{"id":24142,"date":"2017-10-14T16:32:24","date_gmt":"2017-10-14T23:32:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/?p=24142"},"modified":"2018-01-14T23:18:04","modified_gmt":"2018-01-15T07:18:04","slug":"239a","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/239a\/","title":{"rendered":"Yamato 2202<\/em> CG Director interview"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"1710icon\"<\/p>\n

From the 2202<\/em> Chapter 2 program book: CG Director Taichi Kimura of Sublimation studio talks about taking the CG animation baton from Yamato 2199<\/em> and reworking it for 2202<\/em>, adapting to unprecedented demands and finding new ways to interpret the classic images of the hand-drawn Yamato<\/em> aesthetic.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Interview with Sublimation CG Director Taichi Kimura<\/h2>\n

From the Yamato 2202<\/em> Chapter 2 program book, June 24, 2017.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Simply tracing it with CG won\u2019t easily have the same impression as Farewell to Yamato<\/em><\/h3>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> First of all, please tell us your feelings about Space Battleship Yamato<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> I\u2019m from the direct-hit TV generation and I may have slipped a little, but my impression is that I\u2019ve heard the name Yamato<\/em> since I was born. I have a childhood memory of the scene where Yamato<\/em> flies off into the distance. When talking about scenes that made an impression, it\u2019s usually a launch scene, but for me the image of it flying off with the main engine lit up was impressive. After that I saw reruns from time to time, but I didn\u2019t get very deeply into the later series.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> What was your impression when you received the job offer?<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> Sunrise D.I.D. studio was in charge of the CG for 2199<\/em> and their software is different, so honestly I didn\u2019t expect the offer to come to my shop [Sublimation]. I helped guide layouts for Ark of the Stars<\/em>, the scenes in Yamato<\/em> Hotel, but I didn\u2019t get to move Yamato<\/em>-ish battleships and mecha around. So at first I was worried. \u201cCan I do it?\u201d Since we didn\u2019t have Yamato<\/em> know-how, I planned to study Chapter 1 of 2199<\/em>, and when our reserve capacity began to show itself I thought we could add some ingenuity to what had been done before.<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> What kind of meetings did you have with Director Nobuyoshi Habara?<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> At the time of the handover from 2199<\/em>, I got the explanation, \u201cThis time rather than 2199<\/em> it\u2019s going to be Farewell<\/em>.\u201d Visually it looks like 2199<\/em>, but what we\u2019re doing is pretty close to Farewell<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> What are the specific differences?<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> If anything, 2202<\/em> has a feeling of giving priority to images. For example, the Kanada pass for the Cosmo Tiger II. First, I was shown the shot that Mr. Kanada drew and Mr. Habara hopefully said, \u201cI want to do something like this.\u201d <\/p>\n

First I tried to reproduce the model by deforming it, and we ended up making the Kanada-pass [Version K] model. Emphasizing the look and feel was Mr. Habara\u2019s policy. I think there\u2019s a scene that changes the impression of battleships as well. As a team, the CG group adapts to circumstances. Fortunately for the Version K, all the fans seemed to accept it rather casually. Surely that\u2019s \u201cnormal\u201d for Yamato<\/em> images.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> Did you actually study Farewell<\/em>, too?<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> I reviewed it plenty. I study homage-like shots to get as close as possible to the original impression. Simply tracing a hand-drawn image with CG doesn\u2019t give the same impression. Especially in terms of weight. In the past, Yamato<\/em> was drawn with the feeling of a lot of weight. The impact is different, isn\u2019t it? That\u2019s the hard part. <\/p>\n

For example, regarding the speed of the ships, the storyboards for the first episode had timing notes that were pretty close to 2199<\/em>. We made the shots according to the number of seconds specified and moved the ships to fit that, but at the CG check everyone\u2019s impression was \u201ctoo fast.\u201d Therefore, I dismissed the timing and slowed everything down to 1.5 and two times the speed. When I did that, Director Habara and Assistant Director Makoto Kobayashi said, \u201cLet\u2019s go with the slowest,\u201d and then I got the feeling that I\u2019d finally captured the movement.<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> Yamato<\/em> is fully revealed in Chapter 2 at last, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> For modeling, we took over the data from 2199<\/em> and changed a few details. It doesn\u2019t seem to have changed much when you look at it, but it has changed considerably. I think it has a different impression now.<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> Do you work based on instructions from Mecha Designer Junichiro Tamamori?<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> Mr. Tamamori lives in Okinawa, so we revise according to his instructions and have him check it. I work with the expectation that if there are further corrections, I\u2019ll fix it. It\u2019s pretty intricate; the shape of the bow, the nozzle in the main engine getting bigger\u2026it has the feeling of greater output. That\u2019s why the rear view looks cooler. When you see it from the front, the gap between the main guns and the hull have narrowed. I work on really fine details.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> What was Mr. Habara\u2019s reaction to Yamato<\/em> being renewed in this way?<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> The scene of Yamato<\/em> flying off is impressive when the rear view is cooler, so Mr. Habara smiled when he checked it. When Mr. Kobayashi saw it, he looked amazed. \u201cI really like it!\u201d (Laughs)<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> What are the highlights of Chapter 2 as seen from CG supervision?<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> First, Yamato<\/em> is in a sea dock under the ocean. Only the silhouette is visible in the dark.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> When I say CG, the notion is of moving pictures, but the CG group also creates still images for backgrounds, right?<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> That\u2019s right. In some cases, Mr. Kobayashi and the art staff paints in special effects.<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> Do you think the main highlight is Yamato<\/em>\u2019s launch scene?<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> I think fans will be convinced when they finally see Yamato<\/em> moving. Of course, the music is the same as Farewell<\/em>, and when fans hear that I think it will have a \u201cWow!\u201d feeling. We give it our best and put our passion into it, and Mr. Habara always works right to the limit.<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> Speaking of battle scene highlights, is there a decisive battle with Andromeda<\/em>?<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> As for the idea that it might attack and sink Yamato<\/em>, I was surprised to see that it\u2019s done quite seriously. They shoot to hit. But we may supress the output because it\u2019s continuous and they\u2019re aiming carefully. I didn\u2019t know how serious Yamanami was going to get, but of course, he smiles and laughs to see them off. (Laughs) As for the shot where Yamato<\/em> and Andromeda<\/em> have their near miss, I thought I\u2019d have no choice but to do \u201cthat\u201d when I saw the storyboard. But then I saw Kia Asamiya\u2019s illustration for the seven advance tickets, and decided it there was no way I wouldn\u2019t imitate \u201cthat.\u201d (Laughs) <\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> It was impressive to see the pass follow the composition of the illustration.<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> It was tailored to the image for the advance tickets. Actually, that shot only lasted 5 seconds in the storyboard, but if they didn\u2019t pass each other slowly there wouldn\u2019t be much impact to it. I made the judgment to double it to ten seconds, but of course that could be cut if it wasn\u2019t needed. When I showed the CG check to the directors, they said \u201cThis, this!\u201d and they were glad they hired me.<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> Are there other works that are made this way?<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> No, I don\u2019t think so. Normally, it would be difficult if we didn\u2019t follow the timing specified in the storyboard, but this is a very special work. (Laughs) Suddenly the scale of a shot doubles and has such a feeling of life, in a sense it may be close to making traditional anime. Since storyboards can change at the CG meeting stage, the director of each episode may be surprised.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> And finally, a message to the fans, please.<\/p>\n

Kimura:<\/em><\/span> Yamato<\/em> has finally left for space. I think the scenes fans want to see will appear one after another. It gets even more serious in Chapter 3, so I hope you all look forward to it. In fact, as the work on Chapter 3 progresses, we\u2019re doing a lot more with the Kalaklum-class ship. If you see if the trailer, you can understand why. (Laughs) We\u2019re still on the first half, but it\u2019s become a great thing, and I think you\u2019ll be surprised. Please look forward to even greater developments in the future.
\n<\/br>
\nProfile<\/em><\/p>\n

Born September 1974, from Tokyo. Board member of Sublimation. His major credits include Sakura Wars<\/em> 3 & 4, Ghost in the Shell: Solid State Society<\/em><\/a>, Moribito: Guardian of the Sacred Spirit<\/em><\/a>, Library War<\/em><\/a>, and Ghost in the Shell: Arise<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

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