Air date: August 26, 2006

Solomon, accompanied by Nathan, shows up before Diva. He transforms his right hand into blade and charges to slash her. Meanwhile, Julia continues her study on D-base in Diva's blood, and realizes that the effect of synchronicity caused by Diva's singing could infest the entire world with chiroptera...

Script: Shigeru Mori
Storyboard: Tokiichi Kagurazaka
Director: Hirotoshi Rissen
Animation Directors: Emiko Abe, Makoto Matsui

This Week's Top Page is dedicated to Asience: Hairy Tale, directed by Kazuto Nakazawa.

As our server is moving to our new Mitaka office, from September 10 (Thu) to September 14 (Mon) (Japan time) we will not be able to send or receive e-mails, and this site will be down.
Read the fourth and last part of our interview with Asience: Hairy Tale director Kazuto Nakazawa here.
Musashi: The Dream of the Last Samurai is screening at the Japanisches Kulturinstitut in Cologne. Read the details here.
Oblivion Island: Haruka and the Magic Mirror is screening in San Francisco at the 1st San New York / San Francisco International Children's Film Festival. Read the details here.
Read the first part of our exclusive interview with Kanta Kamei here.
We added the synopsis of the TV series Ghost Hound Focus: 21 here.
We added the synopsis of the TV series Blood+ episode 46 here.

January 2009: Week 5

This Week's Top Page is dedicated to the second opening film of Blood+, directed by Kazuto Nakazawa.

Read the third part of our interview with Asience: Hairy Tale director Kazuto Nakazawa here.
Read our interview with The Sky Crawlers music composer Kenji Kawai here.
We added the synopsis of the TV series Real Drive episode 10 here.
We added the synopsis of the TV series Blood + episode 38 here.

September 2008: Week 3

This Week's Top Page is dedicated to Asience: Hairy Tale, Kao's creative challenge directed by Kazuto Nakazawa.

Mamoru Oshii's The Sky Crawlers has been selected for the official competition of Sitges 08. Read the details here.
Read the second part of our interview with Asience: Hairy Tale director Kazuto Nakazawa here.
Asience has been selected in competition for the 12th Holland Animation Film Festival. Read the detail here.
We added the synopsis of the TV series Library War episode 5 here.
We added the synopsis of the TV series Blood + episode 27 here.

June 2008: Week 3

This Week's Top Page is dedicated to Asience: Hairy Tale, Kao's creative challenge directed by Kazuto Nakazawa.

Check the details of Production I.G panel at Anime Expo 2008 here.
Read the first part of our interview with Asience: Hairy Tale director Kazuto Nakazawa here.
Read our interview with Phone Braver 7 director Takashi Miike here.
We added the synopsis of the TV series Real Drive episode 4 here.
We added the synopsis of the TV series Blood + episode 24 here.

November 2007: Week 3

This Week's Top Page is dedicated to Asience: Hairy Tale, Kao's creative challenge directed by Kazuto Nakazawa.

Kazuto Nakazawa's Asience: Hairy Tale is Gold Winner at the 22nd London International Advertising Awards. Check the details here.
Read our exclusive interview with Asience inbetween checker Junko Nishimura here.
Mamoru Oshii's Tachigui: The Amazing Lives of the Fast Food Grifters is going to have its Taiwanese premiere at the 44th Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival. Read the details here.
And Oshii's thought-provoking mockumentary is also back to Australia (after premiering in Brisbane this summer), screening in Sydney at the 11th Japanese Film Festival. Read the details here.
Read about The Sky Crawlers, the new animation film by Mamoru Oshii here.
We added the synopsis of the TV series Guardian of the Spirit episode 6 here.
We added character file 6 to our Tokyo Marble Chocolate page here.

September 2007: Week 4

This Week's Top Page is dedicated to the Princess' Father as seen in Asience: Hairy Tale, the short film directed by Kazuto Nakazawa for Kao Corporation.

Read our exclusive interview with Asience art director Shuichi Hirata here.
Kenji Kamiyama's Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - Solid State Society won the Packaged Work Award at the 12th Animation Kobe. Read the details here.
Tokyo Marble Chocolate and Ghost Hound will screen at the 20th Tokyo International Film Festival. Read the details here.
Read about The Sky Crawlers, the new animation film by Mamoru Oshii here.
We added the synopsis of the TV series Guardian of the Sacred Spirit episode 2 here.

August 2007: Week 1

This Week's Top Page is dedicated to the Princess as seen in Asience: Hairy Tale, the short film directed by Kazuto Nakazawa for Kao Corporation.

Asience has been selected in competition at the prestigious Ottawa 2007 International Animation Festival. Read the details here.
Read our exclusive interview with Asience color designer Idumi Hirose here.
Tachigui: The Amazing Lives of the Fast Food Grifters is having its Australian premiere at the 16th Brisbane International Film Festival. Read the details here.
Read about The Sky Crawlers, the new animation film by Mamoru Oshii here.
We added the synopsis of the TV series Blood+ episode 9 here.
We added character file 5 to our Sisters of Wellber page here.

July 2007: Week 1

This Week's Top Page is dedicated to Asience: Hairy Tale, Kazuto Nakazawa's creative challenge for Kao Corporation.

Read our exclusive interview with Asience production manager Yoshihiko Suzuki here.
Check the newly added Asience info page here.
Kenji Kamiyama's Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - Solid State Society will receive its Canadian premiere at Fantasia 2007. Read the details here.
Read about The Sky Crawlers, the new animation film by Mamoru Oshii here.
We added the synopsis of the mobile manga XX episode 6 here.
We added character file 01 to our Sisters of Wellber page here.
We added the synopsis of TV series Reideen episode 10 here.

Air date: March 27, 2008

The stochastic resonance is an increase, at a certain probability, of signal response caused by applying noise at random when passing a very small signal. It is evident in the neural circuit of the human brain and sensory cells in the animals, but was originally proposed to explain the periodic occurrence of the ice ages. The theory is now applied in the electronic circuits and a coherent signal is enhanced by adding random noise...

Script: Chiaki J. Konaka
Storyboard: Toshiya Niidome
Director: Toshiya Niidome
Animation Director: Mitsunori Nakamura

As our server is moving to our new Mitaka office, we will not be able to send or receive e-mails, and this site will be down throughout the following period:

- September 10 (Thu) to September 14 (Mon) (Japan time)

We are sorry for the inconvenience.

Kazuto Nakazawa - Born in Niigata Prefecture on March 4, 1968. Animator. After graduating the Toei Animation Gakuin, he joined studio Magic Bus, and is currently in force of studio Manglobe. His credits include Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003, animation sequence director, 2003), TV series Samurai Champloo (2004, character design, chief animation director), Linkin Park's video clip Breaking the Habit (2004 MTV VMA Viewer's Choice Award), the commercial film Kirin Lemon Black: Monster Blacks Fights Back (Best Commercial Film at the 11th Holland Animated Film Festival) and the episode Moondrive in Genius Party Beyond (2008). His latest collaboration with I.G is as character designer for the animated feature film Musashi: The Dream of the Last Samurai (2009), directed by Mizuho Nishikubo.

part IV

When you draw the storyboards, do you have the finished screen in your head?
Sure, I do. I treat storyboards merely as tips. I already have the finished screen in my head, so when I draw the storyboards, I try to show how we should tackle it to realize that.

How do you envision the finished screen? Does it pop up in your head out of the blue?
I mull it over and over. I keep on thinking about it whether I'm walking, eating or playing around. When I'm not at my desk, I keep on thinking about it 24/7. So I try not to drive. I would undoubtedly crash into something. (lol)

So you think it out until you have the finished the screen in your head and then draw the storyboards?
Yeah. Of course, I sometimes don't have the definite picture, but once I have a concept, all I have to do is to sit at my desk and start drawing that concept into images. As for Asience, I completed the storyboards in about two days. People say I am quick, but that's not true because I spend the entire time away from my desk thinking.

Your range of work is extensive not to mention character designing, illustration, key arts, directing, screen directing. Is there a particular job you feel at ease doing?
I'd say the key art. If I could make my living drawing just the key art, I would be a happy animator. The responsibility you have to take as a key artist is less compared to directors and screen directors, so there would be less stress.

In Asience, you did the entire key animation all by yourself.
Because it was the quickest way to handle it. My position allowed me to have an extremely free schedule. I draw fast. We could also omit meetings, because what I drew would be the default drawing and could get the director’s OKs instantly. Simply speaking, it was the most effective choice. Mind you, it wasn't that I wanted to do it. (lol) It took me about a week or two. Drawing with brushes was very easy for me, but I gave the in-betweeners a very hard time on that. I owe a lot to them.

Suzuki-san, the production desk manager for Asience, said your working style was, "offhand in a good way." Do you have anything to say to that?
I don't think "offhand" is a bad way to put it in this case. I think we don't have to be that rigid and thorough in animation production. We should allow some messing about. Or else it gets kind of difficult. I wanted to show how to live the "Slow Life" with anime.

You mean "Slow Anime," like "Slow Food." I think that mood encompasses the entire film.
Yeah. One of my focuses is to work hard to create something "offhand." As I often say, making anime does not provide everyday commodities. It's not a vital job, so to speak, but that's exactly why we have to do it right in earnest.

Needless to say, we are told that anime production is very grueling work. Getting back to Suzuki-san, he also said about Asience that, "Nakazawa-san worked unbelievably." How was your day like while in production?
I am just like any salaried worker. I go to work in the morning, work until evening and then go home. I usually don't work through the night and that goes for this production as well. I wake up at six in the morning and start at seven. I probably go to bed at around midnight. If I worked until I am satisfied, I think 24 hours a day is not enough. You really have to consider your working propensity. I would drop dead if I worked through night for two or three days. It is important to remember not to overdo things. You are not living for your work, but you are working to live. So I try to know my limits and boundaries.

Lastly, could you give a message to future animators? Including your secret for working through your day punctually...
Punctuality came only recently. (lol) But if you ask, I think the secret is self-control. What you think is your 100% may necessarily not look 100% to others. That's all.

(5/4 - end)

© 1994-2007 KAO CORPORATION. All Rights Reserved.

Part 1

Can you share with us you feelings now that the movie has been successfully released?
Well, soon after the movie was completed, I was feeling exhausted, and fulfilled at the same time. I was dead beat in a pleasant way. I gave all my best, I have no regrets. I'm also confident I made a movie with all I.G trademarks into it. You have a cool middle-aged bloke and a dog, to begin with. Just kidding...

How did you get involved in the project?
Actually I have been involved in the movie parts of Tales of series for quite a while, although with different roles, from key animator to visual effects supervisor, and I happen to have directed one, too. However, when it was decided to produce a full-length feature film and they asked me to direct it, I must admit that I felt honoured, surprised and a bit nervous at the same time. I was happy because it's not the kind of opportunity that knocks on your door every day, but I had never directed a feature film before.

We can imagine that directing a movie must be different from directing a short segment.
A world of difference! You have to create a real story, give it the right rhythm throughout the duration of the movie, build the characters' personality, portray their subtle changes of mood and expression, convey their feelings with minimal dialogue lines... You don't need to do all this in a short movie for a video game, that essentially is based on rhythm between pictures and sound.

Was the story or anything else already decided when you were offered the job?
Not at all. The game version of Vesperia was still in the plot stage, so once we had decided that there was going to be a movie, we needed to define the position of the movie with respect to the game. We discarded the idea of making a movie adaptation of the game storyline almost immediately, as the game was rather long and could hardly be squeezed within a 2-hour frame. Frankly speaking, I was not very interested in doing that, either. So the other options left were a side story, a prequel or a sequel. But a side story or a sequel would have required time-consuming character introductions, and the greatest risk was, to make a movie that could be hardly enjoyable by those unfamiliar with the game. Of course I wanted the game fans to watch the movie, but first of all, I wanted to make a movie anybody could understand and appreciate without being into the game. So the final choice fell on the prequel option. Furthermore, the game plot offered an interesting point, because it started with Yuri in the Guild and Flynn as an officer of the Imperial Knights. We knew they were childhood friends, and we knew that Yuri used to be a Knight too, but nothing was explained about the reason why Yuri had left the Knights. Quite uncommonly for a game of that kind, the two main characters were over 20 years old, and apparently had already made an important choice in their life. But when? Why? How? So I had plenty of material to create the untold story of Yuri and Flynn's past.

Any difficult point in making a movie based on a video game?
I had to be careful because I knew that each character had its own devoted fan base, and they obviously expected their favourites to act in a certain way, but nevertheless in more than one occasion I deliberately decided to adapt some aspects of their personalities when I thought it would work better in a movie.

In this respect, how important was scriptwriter Reiko Yoshida's contribution?
Invaluable, of course. I personally asked Yoshida-san (*) to join the project. Tales of Vesperia: The First Strike was my first movie and I wanted to rely on an experienced scriptwriter. We read the game script and we started developing from that together. I explained her what I wanted to do, and she started building up around that. But there's one more reason I wanted Yoshida-san. The Tales of series has a strong female fan base, and I definitely wanted -or I'd rather say, needed- feminine sensitiveness in shaping the character's personalities and their dialogue lines. Not the kind of thing a guy in his forties like me could possibly manage to do.

(*) Reiko Yoshida Her credits include Studio Ghibli's The Cat Returns, K-ON!, Kaleido Star, Romeo x Juliet, Getbackers and the live-action TV drama Satorare. Her previous collaborations with I.G include the scripts for episodes of Blood+.

(1 - to be continued)

© NAMCO BANDAI Games Inc./TOV Project
Original Character Design © KOUSUKE FUJISHIMA

This week's Top Page is dedicated to Yuri and Flynn, as seen in Tales of Vesperia: The First Strike, directed by Kanta Kamei.

Read the first part of our exclusive interview with Kanta Kamei here.
Musashi: The Dream of the Last Samurai is screening at the Japanisches Kulturinstitut in Cologne. Read the details here.
Oblivion Island: Haruka and the Magic Mirror is screening in San Francisco at the 1st San New York / San Francisco International Children's Film Festival. Read the details here.
Read the second and last part of our exclusive interview with Mizuho Nishikubo, the director of Musashi: The Dream of the Last Samurai here.
We added the synopsis of the TV series Ghost Hound Focus: 20 here.
We added the synopsis of the TV series Blood+ episode 45 here.

June 2009: Week 4

This week's Top Page is dedicated to Yuri and Flynn, as seen in the forthcoming film Tales of Vesperia: The First Strike, directed by Kanta Kamei.

Mizuho Nishikubo, director of Musashi: The Dream of the Last Samurai, and Mitsuhisa Ishikawa, president & CEO of Production I.G, are hosting a panel discussion at Japan Expo 2009 in Paris, France. Check the details here.
And as every year, Production I.G is also at Anime Expo in the USA! Check the details here.
Check our newly added Tales of Vesperia: The First Strike page here.
Kenji Kamiyama's Eden of the East has been selected in competition at SICAF 2009. Check the details here.
Check the press conference report of Musashi: The Dream of the Last Samurai here.

Air date: August 19, 2006

As Karman notices the Thorn, he acknowledges that his death is near. Moses hugs him and vows, "I will not let you die." James tells Moses that Karman needs Diva's blood to survive. Moses leaves to get what was demanded in return for Diva's blood: Kai's life. Moses does not realize James' real intention and takes a sword alone.

Script: Kurasumi Sunayama
Storyboard: Tadahito Matsubayashi
Director: Junichi Fujisaku
Animation Directors: Hiroyoshi Iida, Minako Shiba, Toshimichi Kobayashi

Air date: March 20, 2008

In the heated competition to produce iPS cells, the studies stagnated due to an incident of fabricated embryonic stem cells. Nevertheless in 2007, a group led by Prof. Shinya Yamanaka at Kyoto University generated pluripotent stem cells - iPS cells by transfecting genes, called Yamanaka factors, into cells. At about the same time, MIT Prof. Rudolf Jaenisch had successfully accomplished a similar result with mice.

Script: Chiaki J. Konaka
Storyboard: Katsuhisa Yamada
Director: Yashuhiro Geshi
Animation Director: Akiharu Ishii

Air date: March 13, 2008

Erwin Schrödinger proposed a concept of negative entropy, or negentropy in which he tried to bring together the laws of thermodynamics, which postulated that the world tends to constantly increase in disorderliness, with life phenomena that continuously self-organized. The existence of unknown energy that contradicted the irreversibility of time remained a possibility until Ilya Prigogine published his dissipative structures theory.

Script: Daishiro Tanimura
Storyboard: Toshiya Niidome
Director: Daisuke Tsukushi
Animation Director: Kyoko Kotani

Air date: August 12, 2006

Saya learns that Diva is pregnant with twins. She decides to kill Diva before the twins who would only strengthen the enemy are born. Meanwhile, there remained three surviving Schiff. Moses and Lulu are staggered when they catch a sign of death, "Thorn," on Karman's neck.

Script: Shotaro Suga
Storyboard: Naoyasu Hanyu
Director: Naoyasu Hanyu
Animation Director: Shinichi Miyamae

This week's Top Page is dedicated to Mizuho Nishikubo's film Musashi: The Dream of the Last Samurai.

Read the second and last part of our exclusive interview with Mizuho Nishikubo, the director of Musashi: The Dream of the Last Samurai here.
Musashi: The Dream of the Last Samurai is screening at the Japanisches Kulturinstitut in Cologne. Read the details here.
Oblivion Island: Haruka and the Magic Mirror is screening in San Francisco at the 1st San New York / San Francisco International Children's Film Festival. Read the details here.
Read the fourth and last part of our exclusive interview with Reideen 3D staff here.
We added the synopsis of the TV series Ghost Hound Focus: 19 here.
We added the synopsis of the TV series Blood+ episode 44 here.

June 2010: Week 1

This week's Top Page is dedicated to Mizuho Nishikubo's film Musashi: The Dream of the Last Samurai.

Mamoru Oshii's short film Je t'aime is having its world premiere at Annecy Animation Film Festival 2010. Read the details here.
Read the first part of our exclusive interview with Mizuho Nishikubo, the director of Musashi: The Dream of the Last Samurai here.
Check the first part of our interview with Mamoru Oshii about The Sky Crawlers here.
We added the synopsis of the TV series Ghost Hound Focus: 11 here.
Our site will undergo server maintenance on June 8. Check the details here.

November 2009: Week 3

This week's Top Page is dedicated to Shishido Nanigashi, as seen in Mizuho Nishikubo's film Musashi: The Dream of the Last Samurai.

Production I.G and Storm Lion unveil Titan Rain, a new international animated feature film project to be directed by Atsushi Takeuchi. Read the details here.
Musashi: The Dream of the Last Samurai has been selected for the 20th Stockholm International Film Festival. Check the details here.
The movie is also screening at the Waterloo Festival for Animated Cinema, Canada. Check the details here.
We added the synopsis of the TV series Ghost Hound Focus: 04 here.

November 2009: Week 2

This week's Top Page is dedicated to Sasaki Kojiro, as seen in Mizuho Nishikubo's film Musashi: The Dream of the Last Samurai.

Musashi: The Dream of the Last Samurai has been selected for the 20th Stockholm International Film Festival. Check the details here.
Musashi is also having its USA premiere at the 4th San Francisco International Animation Festival. Check the details here.
Finally, the movie is screening at the Waterloo Festival for Animated Cinema, Canada. Check the details here.
We added the synopsis of the TV series Ghost Hound Focus: 03 here.

November 2009: Week 1

This week's Top Page is dedicated to Miyamoto Musashi, as seen in Mizuho Nishikubo's film Musashi: The Dream of the Last Samurai.

Blood+ director Junichi Fujisaku is working on Loups-Garous, his directorial debut in a feature film. We added the info page here.
We added the synopsis of the TV series Ghost Hound Focus: 02 here.
Musashi: The Dream of the Last Samurai has been selected for the 20th Stockholm International Film Festival. Check the details here.
Musashi is also having its USA premiere at the 4th San Francisco International Animation Festival. Check the details here.
Finally, the movie has also been officially invited to the 13th Holland Animation Film Festival in Utrecht. Check the details here.

October 2009: Week 5

This week's Top Page is dedicated to Miyamoto Musashi, as seen in Mizuho Nishikubo's film Musashi: The Dream of the Last Samurai.

Musashi: The Dream of the Last Samurai has been selected for the 20th Stockholm International Film Festival. Check the details here.
Musashi is also having its USA premiere at the 4th San Francisco International Animation Festival. Check the details here.
Finally, the movie has also been officially invited to the 13th Holland Animation Film Festival in Utrecht. Check the details here.

October 2009: Week 1

This week's Top Page is dedicated to Sasaki Kojiro, as seen in Mizuho Nishikubo's film Musashi: The Dream of the Last Samurai.

Musashi: The Dream of the Last Samurai has been selected for the Free Spirit Competition of the 25th Warsaw International Film Festival. Check the details here.
Musashi: The Dream of the Last Samurai is having its North American premiere at the 38th Festival du Nouveau Cinéma de Montreal. Check the details here.
Musashi: The Dream of the Last Samurai has been selected for the Official Fantastic Competition of Sitges 09. Check the details here.
Oblivion Island: Haruka and the Magic Mirror has been selected in competition for the Anima't Section of Sitges 09. Check the details here.

July 2009: Week 3

This week's Top Page is dedicated to Miyamoto Musashi, as seen in Mizuho Nishikubo's film Musashi: The Dream of the Last Samurai.

Musashi: The Dream of the Last Samurai has been selected for the 62nd Film Festival Locarno. Check the details here.
We added the staff and cast of Oblivion Island here.

June 2009: Week 3

This week's Top Page is dedicated to Miyamoto Musashi, as seen in Mizuho Nishikubo's film Musashi: The Dream of the Last Samurai.

Musashi: The Dream of the Last Samurai is featured in NHK World imagine-nation, the Japanese pop culture-focused TV program broadcast worldwide in English. Check the details here.
Tales of Vesperia: The First Strike feature film project unveiled! Read the details here.
We added the press conference report of Musashi: The Dream of the Last Samurai here.
The Japanese website of Oblivion Island is streaming a new trailer. Check the details here.

May 2009: Week 1

This week's Top Page is dedicated to Miyamoto Musashi, as seen in the forthcoming Mizuho Nishikubo's film Musashi: The Dream of the Last Samurai.

Musashi: The Dream of the Last Samurai is featured in NHK World imagine-nation, the Japanese pop culture-focused TV program broadcast worldwide in English. Check the details here.
Tales of Vesperia: The First Strike feature film project unveiled! Read the details here.
We added the press conference report of Musashi: The Dream of the Last Samurai here.
The Japanese website of Oblivion Island is streaming a new trailer. Check the details here.
Kazuto Nakazawa's Asience: Hairy Tales has been selected in competition at the 16th Stuttgard Festival of Animated Film. Check the details here.
We added the synopsis of the TV series Library War episode 12 here.
We added the synopsis of the TV series Blood + episode 41 here.

December 2008: Week 2

This week's Top Page is dedicated to Miyamoto Musashi, as seen in the forthcoming Mizuho Nishikubo movie Musashi: The Dream of the Last Samurai.

Check our info page of Musashi: The Dream of the Last Samurai here.
Naoyoshi Shiotani's directorial debut, Tokyo Marble Chocolate is Jury Recommended Work at the 12th Japan Media Arts Festival. Read the details here.
Mamoru Oshii's The Sky Crawlers is Jury Recommended Work at the 12th Japan Media Arts Festival. Read the details here.
Mamoru Oshii's The Sky Crawlers is premiering in LA and NY. Read the details here.
Mamoru Oshii's The Sky Crawlers is going to have its Near East premiere at the 5th Dubai International Film Festival. Read the details here.
Read the fourth and last part of our interview with The Sky Crawlers screenwriter Chihiro Ito here.
I.G announces Oblivion Island: Haruka and the Magic Mirror (tentative title), its first 3DCG feature film. Read the details here.

Part 2

Westerners and Japanese may have a different perception of The Book of Five Rings. Is this book still inspiring Japanese people and what is your opinion in particular?
I think that for Japanese people, The Book of Five Rings is commonly perceived not as a swordfight manual but as a text about spiritual teachings. Businessmen use it as a reference book for survival in the business jungle, and young students read it as an introduction to the Japanese spirit.
As far as I'm concerned, it is true that the second half of the book has a strong spiritual connotation. Nevertheless, in its essence The Book of Five Rings is a treatise on fighting techniques. Inside this context we can appreciate Musashi's rational mind applied to combat strategy, in a groundbreaking approach that defied the conventions of his time.
It was Musashi's utterly rational aspect that eventually attracted my interest. And above all, my curiosity toward Musashi the man was fueled by the observation of the fact that in the introduction of his own book hed described his remarkable score of duels and that he was never defeated, and yet he never mentioned the episode that brought him to popularity or the Ganryujima duel against Sasaki Kojiro.

So why a movie about Musashi now? Did you intend to trace any vector or link to today's society?
As it is said in the movie, Musashi was a man misplaced in time. He pursued perfection in the art of war in days when war had virtually ended in Japan. Sekigahara was the battle that established the power of the Tokugawa rule over Japan, the great battle that ended all wars for two centuries, with the exceptions of the siege of Osaka castle and the Christian rebellion in Shimabara. Musashi found himself at this turning point of history, and arrived late. I think it might be somehow related to the fast shifting society we are living in, where it has become so difficult to define ourselves and understand what we are. It has also something in common with our generation -mine and Oshii's. We both saw the student protests during the late 60s, but we were too young to be really part of them. When we became old enough, everything was just over. Our generation missed the season of politics. And Woodstock too, as far as I'm concerned.

Talking about Woodstock, you are famous for your interest in music. What is the role of music in the movie?
Music is probably the main reason I decided to join this industry. When I was younger I started playing in a band, but I had not talent enough. Working in the film industry allowed me to stay in touch with music at professional level.
As for Musashi, at first I thought I could use some silent-movie style narration for the samurai action scenes, but then I decided to go one step further.
Again, I separated completely the music style for the 3D part and the samurai action sequences. For the documentary-style part we selected well-known pieces of classical music. For the 2D part, we had the privilege to collaborate with Takeharu Kunimoto. He is a professional rokyoku performer, and he likes to blend traditional sounds with modern arrangements. So he wrote and performed for us with his shamisen, but added acoustic guitar, electric bass, drums and keyboards. It was a great and challenging experience, because for the first time we had musicians playing live inside the sound recording studio, which basically is devised for voice actors only. The result is sometimes rock, sometimes funky, and always mind-blowing. I could not ask for more.

As for the last question, can you tell us about the highlights of this movie, and give us a message for the audience?
In this movie we tried to answer to a very basic question: why did Musashi never mention the duel with Sasaki Kojiro, otherwise the most renowned episode of his life in popular imagery? Isn't this omission odd for a man who boastfully claimed to have fought more than 60 duels and never lost? I hope that with this movie, you will re-discover Musashi as a man and the essence of his swordsmanship from a completely different perspective.

(2 - end)

© 2009 Production I.G / Musashi Production Committee

Shinsuke Sato's Oblivion Island: Haruka and the Magic Mirror is one of the eight feature films selected for the 1st NY/SF International Children's Film Festival, to be held in San Francisco, USA, from September 24 to 26, 2010.

Presented by San Francisco Film Society and New York International Children's Film Festival, the newborn festival is a three-day celebration of diverse, enlightening, inspiring and entertaining films for kids ages 6-18 and their families.

"The creators of Ghost in the Shell mix exquisitely detailed 2D backgrounds with modern 3D character designs in a dazzling animated adventure that plays like Alice's fall through the rabbit hole into a world of topsy-turvy, anime dream logic." (from the festival's website)

Screening Schedule at NY/SF ICFF 2010
Date: September 25 (Sat)
Time: 2:15 pm
Place: Landmark's Embarcadero Center Cinema

Screening schedule may change. Please refer to the NY/SF ICFF official website:
http://www.sffs.org/Screenings-and-Events/Fall-Season/NY-SF-International-Childrens-Film-Festival.aspx

San Francisco Film Society official website:
http://www.sffs.org/

© 2009 FUJI TELEVISION NETWORK / Production I.G / DENTSU / PONY CANYON

Profile: Shigeki Hayashi - Born on January 26th in Chiba Prefecture. 3D CGI director. Board member of SimImage Studio. While still at school, he was convinced that CG was going to be the indispensable technology for the future film industry, and he decided to become a CG creator. The first creative work was to make a film that was shown at Fujitsu's pavilion at the 1990 International Garden and Greenery Exposition held in Osaka. After working for Polygon Pictures, he landed a job as lighting artist for the 3D CG movie, Final Fantasy (2001), and continued to participate in several projects including SD Gundam Force (2004, TV series, animator), in the game Monster Hunters (2004, movie part, animatics director) and Zoids: Genesis (2005, TV series, 3D CGI director). On Reideen he comments, "It was a venture to challenge the limits of 3D CG in a TV series."

Profile: Keiji Ikeda - Born on October 31, 1980 in Okayama Prefecture. 3D CG VFX designer. He decided to work in the CG visuals industry because he wished to share what he enjoyed the most as a child. In 2004, he debuted as a CG designer with a TV ad for Pocket Monster Emerald (Game Boy Advance software.) Since then he has worked on Gundam Evolve (full 3D CG OVA, 2001 to 2003) and the game Monster Hunter 2 (2006). He is one of Japan's promising young CG creators. On Reideen he comments, "Yeah, it definitely was a challenging project."

I felt the two designers were superb in determining where to concede and where to go their separate ways.

What is the proportion of the 3D parts in Reideen?
Hayashi: Talking in terms of number of cuts, we made an average of 70 to 80 cuts in 3D out of 200 and several dozen cuts per episode. Each cut is lengthy, so it's about 1/5 of the entire episode duration. Compared to all the work I'd done previously, the amount of labor for this project is enormous. But the number of cuts is not as huge as you think. It's just that the labor and toil you put into each cut is massive, so I'd say we were pretty generous in using 3D CG.

What are the challenging factors about making long cuts?
Hayashi: It would be that we constantly have to rely on the machine. And in processes including rendering and compositing (*) we have to pay more attention to details when we slow down the pace of movements. For instance, to render a quick step forward, we can just make it in a zip and it would be OK, but when the cut is longer, you raise the heel, lift the toe and THUMP! Unless you follow these steps, viewers feel like something is not right. That was one thing we had to deal with often.

By the way, Hayashi-san, you did the modeling for Reideen.
Hayashi: When I first received the model data for Reideen, I felt it was far different from the image I had from the design drawing. I wrote down everything that I felt didn't fit and showed a revised plan to Takeuchi-san. Some revisions were not necessarily essential ones. You see, in the 2D drawings, perspectives are not precisely represented, so drawings from the left and right sides would have different angles. So it's up to the person to decide which to rely on. In this sense, it would be more correct to say that I added details where I felt it necessary.

Are there special thoughts about robots that you'd like to share?
Hayashi: I am quite adamant about how they look. If the picture looks flawless, then I give thumbs up right away. But when it comes to flying objects, it's different. I retouched a little where God Bird makes a rapid flight.

How did you feel about working with Takeuchi-san and Aramaki-san?
Hayashi: Both of them were quite conscious of each other. I felt they were superb in determining where to concede and where to go their separate ways. For instance, Reideen was designed by Takeuchi-san and Gadion was designed by Aramaki-san. At the opening of Episode 1, Reideen and Gadion face each other. Gadion's concept is rather similar to Reideen's, but they are different from each other. So their designs show conflicting factors. Even then, they look comfortable on the screen together.

Aramaki-san also designed the Self Defence Police's mechs, Jinrai and Hayate. Their look is quite different from the mechanical monsters or from Reideen, as they are meant to be realistic weapons, and this is exaclty why they fit into the story concept perfectly. I think the designers respected each other and collaborated very well.

Wasn't it hard to work with two designers who were particular and persistent about their work?
Ikeda: Not really. It's actually fun to work with them. If we got an instant okay for the work done by the staff, I felt kind of disappointed.

Hayashi: Exactly. If they had okayed us straight away, I got sort of uneasy. Actually, they let us work freely to a great extent right from the storyboards. I mean we slightly changed how the camerawork was done and the motions too. We freely interpreted between the cuts, and then went ahead to work on it as much as we wanted.

Ikeda: To be honest, it was difficult in the beginning, because the storyboard would say, "cool effects" and what can you do? (lol)

Hayashi: It was like a script. We had to make up our minds what was meant by, for example, "cool," so we had meetings to pin it down.

Lastly, tell us about the must-see's in Reideen.
Ikeda: There are quite a few people who worked on the visual effects beside us. I hope viewers will pay attention to the differences among the episodes in the 3D parts, especially the visual effects.

Hayashi: We had different teams working on visual effects and each team catered to different tastes. It would certainly be fun to see these differences.

Ikeda: For example, we made some visual effects that we put in our library so that could be reused. But when we saw the finished picture, they turned out to be quite different. I think it would be more interesting to see through the episodes at how people worked hard and challenged themselves in the visual effects. You know how fans compare key animation and drawings. I hope viewers will see the difference in the 3D CG as well.

(*) Compositing is used to overlay pictures using compositing software.

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© 2007 Tohokushinsha Film Corporation · Production I.G