Interview with director Naohiro Yoshihira 'Tady' of the anime 'Drifting Dragons', how the director who fell in love with the first episode of the original sublimated the animation as something beyond 'mere visualization'



The TV anime '

Drifting Dragons ', which has been on air since January 2020, was produced by 'Knights of Sidonia Ninth Planet Campaign', 'BLAME!', And 'GODZILLA Monster Planet / Decisive Battle Mobile Proliferation City / Star Eater'. Mr. Naohiro Yoshihira 'Tady' who has been the director. After being shown the studio of Polygon Pictures, I asked him about various stories about how Director Yoshihira is trying to make this 'Drifting Dragons'.

Anime 'Drifting Dragons' Official Website
https://drifting-dragons.jp/



GIGAZINE (G):
When did Director Yoshihira first read the original story of 'Drifting Dragons'?

Yoshihira 'Tady' Director Naohiro (hereinafter referred to as 'Yoshihira'):
Is it the month when one episode of the series

was published in 'good! Afternoon'?

G:
What is the first episode!

Yoshihira:
It was a time when 'BLAME! ' Was calming down and I had to find my own director's work. When I was looking for various works to see if there was any good work, I read the first episode of this 'Drifting Dragons' and fell in love at first sight. 'I want to do this.'

G:
Certainly, the first episode is packed with development and has a big impact, but what was the point that attracted you in particular?

Yoshihira:
The way the story was portrayed was great, but it wasn't a stereotyped work at all, and there was an exciting development where I didn't know what would start, and a very unique view of the world. I wondered how interesting the image would be if I drew it while thinking about 'what kind of world this is'. It's not like 'holding the holy sword and magically defeating the dragon.

G:
surely.

Yoshihira:
When it comes to drawing, there are a lot of great studios and a lot of great works. So, instead of doing attrition warfare, I thought that I could wrap something like 'a treasure chest of individuality' as an animation director while making use of CG and my own individuality in the presence of unique world views and characters. I did.

G:
So that's it.

Yoshihira:
So, I approached this original with the premonition that it would be a work that always surprises me, 'What is this?'

G:
Since I was reading the original, I was surprised to see 'This work is in CG !?', but when I saw what was actually animated, I was very convinced that 'the dragon is moving.'

[1/8 broadcast start] TV animation 'Drifting Dragons' episode 1 opening & WEB program 'MIKA'S kitchen' notice --YouTube


Yoshihira:
Of course, there is an action part such as 'a dragon flies in the sky', but I am not all about action, but the point that the drama and world view of complicated and unique characters are included in the work is the most. This is one of the things I wanted to approach.

G:
This time, the animation of the CG character is not motion capture but hand-made. Why did you decide to move it by hand instead of motion capture?

Yoshihira:
I think that motion capture may not fit depending on the work. There are many intermediate poses that do not make the image look good due to the physiological movement of a person. A work like this one has a symbolized expression, and because it is symbolized, there are also facial expressions and movements that can be expanded on the contrary, and it is interesting to include them and to move them. I think. In addition to that, facing the fact that the drawing animation in which people draw pictures one by one impresses people so much, the animator of Polygon Pictures politely and emotionally puts keyframes one by one. When I put it on, I thought that it should be a little closer to hand-drawn animation in terms of emotional expression.

G:
Is it an image like the movement unique to animation with human intervention?

Yoshihira:
I agree. It's important to make an effort to control your movements and convey your emotions so that you can make a strong impression of what you want to convey to your viewers.

G:
So that's it. Also, what surprised me most this time was the scene of eating, but that is also CG, isn't it? Meat feels like meat, doesn't it? I was really hit by the 'rice terrorism' video.

[2020.1.8 broadcast start] TV animation 'Drift Dragons' 'Dragon's tail steak sandwich' rice terror scene --YouTube


Yoshihira:
It was good (laughs)

G:
Why did you get such a texture of 'this is meat'?



Yoshihira:
I researched what makes me feel 'delicious'. However, putting a photo on the screen does not make it 'delicious'. Moreover, if the photos are mixed in the animation video without any discomfort, they will not be mixed at all. Therefore, I researched from the initial stage, 'What should I draw to make me feel' delicious 'and' I want to eat this '?' Nowadays, there is a technology like taking a picture and making it three-dimensional as it is, but even if you make it with that, it will be more like a cold lunch.

G:
Certainly, I feel like I understand.

Yoshihira:
I thought that such technology would not disturb the instinctive desires of human beings to 'look delicious' and 'want to eat', so I researched design with the theme of drawing 'delicious'. 'Drawing'delicious'' is the work of extracting and continuing to draw 'what is the symbol that people feel is delicious'. That doesn't mean that the amount of information should be large. So, after careful consideration at the design stage, I asked him to make a CG with the picture that I could finally define.

G:
With that kind of work, I arrived at that delicious meat. I'm convinced.

Yoshihira:
Thanks to that, I ate meat to death, so I got fat.

(Everyone laughs)

Yoshihira:
First of all, I take a picture of the meat that I feel is delicious, but in the first place, I asked, 'What is delicious meat?' Sometimes I felt that 'this looks like delicious meat, but it doesn't look delicious', so what I should draw is gradation, meaty sashimi, light shine, gravy, or greasy. Or is it the source ... I researched such things and made trial and error. I did my research on each dish.

G:
After a lot of research.

Yoshihira:
I put a lot of time and passion into painting the results of that research. This work is about hunting and eating dragons, so if the meat doesn't look delicious, the structure is overwhelming. Simply put, the fishermen are eating the freshest and most delicious fish. 'It was delicious because it was CG' is the opposite, and I draw 'delicious' and make it into CG.



G:
The finished dish itself, but the cooking scene was also very polite.

Yoshihira:
I also mercilessly put out a retake saying 'Does it look delicious with such a stir-fry method!' (Laughs)

G:
(Lol)

Yoshihira:
The design of the kitchen knife was also difficult, and I was almost vomiting (laughs). Depending on the material, the shape of the blade and the way the blade is attached are different, and there are different uses such as this is a knife for pulling and this is a knife for cutting. Thinking about how to attach the blade, how wide it should be, and what to do with the blade, I retaken it to an angle, saying, 'When you stab the tip, stab here.'



G:
The commitment is amazing ...

Yoshihira:
I think that I was able to work on this work with a very high awareness of the staff, that when communicating in the video, even small movements are moved for the purpose of 'expressing'.

G:
The character doesn't bother to say 'I'll use a knife to pull' when using a knife, so that point is also expressed only by the action. You're doing awesome things ...

Yoshihira:
I didn't want to brag, I wanted the cooks to be able to immerse themselves in the story without getting caught up in it. Trial and error in the depiction is considerable.

G:
In this work, the voice is basically recorded in Presco, but was it decided from the beginning to go with Presco?

Yoshihira:
From the beginning. CG animation is produced by a very large team. There are various animators among them, but I can't stay with them all the time. However, I really wanted to be particular about the strength of the characters and emotions. So I thought it was Presco that the director could control.

G:
So that's it.

Yoshihira:
Also, regarding emotions, Taku Kuwabara of the original also said, for example, 'How angry' is 'How angry', 'For what and for whom', or 'Pretending to be angry'. You said that you wouldn't say that in a straightforward manner. I wanted to incorporate a lot of modern microscopic expressions, such as what I'm saying and what I really think is different. One of the reasons I chose Presco was that I thought it would be best to use the help of very good acting voice actors to express that the lines and emotions are different.

G:
That means that we had to assemble the CG so that we could get all the voices performed by the voice actors at Presco and not lose.

Yoshihira:
I wanted to create that competition.

G:
So that's it!



Yoshihira:
I thought that if the voice actor's acting was very good, the emotional expression of the CG animation would become very strong and could catch up with the hand-drawn animation.

G:
Is it an image that sublimates by adding the acting of the voice actor and the movement of the CG character?

Yoshihira:
In addition to the occurrence of competition, it is also necessary to have a sense of realism as if the character actually exists. In order to overcome the negative impression of CG, I wanted to confine the breathing of raw human beings, the rhythm, and the sense of tempo in the interaction between voice actors, and expand it as an animation. Thanks to that, the script is like hell.

G:
hell!?

Yoshihira:
For example, the line is silent as '...', but about this line, 'This is a weak awareness, a physical reflex. Then open your eyes and exhale. Then, feel the pain and return to consciousness. Please act, 'he wrote in writing, including the principles of action and emotions. 'It's the same' ... ', but it's so painful that I can't breathe in.' 'This' ha 'is a relief.' Please take what you can't say and say something you don't want to say. ' Maybe it's interesting to read just the script.

G:
I definitely want to read it. Is it like scooping up the nuances of the original as much as possible?

Yoshihira:
It feels like you are multiplying the original by combining more various expressions. I have given the voice actor a document in advance that says, 'This flow is important in this number of stories. The facial expression of this frame will be interpreted in this way.'

G:
Did the director speak directly to you during the recording?

Yoshihira:
While rehearsing, I directly told each line that 'the feelings here are like this.' More detailed emotions are written in my script, but the director does not decide in advance, but there are also characters that the voice actor has thought about, and changes that occur in the dialogue. I was thinking of taking it in.

G:
Does that mean that there are also ad libs?

Yoshihira:
There are many. Everyone was free to do it.

G:
Were there many parts that didn't follow the director's plan?



Yoshihira:
Of course, there were cases where the plan was exceeded. I knew the script and had the script at hand, but I was thrilled to see what would happen.

G:
(Lol)

Yoshihira:
In some cases, the voice actor asked me, 'How about this?', And in other cases, there was a discussion like 'I'm going like this, so come here at that time.' It was like. The mechanism as a director about casting is very clear, young voice actors are asked to do it, and Mika and youth roles are cast by voice actors who are a little older than that. I will. Since I'm superimposing a career that plays an expression and a character that casts, I have Mr. Suwabe play the role of coordinating everyone, Gibbs, not the main character. In fact, even at the Presco site, Mr. Suwabe organized everyone.

G:
I'm addicted to it.

Yoshihira:
The idea was that in order to get people to immerse themselves in acting in the absence of video at Presco, it would be necessary to overlap the voice actor and the character.

G:
Then, did the director choose the casting according to the character?

Yoshihira:
Regarding the characters, I nominated them while paying attention to the elements of voice quality such as 'this person is baritone' and 'this person is soprano', the wide range of sound, and 'voice in the nasal cavity'.

G:
That was the way to decide. When you look at the director's Twitter, the topic of sound often comes up, but are you a strong person?

Yoshihira:
I think he is particular about it. Sound is also the first move to direct as a director. This Presco is the first step in realizing the story for the first time and becoming an anime. With the voice that 'this makes the picture come to mind,' we must stir up the imagination of the artists who actually make the animation and draw out the spirit of challenge to go beyond the acting of the voice. If everyone's challenges overlap, I think it will be something that stands out.

G:
Regarding the sound director, Yoshikazu Iwanami , there was a story on the director's Twitter that he said, 'This is Titanic!'



Yoshihira:
It's funny, is not it?

G:
There is a saying, 'The sound that the analogy of a masterpiece movie comes out every week. What kind of work are we making ...', but how did Mr. Iwanami's remark come out? ??

Yoshihira:
It seems that prioritizing psychological expression over reality, such as the sound effect of a certain scene of 'Titanic', is intertwined with the creation of the work. It means to borrow the frame of animation and approach the story intentionally with a strong effect rather than reproducing the reality or situation.

G:
The sound is also amazing ...

Yoshihira:
In that scene, the sound is not originally reflected on the surface of the sea, but in order to give the impression that you are talking from top to bottom, you should add an effect so that the sound is reflected on the surface of the sea. In anime, the effect of the speaker tube is very good. It's easy to hear, but it gives the impression that it's really muffled.

G:
That feeling is certainly good.

Yoshihira:
The sound of the voice is different in each room to give the feeling of being on the ship.

G:
How fine.

Yoshihira:
Sometimes I give priority to expression and try to weaken the effect and raise the volume of the voice to make it easier to convey, and sometimes I remove the sound recorded by Presco.

G:
Is there such a thing?

Yoshihira:
It is necessary as a facial expression or change that triggers the animation, but if the work seems to be heard or felt even if there is no sound, I try to take off one sigh.

G:
The music is by Masaru Yokoyama. The director was tweeting that he got up with excitement when he heard the demo.



Yoshihira:
Since this work is such a fantasy world, the possibility of music called 'The Fantasy' came to my mind, but if it is a song that seems to be used in Hollywood fantasy movies, on the contrary, 'a fictional world thing' I was worried that it might feel like 'a mundane work'. I think that the impression effect of music will lose the individuality and reality of the work.

G:
Hmmmm.

Yoshihira:
So, in this work, considering the unique world view drawn by Mr. Kuwahara, the original colors of the animation, and the 19 characters with strong individuality, the music also asked for a collision of individuality. The director's flagship is to make the work with the policy that 'this is a kind of music of this genre' and 'the cohesiveness of the individuality looks very casual as a result'. I thought about it.

G:
Did you exchange the songwriting by getting a demo, then reminding the director of your intentions and having them write it again?

Yoshihira:
At the beginning, I consulted with Mr. Iwanami about what kind of music would be good, and since the story could be standard, I decided to make the music plan standard as well. That's why Mr. Iwanami came out with ' Ennio Morricone '.

G:
Morricone. Of macaroni western and 'new cinema paradise'.

Yoshihira:
So, although the approach of adding music to emotions is not wrong, he said, 'It's a story of people who live in the wind in the sky, so I want you to use an instrument that produces sound by the wind.' If so, it may sound like a dragon's bark, and it will create a very indigenous culture, a systematic atmosphere that makes you feel the traditional folk culture.

G:
So that's it.

Yoshihira:
In addition, get maximum freedom in special restrictions, not in the atmosphere of 'magnificent music' or 'Hollywood blockbuster'. That's why I decided to basically ban the violin.

G:
You had a pretty good image in the director.

Yoshihira:
However, Mr. Yokoyama, who intended to convey that, said, 'I wrote it.'

(Everyone laughs)

Yoshihira:
The first thing I heard was music that was just like a Hollywood movie. It was quite far from my image, so I was frowning about what to do, but then Mr. Yokoyama told me that there was another song, a song with a very unique instrument. was. So when I said, 'I like the direction of this song as the main song,' he said, 'Actually, there is another song that I wanted to do first.' That is the original song of the current soundtrack.

G:
Oh.

Yoshihira:
Mr. Yokoyama seemed to think that he would make an intermediate second song, saying, 'Maybe you won't be able to recognize what you want to do,' and if that doesn't work, go to the first song.

G:
It is understandable that I get excited and stand up. It's called 'Ishindenshin' ...

Yoshihira:
The work itself is a story that affirms the way of life of all characters, and it is a world where everyone with rich individuality can live happily, and the concept of the work is to 'affirm by not denying individuality'. Therefore, the sky is drawn in colors that are impossible, but this is definitely the personality of the art director. This work is a story that does not deny everyone. Opinions may clash, but it's not something like 'something is wrong.'

G:
Certainly, there are many such episodes. When I was shown the inside of the studio this time, I was also shown the desk of Director Yoshihira, and a board with a picture and a character's face was erected next to the desk. Is this an image board?

I have seen the studio of Polygon Pictures, which created the fantasy world of 'Drifting Dragons' where people and dragons live together in a realistic way --GIGAZINE



Yoshihira:
It may be the first image board or concept art for each story. Some of them actually appear in the first episode. It's just something that bothers people who make CG.

(Everyone laughs)

Yoshihira:
The director also wonders what kind of optical reason is needed to produce this color. What color are the clouds before the sun rises?

G:
The reason for getting this color properly is being considered.

Yoshihira:
The design of CG does not change so much, that is, it does not 'collapse the drawing', but if you are a little careless, all the images will be the same like the potato version, so I think that is also a disadvantage. I am. That's why I'm actively incorporating changes in color and lighting when scenes, scenes, and emotions change. This time, I think it's the largest number of colors ever. The color designer said, 'I've already exceeded 100,' and said, 'Still more!'

(Everyone laughs)

Yoshihira:
For example, when the character's emotions are negative, he walks in the shade. In the first episode, there is a scene where the crew of Quinn Zaza is in the shade created by the ship, while the villagers are in the sun and scatter the main characters. The crew of Quinn Zaza is treated as an outlaw in the world, and the feelings of the citizens that the majority of the citizens are justice and the standing position of the main characters may not always mesh with each other. doing.



G:
Director Yoshihira said that he fell in love at first sight at the time of the first episode of the original, but the serialization of the original has continued since then. Wasn't it difficult to decide how far and how to animate?

Yoshihira:
Normally, it is composed of 11 episodes, but this time I wanted to do the contents of the original volume 3, so I decided to do it with 12 episodes.

G:
When animating a manga as an original, it is not always made by tracing from the first episode of the original, but this work has been visualized from the beginning. How did you decide this?

Yoshihira:
This manga is very deep, and in order to convey to the viewers the charm of the work that we and Mr. Uezu of the series composition are feeling, one manga and one episode of animation correspond. I thought it would be good. I think it would be better if the character's emotions were subtle and if the world was carefully drawn from various perspectives.

G:
So that's it.

Yoshihira:
The series was composed with that approach, and if the length of the original was less than one episode, it was added, or arranged with an emphasis on the character's perspective to make the drama proceed smoothly, and the manga was just traced as it was. Anime strives to maximize its appeal as an anime so that it is not the only one. I wanted to firmly embody the world view of the work 'Drifting Dragons', the charm of the characters, and various personalities, and deliver it to everyone.

G:
Rather than simply 'visualizing', animation is trying to sublimate as another work.

Yoshihira:
For that purpose, after disassembling the original once to determine what is in the core, formulate the series composition, 'Here it is necessary to convey more lines to the viewer in the animation video' or 'This is the line I reconstructed it with the idea that 'it can be transmitted in the video without dare to say it.' After fully respecting the original, I feel that I worked on it while drawing out Mr. Kuwahara's opinions.

G:
Did you have a lot of consultation with the original author, Mr. Kuwahara?

Yoshihira:
I heard a lot of things that are not drawn in the manga, such as 'what kind of character this character is always thinking about' and 'what was the teacher thinking when creating this story'. I was also invited to a screenplay meeting, and I, Mr. Uezu, and Mr. Kuwahara are making discussions together.

G:
I see, that's why I pulled out something like the essence of the work from Mr. Kuwahara.

Yoshihira:
In addition, we also work together to adjust the intensity of expression.

G:
Did Mr. Kuwahara talk about something like 'Is that so?' In the discussion?

Yoshihira:
The first theme, 'hunt, catch, and eat,' is a very casual copy, but Mr. Kuwahara took it very seriously as life. So when I heard the story, 'I have to take the life of a living thing, and because I have taken it, I have to make the most of it, and I have to connect it as my own life.' There was a feeling that it was solidified.

G:
So that's it.



Yoshihira:
Do you say that 'catch and eat' does not make you feel like a game? I thought it was necessary to convey Mr. Kuwahara's profound thoughts to each character, one word at a time, in the story.

G:
As the title 'Drifting Dragons' suggests, various types of dragons will appear in this work. In the case of manga, I don't know the movement even if it appears, but there is no explanation that 'it will move like this'. How did you decide how to move the dragon?

Yoshihira:
As a method of creating a fictitious creature, it is necessary to build up reality so that the creature does not look like a lie. Ecology such as the movement of dragons and what they eat is defined according to their appearance characteristics such as skeleton, muscle, and tooth shape. The reason why the shape of the body is characteristic is that there are trade-offs between various functions in the process of evolution of living things, such as cutting off another motor function in order to enhance one particular motor function. We have to do that with the design of the dragon. In addition, the logic that the dragon of this work flies in the sky is that it does not depend only on the wings but has a swim bladder-like organ, and it has obtained a certain amount of floating power in its ecological function. It doesn't float magically and unscientifically like a ghost.



G:
(Lol)

Yoshihira:
In that case, you have to think about the skeleton considering how the dragon moves to move forward. Since the skeleton is the source of CG movement, we design it including ecology, muscle usage, and body growth and development. Like the awe of giant creatures, for example, the awe that human beings first felt when they first saw an elephant, 'that creature cannot be established', with the reality peculiar to living things, it seems to be the horror and godliness of a dragon. I thought it would be great if I could convey something.

G:
It feels like a creator ...

Yoshihira:
There will be shining dragons, but I have thoroughly researched the creatures that emit light, how to increase the power to convey in animation. So I thought about the logic of light emission, and it became a way of showing that incorporated such an ecological pattern.



G:
Everything is fresh, thanks to the accumulation. Is it 'real'? That is what I feel, 'If there were a dragon in this world, it would be such an ecology with such a shape.'

Yoshihira:
It feels like assembling logically and properly based on what you want to do and what you want to show. In creating the dragon design, each part is applied to the actual creature, and all the creatures, including fish, animals, and lizards, are referred to when designing the details.

G:
Was it because the movement of the actual creatures was incorporated into the authenticity?



Yoshihira:
I see. Rather, I can't lie because I refer to real creatures. The part that lied will continue to remain in the video as a 'poor expression'.

G:
Director Yoshihira has been interviewed before this film, for example, in 2010, he wasinterviewed for 'Autodesk Smoke for MacOS X' . I think that various parts have been brushed up from that point onward, but are there any changes from that time in terms of improving quality as much as possible within the budget and delivery date?

Yoshihira:
In 2010, I think we were fighting to maintain quality. In the early days of CG animation, there were some things that I wasn't really good at, and the poor quality of the finished products. However, now that the quality of CG has become stable, I wonder how I can add alpha without being satisfied with it, and how to reach the next higher grade work. You are always conscious.

G:
Is it one level higher?

Yoshihira:
For example, in order to prevent workers from worrying about unnecessary things for purposes other than expression, the movement of the dragon's skeleton and what the food looks like are drawn as a design, and the policy of the image is proper. Or make a rule. Or, for the part of the conte that requires a play, I split the panel more than usual and wrote a picture or text explanation. There are some parts that I can't convey with my own drawing power, so I put it into words and said in a sentence, 'I want to make this look like this with these emotions,' and said, 'It's a beautiful digital image, and it's CG. It's not like 'This is fine!', But I feel that I worked on the work with the theme of communicating it to the viewer. In order to improve the work, I have increased the time to think about various expressions in animation. I thought that 'improving the quality of the work' is not the evolution of the tools for making CG, but the viewers will be informed when their awareness of expression changes. Even if a new convenient tool for CG production is created and you can make a video with one click, the viewer will not be impressed. I think that time is what impresses people by trying hard and struggling with how to convey it.

G:
So that's it.

Yoshihira:
For example, when it comes to music, people are not just impressed by the musical score of the song, but people are impressed by the way people are playing hard and the way they are playing with emotion. Therefore, I would like to stick to not only the resulting deliverables but also the act of expressing the process.

G:
The story goes back to the director's desk, but is it because there are so many faces of the characters cut out from the manga to see something?

Yoshihira:
This is about how to make an animation, but in manga it's okay if the design changes frame by frame, but in the case of CG, that's not the case. Since you make a 3D model in 3D and make it act like an actor, the model itself cannot be changed freely, and that also becomes a constraint on expression. In order to overcome that wall, I cut out the direction of the original picture, the expression of the lines, and the facial expressions of the characters, saying 'I want to convey this even in animation' so that I can always see it.

G:
In other words, is that board like a compass for making works?

Yoshihira:
I agree. It is a guideline for filling in the missing expressions, and it may be an opportunity to think about better expressions based on this. For that reason, it has been pasted all the time. Well, this is also the original love. Anyway, he loves the original.

(Everyone laughs)

Yoshihira:
In addition, it may be a chance to notice later that I did not notice at first glance, such as 'It may have shown the true feeling that that one line drawing of the original is hidden'.

G:
The story changes a little, but has the director been working on CG for a long time?

Yoshihira:
At the very beginning I was doing music, then I made CG. After joining Polygon Pictures, I was in charge of video editing for over 15 years. Every time I change my job, my perspective changes little by little.

G:
He has been involved in most of the animation production, and finally became a director.

Yoshihira:
I think that you evaluated what you have accumulated so far and offered it.

G:
Did you find out because you became a director?

Yoshihira:
The overwhelming difference is 'preparation'. When I'm in production, 'what I move my hand' is the best, but when I become a director, I basically have to ask people to make it. You have to think about how to convey 'an imaginary image that you want to make but does not yet exist' to the staff who actually move your hands to make it. On the other hand, if what I was thinking of is completed as it is, I think it doesn't make much sense for me to be a director. He realized that it is important to combine the expressiveness of the artist himself, such as the individuality, motivation, and strong motivation of the creator, to make a change and create something better. There is. What you should do to make a better work is not to be blind to your personality.

G:
'Don't be blind to your personality.'

Yoshihira:
If you become too blind to yourself, you may end up with a work that is selfish and that you can only convey to yourself but not to the viewer. I think it's possible that something is pretending, that it's not coherent, that there isn't enough explanation, and that the drama isn't exciting, or that the choice of expression is wrong. Especially since I became a director, the awareness that 'I want to value the expressions that I want to convey to people' has become very high.

G:
Is it as strong as the number of stories in the second half?

Yoshihira:
Not only me, but the actors who are playing are getting better and better. Therefore, the actors who came in from the second half of the story were enthusiastic about 'Presco is such a terrible place ...' (laugh)

G:
That's right (laughs). It seems that the video, voice, and sound will become more and more amazing, but what are the points that you did your best as a director and what points do you want us to pay attention to?

Yoshihira:
It's the emotion of the character. I want you to pay attention to the lines and facial expressions. Although it is one frame in the manga, what the character thought at that time is included in the subtle gestures of the animation and the sound of the lines, so the world of the original is deeper including their emotions. I hope you can understand. I think that the place where Mika comes out first and says 'it looks good' is all about it. Mika's lines express such a strong hunger as if you were wandering in the desert without drinking water for a couple of months and had just a bite of water in front of you.

G:
(Lol)

Yoshihira:
Mika is more obsessed with 'eating a dragon' than anyone else, but that obsession is not a gourmet ego, but her own strong commitment to the dragon and her physical desires. The fact that it is a fundamental emotion that continues to occur naturally from within can be the reason why Mika instinctively understands the dragon and acts on the basis of the dragon.

G:
So that's it. Not only those who touch 'Drifting Dragons' from the animation, but also those who know the original will notice it, so I'm looking forward to it until the end. Thank you for today.

in Interview,   Video,   Manga,   Anime, Posted by logc_nt