Even in short animation, the length of the dialogue is kept to a minimum and a "relaxed" feeling is emphasized! --Interview with Masato Jimbo, Director and Mutsumi Ito, Series Composition of "Heya Can △

Heya Can△" is a short animation series that originated from the TV anime "Yuru Can△" and has been airing on AT-X, TOKYO MX, BS11, and other TV stations since January 2020. It is an original story that takes you to the famous sights and attractions of Yamanashi, while maintaining the atmosphere of the popular "YuruCan△" series.

How was this work created, and what was the focus in the short time it took to make it?　We interviewed director Masato Jimbo and series writer Mutsumi Ito about the production of "Heya Can△" and the points they were conscious of, as well as the first season of the previous TV anime "Yuru Can△".

Film scoring was adopted for the accompaniment, valuing seamlessness.

--I heard that you did a lot of location scouting for "Heya Can△" beforehand.

Jimbo: Yes. I went to all the places Nadeshiko and her friends visit in the film. It is a winter story, so I really wanted to experience it in winter, but the time of year was too harsh, so we went in summer. It was so hot (laughs).

Ito: I was not able to visit all of them, but I did go to Mt.

Jimbo I remember Mt. Kachikachi because it was just after it had rained and it was very beautiful. Fuji in my private life, so I was able to see many beautiful places through my work.

--The story is about the "Nashikko Stamp Rally," which takes you out of your room to visit famous places. How did you decide on this content?

Jimbo: There was a plan to adapt the comic book version of "Heyacan△" as is, but we wanted to have a consistent axis for the weekly TV series. We thought about what Nadeshiko, Chiaki, and Aoi would do if they were to create a drama together, and we decided to go on a tour (of famous places).

Ito: Using the base composition plan as a springboard, we all discussed it together and decided to put it all together around the "stamp rally" axis.

--After the direction was decided, what were the particular points you focused on in the actual production?

Ito: Since it is a short animation, rather than trying to convey a strong message, we hoped that the content would be funny and cute, and that viewers would be relieved to see it. I wanted to do what I could within that context, without wavering from the axis of "heartwarming and cute.

Jimbo: "Seamless" was important. （The story doesn't have a length of 3 minutes (excluding commercials), so I wanted the audience to feel as if they were listening to a 3-minute piece of music. For this reason, we ordered film scoring for the accompaniment. I believe the synergy of these two methods allowed us to create a seamless three-minute video.

--The music was composed by Akiko Tateyama, who is also in charge of "Yuru Can△," so he is well versed in the world view.

Jimbo: This time, the situation changes with each episode, so the music is newly written to match the scenery and the story each time. In the past, we would order 30 to 40 songs for a TV series and then fit them in with the images, but with film scoring, we were able to match the flow of the images and the story. I think it's a great feeling to see the beautiful combination of the music, which the composer himself thought was the right one, and the pictures, which are exactly on the same scale.

--I heard that in "Yuru Can△," you wrote music for each campsite, but this time you did not adapt the music to each location, did you?

Jimbo: That's right. Rather than the location, the songs were made to match the "tension" of the campsite. For example, in episode 5, the music is in the style of an old tale, and they used music for that scene only that would not fit in (with the worldview) if it were not done properly. I asked him to make it gentle so that it wouldn't be too brisk.

--I thought the fantasy in episode 5, which could be called the new "tick-tock mountain" theory, was very "Heyacan-△" like. Was this your idea?

Ito: We all came up with that idea together. During the script meeting, we realized that not everyone remembered the story of Kachikachiyama, and as each of us talked about what we thought of Kachikachiyama, we thought it would be a good idea to mix the two together.

For the first episode, I was really worried about "what is a short animation?" I had a lot of trouble with that.

--What were the difficulties in expressing the relaxed atmosphere that is the charm of "YuruCan△" in 3 minutes of a short animation?

Jimbo: If we didn't have a lot of time, there is a high possibility that we would have made the lines too fast and too tight, but this time, we gave a lot of time to each play and each line. We pushed the limits of what was necessary for the production while eliminating what was not necessary. I think this is important in order not to spoil the relaxed atmosphere that is typical of this work.

--So, you can really feel the atmosphere of "YuruCan△" because it's a "YuruCan△" film.

Jimbo: That's right. （Without the time, the play itself would be rushed.

--Speaking of "YuruCan△," the depiction of food is also excellent, and I feel it has been carried over to this film as well.

Jimbo: I feel that Mutsumi Sasaki, the chief animation director, has a passion for food (laughs). (Laughs.) The food drawings are just line drawings with color, a technique taken over from "Yuru Can△," but it takes an extraordinary inquisitive mind to make them look delicious, so he did his best.

ITOH: Lynn's breakfast jam looked delicious, didn't it?

--It looked really delicious with a lot of jam on it. As for the pictures, the beautiful backgrounds and scenery are also a big attraction.

Jimbo: Background artists participate in location scouting every time, so we don't have to order in detail, but the scenery is shared with them. I am very grateful that the art director is of a high caliber and is able to output the results of his work. The cinematographer was also very particular about the expression of light and color filtering, and I feel that the trend from "Yuru Can△" is still alive in "Heya Can△".

--I was impressed by the fact that the scenery is not deformed too much.

Jimbo: That's the difficult part. If the characters are not deformed, they will not fit in the background, so you have done an exquisite job. When we convert photographic materials into backgrounds, we have to incorporate quite a lot of information, and you did it again this time in a way that is unique to the "Yuru Can△" series.

--Ito-san, when you were writing the script, were you conscious of any points around dialogue?

Ito: Many of the stories in "Heya Can△" are not straight out of the original story, but are developed in a unique way, so I was careful to make sure that the original dialogue did not deviate from the atmosphere of the original story. However, I wasn't conscious of any particular lines, but just made sure that they didn't stick out (in scale) (laughs).

(Laughs) -- What was the most difficult episode or scene to make?

Ito: I would have to say the first episode. The first episode is the one that gives an impression of the direction and the work, so we started with the question, "What is a short animation? and we all agonized and worried about it. The result we finally came up with was a wild boar (laughs).

--(laughs) - boars do talk, don't they?

Ito: I was helped a lot by the fun of the original work. The subsequent episodes were able to follow the format rather well, so the first episode was the best, as I thought about "What is this short animation about? The hardest part was the first episode, where we had to think about "What is this short animation about?

--What is the role of Kyogoku-san, who is the supervisor of this work?

Jimbo: Mr. Kyogoku-san attends the script meetings and comes to the recording and dubbing sessions to tell us what we should not blur in the series and what camp knowledge we do not know. It is really a supervisory role, where Kyogoku-san does not give us orders to do things this way, but rather says, "I'll be watching just in case," or "I'll be by your side. He picks up on details that no one would notice.

The idea for the flying tent came from that jump!

--The theme song "The Sunshower" (lyrics/composition by Eri Sasaki, arrangement by Hiro Nakamura) is sung by both Asakihana and the songwriters, all of whom have been involved with the previous film. Did director Jimbo make any requests?

Jimbo: I only ordered one thing. It is connected to what I mentioned earlier about seamless presentation, but since the song leads directly to the ending within 3 minutes, I wanted the song to start after the entrance with "Jalan♪". That was the only thing I ordered.

--So you think of the theme song as part of the main story, rather than as the main story and the theme song?

Jimbo: That's right. I wanted the song to go with the flow of the main story.

--The two of you were also in charge of storyboarding and directing (Masato Jimbo) and scriptwriting (Mutsumi Ito / episodes 4, 5, 8, 10) for the opening animation of the TV anime "Yuru Can△. What was your impression when you first read the original story?

Ito: I happened to know about "YuruCan△" before I was asked to write the script. I had never been camping, but I was interested in it, so I knew there was such a manga. I thought the pictures were very beautiful and I enjoyed reading it.

Jimbo: When I first read it, I thought the drawings and world view were unique. I felt that Mr. Afuro must be very particular about it.

--When I interviewed Director Kyogoku for "Yuru Can△," he said, "The tent in the opening scene was an idea that Masato Jimbo, the director, came up with after reading the original story. In other words, Director Jimbo was the one who made the tent fly.

The opening scene of the TV anime "Yuru Can△" was also a hot topic, with the tents flying in the sky.

Jimbo: It flies in the original story as well (laughs).

⇒Gather around, camp refugees! Commemorating the end of the broadcast of the TV anime "Yuru Camp △," director Yoshiaki Kyogoku talks about everything in this second interview!

--What was the idea behind the flying tent?

Jimbo: (When making the opening) I was asked not to include a cut where everyone jumps. Other than that, we were allowed to do whatever we wanted.

So, in other works, everyone would reach the campsite at the point where they would jump. We made it a point not to have them jump, but on the contrary, to make the cut where they are on the ground. Then, in the next zone, the tent flies instead, and that's the trick. It's a mysterious idea: "When you step on the ground, the tent flies away" (laughs).

--(laughs) - I had no idea there was a reason for that. All of the episodes you wrote were wonderful, but the response to episode 5 in particular was quite strong.

Ito: Yes, it was. But I think this was more due to the fact that I was able to animate the original work as it was, and also because of the excellent direction.

--Lastly, do you have a message for those who are looking forward to the future development of the story?

ITOH: I hope you will see it through to the end.

Jimbo: We have prepared some unexpected surprises, so I hope you are looking forward to them.

(Interview and text by Kenichi Chiba)