficult than I had expected, but the result is wonderful.

─ ─ From the very first episode, I was overwhelmed by the very powerful depiction of the mechanisms and the direction.

Nagatani: This time, we had Director Masaharu Watanabe, Juki Hanada, Jimmy Stone (mecha designer), Nakamura-san from Nexus, and myself, 5 of us. In a genre like this, it is very easy for the feelings and preferences of each person to emerge. Mr. Hanada is in charge of the script, but the director is also relentless, so he is in charge of directing and storyboarding, saying, "This is what I want to make," so in a good sense, he can do whatever he wants.

The first episode has about 12,000 to 3,000 drawings, but by using that many drawings, I got the impression that the director was very particular about what he wanted to do as an animation and the depth of information he wanted to convey.

─ Regarding the staff, the tag team of the director and character designer Shinichiro Otsuka, who worked on "Re: Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu" (hereafter, Re: Zero), is also attracting attention.

Nagatani That part is difficult, but it was Nexus that first invited Mr. Watanabe. I guess we had a good chemistry when we worked on "Wakaba*Girl" before. Nexus was involved in the production of each episode of "Re:Zero" as well, so I think they felt it was easy to work together. And it was Director Watanabe who said he wanted to invite Shinichiro Otsuka. The director thought that Mr. Otsuka's drawings would fit well with the soft and fluffy worldview of the magical girl story at first glance, so he asked him to join us. So, as a result, the "Re:Zero" staff was reunited.

─ So, you say that this is what happens when you gather the best talent from each staff member based on their past experience.

Nagatani That's right. After talking with Mr. Hanada onsite, we came to the conclusion that we wanted him to participate, and Mr. Jimmy was introduced to us by Nexus. In this sense, rather than saying, "Let's choose the right people for this market," we decided on the people we wanted based on the idea that "the people who like this kind of work and put their heart and soul into it are the best people to work at the site.

───What was the atmosphere like at the meetings?

Nagatani: In the first meeting, we started with a thought-provoking survey, asking "What kind of robot animation do you like? For example, if it was a 70's anime, the market at the time was like this, and if it was an 80's anime, it was like this, etc. We also discussed what kind of year 2019 would be.

──I have the strong impression that Director Watanabe is an action-oriented director and animator, but was he chosen for this work based on his track record?

Nagatani It is true that looking at his career alone, it seems that he is an action-oriented director, but my own impression is that Watanabe is more of a drama person. For example, if I had to choose between a very bright film and a dark film, I would probably choose the dark film. However, the director has his own beliefs about the visuals, and it is not just that dark is good, but that there is something to be depicted in the work, and the animated pictures used to depict it must not lose out. I felt that the director's approach was to emphasize the action of the characters, which is what I felt when I worked with him on site. In the first episode, the director also directed and storyboarded the story, and in the story, he considered the paradox of how to show the main character, a girl named Mitsuzuki, in light of the drama to come. The story is designed to make the audience feel emotionally involved in the drama of the girl named Mitsuki as much as possible, and I have the impression that the director thinks it is necessary to make the picture power stand up even more than that.

Mecha Design Reflects Character Personalities

─ ─ In this work, there are seven heroines, and these girls are engaged in a battle royal.

Nagatani: If you watch the first episode, you can see that there are some factions, so I hope you can get a sense of that as you watch the film, but all of the characters act with a certain policy or belief. I thought that with seven heroines, there would be some overlap between them, but I was able to subdivide them well. I thought that with seven heroines, there would be some overlap, but I was able to subdivide them well, and each has its own story to tell.

─ ─ The human drama is also a highlight of this work, in addition to the robot anime-style battles, isn't it?

Nagatani That's right. I have always loved robot animation, but when I worked on "Granbellum" this time, the amount of knowledge and passion that the director, Mr. Hanada, and Jimmy-san put into it was so great that I would be embarrassed to say that I had grown up with it. Perhaps it is because of the difference in the occupations of creators and producers, but the way they put together what to show in order to draw you into the world was amazing. The viewers may feel differently about what happens in the first episode and what happens in the second episode than what we are aiming for, but the balance and balance of the various aspects of the story is not simply robot action. I think the charm of this work lies in the way it has such a profound drama, and yet it is backed up by such high-calorie artwork.

For example, it would be possible to make a good-punishment story in which a righteous robot defeats a wicked robot. But this time, it is not in that way. The two sides are fighting for each other's righteousness, and I think it has a good balance whether you cut it out as a robot animation or as an animation with the characters in the foreground. Watching several episodes in a row, you get the impression that you are watching a different work last week and this week. However, I have the impression that they are all integrated within the "Granbellum" worldview.

─ By deforming the robots, do you think that you can use the characterization as a hook and enjoy it from both sides, from the character and from the mechanical side?

Nagatani That's right. At first, I also started from the outside, as a deformed robot animation. I think that was probably the intention of the production staff as well. However, as the story progressed, I began to feel that I was able to create this work because of the deformed body shape of Almanox. I think this was the right decision because of the relationship between the characters and Almanox.

──I think that if this were a realistic life form, the work would have had a very different impression.

Nagatani This is something that came up quite early on, but the fact that an artificially created robot has heavy weapons means that it is a "weapon. So, what is taking place in "Granbellum" is war, isn't it? And.

No, it is not. I want it to be something it is not. In a special space, only special people are riding robots and fighting a kind of turf war, but they are fighting over something different from what we imagine when we hear the word "war.

If the mechanical design of this work had been more realistic, I think the content would have been more like that (a war story).

───Do you feel that you were able to get it to fit into the right place?

Nagatani With an original work, you never really know how it will turn out until it is completed, and no matter how much we say we want to make something like this, we don't always know until the final editing is done and we have the footage in our hands. In that respect, this time, there were various chemical reactions and I could honestly say that it turned out better than what I had somehow imagined from the scenario and the storyboards.

─ ─ In terms of direction, I don't know where to go with this, but you can read more about it at ....... I enjoyed watching it because of the traditional robot animation style direction and expressions that are a bit nostalgic today.

Nagatani (laughs). (Laughs) Like the cut-ins of the characters' faces in the wipes.

─ ─ I felt that homage to such robot anime direction in many places.

Nagatani Sometimes, when someone says something like that, it stimulates discussion in various places, and the recent screening was attended by anime fans of all ages. I think there are things that can be noticed in that range of people. It would be great if we could unravel the past of robot animation, such as "I miss this direction," or "This is the meaning of this part," and I would like you to communicate various things. For example, if young people are exposed to some of these works, it would be good for the animation market as a whole, and the more the hashtag "Granbellum" is used to spread the word, the more beneficial it would be for the works.

We have to think about what we can do this time within the framework of what our predecessors have assembled. I think that in this sense, we were able to pick up a lot of good things this time around.

I want people from all walks of life to see the film, including how the old production would look like if it were made with today's technology. I want the people who made the things we liked back then to watch it,

To be honest, making cut-ins simply increases the amount of drawings in a scene. Some people tend to shy away from it, but we are prepared to not run away from it. In the future, perhaps we will see more productions that we don't see much of today.

Casting in Sync with the Characters

───This film has a large cast, but how were they chosen?

Nagatani: I think the audition process went very smoothly. What we were looking for in the cast was whether the voices of the seven main characters would be convincing. For example, Full Moon would be soft, but when she had to do something, she would do it, and New Moon would be sharp, but also persuasive as the leader of the story. Nene has a soothing mascot-like voice, but also a voice that adds persuasive power. I think we were able to strike a good balance.

─ I have the impression that the cast is well-balanced between relatively young and middle-class actors.

Nagatani That's right. This time, we had a wide range of auditions, and as a result of the flat approach we took, we were able to solidify a good group of people.

─ Miyuri Shimabukuro Miyuri, who plays the main character, Mitsutsuki Kohinata, has a soft, floating voice, but at the same time, her voice has a certain core to it.

Nagatani Yes, yes. First of all, as the main character, I had to use my voice, but I also had to be able to express the ups and downs of emotions, as the character's facial expressions change from one moment to the next. I asked Mr. Shimabukuro to give a natural performance with a downcast feeling, as if he felt he could do nothing on his own, while at the same time being able to express such a sense of balance. She herself is a very bright person, but depending on how she speaks, her voice has a shadowy quality to it, and I think the gap between when she is bright and when her voice is strained is also very characteristic of Mangetsu.

─ What about Atsumi Tanesaki, who plays the role of Ernesta Fukami?

Nagatani: She is an older sister, but as you can see in the second episode, she is a character who is somewhat out of her element. On the other hand, she also carries the worldview of this "Granbellum" work on her shoulders, so I wanted her core and her policies to be supported by the dignified quality of her voice. When that happened, I think it was immediately decided, "Let's choose Ms. Tanazaki for the new moon.

I mean this as a compliment, but Ms. Tanesaki is a wonder-chan (laughs). (Laughs.) It may not be the case that the new moon and Mr. Tanesaki's own image are linked, but when he starts acting, I think, "Ah, that's it. I think this is the power of a professional.

─ I have the impression that Anna's faction is made up of relatively experienced people, including Yoko Hikasa.

Nagatani It just happened that way. However, Ms. Hikasa was Anna herself. I mean that as a compliment. From the very first episode, there is a sense of madness about Anna, and you played the role as if you were the character. Ms. Hikasa is usually a very gentle person. But when she becomes insane, I can imagine that she would probably become like Anna (laughs), and I was glad to see the overlap between the two.

Yurika Kubo, who plays Nene, is also a character in her own right. I think it was a good casting choice, including the fact that she leads the talk at events.

─ ─ Personally, I am very interested in what will happen to Rosa, played by Chinatsu Akasaki.

Nagatani At first glance, Rosa seems to be Anna's lackey, but she is a character who fights with her own sense of justice. However, rather than what Rosa is fighting for, I would say that all the girls fighting on the Almanox in this film, although they say "it is not a war," there is always an ending because they are fighting, so I would like the audience to watch that part of the drama carefully. In that sense, Rosa is the first character to embody this.

As a formula, I would like to ask you who your favorite character is after you have seen the film to the end. For example, Anna, for example, has a strong impact and leaves a lasting impression, but you may say that it was this character who made an emotional impact on you, and the impression you get when you watch the first episode and the last part of the show may be completely different. In that sense, I feel that even though it is a one-cour anime, I have tried to include everything that I could.

By the way, if you ask me which character I would like to have as my girlfriend, it would be Nene! (Laughs)

─ ─ Nene's family is quite unique, isn't it?

Nagatani: I feel that those children are "living in the present. Since they are participating in the battle, they are bound by something and carrying on the family lineage, but what they are doing with their younger sisters is adapting to modern society, so in that sense, I think they are the easiest characters to understand.

─ ─ Ning is the only one of the Almanoxes that is different from the others in terms of direction.

Nagatani This was decided on by Jimmy, the mecha designer, who thought it would be good to have a mecha with this shape based on the lineage of various robot anime to date, and decided on the dragon shape. The dragon actually has a different fighting style later on, so I would like you to see that.

─ ─ The synchronization between the individuality of the characters and that of Almanox is also an interesting aspect of this work, isn't it?

Nagatani: In the beginning, when I was thinking about the design, I wasn't really conscious of that, or rather, I made my decision based on my taste in design. However, as I worked on the main series, I strongly felt that Jimmy's mecha design reflected the underlying character characteristics and the environment in which each character was placed. When I think about it, I am glad that Jimmy was the mecha designer.

─ ─ For example, if you have never watched robot anime before or are not very good at it, you may find it easier to watch Almanox if you see it as an extension of the characters.

Nagatani That's right. When people ask me, "Is 'Granbellum' a robot anime? If someone asks, "Is it a character-based work?

If you ask me, "What kind of work is it in the end?" I would like to answer, "That is 'Granbellum. There are many different genres of anime in the world, but I would like you to forget about them for a moment and try "Granbellum" for the first time.

─ When it comes to robot animation, I think that the history of merchandising is also inseparable. Will there be any toy/hobby goods in this work?

Nagatani: At this point, we can't say "this will be released," but of course we would like to do so, and we hope that the committee will actively encourage us to do so. However, with so many animations, I feel that it is difficult to find all the sweet spots in a one-cour broadcast.

That is why we have created something that we hope will attract many companies to watch the first episode. In fact, the production committee has been holding previews for third parties, and we would be happy if they would make good goods after the broadcast, even if they end up being made to order. For my part, I believe that I have created a work that stimulates the creativity of the staff and creators on site, rather than the makers, so I hope that people will watch this work and speak up from all sorts of different angles.

─ So the first episode is also a promotional video.

Nagatani As a result, I think you can see the determination of the production team. For example, from part A to part B, we worked on very high-calorie images. For example, during the storyboarding and scenario stages, we could have made adjustments in this area, or decided to only show the face of this character in the first episode, or something like that, while trying to find the right balance. However, I think that today's users would probably be able to see right through that kind of "wait-and-see" approach. If that is the case, I think it would be better to make a proposal that lets them imagine a future in which they can complete the first 13 episodes.

I hope that this part of the story will be conveyed to as many people as possible. In that sense, the first episode is the signature of the work, and there is no way we would cut corners there.

─ ─ What do you want people to pay attention to in the first episode?

Nagatani First of all, I want people to see the full moon. At the beginning of the first episode, she is trying to fit in by making lunch boxes for the people around her and trying to find her place in the environment. I think that is the main axis of this film. I would like you to see that first. After that, I think the environment surrounding her will reveal the world of "Granbellum".

─ ─ I am looking forward to the future development of this work! Finally, do you have a message for your fans?

Nagatani The film was made by the director and all the onsite staff who fought with all their might until the very end, so please pay attention to that first. I think it is a miracle that we were able to make a film like this in this day and age. That is not to say that I want you to necessarily like this work, but I would like you to actually see it and feel that "there are works in this genre in the world," including your own preferences.

I would also like to encourage people of both sexes, even those who are not normally exposed to mechanical or robotics works, to experience these works. I think it is natural for people to have opinions about whether or not it is interesting, and there will be people who like it and people who dislike it, but if you don't see it, you can't start!

As for the question of whether it is a character-based work, a mecha-based work, or a drama-oriented work, I think it is a work that can be viewed in different ways, so I encourage those who think it may not be their favorite genre to watch it!

─ ─ Thank you very much!