'Movie Bakuten !!' Interview with director Toshimasa Kuroyanagi, depicting a competition to 'find cooperation in the age of individuality'



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Movie Backflip !! ', which depicts the tip of the anime ' Backflip !! ' depicting high school students challenging men's rhythmic gymnastics, was released on Saturday, July 2, 2022. We asked Toshimasa Kuroyanagi , the director of this work, about the details of the production, and the director's own arekore apart from the work.

'Movie Backflip !!' Official Website
https://bakuten-movie.com/



GIGAZINE (hereinafter, G):
I look forward to working with you today. Since the director was born in 1980, the age is close, so I think you can understand the topic you are talking about.

Director Toshimasa Kuroyanagi (hereinafter referred to as Kuroyanagi):
I look forward to working with you. But I was born in 1980, but my hobby is in the 70's (laughs)

(Everyone laughs)

G:
'Movie Backflip !!' thoroughly depicts what happens to high school students involved in men's rhythmic gymnastics. Was the story concept of this movie version decided from the time of planning?

Kuroyanagi:
At the beginning, it was only about the TV series, but from an early stage, I decided to 'let's do a movie', so I decided to pull in the TV and the movie and develop the story.

G:
How often was it?

Kuroyanagi:
It was at the stage of composing. When I was arranging how much to draw as a whole, I remember that the producer said, 'Please think about the movie together,' and thought, 'Oh ... that's tough' (laughs).

G:
According to what I heard about 'Zexcs Radio 9th', it was October 3, 2017 that I posted the planning memo of 'Bacten !!', but this is the project called 'Bacten !!' Is it the day it was completed?

[Zekuraji] 9th (Guest: Toshizo Nemoto) --YouTube


Kuroyanagi:
Well, when I started planning ...? please wait for a while.

Zexcs Kiyoshi Shintaku Producer (hereinafter referred to as Shintaku):
Maybe after watching the tournament.

Kuroyanagi:
It has been built to a certain extent, and although it has not been completed, it is said that the final flow has been completed.

G:
I see. What I found interesting when listening to the radio was that all the high school students I interviewed said 'I'll see you!', But at the time of the broadcast, I thought that I was no longer a high school student. But have you ever been really impressed by interviewing high school students?

Kuroyanagi:
Since we met each other for the first time, I don't know if we could understand everything, but I think that we are usually taught that customers should come and do it properly.

G:
Is it very polite?

Kuroyanagi:
It's polite, but my shy face is also young. When I was shown the dormitory, there was an Animage , so I talked about 'Do you like anime? Look at the anime I made' (laughs).

G:
Does the dormitory that appears during the work seem to reflect the content of the interview?

Kuroyanagi:
In fact, while creating the atmosphere inside the dormitory that I interviewed ... In reality, there were a lot more things scattered around (laughs), but I made it a little more beautiful.

G:
The scene where the acting at the beginning of the first episode is unfolded is meaningless unless the viewer feels the impact that the director himself felt when he actually saw the men's rhythmic gymnastics. , Was mentioned on Zexcs Radio. Even in the movie version, the acting scene came out, and when compared with the first episode again, all the characters were good.

Kuroyanagi:
Regarding that point, rather than me, Mr. Fumiaki Mitsuda , the director of rhythmic gymnastics, who actually made it, Mr. Takeemon of 3DCG, and Mr. Shogo Matsumoto played a central role in the drawing. I will draw the same performance many times, so I have to make it a little better than last time.

G:
Oh, I see.

Kuroyanagi:
Besides, everyone is gradually getting used to the men's rhythmic gymnastics, so I think it's the result of everyone coming up with ideas, 'I think it would be better to do this more.' At the same time that everyone at Ao High School got better, the staff also got better.

G:
It seems that he gradually practiced.

Kuroyanagi:
I think. Also, I have to improve my acting steadily, but I'm running out of material, so I'm desperate to squeeze it out (laughs).

G:
In Zexcs Radio, 'Men's Rhythmic Gymnastics' came out as a plan for the next project, and when it was decided to actually go to see it and 'apparently I will do this', the director experienced ' Shonen Hollywood ' There was a story that I felt 'this is dangerous'. Did you say anything directly to the new house producer?

Kuroyanagi:
I didn't say that. Mr. Shintaku is also the person who did 'Shonen Hollywood' together, so you should know how difficult it is (laughs). I should know, but I say 'I'll do it', so I said 'Oh, I'll do it.'

G:
(smile)

Kuroyanagi:
There was also that, and I tried my best to actually show the idol children in 'Shonen Hollywood', but I also had the smolder that I thought I could have done better. So, if I were to do it, I was thinking about making a video that would go beyond 'small tension'.

G:
After looking through all 12 episodes of the TV series, I felt that it would have been difficult to match this with the TV broadcast, but in 'Movie Backflip !!', the level of the picture has risen one step further. I thought. Is it the result of more enthusiasm for the movie, or is it the result of accumulating?

Kuroyanagi:
The staff was basically the same for both TV and movies, so from the perspective of us doing it, there is no such difference in feelings between TV and movies. ..

G:
I see, it was continuous.

Kuroyanagi:
Without a break (laughs)

G:
No holidays! (smile)

Kuroyanagi:
The week after I finished working on the TV series, I started making movies, so all the staff really did their best.

G:
It was said that Watari's personality has changed considerably from the beginning.

Kuroyanagi:
This is the idea of

Toshizo Nemoto , the scriptwriter. I was talking about trying to make it a more straightforward character, but I think it was after Mr. Nemoto suggested that he liked things like that, or what about his hobbies? (Laughs)



G:
The director is also actively using Twitter, and in that, I saw a tweet saying that there is a 'directing note' written for each work. You said, 'I mainly wrote the intention and concept of making the work to myself.' What did you write in 'Backflip !!'?



Kuroyanagi:
In the case of 'Backflip !!', first of all, men's rhythmic gymnastics was a sport that I didn't know at all, so it's a study note for rhythmic gymnastics itself. While reading several books on men's rhythmic gymnastics, I wrote down that these things are important. Then, when drawing the men's rhythmic gymnastics in the work 'Bakuten !!', I listed what the work conveys and what the work draws.

G:
I see. Where did the director learn that this is the point when reading a book and drawing men's rhythmic gymnastics in 'Backflip !!'?

Kuroyanagi:
For example, in the book, it is 'simultaneity', but the beauty of the competition lies in the fact that everyone moves together. I often talk about it, but in this era when everyone has different personalities, each has some kind of talent, and we are going to extend it, the importance of competition is that 'six people are the same' in men's rhythmic gymnastics. I think that the point is a little different. We find cooperation in the age of individuality.



G:
surely.

Kuroyanagi:
I'm also interested in what that means. When you actually look at it, if you say that all six people are together, each person and individuality is different, but the cooperation is good because different people try to do the same thing while having fun. From the generation that demanded a lot of individuality, I think the next goal may come into view.

G:
The director has seen that even in the works he has worked on, he emphasizes everyday plays, but should we think that everyday plays in this work are part of the life in the dormitory?

Kuroyanagi:
I think that everything is a daily scene except for the scenes where you are acting for 3 minutes in a trial, a so-called tournament. Therefore, the appearance of practicing is also everyday for me.

G:
Director Kuroyanagi draws and directs pictures as an animator, but what are the points to be careful about in 'Backflip !!' in order to bring out the character of a high school boy?

Kuroyanagi:
Hmm ... It's a difficult place, but it's a little fast (laughs)

G:
Movement is fast (laughs)

Kuroyanagi:
I sometimes refer to myself when making realistic movements, but since I am 40, high school students are about 25 years younger (laughs), and 25 years have been young movements. Also, there is softness because I am doing rhythmic gymnastics. It has a wider range of motion than us.

G:
This is also a tweet from the director, and I don't know if it's directly related to the work, but there was something like 'I can only do what I am now' ...



Kuroyanagi:
This is (laughs), I'm sure you were drinking alcohol (laughs)

G:
(smile)

Kuroyanagi:
In June 2021, I think I feel like I was making the final episode. In episode 11, Shotaro decides to 'go out' when he decides to go to the tournament or not, but he can never go back to the past. If we think that the future exists only on the extension of the time axis of the present, we can only open our future by doing our best while enjoying something at this moment. You suddenly said that you wanted to say that at the end of 'Backflip !!' (laughs).

G:
When 'Movie Backflip !!' was completed, there was a tweet that I just cried when I checked it through. It's true that there are many scenes where you can cry, but what made the director cry?



Kuroyanagi:
It's not an answer for an article, but simply, my staff did their best ... (laughs)

G:
Oh, I was thinking about the staff, not the scene (laughs)

Kuroyanagi:
He said he did his best to do such a difficult thing.

G:
Did you have anything that came to your mind as a director?

Kuroyanagi:
Well, the appearance of everyone at Ao High School doing their best overlaps with the appearance of the friends I usually see in the field.

G:
I see ... By the way, where did the tears come from?

Kuroyanagi:
For the time being, checking is a job (laughs), so it wasn't that I came too early, so it was the last one. I thought, 'You've come this far ...'.

G:
I'd like to ask you just in case, but is the director rather fragile?

Kuroyanagi:
How about ... I'm always crying for the producer, Mr. Shintaku (laughs)

Shintaku:
(smile)

G:
Is there a possibility of tears on that extension (laughs)?

Kuroyanagi:
'I did my best too' (laughs)

G:
Director Kuroyanagi also wrote a blog in quite detail, and I think he was already in the animation industry in 2007, but there was also a statement that 'I was making something when I was a student .'

Kuroyanagi:
This is also drunk (laughs)

G:
When I was a student who was making something, was it when I was a college student?

Kuroyanagi:
It's about high school to college students. I wanted to do animation when I was in the third year of junior high school, but I didn't watch much while thinking so, so I thought about various things while watching it when I was in high school, and when I was in college I used to draw pictures at Manken. ..

G:
What made you want to do animation?

Kuroyanagi:
' Listen to me'. I was born in 1980, so it was the timing of theatrical release when I was in the third year of junior high school. At that time, I didn't feel like going to high school so much, and when I was spending my summer vacation saying 'I wonder ...', I was just handing out tickets that would be 100 yen or 200 yen cheaper at school.

G:
Oh, there was such a thing.

Kuroyanagi:
When I went to see it, both Shizuku and Seiji were worried about making a violin or writing a novel in the same way, and when I thought about it, I knew nothing while thinking about it. Isn't it? Shizuku thought about writing a novel after learning more, but in the same way, I decided to go to high school to study a little more.

G:
Oh.

Kuroyanagi:
With that in mind, I think that one work has greatly influenced my life. In the same way, I wanted to create a work that would affect people at the crossroads of my life, which was the reason I chose animation.

G:
You said that you have been drawing content and manga since you were a student. What kind of things did you draw?

Kuroyanagi:
It's already like a Ghibli rash (laughs)

G:
It's like having a rash on Ghibli (laughs)

Kuroyanagi:
It's like trying to be a good person (laughs). At that time, my favorite manga was Kenji Tsuruta , or rather a seinen manga.

G:
Ah.

Kuroyanagi:
I was trying to draw while putting fantasy in it, thinking that it was something that I could not draw with a feeling of expressing the part that is not only fun, such as the loneliness in my life. ..

G:
Did you complete the work you were drawing at that time?

Kuroyanagi:
It was intended for university internal magazines, and it was a short work of about 14 pages, so it was completed.

G:
In 2007, the same as when I wrote this blog, ' I always think that if I have time to go somewhere because I think I should be better when I draw the original picture, I have to hold a pencil, but I think I will try to direct it. I have to know more things . ' Did you feel something in the production?

Kuroyanagi:
I thought, 'I don't know anything no matter how far I go.'

G:
Do you really feel that kind of thing when you are directing?

Kuroyanagi:
The drawers are narrow, or there is nothing inside. For example, I was able to draw from my experience how my debut work ' Minamike ' was when I was in high school. However, whether it's 'The Great Passage' or ' Backflip !!' men's rhythmic gymnastics, even if I've been working for more than 10 years, I only know it for the first time. However, I have to put it out as a work, not just learn it, but simply having knowledge does not make it a work. For example, in the case of men's rhythmic gymnastics, what kind of story should be put on so that more people can enjoy it? That part is where I think that no matter how much I try, I don't have enough study.

G:
There was also a blog when the number of stories in charge of the storyboard in that 'Minamike' was completed, and it was written that ' my lack of power is really unpleasant .'

Kuroyanagi:
It's still the same thing to say, 'I'm really grateful to everyone who wrote the cuts.' It's the same as now when I'm watching the work while thinking that the staff did their best.

G:
There is also a description that 'it was scattered or hurt', and it seems that it was quite a difficult content work.

Kuroyanagi:
When I'm making it, I drive myself. Conte was always asking himself, 'Is Conte really interesting?' At that time, when I was told something I didn't understand, I guess I would say 'Huh?'. It's not really right now (laughs)

G:
Does it make you click when something is said?

Kuroyanagi:
Not only about storyboards, but even if you say something else ………… It's also bad to talk to them while drawing storyboards! (smile)

G:
(smile)

Kuroyanagi:
Now that everyone knows, 'Let's stay away from Kuroyanagi when drawing the storyboard' (laughs)

G:
It's something that makes you tingle.

Kuroyanagi:
I'm the most nervous. At that time, I thought, 'If the storyboard isn't interesting, the work won't be interesting.'

G:
Oh…….

Kuroyanagi:
After that, as I gained experience in directing, I realized that 'it's not like that, there's something I can do'. At that time, drawing storyboards was a longing job, so I was excited about myself, and I think there was such a tingling sensation that I could see it.

G:
Looking at the director's tweet, you can see the story of 'Backflip !!', but how did you feel when you worked on the story of 'Backflip !!'?

Kuroyanagi:
I thought, 'I have to make it an interesting work ...!', But this time, I decided to make it a bright and positive work, and I thought that the director shouldn't be in a scary scene, so I drew it brightly and smilingly. Was there.

G:
(Laughs) What was the direction of the director's first 'bright and positive' approach?

Kuroyanagi:
For example, I also like Ryotaro Shiba's '

Clouds on the Slope', but if there is a white cloud on the slope during the work, you can go up the slope while watching it. There is an optimistic view, and I wish all the characters had that kind of thing.

G:
Hmmmm.

Kuroyanagi:
In the future, there may be some pains such as 'Is it required so far?' In everyday plays and other scenes, including trial scenes, but it will be a good image to do, so let's do our best. It was such a positive feeling. ……Are you okay? Isn't the air like Zekuraji? (smile)

G:
No, when I saw this work, it felt like a culmination of what Director Kuroyanagi had done, and I thought I had to listen to this as well.

Kuroyanagi:
That being said, 'Backflip !!' is exactly what I started directing, and I've been thinking 'I want to do a work in this direction', but from the starting point as my own directing for the past ten years. I had the enthusiasm to make the culmination of the above into one form.

G:
When entering the animation industry, he said he didn't know anything about the industry at all, so on the blog, OB Senichi Hoshino came to the graduation ceremony of the university and said, 'If you get lost, go ahead' and add it at the end. It was written that he was encouraged by the words 'If it doesn't work, I should go back (laughs)'.

Kuroyanagi:
When everyone started to get a job at university, I went to a vocational school at night and it felt like I finally started job hunting. At that time, I thought that the more time passed, the less possibilities would disappear. I was thinking of becoming an animator, but in the meantime, everyone was getting a job, and the possibility of going to another path was closed. I've been thinking of becoming an animator since I was in junior high school, but when other roads are closed, I'm still worried. I wonder if I can really eat it.

G:
I see.

Kuroyanagi:
Moreover, I don't know anything about the industry at all, and there is a limit to what I can teach at a vocational school, and I will give you the contact information of the animation studio for employment, so please do your best.

G:
That's anxiety.

Kuroyanagi:
However, when I rushed to think that I had no choice but to do it when this happened, Mr. Hoshino said, 'If you get lost, go forward' and 'If it doesn't work, you should go back', so it became a lot easier. It is still the case. 'When you move forward, move forward.' 'If you make a big mistake, can you go back to what you didn't do?' Sometimes it's hard to get rid of it (laughs)

G:
Was there such a scene in the production of 'Backflip !!' that 'I'm at a loss, but I have no choice but to move forward!'

Kuroyanagi:
That's the first part, I just decided to 'draw men's rhythmic gymnastics' (laughs)

G:
The very first (laughs)

Kuroyanagi:
In terms of the story, it's the same feeling that Professor Shida chose, 'I'm thinking of expanding men's rhythmic gymnastics.' I don't know if Mr. Shida will really work, and I don't know if the men's rhythmic gymnastics itself will spread, but anyway, I have the feeling that I'm thinking of moving forward.



G:
The 2008 blog said, ' I think that making something that readers and spectators want to see is because the creator is extremely considerate of others. ' I think I'll do it. '

Kuroyanagi:
At that time, I often met with fellow directors and was wondering what kind of animation would be good. It was a time when I was still doing a lot of storytelling with director Yoshiyuki Fujiwara , and until the morning I was talking about that work and wondering what kind of work I was aiming for. .. It was the age of paper, when it became a director, but I still don't know if I can become a director. When I became a director, I was wondering what kind of things I would make, and when I was working, I sometimes heard words, and I felt like I was admonishing that I should be kind. probably.

G:
Do you still have the same feelings at this time? Do you feel that you are making what you are aiming for?

Kuroyanagi:
I think I'm thinking about the same thing, but I haven't received it yet.

G:
What is it like, something is missing, something you can't reach, or you don't know?

Kuroyanagi:
You don't know the feeling that you've arrived. Eventually, I'd like to have a sense of accomplishment, but I think that's the moment when I can quit anime.

G:
Ah, it seems like I'm already satisfied.

Kuroyanagi:
I feel like that. Or, even if you experience such things, you may be 'let's go to the next', but I don't know, it's something I haven't felt yet. Even when the work was completed, I thought, 'I think I could still do this.' It's not that the work wasn't good, but it's just a reflection within me.

G:
It is a reflection that I will make use of these points next time. For example, is it possible to make good use of the points of reflection even if the work has a completely different direction?

Kuroyanagi:
Well ... I'm not a person who works very much in terms of the number of works, so when I take on the work, I think I'll do it if I can add some elements. I'm doing work like the original picture with Hoi Hoi (laughs)

G:
In the Twitter profile, the 'director' comes before the 'director'. Do you have any special feelings such as 'the director is the one who does this kind of work' or 'the director should be'?

Kuroyanagi:
'It's the production that makes the work interesting, and the animation director that makes the screen better, so if the work is boring, it's all because of the production.'

G:
Ah ... When I hear that, the pressure when drawing storyboards seems to be great.

Kuroyanagi:
Especially when I'm drawing a storyboard, there aren't any staff yet, and after the storyboard is completed, everyone from the original drawings, videos, and shoots comes in, so I feel like I'm alone during the storyboard. So I feel like I'm trying myself the most. In some cases, you look at the storyboard and decide whether to do the job or not.

G:
I think Director Kuroyanagi is the type who draws a lot of pictures, but did you draw for a long time?

Kuroyanagi:
I started drawing with an awareness of anime when I was in high school, and at first I was copying. I liked Katsuya Kondo 's illustrations of ' Ocean Waves ' because I thought he was good at it, so I often copied them.

G:
From blogs, Twitter, radio, etc., the director has the image of reading a book very much. I know you're reading something that interests you, but are there any common trends?

Kuroyanagi:
Basically, I like Osamu Dazai and Ryunosuke Akutagawa in modern literature. Apart from that, when I was in college, I was basically a seminar to study Ryotaro Shiba and Ogai Mori, but I wandered around the bookstore and read one book that I thought I would read somehow. If it's interesting, it's like reading the author's books all at once.

G:
There was a story that he wrote a dissertation on 'view of life and death' when he was in college, and he said, ' I would like to do it with the idea of myself for the present, not myself for the future. ' It was written in.

Kuroyanagi:
This joint paper was written by all the seminars and was about the changes in the view of life and death in the four eras of the Edo period, the Meiji period, the wartime period, and the present age. When I look at the view of life and death itself, the more I think about so-called 'death,' the more I have to think about 'life.' I'm sure at that time, it was a contest where the character had to put such an element in the contest, whether the character would live or die. I think I added some meaning to it.

G:
When you watch 'Movie Backflip !!', do you want me to feel this kind of thing, or do you want me to take it home?

Kuroyanagi:
It was a work depicting the days of Ao High School's men's rhythmic gymnastics friends, and the connection of men's rhythmic gymnastics for them was an animation for me. Thanks to the animation, I was able to meet my friends and create a work. I'm sure there is something important for those who watch 'Movie Backflip !!'. Take it as important as possible, cherish every day, and go to the future. I hope that you will take good care of yourself as you have what you like now, and also take good care of the people you meet.

G:
Thank you very much.

'Movie Bakuten !!' is being released in theaters from Saturday, July 2, 2022. A digest video that condenses all 12 episodes of TV animation in about 20 minutes is released on YouTube, so if you watch this and then watch the movie, you should be able to enjoy it even more.

TV animation 'Bakuten !!' digest version video | 'Movie Bakuten !!' released on Saturday, July 2, 2022 --YouTube

©映画バクテン製作委員会

◆ 'Movie Backflip !!' work information
·cast
Shotaro Futaba: Shimba Tsuchiya
Misato Yoshiya: Kaito Ishikawa
Masamune Shichigahama: Daisuke Ono
Keisuke Tsukidate: Takashi Kondo
Nagayoshi Onagawa: Hiro Shimono
Kotaro Watari: Hiroshi Kamiya
Tsukiyuki Mashiro: Ayumu Murase
Toru Takase: Katsuyuki Konishi
Yojiro Rikuoku: Kenichi Suzumura
Hideo Ominato: Tomokazu Sugita
Kyoichi Ryugamori: Soma Saito
Shunsuke Azuma: Daiki Yamashita
Asa Kurikoma: Ayane Sakura
Shusaku Shida: Takahiro Sakurai
Ayumi Futaba: Reina Ueda
Shuji Mabuchi: Kenichiro Matsuda

·staff
Original: Yotsugi Empitsu
Director: Toshimasa Kuroyanagi
Rhythmic Gymnastics Trial Director: Fumiaki Mitsuda
Screenplay: Toshizo Nemoto
Character design draft: Robico
Character design / animation director: Yuka Shibata
Prop Design / Animation Director: Aya Nakanishi
Color design: Emi Chiba
Art director: Yuka Hirama, Hiromasa Ogura
Art setting: Mamio Ogawa
3DCG: Takeemon
CGI Director: Shuji Shinoda
Cinematographer: Takahiro Motodai, Ryo Ito
Edit: Daisuke Hiraki
Sound Director: Yukio Nagasaki
Music: Yuuki Hayashi
Rhythmic Gymnastics Uniform Design: Sasaki Sports Co., Ltd.
Supervision: Aomori Yamada High School Men's Rhythmic Gymnastics Club
Animation production: ZEXCS
Chief Producer: Toko Takase
Producers: Akitoshi Mori, Noriko Iwasaki, Kiyoshi Shintaku
Distribution: Aniplex

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