Mr. Asakusa is a "0," Mr. Kanamori is a "□," and Mr. Mizusaki is a "-" - TV Anime "Don't Mess with the Visual Image Laboratory! Commemorating the broadcast, an interview with the original author, Sumihito Odo

The TV animation "Don't Mess with the Video Lab! will be broadcast on NHK General from January 5, 2020 (Sunday).

This work is based on the comic series "Monthly! Spirits" (Shogakukan). (Shogakukan). The three high school girls, Midori Asakusa, who is full of imagination and skilled at creating settings, Sayaka Kanamori, who loves to make money, and Tsubame Mizusaki, a young lady and charismatic reader model who aspires to become an animator, create their "strongest world" through animation production.

This is the debut work of the original author, Sumihito Daido, who continues to attract readers with her original style, including her unique worldview, visual artwork, and elaborate settings that appear in the work. In this issue, we asked Mr. Daido to talk about the anime "Don't Mess with the Image Laboratory! from the viewpoint of the original author.

─ ─ How did you feel when you heard about the anime adaptation?

Daido: Director Masaaki Yuasa will be directing the anime. I had already seen his works such as "Yonjohan Shinwa Taikei" and "Kaiba," and I thought he was an excellent director and animator, as he has also worked as an animator on "Crayon Shin-chan" and other works. So I thought "that" director Yuasa was going to create his own work, and I could tell from his reaction that this was a long-awaited combination for his fans. So I was surprised and at the same time convinced of victory (laughs).

─ ─ Mr. Daido, who has a deep knowledge of animation production, could you tell us about the TV animation production site from your point of view and how you collaborated with Director Yuasa and others on the site?

Daido: I don't have many friends, and I didn't have many friends with whom I could talk about animation, but even so, I had heard that it was very troublesome when the production site stopped because the original creator interfered with the production site. I have complete trust in Director Yuasa and the company Science SARU, so I wanted them to do whatever they wanted on site. It was perfectly acceptable to ignore the original work to a great extent. We did not interfere in any way, and our stance was that if someone asked us a question, we would respond with a hundred answers. As a result, Science SARU asked me a lot of questions, so now I feel like I am a member of the production team and we are working together.

─ What kind of things did the production side of the animation want to know?

Daido: The structure of the PDT (personal defense tank) that appears in the work, and the location of each scene. I didn't draw them in detail in the manga, but I thought there might be more details hidden in the manga.　I often ask the client to delve deeper into areas that they feel are not detailed in the manga, and then respond to their questions. There were also questions trying to get nuances and details, such as whether a delusional scene was just a delusion or had more meaning than that. Is the cloth that Mizusaki (the swallow) is riding on in the scene a flying carpet or is it like a cloth tied to an airship? Is it fluttering or is it a solid foothold? It was very interesting to see what they wanted to express through the questions they asked.

─ While you left everything to us, were there any particular points you wanted to emphasize or requested?

Daido: This is a story from when I first met Director Yuasa, but if the title of the film was "Don't Mess with the Visual Effects Lab! I told him that as long as the title was "Don't mess with the Film Study Group," it would be fine if the main characters were different. I think there are things like budgets that can be brought in for projects with original works, so I think it's fine as long as it makes the project more enjoyable for the filmmakers. If you look at it from a meta perspective, I think that is also a case of "stay out of the video lab! I was quite serious about it. That's how much I was willing to leave it to Director Yuasa and look forward to his new animated film.

─ What was the inspiration or motif behind the title "Don't Mess with the Visual Effects Research Center! was there any particular motif or motif that inspired the title "Don't mess with the Visual Image Laboratory!

Daido: I wanted the title to have the flavor of old movies such as "Dial M," "Take a Northwestern Course," and "We Have No Tomorrows. There was also a movie called "Don't Touch the Cash. As I thought about it, I came up with "Don't Mess with the Visual Effects Research Institute! I think that's how it came to be.

─ ─ What was your impression when you saw the animated film?

Daido: Actually, I haven't seen the finished video yet (*interview will be conducted in the fall of 2019), so I can only give you my impression of what I saw during the post recording. There are some elements that are original to the anime, and those scenes will be new footage that I myself will see for the first time, so they are impressive. The scene where Asakusa, Mizusaki, and Kanamori run away from the men in black was very funny, and we recorded their voices in various patterns, but each time I laughed again and again. As a viewer, I was hoping to see something like that, so I was able to watch it with a fresh perspective, even though I am the author of the original story.

─ What did you think of the voice actors' performances?

Daido: I can only say that they are top-notch. I realized once again that I am the type of person who is moved when I feel that the other person's work is professional. When I was making independent films as a student, I was also acting, but I didn't have a mentor. When I saw the finished film I made, I thought the acting was different. When I saw the professional performances, I was impressed by how different even the intonation was, and how they used different techniques, from realistic to comical, and so on. I thought that animation is something that is enhanced and complemented by the combination of the animation and the voice acting.

───Can you tell us about how you have been creating your works?

Daido: I started drawing illustrations when I was in the upper grades of elementary school. My older sister had been drawing pictures since she was a child, so I think I was influenced by her. My parents also drew pictures as a hobby. When I entered junior high school, one wave of otaku culture, such as "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya" and "Lucky Star," had arrived, and Flash animation was at its peak on the Internet at the same time. I drew a few gif animations, which was my first experience of creating something visual. After that, I got more into animation (as a fan) and mainly drew illustrations as a form of expression, but I always wanted to make animation myself. When I was in high school, I heard a rumor that the film club made animated films, so I joined the club, but I never actually made any (laughs). However, that is when I became interested in video as well; GoPros (wearable cameras) came out and there were some really cool videos on YouTube and such, so I studied camera work and other things and practiced them in the film club. As an extension of those days, I now try to express how to make a single picture look like a video.

─ I have the impression that Science SARU also uses FLASH effectively, but what do you think from your point of view?

Daido: I have a strong impression that Science SARU uses a hybrid approach. I think that until now, FLASH has had the image of a simple animation production, in which a fixed shape is moved in a pseudo manner, but I feel that this is not necessarily the case. Whenever I see such expressions, I regret why I dropped out of FLASH so soon after my first experience with it (laugh). I am also interested in the reason why and how Science SARU uses FLASH, and I hope that the audience will be interested in this aspect through this work.

──Do you have any inspirations or influences from the production of animation?

Daido: I think my drawings have improved (laughs). (Laughs.) In animation, you have to eliminate blurring as much as possible, and you also have to unify the design. When I look at the finished character designs, I still think they are skillful! I think, "Wow, he's really good! When I see a picture that is composed of the same elements I drew, but is several steps better than my own, I can see what the difference is. If it were not my own character, I would just say, "Wow, that's good, that's good," but I can see what I am lacking and discover how I could have changed it. This directly leads to the improvement of my own skills, which is a unique benefit of being an original manga artist. On the other hand, when I was drawing "Eiken," I tried not to think about how easy it would be to draw in anime. I try to include elements that I think would be impossible to visualize in anime. I also include things that would be difficult to depict in an anime, such as the financial aspects of production (laughs).

──It is also symbolic that among the three main characters, there is Kanamori, who is skilled in money matters. Can you tell us how you created the balance among the three main characters?

Daito: I was almost new to the process of creating characters, so I consulted with the editor in charge of the project as I worked. Mizusaki's character of a young lady was also created while discussing the importance of characterization. When creating the characters, I was conscious of the need to have characteristics that could be recognized at a glance, both in their appearance, inside and background. We started with the image of Mr. Asakusa as 0, Mr. Kanamori as □, and Mr. Mizusaki as △. In terms of personality, one of them is a small-minded person, which I thought would be the main character. This reflects my own petty-mindedness. As for Mr. Kanamori, I thought it was important for him to keep track of money!　Without someone who could act as a producer, I felt that the students would be stuck within their own framework. In order to create something beyond that, I thought that we definitely needed someone who could see the reality. Since the two producers up to this point have been so strange, Mr. Mizusaki is the one who brings us back to a different reality and social relationship with them.

─ ─ The characterization part of the project was to expand on the young lady element.

Daido: Yes, that's right. But I didn't want to make the young lady element seem unrealistic. Although she is rich, she does not necessarily have to have the character of a rich person. I wanted to depict the kind of girl Mizusaki is, whether she comes from a rich family or not.

─ ─ Shibahama High School, where the story takes place, is also unique, with a powerful student council, performances in which students compete for a share of the budget, and a high degree of freedom in club activities.

Daido: I think this is due to my own admiration for the university. I think it is the best place for students to be able to do whatever they want to do, and I want students to be free to do whatever they want to do, which is why the school is the way it is. We also wanted to create a space that is dungeon-like and can capture a wide variety of things.

───What were your own student days like in terms of freedom and inconvenience?

Daido: I went to a correspondence high school, but I often went to school for schooling. There were people from 15 to over 60 years old, there was a Japanese curriculum for foreigners, and childcare was available on campus. The standard was low, but there were people who were so smart that I wondered why they were in this school, and some of them were aiming to become doctors. There were people who wanted to master ballet, and so on. There were so many different kinds of people, and that kind of diversity may have been included in my work.

─ I heard that you also created the ending video for this project.

Daido: Since the production time was limited this time, I created the ending image with the image of what I thought was important in terms of animation, and what it would look like if an amateur (animator) had done it. I think the quality of animation created by a professional is complete, so I wanted to show how the images created by the original creator would fit in. I provided the rough drafts as well as the final drafts, so I am looking forward to seeing how they will turn out as images.

─ ─ It is interesting that you, who have been incorporating image production techniques into manga, are now creating animation images from the standpoint of a manga artist and original author.

Daido That's right. I thought I would never become a commercial animator, and I started drawing manga because I thought I would never be able to make animation in terms of time and work. As a result, I am now drawing animation for the ending of a commercial work, which I think is a tremendous detour (laughs). I am very happy about it.

─ ─ Finally, do you have a message for your fans?

Daido: I know that this work will definitely be a good one. Wait and see! I guess.