An interview with director Koji Masunari and screenwriter Hideyuki Kurata of the animated film 'Welcome to the Space Show' - how they made a film that 'gives you the same excitement you felt when you first started going to the cinema'
We were able to interview director Koji Masunari and screenwriter Hideyuki Kurata of the anime movie
'Welcome to the Space Show' was a project that they started working on immediately after 'Kamichu!' was finished, and from this work, Besame Mucho and character designer Masashi Ishihama joined the team, making the team a four-person team. As this was the first film for both Director Masunari and Kurata, they were unsure of how to make the film, but they managed to complete a good one. This time, we talked to them about how they made the film, as well as some fun digressions and other topics.
Director Masunari (left) and Mr. Kurata (right, hands only) answered our questions.
Director Masunari Koji received high praise for the 2001 OVA
Hideyuki Kurata worked with Director Masunari on 'ROD -READ OR DIE-', and is also active as an anime series composer, scriptwriter, and author. As of 2010, he is in charge of series composition for the TV anime ' My Little Sister Can't Be This Cute ', and is extremely busy every day.
The interview took place at A-1 Pictures in Asagaya.
GIGAZINE (hereinafter, G):
When 'ROD' ended and 'Kamichu!' was about to begin, Kurata-san, Masunari-san, and Ochikoshi-san each brought in a plan, and Masunari-san's plan was approved, but how did you end up deciding on 'Welcome to the Space Show' as the work?
Director Koji Masunari (hereinafter referred to as Masunari):
Now that 'Kamichu!' has come to an end, I have to decide on my next job! So that's how it went. It was quite natural, and while eating dinner we were talking about 'What should we do next? TV or OVA...', and it seemed like the timing was right to do it in theaters, so I was like 'Shall we do it in theaters?'
Screenwriter Hideyuki Kurata (hereinafter, Kurata):
'Kamichu!' won an award from the Agency for Cultural Affairs (Excellence Award in the Animation Division of the Japan Media Arts Festival), so now we can do it!
Masunari:
We were all exhausted from working on 'ROD,' so we made 'Kamichu!' as a form of rehabilitation, and after we'd reached a turning point, none of us had ever done a theater performance before, so we decided to give it a try.
Kurata:
It was really tough... It was like, 'I realized how vast the ocean is!'
Masunari:
When I tried it, it was really amazing. I had the idea that 'Maybe I should make four TV-length stories?', or maybe I could do it in an OVA-like way... but I had no idea how to make it.
Kurata:
I had no choice but to do it completely by trial and error.
Masunari:
At first, he would watch various movies and say things like, 'I want to make it like this,' or 'I want to make it like that,' but as we got to the second half, he started to say less and less... (laughs)
G:
It's been four years since 'Kamichu!' and this film, but what kind of work did you do during those four years?
Masunari:
The work itself has been going on for a while, but the illustrations alone have taken about three years.
Kurata:
Anyway, every time we reached a certain point, like the Earth arc or the Moon arc, we would pick it up, and it was like
Masunari:
They made the settings and board for me.
Kurata:
Rather than moving on to the next one as each one finished, I just watched the completed ones in order and rolled them along, and in the end it took me four years. In the end, I still don't know how movies are made.
A number of documents convey the hard work that went into the project over the past four years.
Masunari:
That's right, how on earth do they make things like '
Kurata:
I thought it was amazing that he did the storyboards by himself. The movie is very similar to making the first TV series.
Masunari:
The first episode of a TV anime is decided from scratch and made, so it takes a long time. Then, for the second and third episodes, which are used to create more variations, the storyboards can be shortened a bit, and from there onwards the storyboards can be made quickly. You can give instructions like 'make it like this in this episode'. But it takes time to make the first episode, which is the basis for that.
Kurata:
Speaking of other discoveries, I thought I wouldn't have to worry because (Masunari) would draw everything by himself, but I ended up worrying all the time. 'I'm sure I'll be able to do it this month!' I'd keep repeating that idea every month (laughs).
Masunari:
When you can't draw, you can't draw!
G:
What do you do in such a situation?
Masunari:
Hmm, I guess I could just keep thinking about it alone at my desk, or I could hop on my bike and go somewhere to relax.
The storyboard that gave Director Masunari a lot of trouble.
It's so thick.
G:
Looking at your tweets, it seems like you've been watching quite a few movies. Is that because production has finished?
Masunari:
Yes, I didn't watch any movies during the production. It's scary to watch them, and they have an impact on me. So I don't watch other movies to change my mood.
Kurata:
Browsing the internet to change your mood is also no good. Especially on Twitter, Masunari-san writes things like 'Today I watched ' Bungaku Shojo '' and 'Today I watched ' Trigun '', so I guess that's it (laughs).
Masunari:
Speaking of Twitter, it's hard to honestly write negative things. After I finished making 'Welcome to the Space Show,' I finally watched a lot of other works, but it's hard to say whatever I want about them... Yes, I definitely don't want to be a critic. Personally, I don't want to watch something and criticize it, so I want to see the good points of the work and talk about the good points.
Kurata:
I guess I can't tweet my true feelings. If I write something, it spreads like wildfire on Twitter. That's why I only look at the internet and don't post information myself. I write for work, so blogging is out of the question. If I had time to blog, I'd rather read a book, I'd be distracted by that. It's like working for three or four years straight, and it takes time, and then when I'm done, I think, 'Now is the time to recharge,' and I start browsing the internet. I also feel like I'm losing a lot of time when I'm online.
Masunari:
Oh yeah, completely unrelated, but speaking of the internet, I wanted to see '
Kurata:
Wow, it's a really wasteful way of wasting time. It was the same with the 'Space Show.' At first, we were feeling our way around, so it took a long time, right? It will go a little better next time, right?
Masunari:
I wonder. This time, we really took the maximum amount of time for a theatrical release anime. The work itself didn't stop anywhere, it was moving, but for some reason it took a lot of time. This time, we learned how to do it smartly from next time onwards! That's what we're all saying.
Kurata:
Aniplex really spent a lot of money on this (laughs).
G:
Do you have any ideas for your next project yet?
Masunari:
Next... nothing yet (laughs)
Kurata:
I wish I could have come up with new material now! So, in that sense, right now is a terrible time. My next work is 'My Little Sister Can't Be This Cute.'
G:
People involved in the project are also using Twitter and other platforms, what do you think of this trend?
Kurata:
I wish everyone would stop using the internet at the same time (laughs). My modem broke during Golden Week and I couldn't connect to the internet, so I had no choice but to spend the time without it, but I was surprised at how much more peaceful I felt just without the internet.
Masunari:
Yes, you should never check the reactions to your work on the internet!
Kurata:
You shouldn't watch it... You either don't watch it at all, or you're prepared to watch it without getting hurt, so it's one of those two things.
Masunari:
So I don't usually see it.
Kurata:
I have my ups and downs, sometimes I look online and other times I don't. When I'm short on time, I look online and I get depressed when I see things being written that criticize me, so I haven't been looking online lately. Whatever I do, wherever I look, I'm told, 'Write a sequel to 'ROD'!' (laughs)
Masunari:
That's right, we're normal people too, so it hurts when we're insulted.
G:
In that sense, I get the impression that you are aware of and understand the cutting-edge trends of the times, but is that reflected in your work?
Kurata:
No, on the contrary, it's precisely because we don't understand the latest trends that we end up with films like this. I'm an old man in both mind and body, so there's no way I could make something like ' Durarara!! ' We just do what we can, little by little.
G:
You said that you were conscious of creating an old-fashioned atmosphere, but how did you do that?
Kurata:
'Kamichu!' is about a middle school student at heart, and 'Space Show' is about an elementary school student. I want to show the beautiful side of myself!
Masunari:
But in reality, for example, my niece went to a depopulated school with only about five students in it, and she told me that even there she experienced bullying.
Kurata:
In reality, even if there are only five students in the school, there may be secret websites... Well, I think it took four years to put together a good film, keeping in mind that such a reality exists. After all, if you go to the cinema and pay money to watch it, you want to enjoy the film, and I want others to enjoy it too.
Masunari:
There are many scenes in this film where people shed tears, but they are not caused by negative events. Basically, tears come from positive events. They are different types of tears from tears of sadness.
Kurata:
That's right, when I saw the title ' Activation Edition ' on the image board, I thought, 'Everyone is going to die!!' in an Ideon kind of way (laughs). Oh no, I messed up! Like that. If you think about it, 'Welcome to the Space Show' seems like a pretty good fit for an 'Ideon Activation Edition' type of image. The original title of this movie was actually ' The Space Show! ', but various things happened and the title was changed. Maybe it's because the original title didn't give much insight into the content.
The art setting and image board 'Activation Edition' (the one in the middle) that surprised Kurata-san. As you can see from the other two books, it has nothing to do with Ideon in particular.
Masunari:
The reason I named it 'Kokdo-hen' is because it has nothing to do with Ideon in particular, but just expresses my feelings about it (laughs). If the title had remained 'The Space Show!', it would have overlapped with '
Kurata:
It doesn't matter who it overlaps with. After all, it's Ghibli, so the release date overlapped with Ghibli (laughs) (Editor's note: '
Masunari:
People on Twitter have been saying that it's 'Star Wars-like,' but I don't know if 'Star Wars' is 'Star Wars' or '
Kurata:
That's the case with most movies that feature space!
G:
By the way, Director Masunari says he doesn't feel motivated if the main character is a man...
Masunari:
No no, I'll do it if it's for work! Speaking of which, ' male daughters ' have become popular recently, and I'm totally fine with those.
I asked Director Masunari to recreate the scenes of him working. This is where the lively appearance of the (mainly) girls comes from.
Kurata:
I think the only time he's had a male protagonist is in 'JoJo' (he was in charge of the storyboard and direction for the third episode of the OVA). That's right, for some reason this director was also in charge of the ending theme for '
Masunari:
I like you, Hinata.
Kurata:
This has to be the only way to do it! It's the same as always! It's no different from 'ROD' (laughs).
Masunari:
No no, boys can do it too if they try, yes, they can do it if they try! But I think it's more fun for girls to do it. Boys basically fantasize, don't they? And when they fantasize, they can expand their dreams by fantasizing about girls, right? But if they fantasize about boys, they're bound to hit a wall somewhere.
Kurata:
If you're a man, you have no choice but to go for the lower body. It becomes a dirty joke.
Masunari:
Come to think of it, there are no dirty jokes in 'Space Show.'
G:
In an interview four years ago, you said, 'I think it would be good if everyone could discover new charms in the girls,' but do you think viewers have become aware of these new charms since then?
Kurata:
I didn't like being classified by attributes or having my tastes shaped in one direction. I think that's when love begins, when you notice behaviors and habits that you normally overlook, and your perspective on the other person changes.
G:
Are today's audiences becoming more aware?
Kurata:
That's right. Especially 'male daughters' are amazing! I think it would be better if it was a bit more, how should I put it, not such a home run, more of a bunt. Not a 'male daughter' who looks like a beautiful girl. When you think about it like that, I think generations are amazing. If that's the case, I guess I'm fine with just having normal tastes.
G:
By the way, I'm sure you both watch a lot of anime, but do you also watch a lot of dramas?
Kurata:
Yes, I do. I record things like ' CSI ' that is broadcast on BS, but I can't tell which is which anymore (laughs). There are three of them - ' CSI ', ' NY ' and ' Miami ' - and each one has a subtitled version, a dubbed version and a rerun, and they are broadcast three times a day, so I can't tell which is which anymore!
Masunari:
I don't watch it when it's on the air, so I watch it on TSUTAYA DISCAS now. Even if I turn on the TV, it's just the same variety shows, so I only watch things like ' Close-up Gendai ' and ' Gaia no Yoake .'
Kurata:
I think the creators have realized that. Actually, there isn't much difference in budget between movies and television. But movie DVDs sell more than television DVDs, which don't sell. And four years ago, everyone realized that.
Masunari:
A year after we started making movies, the trend of 'Let's make movies for the theater, not for TV' started to grow. Nowadays, they are being completed one after another and are being shown. That's why we've seen a lot of anime movies recently.
Kurata:
For example, I think that the creators of 'Trigun' lined up in a perfect line. Also, customers are coming to the cinema. With ' One Piece ', ' Gintama ', ' Haruhi ', and ' Nanoha ', going to the cinema has become a style. Compared to theatrical films, TV anime is cut off quickly.
Masunari:
On TV, I guess ' K-ON!! ' is probably doing its thing on its own.
G:
You've said before that you always get off to a quick start, so was the planning moving forward relatively quickly this time as well?
Masunari:
is not it.
Kurata:
I never thought we would come in last (laughs)
Masunari:
'Summer Wars' was in the works around the same time as us.
Kurata:
Just when we were making it, ' Tales from Earthsea ' was released in the summer, so while we were making 'Space Show', Ghibli made two films, 'Tales from Earthsea' and 'Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea ', and they're going to make another one this year, it's amazing. Also, Oshii made ' The Sky Crawlers ', everyone is working really hard!
Masunari:
I didn't think it would take this long...I hope I can do it faster next time.
Kurata:
Can you make it in 3 months? In 3 months (laughs)
G:
Why did you choose to use child actors this time, rather than have adult voice actors play the children?
Masunari:
The movie version is a one-off, so I wanted to make it as authentic as possible without any hitches. Voice actors who are good at acting are good, but when adults play children, they go through the filter of 'playing a child,' and that bothered me. This time, there are five main characters, but in reality there are six, and I wondered if we could gather six professional voice actors who could properly play children. So, from the beginning, I had the idea of using children if possible. As long as they could act, it was okay, so I consulted with the sound director and thought, 'Is it okay?' When I held the audition, I was surprised that everyone was already very good at acting. Apparently about 150 people came, but the children said, 'Was there really that many?' Maybe about 100 people?
Kurata:
The more the better, so just say 10,000 people (laughs).
Masunari:
No no (laughs). Anyway, everyone was very good and the level was really high.
The script spanned three volumes.
Kurata:
Also, I was wondering if there would be a difference between the voice actors and the children's acting, but I realized that they were children, but they were professionals! They had memorized the script properly, and even if I asked at the audition, 'Can you do some other characters?', they had read the lines other than their own role properly and were able to respond immediately on the spot. They read it in advance! It was like that. Moreover, the other characters were well done, which was amazing. I thought that just cute kids would come, but it was completely different, and among them there were girls with good styles that made me think, 'Wow! She's 12 years old?!' They were like different creatures. They were different from us, like 'Avatar' (laughs)
Masunari:
I met people I would never have met if I had stayed in the countryside. It was a great experience. Also, if I was going to use child actors, I wanted to have them go to a training camp before recording if possible. I wanted them to get along in the truest sense of the word.
Kurata:
Did you get the idea to have this training camp after watching the making of ' The Waterboys '?
Masunari:
No, I haven't seen it, but... I heard that they did a training camp for a drama or something with a lot of child actors. So, I thought, ah, that sounds good.
Kurata:
But when we actually tried to do the training camp, they said, 'You can only take this one week, because school starts after this date' (laughs). All the child actors go to school at the same time, so they can't do such a long training camp.
Masunari:
But it was fine even without the training camp. By the end of the recording, everyone had become good friends.
Kurata:
He was crying at the end.
Masunari:
The dubbing was finished in a week or 10 days, and then a month later, I asked them to do it again to check if there were any gaps, and I was surprised to see that the boy who played Ink had grown taller. Wow! In just one month!
Kurata:
There were five or six microphones lined up in order of height from one end, and the kids were lined up around them, but the kid at the very end overtook them in height. In that sense, the concentration was really strong.
Masunari:
The kids were on the microphone.
Kurata:
It was interesting to see them helping each other out in that way. I think it was hard for the sound team. But they were also great at acting, and even in retakes they could perform the same performance over and over again, so I thought, wow, they're really actors.
Masunari:
We chose voice actors who were good at acting, but when they saw the children's acting, they all said, 'It's amazing! It's amazing!'
Kurata:
Since we were all children, we asked for gentle voice actors for the supporting roles, but some people said they were inspired by their enthusiasm. But yes, there was also one person who showed off her incredible professionalism. That person was Saito Chiwa . She acted completely mercilessly and left the show. She left feeling like a lion biting a cute rabbit! (laughs)
Masunari:
After Chiwa finished, all the child actors were clapping and saying, 'That was amazing!' Even the mothers of the child actors who were outside asked, 'Who was that?' It was like, 'This is what it means to be a professional!' Yeah, like, 10-year-olds fighting for real! (laughs)
Kurata:
When Ryusei Nakao finished recording and said 'Bye-bye Keen!' at the end, the kids were so happy. Wow, I thought that the big names are really different. Kids don't know about us after all.
Masunari:
But Tomoyo -chan (Kurosawa Tomoyo, who plays Natsuki) told me she saw 'Kamichu!' and that Kenji was great!
Kurata:
I can't believe I was able to appreciate Kenji's talent at that age! And the child actor had a lot of energy. He was always running around.
Masunari:
We recorded for nearly 10 days, but normally a movie version is recorded in two days, so it's long for a movie. We didn't shoot in a cutscene or a tobashi, but in order, in sequence.
G:
You previously said that 'Kamichu!' was your culmination...
Kurata:
'Kamichu!' let out all the beautiful things inside me. 'Space Show' was even earlier than that, when I first started going to the cinema, and I think it was like I was able to incorporate the fun of going to the cinema once or twice a year when I was in elementary school. It felt like I was using a different muscle. Now I've run out of material again (laughs). That's right, when I was in junior high school, the Contact and Activation chapters of 'Ideon' were playing at the cinema, and I went to see them with my younger brother, but at the entrance to the theatre, a friend from school happened to be there and invited me to 'Let's go see 'Rocky III'!', so I went to see 'Rocky III' by myself. Then, when I saw my younger brother later, he had a complicated look on his face when he came back. I definitely think that watching 'Rocky III' and 'Ideon' at that age was a turning point in life.
Masunari:
For me it would be 'Ideon'! Because 'Ideon' is what got me into this industry.
Kurata:
But after watching 'Rocky III,' I think it was good that I watched 'Ideon.' If it had been the other way around, I'm sure I would have found 'Rocky III' very boring (laughs). In that sense, 'Space Show' is not 'Ideon' but 'Rocky.'
Masunari:
That's right!
Kurata:
But it's not a pure Rocky III. But in the end, everyone can enjoy it.
Masunari:
Yes, it's fun for the whole family. If I were to compare it to a baseball, I don't know how to hold it straight, but if I don't twist it like this, it's a straight ball (laughs).
Kurata:
It's like the straight pitch he threw in episode 1 or 2 of ' Taisho Baseball Girls .' In the end, it took four years for the usual thing to become a theatrical performance.
G:
Now, please say a few words in closing.
Kurata:
My work on it was finished two and a half years ago, so I think it will finally sink in when I see it on the screen. I hope people will come to the movie theater looking forward to it, just like when I was a kid and went to the movie theater excited, thinking, 'I can watch the 999 movie!'
Masunari:
We've been working on it for a few months now, and we've been making it with a lot of hard work, involving everyone, so it's turned out to be a good movie. In the movie, you only see the good stuff, and you don't see our suffering at all, so I hope you'll look forward to it. I hope you'll watch it and have your heart warmed.
G:
thank you very much.
The movie 'Welcome to the Space Show' will be released on June 26, 2010.
Welcome to the Space Show 2010.6.26 ROADSHOW
http://www.uchushow.net/
◆Staff
Director: Koji Masunari
Screenplay: Hideyuki Kurata
Character design and animation director: Masashi Ishihama
Scenic design: Shiho Takeuchi
Mechanic animation director: Koji Watanabe
Production design: okama, Noriyuki Jinguji, Shiho Takeuchi, Koji Watanabe
Sub-character design: Koji Yabuno, Sadao Morisaki
Directed by: Hiroyuki Hata
Color design: Ritsuko Utagawa
Art director: Kazuo Ogura
CG Director: Shinji Nasu
Director of photography: Takaharu Ozaki
Edited by: Masahiro Goto
Music: Yoshihiro Ike
Sound Director: Hiromi Kikuta
Recording adjustment: Yasushi Nagura
Sound effects: Hiromune Kurahashi
Original author: Besa Mucho
Production: A-1 Pictures
Production: 'Welcome to the Space Show' Production Committee
Distributor: Aniplex
◆Cast
Natsuki Koyama: Tomoyo Kurosawa
Shu Suzuki: Ayaka Ikitsuki
Kiyoshi Sato: Shotaro Uzawa
Tomoko Nishimura: Tamaki Matsumoto
Koji Harada: Takuto Yoshinaga
Pochi Rickman: Keiji Fujiwara
Nepo: Ryusei Nakao
Marie: Rei Igarashi
Bogner: Masaya Onosaka
Heston: Masanori Takeda
Lobby: Mitsuru Miyamoto
Ink: Mayu Iino
Rubin: Hiroo Egawa
Yabu: Chiwa Saito
Taro: Kazuaki Ito
Hanako: Noriko Hidaka
Goba: The Galaxy
Tony: Nobuo Tobita
◆Theme song
Susan Boyle 'Who I Was Born To Be'
©A-1 Pictures/'Welcome to the Space Show' Production Committee
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