YouTube original animation `` Pole Princess !! '' Director Hitomi Ezoe & 3DCG Yoshihiro Otobe's interview, realizing the visualization of pole dance with the evolution of motion capture technology



The anime `` Pole Princess !! This work is a combination of 'pole dance' x 'song' x 'girls who work hard', which has never been seen before. We interviewed director

Hitomi Ezoe and CG director and planning producer Yoshihiro Otobe about how this new work was born.

YouTube Original Anime 'Pole Princess!!' Official Site
https://poleprincess.jp/



GIGAZINE (hereinafter G):
When I asked Director Ezoe what kind of career led him to this work, he tweeted on his Twitter that it started with '

Kissdom -ENGAGE planet- '.



G:
You were credited with 'setting production', was this the beginning of your career?



Director Hitomi Ezoe (hereinafter referred to as Ezoe):
Well, I did my first production with 'Kissdom -ENGAGE planet-', and after about five years of working with Satellite , I became a freelance director.

G:
Regarding this work, it is said that a voice was heard about three years ago, but how did Mr. Ezoe talk about it?

Ezoe:
As for Tatsunoko Production, I was given the chance to do storyboards and directing for ' PriPara ' and ' Idol Time PriPara '. When I worked with him for the first time, I was originally a fan of 'PriPara' and ' KING OF PRISM ', so I immediately answered that I wanted to do it. Because of that connection, I was approached by Mr. Otobe about his project.



G:
I see. Next, I would like to ask Mr. Otobe. On the official website,

the following comments have been announced.

This is Otobe from 3DCG. This time, with the theme of pole dance, I thought that I could create a world that I have not seen yet, and I was able to create an expression. We hope you enjoy the cute and beautiful characters originally designed by Mr. Tomari, the story by Director Ezoe and the screenwriter Ms. Machida, and the beautiful and hot pole dance CG live we create. This work has just started, so please support us! !


What was the specific reason you decided to use pole dancing as a subject?

CG director and planning producer Yoshihiro Otobe (hereinafter referred to as Otobe):
It was quite a while ago, but I happened to see a topic on the Internet saying, 'The American pole dancing champion is amazing.' It wasn't the pole dance I had seen or imagined. My image of pole dancing was that it was a rather sexy night dance, and I had a shallow idea that anyone could do it. But in reality, there was a muscular woman dancing beautifully, and I thought it was amazing and cool.

G:
Oh.

Otobe:
At that time, I just thought, 'That's amazing,' and it was over. It's cool.' I put it out. Then, it was adopted as 'like', and it was decided to incorporate pole dancing into the work. At that time, the song was a ballad type, so the movements were slow and gentle, but after finishing, I wonder if this technique and know-how can be used more. I thought it would be possible if there was a work on the subject. However, I didn't think about planning it myself (laughs)

G:
(smile)

Otobe:
After that, I happened to see someone online who was doing a show that combined pole dancing and anime cosplay. It was something that came up by chance as a recommendation, but the image came to me and I thought, 'Isn't this what I want to do?' Then time passed again, 'Finally, this will not work unless you make a plan yourself' (laugh)

G:
Finally (laughs)

Otobe:
I made a little pilot film, and somehow I thought Mr. Ezoe would like this, so I asked him to watch the video and said, 'How do you like it?' It's finally taking shape... it's been a long process. I myself had my image of pole dancing overturned, so I thought that by transmitting it, we could show it in a different way. This 'Pole Princess!!'

G:
Director Ezoe, what was your first impression when you heard about 'Pole Princess!!'?

Ezoe:
After all, I had only seen pole dancing in movies and dramas, so I thought of it as a sexy thing, and as a lesson, I thought it was for women with a high sense of beauty, so I was not familiar with it. There was no. But when Mr. Otobe showed me the video, I realized that there is another side to him. With this, I think I can do a lot of things, and I think that pole dancing is a very stoic and cool thing to convey to various people. There was also the conviction that I could express myself with this.

Otobe:
One of the reasons I approached Mr. Ezoe was that he had drawn the storyboards for the dance scenes in PriPara and Kiratto Pri☆Chan , and he understood 3D as well. I had the impression that they would be able to build a good relationship with us.



G:
I see. Also, I don't know how to ask Ezoe directly, but at the time of ' King Ranking ', Atsuko Nozaki , who was the character designer and general animation director, tweeted about Mr. Ezoe, who was the director. also reacted.



G:
Is this work also working like this?




Ezoe:
This time it's a 3D work, so I didn't sit down at my desk and draw something, but at the time I was just a few floors above Tatsunoko Production doing something like this (laughs). It's a stooped back, so I think the standing posture is like this.

G:
Regarding this work, I saw a tweet saying 'Director is hard'. What is the real difficulty? Previously, you tweeted that you had a lot of meetings, but is that the point?




Ezoe:
The meeting tweet was about the production process of another work. This time it's a 3D work, so I left a lot of the 3D part to Mr. Otobe. (laughs)

G:
(smile)

Ezoe:
So, I don't feel stressed, but the difficulty as a director is whether or not I can be confident in the correctness of my judgment. So if the customer doesn't accept it, it's my fault. I don't think the staff would say so, but I think that I have to take responsibility as long as I'm allowed to do it in the position of director. It's the same with the final judge of the storyboard, but I have to do everything myself, such as the final judge of the sound, and the parts that I've left to the director until now. 'Is this really correct?'

G:
In the case of this work, what was the point where you were worried about 'Is it really correct?'

Ezoe:
This work is an original animation, so there is no right answer, so when I asked everyone, 'How do you like this?' Isn't it fine?', I said, 'I see.' I still don't know the 'correct answer', and I'm fumbling.

G:
Mr. Otobe said that 3DCG was left to Mr. Otobe.

Otobe:
Hmm, maybe not too confused.

G:
Don't hesitate! you're strong.

Otobe:
Because there is something that is done with conviction, and there is a premise that 'I think I am good'. For example, ``I wish I could have added a little more in terms of quality, but I have time, so let's go with this.'' Every time I think about things like ``Is this character's setting good enough?

G:
oh.

Otobe:
By the way, regarding the drama part uploaded to YouTube, there is a doubt whether it is better to go full frames or drop frames, and in fact, after the second episode, I dropped a few frames.

G:
Eh, that's right.

YouTube original animation 'Pole Princess!!' Ep.01 'Pole dance, please tell me!'-YouTube

YouTube original animation `` Pole Princess '' Ep.02 `` Magical girl as a friend !? ''-YouTube


Otobe:
I wondered if it would be better to make it a little easier to see and feel familiar. Regarding the PV part, I don't think there is such a hesitation.

G:
I see. I would like to ask Director Ezoe again, but there was a tweet at the satellite saying, 'I entered because I wanted to do robot animation.' Was there a robot anime that inspired you?



Ezoe:
Well, I usually like Gundam and Macross. When I was a kid, I used to watch reruns of Mazinger Z. If even Tatsunoko-san has a chance to do a robot anime, by all means...!

G:
(Laughs) Regarding the dance, there was a tweet saying that he was made to dance with motion capture during ' Hyperdimension Neptunia '.




Ezoe:
I'm complaining, but this is just a joke because it was said by a senior director who was indebted to me since I was a newcomer. I had a good experience. (Laughs) At this time, it was a simple motion capture, just dancing in front of the camera without attaching a sensor. I learned that there are various methods for shooting in suits and motion capture. When I witnessed the motion capture of this work, it was different from before, so I was shocked to see that there is technology that can capture precisely in places like ordinary dance studios and conference rooms like this.

G:
The story of this 'Neptunia' anime was about 10 years ago.

Otobe:
About 10 years ago, I would probably rent a large studio and set up 20 or 30 cameras around it to detect markers on suits. It's still in use today, but if you spend money to increase the number of cameras, the accuracy will increase. What we use is the inertial type, and we don't really choose places such as studios, but instead of taking pictures with a camera, we measure how much it moves from a stationary state, such as an accelerometer or inertial sensor. It has a lot of sensors. At first, we introduced it to the male characters in Pretty Rhythm Rainbow Live . At that time, the precision was still low, and it was better than nothing, but it wasn't very good either. My hips move wildly, my feet slip, and it's hard to fix.



G:
(smile)

Otobe:
However, the equipment gradually evolved, and when it came to 'PriPara', there were almost no repairs, and it became a utility that could be done in units and in parallel with other works. You can shoot pole dances, and you can shoot correctly even in a small space. Of course, the accuracy of the optical system is higher, but it is close to the point.

G:
How many corrections did you make for this pole dance?

Otobe:
It's included quite a bit, but it's not like I'm changing the content of the dance. Since the pole dance rotates, the change in acceleration is large, and if it is an inertial method, it will gradually shift, so it is like correcting it on the data.

G:
What I thought while watching 'Pole Princess!!' With the current motion capture, can such height information be captured properly?

Dance of Yukari Mikoshiro



Otobe:
I tried not to mention it because I thought it would be difficult, but it was the most important thing, and I couldn't get the height with the suits I had until now. No matter what you do, you'll fly off somewhere. However, with the evolution of the suit, technology that measures air pressure and height has been introduced, so even if you stand still during pole dancing, you can stay on top of the pole all the time. About 5 or 6 years ago, when flying in the air, it would fall down on the data. Also, when I'm standing still, I think that's where the ground is, and fix it without permission...

G:
Even if you are still on the top of the pole, you will be dropped on your own.

Otobe:
'You're on the ground, aren't you? You're wrong.' 'No, it's you who's wrong!' (laughs). With that kind of technology, I was able to do pole dancing as well. I don't think I could have done it without this.

Sana Shidou dance



G:
In an article published on December 22, 2017 on CGWORLD.JP , in the production of the full CG music video for ' 22/7 ', the characters were modeled with 3ds Max , the uniforms were made with Marvelous Designer , and the motions were made with MVN . There was a description that the original tool ' BipedWorks ' was used to efficiently edit the data recorded by motion capture. Is this original tool used in this work as well?

22/7 1st single 'I didn't exist' music video-YouTube


Otobe:
Rather than waiting for capture equipment to evolve, this is a tool that we created to fix the shortcomings of our equipment. I actually added some tools for pole dancing. As it rotates, it shifts from the pole, so a tool to correct it will be completed in December 2022.

G:
Oh new.

Otobe:
In the case of 'KING OF PRISM', the scale wasn't so big, so I had to fix it with guts, but as expected, there is a limit to guts... I have to try this once. I didn't know that such technology was necessary, but the idea that it could be repaired by a machine came up as a concept around November 2022, and it was actually added in December.

G:
It is exactly the latest example of the tool being used.

Otobe:
I agree. For example, it feels like the tool has been updated to the level that it took about a month to fix it until now, but it was shortened to about two weeks.

G:
That's how it feels. Mr. Ezoe, looking at the changes in the environment over the past eight years from the point of view of the director and the director, are there any parts of this work that you feel are amazing compared to the past?

Ezoe:
I feel that the evolution of 3D is amazing. I've been involved in 3D works from time to time, but when I saw the CG live of the time when I was in charge of 'PriPara' for the first time in a long time, I realized that it had evolved so much. At that time, I thought it was amazing, but after three or four years, the accuracy has improved. The models are also very beautiful. The joints are also very natural ... I'm not familiar with CG at all, and I have no idea what kind of technology is used, but I feel that it has evolved a lot.

G:
But it is certainly so. In the last three to four years, my level has improved remarkably, and I feel that it looks very natural. I don't know what level is the result of improving, but what is this?

Otobe:
For us, it feels like we've gradually raised our level, so it doesn't feel like we worked hard in particular. When I look at things from a long time ago, I sometimes think, ``I should have done this,'' but if anything, it's because of time constraints that I couldn't do it anymore. On that point, since 'Pole Princess!!' is distributed on YouTube, there is a part where we challenge 'how far we can go', and I think that's what's coming out.

G:
Oh, I see.

Otobe:
Also, apart from that, the motion capture technology has also improved, and I think there is also an evolution that has become more beautiful because the machine can now correct the rattling that was previously corrected by hand. .

G:
I see. Is it an image that the accumulation of various improvements so far has been steadily reflected?

Otobe:
I agree. Of course, there is room for improvement in terms of what to fix. From the point of view of those who saw it, ``It's become beautiful, it can be seen without discomfort,'' is the part that we are lifting with technology, so on the contrary, we don't want to be noticed (laughs)

G:
(smile)

Otobe:
People with good eyes may not notice it, but I would be happy if you could honestly say 'cute, beautiful' as an impression. When someone familiar with it mentions, 'Compared to others, this is ~~', I get excited and say, 'Oh, I'll find out...'. 'Don't compare too much with others ~' (laughs)

G:
That's how it feels.

Otobe:
When I'm doing an idol show for children, it's inevitable that people who see it will compare it, but from the 3DCG creator's point of view, I understand that each company and work is made under different conditions. hand. I know you want to compare, but I think that if you do it under the same conditions as mine, they will be the same, and if you do it under their conditions, you will be the same.

G:
Different assumptions lead to different results.

Otobe:
Of course, I try not to say such things, but since we know each other, there are times when we talk about such things.

G:
This time, since it is a YouTube original animation, I think one of the features is that the length of the story is not fixed. For example, the first episode is 5 minutes and 15 seconds, which is a bit long for short animations broadcast on TV. Is this decided by Director Ezoe?

Ezoe:
Basically, the length is not fixed, and I'm told that it's okay to be free, so I feel like this is the result when I choose the most comfortable timing or interval. If possible, I have a feeling that I would like to keep it around 5 minutes, but it ends up being around 7 minutes. This time, because it is an original work, I would like people to see it casually, and I was aiming for about 5 minutes to see it in a little gap time.



G:
I see. Even so, when it becomes 7 minutes, I think that I need 7 minutes because I think about the timing and the interval that feels good.

Ezoe:
If there is a moist scene where you want to take your time, it will naturally grow. If there was a set length like on TV, I'd cut it out of tears, but since there's no such thing, I feel like I'm making it at the most comfortable timing. Depending on the character, there are places where if there is a child who talks leisurely, it will inevitably grow.

G:
How do you create storyboards for such works?

Ezoe:
Regarding the drama part, at first we were talking about completing cuts and camera work in 3D, but it turned out to be quite difficult. It is the form that I was allowed to do.

G:
As for how to make it, is it the same feeling as a standard anime work?

Ezoe:
Originally, I wanted to make the drama part with the image of a picture drama, so I recorded the voice with a presco and had the stage actors add a play to match it, resulting in the current 3D animation. At first, I recorded only the voice, so the gaps were quite different, so I cut them to shorten and lengthen them and have them make adjustments.

G:
I see. Was there anything specific that you used as a reference for pole dancing this time?

Ezoe:
Together with the staff, I went to see the presentation of Mr.

KAORI of STUDIO TRANSFORM , who supervises the pole dance, and interviewed the students in the classroom. That's why I ask them, 'Why did you start pole dancing?'

G:
It means that the episodes in the work reflect a relatively real part.

Ezoe:
Yes, it reflects the experiences of people who actually do pole dancing.

G:
Mr. Otobe, was there anything that left an impression on you during the actual coverage?

Otobe:
In the interview, I interviewed middle and high school students, mainly Ms. Douko Machida , who wrote the script, and I was surprised to hear a proper answer that I couldn't believe was a middle and high school student. As an image, I thought that it would be a little more difficult to answer, but it was an answer that put adults to shame. Pole dance has a lot of opportunities to practice among adults, so I have the impression that I was very mature. Rather than focusing on the technical aspect, I think the impression of people doing pole dancing has changed.

G:
Oh, I see.

Otobe:
Also, when Kaori-sensei talked about 'Pole Princess!!', she said, 'I've been waiting for something like this.' For Noah, KAORI-sensei also does Japanese dance, so she listed it as being in charge of it herself. In the worst case, when I brought up the idea, I thought that they might say, 'I'm not interested,' but it was great that they accepted me.

YouTube Original Animation 'Pole Princess!!' Yukari Mikoshiro Pole Dance Show Movie - YouTube


G:
I will ask the director again. I will leave the work for a while, but there was a tweet saying that the Megaten series was my original experience and wanted to get a job at Atlus. Do you play games a lot?



Ezoe:
I can't do much right now, but yes. When I was a kid, I wanted to get a job at a game company, but I gave up because I wasn't good at science at all. I thought game companies = programmers. There are countless other jobs if you look carefully, but at the time I couldn't think of one. As a result, I had the opportunity to work on `` Persona '' and `` Devil Survivor '' through my work in anime, and I thought I didn't understand life.



G:
At what point did you think that you wanted to make anime your job?

Ezoe:
When I was in college, I hadn't decided anything about employment, so I was just lazing around. That's when I met '

Fighter Fairy Yukikaze ' and thought, 'The production of anime is really cool!'



Ezoe:
From there, while attending university, I went to a painting cram school for the general public that Kyoto Animation was doing, and I went to Yoyogi Animation Academy at night.

G:
I see, so it was that kind of encounter. Otobe-san, how are you? Why did you go into anime?

Otobe:
Rather, I didn't watch anime at all until I came to this industry, and I wanted to work as a painter, but I thought I wouldn't be able to become Van Gogh.

G:
Van Gogh.

Otobe:
So, when I was looking for a job as a technician or engineer in a realistic place, there was a professor who said, 'Why don't you make teaching materials with 3DCG?' I've been doing mechanical engineering all my life, but from there I kept my mechanical engineering credits to a minimum and concentrated on the rest. 'Machine + picture = CG, this is the only one!' That professor also arranged a part-time job for me, and I made a CG for an eyewear factory, but after that, I wanted to study seriously, so I went to a vocational school in Osaka for a year. When I was looking for a job, most people said they wanted to go to a game company, and I was also accepted by Capcom , but at that time there was also an offer from Sunrise .

G:
Whoa, Sunrise.

Otobe:
As expected, I knew about Gundam, so I thought, 'There's no way I'll be accepted, but I'll take it as a souvenir.' On the way home from the interview, I got a phone call telling me that I had passed, and asked, 'When can you come back?' I feel like my anime life started from there.

G:
I see. After that, to Tatsunoko Pro.

Otobe:
During the Sunrise era, together with people who would go to Tatsunoko later. Mr. Tatsunoko said that he wanted to strengthen 3DCG, so I came with the feeling that I would like to go and do something.

G:
This time, in 'Pole Princess!!', I think that one of the big things is that we were able to get high altitude in suits, but there are other things that we didn't use even though we were able to do it as a technology. Is there something like that you can do things like that?

Otobe:
Well ... this time, I'm making a drama part in about 3 to 5 minutes, but if time and budget allow, I can make it 30 minutes. For the drama part, we originally thought about posting the text on the official website and creating a mechanism for playing back the audio, but we wanted to liven up the drama part with 3DCG, so in the end we decided to do it in full CG. . I also wanted to show that I could actually do something like this. Although it is possible to make this long or increase the scale, it is quite difficult due to time and budget constraints, so it may be better not to do it because the burden is actually larger than expected ( smile)

G:
(smile)

Otobe:
I can't say with certainty myself, but there is such a thing.

G:
Director Ezoe is actively disseminating information on Twitter, and it feels like you are going to see theater and movies while doing various jobs.How do you adjust your schedule?

Ezoe:
Of course, I'm currently concentrating on 'Pole Princess!!' as far as work is concerned, but I think it's better to make a full drawer for the production. As much as possible, when work comes, I want to do it as much as possible, and I don't want to make a weak field. I'm not very good at action, but if I say 'I'm not good at action', I will never learn, so I try to participate in things that may be difficult as much as possible. I felt that the length and volume of 'Pole Princess!!' was just within my reach, so I was able to make the decision to direct. I want to do my best to the extent that I can.

G:
'Pole Princess!!' has already started streaming, but I think that there are people who will start watching it because of this interview, and there are people who want to watch it. What kind of place do you recommend to such people, saying, 'This is the highlight of the place?'

Ezoe:
After all, the beauty of pole dancing is the most recommended point. I think it's something I haven't done before, and the animation is quite difficult, and I'm doing things like rotation, three-dimensionality, and three-dimensionality, and the backgrounds and production are really beautiful. Furthermore, I think that you can understand the characters more deeply when combined with the drama part, so I would be happy if you could watch it together.

Otobe:
Not to mention the overall composition and the character's facial expressions, I also do some pretty big moves. I myself don't know much about pole dancing, so there are times when I think, ``There is such a technique,'' or, ``This tune will make this kind of movement.'' Among them, I think that Noah's performance is a satisfying performance together with Japanese dance. I still watch it at least 10 times a day. As for the feeling I get when I watch the public PV, for example, Yukari's show is suitable for when I want to take exams and go higher, I want you to push me on my back. I would like tired office workers to see it. In that way, I would be happy if various people could see it and say, ``It made me feel better,'' or ``I feel like I'm heading in a good direction.''

YouTube Original Animation `` Pole Princess '' Aoi Noah (CV. Saori Hayami) Pole Dance Show Movie-YouTube


G:
I see. Thank you for speaking with us today.

YouTube original animation 'Pole Princess!!'

YouTube original animation `` Pole Princess '' Ep.00 `` Prologue ''-YouTube

©エイベックス・ピクチャーズ／タツノコプロ／ポールプリンセス!!製作委員会

◆ 'Paul Princess!!' work information
·staff
Director: Hitomi Ezoe
Screenplay: Douko Machida
CG Director: Yoshihiro Otobe
Character draft: Tomari
Music: Kenta Higashioji
Music production: avex pictures
Pole dance supervision: KAORI (STUDIO TRANSFORM)
Animation Production: Tatsunoko Pro
Original: Avex Pictures, Tatsunoko Pro

·cast
Hoshikita Hinano: Rio Tsuchiya
Lilia Saijo: Anna Suzuki
Higashizaka Mio: Yui Ogura
Southern Subaru: Minami Hyuga
Yukari Mikoshira: Yoshino Nanjo
Sana Shidou: Rina Hidaka
Aoi Noah: Saori Hayami
Core Azumi: Rie Kugimiya

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