Shinichiro Inoue of KADOKAWA talks about the birth of the anime magazine “New Type” and “Five Star Story” A summary report of the Machi★Asobi lecture
KADOKAWA's Shinichiro Inoue, who was involved in the launch of
Machi★Asobi
https://www.machiasobi.com/
Shinichiro Inoue, senior advisor and executive fellow of KADOKAWA Co., Ltd., served as a lecturer.
The interviewer was Daisuke Okeda, a lawyer and auditor of the NPO Anime Special Effects Archive Organization (ATAC).
Daisuke Okeda (hereinafter referred to as Okeda):
Thank you very much for coming today. Mr. Inoue would like to have as much time as possible for questions and answers, so we will talk for about an hour, and then we will have a little more time for questions and answers. Since this is a question-and-answer session, please be aware that there are some things you can and cannot answer. This is a long introduction. I'm sure there's no need for everyone to introduce themselves, but Mr. Inoue, would you mind introducing yourself?
Mr. Shinichiro Inoue (hereinafter referred to as Inoue):
Yes, my name is Inoue. Currently, I am working as a senior advisor at a company called KADOKAWA. Since I am in a relatively free position, I am starting to do various jobs. I started my career as a magazine editor, not as a manager, and I worked on magazines before ``New Type'' started, as well as women's magazines, manga magazines, and literary works such as novels. Fortunately, I started my career as a magazine editor. In particular, I was able to do most of the things I was responsible for as an editor. I also make anime and live-action movies. Normally, people who work on anime only work on anime, but fortunately I've had a hectic life where I've been able to work on a variety of projects, including live-action movies and streaming dramas...I'm not done yet. Not really (lol), but today I would like to focus on an anime magazine called ``New Type'' and a work serialized there called ``Five Star Story (FSS).'' I was a little surprised to see that it was written as a 'seminar', but I thought it was going to be a normal talk show and I would like to talk casually, so I hope you will enjoy it even though it may not be of much use. thank you.
(Venue applause)
Okeda:
thank you. As you just introduced, today's topic is 'Monthly Newtype and my FSS.' When I met Mr. Kondo from ufotable, he said to me, ``Mr. Okeda, please be the host.''
Inoue:
I also decided to come this time because it was the first time in a while that Machi★Asobi was being held, and I was surprised to see that a talk show was set up (lol)
Okeda:
If you're here, I don't think there's any need to introduce Newtype and FSS, but could you first give me a brief explanation of what they are?
Inoue:
Newtype is an anime magazine published by KADOKAWA. At first, it was called ``Anime Magazine Plus Alpha'' and I think it still says ``Moving Pictures Magazine,'' but in short, it was a magazine whose purpose was to introduce moving and moving pictures to everyone. In the early days, there were quite a few regular movies and special effects works, but now the focus is on anime. I created ``Moving Pictures Magazine'' with the intention of creating a Japanese-English version of the magazine, but I was later told that ``It's an English slang term for pornographic movies.'' hand.
(Venue laughs)
Inoue:
Since it has already been released, I have no choice but to open myself up and do it again.
Okeda:
We'll talk about FSS later, so let's go through them in order. First of all, since it is before and after the publication, I will show you the images.
Inoue:
Newtype was founded in 1985, and I started my career as an editor in 1980. The first thing I created as a part-time student was something called Animek's ``Anne of Green Gables Special''.
Inoue:
The reason why I was able to interview Director Tomino as a part-time student at Animec is that Animek has a hugely popular special feature on Mobile Suit Gundam, and the editor-in-chief, Masanobu Komaki, worked at Sunrise, which produced Gundam. I became like a brain, making the complete collection of Gundam records from that time, and helping with movie promotion, so I wasn't really involved in editing work anymore. So, it really was a doujinshi-like world where a complete amateur suddenly did a special feature on the director.
For the first time in my life, I also had the experience of ``cell photography'' and shooting cels. Nowadays, all anime filming is done digitally, but back then we were shooting a combination of background images and characters, so the cameraman and I went to the anime studio and were allowed to use the shooting stand. . That's how this magazine was created.
I pretty much did whatever I wanted with the anime comic, but the special feature I did the most with was issue 17. Since Mr. Komaki was still promoting the Gundam movie, I thought it would be okay to do whatever I wanted, so I did a ``Lolita Special.'' It says, ''ro' is the 'ro' of Lolita.' I was able to fully embrace my hobby. I was a Nabokov reader, so I had a strong desire to educate people about what a proper lolicon is, so I did something stupid.
Animek April 1981 Issue 1981 No. 17 Latest information on the Mobile Suit Gundam movie adaptation / 'Ro' is Lolita's 'Ro' / Mirrorman / Star Simac / Hideo Azuma | Masanobu Komaki | Books | Mail order | Amazon
Inoue:
Meanwhile, in 1984, ``Heavy Fighter L-Gaim'' began airing on television. Around this time, Yoshiyuki Tomino was making Mobile Suit Gundam movies, and every year he made original works such as ``Battle Mecha Xabungle'', ``Sacred Warrior Dunbine'', and ``Heavy Battle Machine L-Gaim'', all of which had different worldviews, and during this time, He also wrote novels, which was a tremendous amount of work. What surprised me about L-Gaim was that they chose Mamoru Nagano as the mechanical designer. First of all, I have to talk about the first part.
I met Mamoru Nagano when I was editing an anime comic, and it was during the Mobile Suit Gundam movie that was coming out a while ago. Mr. Komaki was the brain behind the advertising, and the advertising producer was a genius named Tadahiko Nobe. Mr. Nobe said, ``Let's do a New Century Anime Declaration,'' and Mr. Komaki gathered various students together as the head of the executive team. What the 'New Century Declaration' means is that at that time, anime fans and science fiction fans were oppressed and their existence was not recognized by society. It was a time when there was a strong trend that ``anime was for children to watch,'' and people would ask, ``Are you even a college student watching anime?'' However, Mr. Nobe and Mr. Komaki wanted to make sure the world knew that ``anime is already a fine youth culture.'' In that sense, the world won't recognize us unless we first make a declaration, so we wanted to create a place for that. This is February 21st, 1981. We held an event in which we gathered in front of Shinjuku Alta and declared the ``New Century of Anime'' in an open space.
At the time of planning, we calculated that only a few thousand people would gather, but in reality, tens of thousands of people turned out, and even Isetan was so crowded that you couldn't see the stage, and the police were mobilized. This caused such an uproar that regulations were put in place. On the stage, people cosplaying as Char and Lalah made a declaration. At that time, cosplayers weren't as popular as they are now, and there weren't many people doing cosplay. The people I decided to work on were Char and Lalah, who later became Mamoru Nagano and Maria Kawamura.
Okeda:
Was it a dark history?
Inoue:
Now that I've reached my 60th birthday, I've decided that it's okay for me to come out. For now, Mr. Nagano has said that it's OK to say anything today, so please think about your questions. At that event, I greeted Mamoru Nagano as an editor of Animek, and that's how I met Mamoru Nagano.
When I met Mr. Nagano for the first time, I got the impression that he was a guy who played guitar. He looked like a rock musician. He was actually a serious rock musician who played at the US military base in Tachikawa. One day, I was surprised to learn that I was suddenly going to join Sunrise and become a mechanical designer. Before L-Gaim, when I went to Sunrise Studio 3, I remember drawing the puppet fighter (space fighter) of ``Galactic Drifter Vifam'' right in front of me. Also, I was a little involved in 'Kyojin Gorg'. One day, I was surprised to learn that Yoshiyuki Tomino had chosen Mamoru Nagano, a newcomer, to design not only the mecha but also all the accessories, but a few weeks later I was like, ``Are you going to do the characters as well?'' Anyway, the worldview and visual aspect of the work L-Gaim was almost entirely created by Mamoru Nagano.
Okeda:
Mr. Nagano joined Sunrise in April 1983, and L-Gaim began broadcasting in February of the following year. As a side note, or rather a confirmation, I heard that Mr. Nagano was frequenting Manga Gallery at the time, but what about Mr. Inoue?
Inoue:
I remember going there at least once, but I wasn't a regular. Manga Gallery is a coffee shop located in Ekoda that used to be a hangout for manga and anime fans. It was a place that produced amazing people such as Shuichi Shigeno, who later became a manga artist, Masami Yuuki, and writer Aki Tomato.
Okeda:
thank you. That's how L-Gaim led to the anime special feature.
Inoue:
This is the issue in which Mr. Nagano drew the cover of Anime Comic for the first time. Everyone, I think you can kind of tell by looking at this, but it already looks more like FSS than L-Gaim (lol). Along the way, we considered the setting of ``Fatima,'' but officially there is no Fatima in El-Gaim. While creating the setting for L-Gaim, Mamoru Nagano started to think of an original story and thought, ``I want to draw this,'' and he created the shape of a woman in the head of a robot called Heavy Metal. At that time, I was already thinking about a setting in which there was an organic computer called Fatima, who did this, but I couldn't bring it into L-Gaim, so I decided to do it in my own story. However, in the final episode of the anime, something resembling Fatima moved around Auger's head, and Nagano-san was angry at the time.
Okeda:
If you were angry, does that mean it wasn't supposed to happen?
Inoue:
An animator drew it a little. It was a shadow, though. I was actually planning on drawing it myself, but the image came first. I don't think the relationship with the animator deteriorated after that.
In 1983, the first Mook book, ``The Television Bessatsu Heavy Battle Machine L-Gaim'' was published during the broadcast of L-Gaim. L-Gaim takes place in a world called ``Pentagona World,'' but you can already feel that it's going a little deviant from the cover. The robot itself is L-Gaim. This is a memorable mook that has created a connection between KADOKAWA and Yoshiyuki Tomino, Mamoru Nagano, and Maria Kawamura.
Inoue:
At that time, Weekly The Television had an anime page, and from the time of Dunbine, two color pages featured works directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino. I got to know someone in the editorial department, and they asked me to write something, so I helped out with the opening feature and wrote articles about anime. For that reason, I didn't directly edit the first book of Mook, but it was around the time when I was in and out of various places. At this time, it had not yet been decided to create a 'new type'.
Okeda:
According to various books, the topic of ``Newtype'' came out around November 1984, and Haruki Kadokawa said it.
Inoue:
yes. At that time, Haruki Kadokawa was the president of Kadokawa Shoten, and The Television Co., Ltd. was a subsidiary of that company. In March 1984, an anime movie directed by Rintaro called ``Sword of Kamuy'' was going to be released, so I said, ``We need an anime magazine to promote it, so let's make one!'' 'Now? It's already November' (lol)
(Venue laughs)
Inoue:
As I'm sure you all know, it's not that easy to create a magazine. You can keep making more and more magazines that already exist, but this is just the first issue. You don't create a magazine on your own, you apply to a distribution company and say, ``I want to make something like this,'' and unless it's approved, you can't distribute it on your own. That kind of work had to be done in five months. In reality, we won't be able to make it in time unless issue 0 is completed around January, so we have less than two months to prepare. So, in the first place, we are talking about ``What should we name the magazine?'' At this point, we are asked, ``What about the name Newtype?'' There are various problems at the moment... Well, first of all, we have to apologize. I remember it until now. We apologize for causing trouble to the public. Mr. Fumihiko Kadokawa, who is in prison for causing such trouble, asked about the name of this magazine. So, I thought that I would have to get Yoshiyuki Tomino's permission first, so I actually did it.
Okeda:
Mr. Fukihiko?
Inoue:
Mr. Fukihiko and Mr. Asano, a magazine salesman, are supposed to be working together. I wasn't there at the time, so I don't know. When I told Director Tomino, ``I want to create a magazine called New Type,'' I thought he would be happy, but he was furious.
(Venue laughs)
Inoue:
He got really angry and said, ``It's outrageous to create a magazine with that name, there's no way it will sell.'' It seems like Mr. Tomino. However, right after that, there was testimony about Mr. Tomino who returned to the L-Gaim studio. Mamoru Nagano was looking at Tomino, and instead of being angry, he had already come back with a smile on his face.
(Venue laughs)
Inoue:
That's why the title 'New Type' was successfully adopted. There is also a theory that the ``New Type'' was created thanks to the sales of Mook. The second volume of the mook is called Epoch, and it contains about 10 illustrations by Mamoru Nagano that will become the prototype for FSS.
It's almost an FSS-like story, but it's still depicted as being inside Pentagona World, so it's not officially FSS. In Mr. Nagano's mind, he has come a long way. The setting of Fatima is also revealed here, and L-Gaim Mk-II is written as Blood Temple.
Okeda:
This is the later Red Mirage.
Inoue:
It feels like things are going out of control in my head (lol). Everyone knows this Amaterasu AKD mark, right? Actually, this was inspired by the Hanshin Tigers logo. Stretch T vertically... I think this is the first time I'm announcing this to the world. Nagano-san has told me that I can say whatever I want, so I don't think he'll get mad at me (lol). I think I was 25 or almost 26 at the time, but I was still young, and I was really taken aback by the illustrated story. I thought to myself, ``This is amazing, I want to see this world.'' I had already decided that I would have Mr. Nagano draw the manga. It was Mr. Igawa, editor-in-chief of The Television at the time, who said, ``Let's have Mr. Nagano draw the manga.''
Okeda:
Mr. Hiroshi Igawa.
Inoue:
Mr. Igawa was the editor-in-chief of all magazines such as The Television, Newtype, and Video. In reality, the deputy editor-in-chief of each magazine was actually the editor-in-chief, so it was like being the general editor-in-chief. Originally, he was the editor-in-chief of Shogakukan's school year magazine and came from a manga background. I have a close relationship with Shigeo Nagashima and others, and Mr. Igawa taught me how to create manga.
Okeda:
Speaking of Mr. Igawa, he also launched ``Doraemon.''
Inoue:
I've heard many stories about how you started your work. Mr. Igawa originally came from a manga background, so he's someone who wants to turn anything into manga (lol). If it weren't for Mr. Igawa, I don't know if FSS would have become a manga. He was a famous editor-in-chief, and by the time I was working there, he wasn't doing much actual editing work anymore. He was active as a liaison with Haruki Kadokawa.
As a side note, he is a person who often takes his subordinates out for drinks. Nowadays, bosses say they shouldn't invite them out for drinks, but back then it was okay to do that, so around 6 p.m. people in the editorial department Everyone seems extremely busy as they begin work. Otherwise, Mr. Igawa will take me out for drinks (lol). But sometimes I'm forced to play the other person (lol). I was able to hear many interesting stories while drinking.
In March 1985, New Type was launched. As I wrote at the bottom of the cover, ``Kamuy's Sword'' was included as a separate supplement, and I was in charge of Kamui's Sword, Z Gundam, and L-Gaim. Haruki Kadokawa's idea was to ``sell Kamui swords,'' so he started a magazine, but as you can see, it was the perfect time for Z Gundam to start broadcasting, so the cover was It is a Z Gundam instead of a Kamui sword. Haruki wasn't angry.
Okeda:
I guess I forgot about half of it.
Inoue:
Well, I think I probably forgot what I said (lol). I also think that because it is a subsidiary, we can do whatever we want. Since this first issue, Mr. Nagano has been writing a series called ``FOOL for THE CITY.'' From the beginning, I decided to make one book for a year, and since it was my first time drawing a manga, it was a work that I would ``draw a manga first.'' An experiment for FSS. At first, when he told me that he was drawing with a drafting pen called a Rotring rather than a so-called G-pen or other manga pen, I thought, ``I can't draw, right?'' but he actually drew. A drafting pen makes lines that are all the same thickness, but they are thin like a hypodermic needle. It breaks easily and I thought it would be a dangerous way to draw it. If you read ``FOOL for THE CITY'' carefully, you will notice that the brushstrokes in the beginning and the second half are completely different. In the second half, I'm also using the G Pen properly, and I'm starting to practice drawing FSS.
By the way, L-Gaim's second mook book was edited by the same staff around the same time as 'Newtype'.
Okeda:
If you're so busy, don't your memories of those days just fade away?
Inoue:
It's flying by quite a bit (lol). The first issue of the magazine is all new series, so we have to decide on everything, and we also have to decide on the concept of the magazine. I was quite young when I was creating a mook in the midst of ordering manuscripts from new people.
One year later, the April 1986 issue. Just as 'ZZ Gundam' is about to begin, the memorable first episode of FSS begins. Mr. Nagano was also having a difficult time with his workload, and there was talk that he would also be the main mechanical designer for ZZ, but due to various reasons, he decided not to do so. Honestly, I doubt if he would have been able to draw FSS if he had done that, but he was very motivated. I went to pick up the manuscript for FSS from the first episode, and from the time I wrote the name, I had the feeling that we could do something amazing with it.
Okeda:
You wrote an impressive passage in your book ``Mamoru Mania.''
Inoue:
Did you write about the composition of Red King and Chandler in 'Mamoru Mania'?
Okeda:
Instead, there was a phone conversation.
Inoue:
Sorry, it was a long time ago, so I don't even remember what I wrote. I heard this from Mamoru Nagano himself, but the composition in the first spread where Red Mirage is on this side and Black Knight is in the back is the composition of Red King and Chandler from ``Ultraman''.
Okeda:
It was an homage.
Inoue:
That's why Red Mirage is certain to win (lol)
Okeda:
That's what it means. As a side note, around this time, Hayao Miyazaki's ``Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind'' was serialized in Animage, and Masaharu Kawamori's ``The Super Dimension Fortress Macross'' was published, and the work and core I think there was a movement to connect creators' names, but were you conscious of that at the same time?
Inoue:
I still remember well when ``Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind'' began on Animage. It was made into an animated movie in 1983. I was aware that the manga would be serialized in an anime magazine and that it would be original content.
One of the toughest things about running an anime magazine is that it's great when there's a ``popular anime,'' but when there isn't, it's quite difficult. It's different now, but at the time, the requirement for a ``popular anime'' that would sell anime magazines was ``be original.'' Animes based on manga, such as Urusei Yatsura, were certainly popular, but I don't think that's a requirement for anime magazines to sell. An important factor in the sales of anime magazines is that the anime is original and popular. Of course, the same goes for Gundam. The best-selling anime comic was ``The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love?''
However, Big West, who was in charge of Macross, was a very strict company, and they looked at Animek a little (lol), so Animek couldn't use Macross on the cover. So, I asked Haruhiko Mikimoto, ``Please draw a girl who looks like Minmei.''
(Venue laughs)
Okeda:
People stare at me because I do things like that (lol)
Inoue:
The cover was about a girl who looked like Minmei, but the special feature was about Macross (lol). I used some tricks like that.
However, works like that don't last forever and have ups and downs, so I wanted to eliminate those ups and downs as much as possible. For that purpose, original content is important, and that was Mamoru Nagano's ``FSS.'' It was very strong content. Mr. Tomino was also writing a novel at the time, and I wanted to eliminate the ups and downs as much as possible by increasing the number of regulars. I think it's a completely different idea from Animage's ``Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind.''
Okeda:
Now that we are talking about anime, I would like to ask you about 'FSS'. However, since ``FSS'' is long, you have to focus on it to a certain extent, so it skips a lot, but I hope you can see the realization of ``
Inoue:
``Gothic Made'' is a project that Nagano initially started as a one-person project. This year marks 10 years since its release, but where do you think the idea came from? Does anyone know?
(Venue reaction was small)
Inoue:
It's `` Voices of a Star '' directed by Makoto Shinkai.
Okeda:
Ah, he can do it.
Inoue:
That's right. When I saw ``Voices of a Star'' and heard that Mr. Shinkai had made it by himself, I thought, ``It can be done by one person.Then I'll do it too!''
(Venue laughs)
Inoue:
With the development of technology, we started thinking, ``We're now in an era where you can do it all by yourself.'' At first, I was really working on it by myself, and they said they would make it in one year, so I thought, ``If it's only one year, I'll have no choice but to take a break.'' I was also thinking stupidly that it would be great if I could make an anime in a year...
(Venue laughs)
Inoue:
As you all know...it ended up taking about 9 or 10 years. During that time, the series unexpectedly stopped, and although I had a lot of feelings, Mr. Nagano himself was working on it by himself, happily, sometimes even angry. It was a very luxurious production site, with a room set up just for Mr. Nagano right next to the Newtype editorial department, where he came every day to create the anime.
At first, there was only one person, but we gradually added more staff, and by the end we had about 200 people. I went to Mr. Minami of Bonds, who also comes to Machi★Asobi, to ask for help. What's so difficult about this work is... Since everyone has seen it, it's okay to spoil the work, right? I thought it was a new original work called ``Gothic Made,'' but at the end I realized that it was FSS. If this were a normal advertisement, I would want to say, ``This is an FSS movie,'' but I tried not to say that at all. That person seems to have a hobby of surprising people. If it were a normal company, I don't think that would be allowed.
Okeda:
Did you have any sense of crisis in extending the production from the originally planned one year to nine or ten years?
Inoue:
I felt a sense of crisis (lol). In the end, I said, ``Let's publish it here, otherwise it won't go up.'' It was very difficult right up until the moment it was released, but the reason we were able to do it was because Mamoru Nagano was at the center of it all. It was a battle of quantity due to the quality, but the important part was created by Mr. Nagano alone.
Okeda:
Mr. Inoue's position changed during the production, but were you always involved?
Inoue:
I think he was the director of the anime/comics division when production started, and the president of Kadokawa Shoten when it was released. I forgot.
Okeda:
You are now the representative director of the former Kadokawa Shoten. I wonder if you are now in a position to judge the work.
Inoue:
As for ``Gothic Made'', it's quite difficult for me to give an evaluation as a producer... It's not an ordinary animated movie, and no recording medium has been released yet. I was surprised and thought, 'Huh? It's not going to come out?' But after it was released, I found out that it wasn't going to come out, and I thought, 'What an idiot I am!' (laughs) I don't feel like releasing it. At the time, this was made in 4K format, and Nagano said that it was an anime that could only be seen in theaters. After the first screening ended, the film was re-screened many times, but it was always said that it could only be seen in theaters, and that if you wanted to see Gothic Made, come to the theater.
There is a term called 'cult movie,' but a cult movie is one that fans gather once a year to hold a screening of. In that sense, ``Gothic Made'' is a true ``cult movie.''
Okeda:
The story will turn to manga again, but the serialization has been going very well lately.
Inoue:
It won't be on hiatus. In the past, they would take a break when they published a book, but these days they continue to serialize while publishing a book, which I think is amazing. It's an overwhelming amount of work.
Okeda:
Is there a reason or has there been a change?
Inoue:
I think it must have gone through the process of being a 'Gothic maid' after all. It's been on hiatus for a number of years, so they're bringing it back.
Okeda:
That awareness.
Inoue:
I think there is. Also, right now I'm in a good mood drawing. For the past two months, I've been crying while reading this.
Okeda:
In terms of the production system, I think Mr. Nagano is the main one, but do you still produce on paper?
Inoue:
All coloring is done digitally, and thanks to Dai Nippon Printing's excellent reproduction capabilities, the print comes out as close to Mr. Nagano's image as possible, but the manga manuscript and cover illustrations are hand-drawn. For the character table, I only draw the main lines and then color the rest using the computer. Just about two months ago, I went to Mr. Nagano's place to sort out the original drawings, but Mr. Nagano is a very methodical person, so he was very organized and had nothing to do, so he asked me what kind of works he had, and what size they were. I made a list to see if there were any.
Okeda:
I think it's almost the same amount as the Newtype series, but isn't it a considerable amount?
Inoue:
I agree. In addition to that, there was ``Brain Powered'', and games were being made, and there are also works from the Sunrise era before FSS, and designs that have disappeared.
Okeda:
I would like to take some time for a question and answer session, so I'm going to cut it short a bit. I don't think I can officially talk about the future of Newtype and FSS, but I did a little research and found something interesting. Mr. Nagano gave an interview to Forbes in 2019, in which he said, ``I want to make one more movie, and it will be FSS.'' If you have anything to say about this...
Inoue:
This is never mentioned, but Mamoru Nagano and I are exactly one year apart, and we have both passed our 60th birthdays. He's naturally a methodical person, so I think he's counting backwards to figure out how many years he has left. If that happens, I think you'll probably want to make at least one of them right now.
Okeda:
Would you like to see Mr. Inoue himself?
Inoue:
of course. If it were to be made into an anime, I'd like to see things like ``The Great Invasion'' and ``The Collapse of Calamity.'' It's just something I want to see. I keep thinking things like, ``I want to see Velvet Wise Mel, and I want to see Yorn's story.'' To begin with, there are a lot of unresolved stories, so no matter which part you cut out, it will become a movie. There are scenes I want to see no matter where I look.
Okeda:
In that interview, ``Gothic Made'' was just ``Gothic Made'' and ``FSS'' was ``FSS'', so I thought, ``I see, it's FSS.'' What is the relationship between FSS and Gothic Made?
Inoue:
Basically, everything is 'FSS' (lol). Everything converges on 'FSS'. I think everyone was surprised when the robot designs were all Gothic-made, but what surprised the editors was how quickly readers followed. I was surprised at first, but surprisingly everyone adapted quickly, which surprised me.
Okeda:
Well, if God says so (lol)
Inoue:
When I think that ``Gothic Made'' has already reached its 10th anniversary, I feel that I only have a short time left.
Okeda:
I wonder how long it takes to make one anime.
Inoue:
That's right. It will take another 10 years (lol). As expected, I don't think people will say 'I make it by myself' anymore (lol).
Okeda:
Lastly, before we get to the questions...
Inoue:
Yes, there will be a bit of self-promotion at the end, but in June 2021, I stepped down from my role as representative director and became an advisor, and my body became free and I was able to do work outside of KADOKAWA. I am. I am also reporting to the company. So, I've actually started writing a novel. This is not a magazine, but a mook, and it is published several times a year by Kadokawa Architecture, and I have written a novel called ``Contactee Case Seven'' here. If you are interested, please read it. If I'm lucky, it might become a book, so I hope you'll support me.
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Okeda:
By the way, why did you decide to write this?
Inoue:
The reason for writing this is Kensuke Tanaka, who is the creator of Kantai Collection -KanColle-, and he told me that he would have a little more freedom if he stepped down as CEO around the summer of 2021. When I did that, he said, ``I'm going to make a book like this next time, so Mr. Inoue, please write it.'' Naturally, because of my connection with Mr. Tanaka, I thought that he would write a novelization of Kantai Collection, and I said, 'Okay,' but later, when we were drinking together, he said, 'Please write an erotic science fiction story.' 'and. I couldn't help it, so I said on the spot, ``How about having sex on the moon base?'' and he said, ``Isn't that already an option?'' How about we talk about it?' ``I'm sure no one has written that,'' so I decided to go with that. That's where the story came from (lol)
Okeda:
It's completely useless (lol)
Inoue:
That's what creativity is all about. There is something he wants to see, and he thinks of a story from there. Later, I was wondering what a place like Moonbase would be like, and I thought there might be a place called ``Sayonara Jupiter.'' It's a satellite of Jupiter. I had completely forgotten about it. I couldn't read the novel right away, so I went back to watch the movie, and I thought, ``I see,'' and I realized that Sakyo Komatsu had been deeply imprinted on my mind. I'm not sure if I came up with the idea myself or if it remained somewhere due to Sakyo Komatsu's influence. It's something that remains in my heart.
Okeda:
thank you. This will be about an hour long, and based on everyone's reactions, I don't think I will be without questions, so I would like to move on to a Q&A session.
Inoue:
I'm really grateful that so many people came to the audience today. Before we started, Okeda-san and I were saying, ``What should we do if there are only five people?''
Okeda:
I think there are some questions I can answer and some I can't, so I'll be the one to sort them out.
Q1:
Thank you for today. I heard an interesting story. I've always been curious about the title, ``New Type,'' but for those of us around 40, when we think of Kadokawa Shoten's magazines, we mean ``New Type,'' ``Dragon Magazine,'' and ``Comptique.'' The number of comics gradually increased, and the number of novels increased and it became thicker and thicker, but Newtype has remained the same. Even when Mr. Nagano was gone for nearly 10 years, it would have been normal for the series to end, but the series resumed and continues today. I think it's very different, but I wonder if there's some sort of concept behind it, or if there's some kind of willpower behind it.
Inoue:
The editor-in-chief of Newtype has changed over the years, and the magazine itself has changed somewhat, but what remains fundamentally unchanged is that Newtype is Mamoru Nagano's magazine. It's been 37 years since 1985, but that's one thing that hasn't changed. As I mentioned earlier, L-Gaim was started by Yoshiyuki Tomino, Mamoru Nagano, and Maria Kawamura, and the policies of those mooks have been inherited, so Mamoru Nagano is at the core of Newtype. Even if it is no longer published, I believe that the core of the magazine remains somewhere, and it is still a magazine that has maintained its core.
The names that appear in the first issue are Yoshiyuki Tomino, Mamoru Nagano, Tomoyo Harada, Mari Iijima, and Hironobu Nomura. To put it in an extreme way, it was decided around this time that we would be doing an FSS manga, so the fact that it was a magazine about FSS hasn't changed. Therefore, the basic concept has not changed. Some parts have been updated as the editor-in-chief has changed, but the basic structure remains the same: a column at the back, a news page, and an anime land.
Other magazines are getting thicker...I don't mean this as a bad thing, but it's difficult to survive on magazines alone, so I want to publish books. To do this, we have to pack in a lot of content, so it becomes thick. However, in the case of Newtype, there aren't many plans to make it into a book, so I hope you understand that this is how it is structured.
Q1:
If it were a normal company, there would be pressure to change when the management changes or the editor-in-chief changes, but Newtype didn't change when Mr. Haruki Kadokawa was replaced by Mr. Fukihiko. mosquito?
Inoue:
There wasn't.
Q1:
I thought that was amazing. thank you very much.
Q2:
I think it's been about 26 years since Mamoru Mania, which I mentioned earlier, came out. It was right in the middle of Eva, and that was mentioned in the preface. So, I would really like to read the sequel, but do you have any ideas or plans?
Inoue:
Not at the moment. It was a collection of serialized works by Toys Press, the company run by Nagano and Sato Yoshietsu at the time, so it would be difficult to do without such a medium. But thank you for reading.
Okeda:
If it looks like this, I think everyone who raises their hand will be able to guess, so don't panic.
Q3:
When FSS was discontinued and Gothic Made was released, it had a completely different design. Kaiserin's design has been revealed in Newtype for several years, but has it been decided for quite some time that the design will change drastically in the main FSS? There were various commercials and magazine articles about it, but there was nothing that hinted at it, so when I went to see Gothic Made in the theater, I was told, ``This is a story from FSS's past.'' , I thought there might be changes to the past. Regarding the subsequent commercialization of FSS, for example, the three-dimensionalization of Gothic maid products, it took a long time for products other than Kaiserin, so I think the related companies were not aware of it at all.
Inoue:
I'm wondering if you had any discussions with figure manufacturers etc. in advance? I think this was probably unknown. It was done in complete secrecy. However, I don't know exactly when Mr. Nagano started thinking about it, but the idea of completely replacing the name and design was something that he had been thinking about when he started Gothic Made, and he had kept it a secret for a long time. I think it was. When you look at the Gothic Made poster, you really think, ``This is something different from FSS.'' But when you look at the ending, you can clearly see that it was FSS. However, the decision to add that ending was made at the very last minute. That's why I imagine that the decision to completely replace it was made close to, if not right before, the release.
Okeda:
In that vein, did the editorial department or Mr. Inoue, who was the first editor in charge, raise any objections to the idea of completely replacing it, or do you feel like it's just like that?
Inoue:
'I see.' (lol) I'm sorry, but Mamoru Nagano won't change what he said. No matter what he decides, he will never change it.
Okeda:
I see, I understand.
Inoue:
Actually, I thought, ``That sounds like Mamoru Nagano.'' At the end of the first volume of the book, there is a scene where the Knight of Gold appears for the first time, and it is a picture of him rising up with his head down. However, the name was completely different. When I saw the finished drawing, I thought, ``That's different!'' Then he said, ``I wanted to surprise Inoue-kun.''
(Venue laughs)
Inoue:
In short, that's the kind of person I am. I like surprising people (lol)
Q4:
It may have already been said in other media, but you mentioned that Makoto Shinkai had an influence on making a movie by yourself, and when making major changes to the setting, Was there any influence or anything like that?
Inoue:
I've never heard of such a thing. Maybe... but I think he's tired of it. Also, I think I came up with a new design or concept. When that happens, I'm the type of person who thinks, ``This is better, this is the only option.'' Also, I often say that robots in Japanese anime are basically Gundam, and even after FSS came out, it hasn't changed much. So, if I were to change anything, I would probably want to change it myself.
Q5:
The only thing I knew about this mook was that it contained settings related to FSS, but when I was a high school student, When I was around that time, in the story related to L-Gaim in ``The 4th Super Robot Wars'', I remember being surprised when a robot named Blood Temple that looked exactly like the Red Mirage appeared when you defeated the original Auger. About 10 years later, I heard information about Mook and thought, ``Ah, I see.'' But did Mr. Nagano even know that Blood Temple would appear in the game?
Inoue:
Ah, I'm not sure about that. However, regarding Mook, it says ``© Sotsu/Sunrise,'' which means it's an L-Gaim book and it's a story about Pentagona World. Later, I expanded on that image, but the content of this mook is still within L-Gaim's worldview.
Q6:
The company name is now 'KADOKAWA', but in the past it was 'Kadokawa Shoten'. FSS books are published under the name ``New Type 100% Comics,'' and the spine of the book still says ``Kadokawa Shoten,'' but they are particular about Kadokawa Shoten instead of the Romanized KADOKAWA. Is it?
Inoue:
I see...maybe Mr. Nagano has one. Although Kadokawa Shoten does not exist as an organization, there are regulations that say it is OK to use the name as a brand name, so it is sometimes used. I'm sure Mr. Nagano is very particular about the name ``Kadokawa Shoten''.
Q7:
I first encountered FSS around the time of the first movie, and I was captivated by the character designer Nobuteru Yuuki's very solid drawings, and although it was completely different from the manga version, I thought it was a great movie. I think the character design was completely different from your own drawings, Nagano-san, but is there anything you can tell me about that?
Inoue:
Mr. Nagano was basically not involved in the movie itself, and it feels like he only gave permission. However, it seems like he was actually sneaking a peek at the production site. I'm sure he's on good terms with Yuki-san, so I think he was recognized as a work of art.
Q8:
In a recent interview with Mr. Nagano, I think you mentioned that you write the scenario first, but what is the production flow like? Could you tell us anything that has changed between the early days and now?
Inoue:
I haven't been there recently, but I used to write a lot of stories in my notebook, so I'm sure that's what he's talking about. As for the scenario, there was a lot of text written in it, and I think they chose from there and made a name for it. I'm a person who writes down a lot of ideas, and I think it's safe to say this, but I've been making a chronology for a long time, but I also write stories, including episodes that haven't been drawn yet. I've written about things that are far in the future. When I said to Mr. Nagano, ``You're writing about things that are quite far into the future,'' he replied, ``Akira Kurosawa made really good movies in his heyday, but after he turned 60, the stories became boring, so I decided to talk about them now.'' I'll write it down,' he said. I think he's a very methodical person. But I think they're still creating stories.
Q8:
Do editors sometimes see those notes?
Inoue:
I was watching. The number has probably increased by tens of times now... The person in charge is currently the editor-in-chief, and there is a tradition that the editor-in-chief is in charge every time (lol)
Okeda:
This may seem like a derivative question, but you mentioned earlier that you organized the original drawings, but are the notebooks organized as well?
Inoue:
Oh, I didn't see the note. I'll have to ask, but I think it's probably sorted out.
Okeda:
At first, it was said that he was writing in something like a university notebook.
Inoue:
I think he's probably still writing. I can't believe I'm writing this on a word processor. He does everything by hand. I can't think of any part where Mamoru Nagano is writing on a word processor.
Q9:
I've been buying anime comics ever since the Gundam special was a big hit. When I look at anime magazines, I find that Animage is very comprehensive, with a huge list of broadcasts, staff lists, and a large number of works, while Animeki is highly hobbyist, and I feel like people dig into their favorite works to break through. I think that New Type also creates a magazine based on recommended works, rather than covering all works, and the selection of works such as ``This is what I recommend now'' or ``I want to put more effort into''. Does that come from the editor? Or did the editor-in-chief say, ``Let's go with this''?
Inoue:
When we were working on Anime Comic, the project was pretty much decided between what Komaki-san wanted to do and what I wanted to do. Regarding Newtype, at the beginning, I told Yoshietsu Sato, ``This is what I want to do,'' and it was decided. After becoming deputy editor-in-chief, I decided on my own. Also, if the editorial staff told me, ``I want to promote Tenkuu Senki Shurato!'' or ``Machine Robo: Cronos's Great Revenge,'' for example, I would say, ``That's fine, let's do it.'' It was interesting when unexpected projects came up.
Q9:
Is there something like a sales pitch for your work?
Inoue:
There are still sales pitches, and I think there are more of them now. At that time, anime companies' public relations methods were completely different, and Toei Animation was the only anime company that had a public relations office. Sunrise also didn't have a public relations department, but instead had a ``reference room,'' and I listened to stories in the reference room.
Q10:
I think the chronology published in L-Gaim's second mook book looked exactly like FSS. Sunrise has the rights to what is published in this mook, but when FSS was published as a manga, did the rights etc. transfer smoothly?
Inoue:
Regarding this, FSS is an original by Mamoru Nagano, and although it is inspired by 'Heavy Fighter L-Gaim', it is treated as a completely different work. At the time, I remember explaining to Sunrise, ``It's going to be like this,'' and they didn't say, ``Please stop it.'' After all, Director Tomino gave the OK.
Okeda:
Mr. Tomino says, ``I'll take care of this world for you,'' which comes up in your own interviews.
Inoue:
I also remember reading that interview. I think this is being done out of courtesy.
Q11：
Please tell us your favorite story about Inoue-san in FSS. Also, in the past, there were times when there was a gap between the series being suspended and the serialization restarting, so please let me know if there are any episodes where Nagano-san was being selfish when he wanted the series to resume sooner.
Inoue:
(Laughs) Regarding the serialization, I was thinking, ``Please come back soon,'' but the only thing left to do is make adjustments or discuss things. It's not that he's on hiatus because I like him, he's basically someone I can't wait to draw, so I don't think there was any particular problem. My favorite episode is...this one is too many. ``I like it the most''...I don't know what to do. 'Don't forget about me', right? There are quite a few people who understand this.
Okeda:
I received a lot of enthusiastic questions, and I think it turned out well. Lastly, please give a big round of applause to our instructor, Mr. Inoue.
Inoue:
thank you very much.
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