here<\/a>.<\/p>\nWhat do you see beyond the trials and tribulations\u2026?<\/h2>\n
Chapter 3 of Yamato 2202<\/em> premieres today in theaters. In addition to the subtitle Soldiers of Love<\/em>, it is also called Pure Love Chapter<\/em>. Prior to the screening, we talked with the director, writer, and scriptwriter to ask them what, exactly, is \u201clove\u201d? Find out in this unprecedented long interview!<\/p>\nThe pressure to recreate the masterpiece called Farewell to Yamato<\/em><\/h3>\nInterviewer:<\/em><\/span> I\u2019m from the generation that saw Farewell<\/em> at the theater. At the time, I was in the lower grades of elementary school.<\/p>\nFukui:<\/em><\/span> I watched it!<\/p>\nHabara:<\/em><\/span> Did you understand the content at the time?<\/p>\nInterviewer:<\/em><\/span> If you did, it turned out to be pretty traumatic. (Bitter laugh)<\/p>\nFukui:<\/em><\/span> It was kind of a \u201cradio wave.\u201d (Laughs)<\/p>\nInterviewer:<\/em><\/span> It was shocking. The TV series [Yamato 2<\/em>] was produced after the feature film, which has the image of a classic, and the story is now being recreated. It seems like everyone would be under great pressure.<\/p>\nFukui:<\/em><\/span> I thought it seemed to be very worthwhile, but at the same time it\u2019s extremely difficult. However, I\u2019m the type that finds joy in things that seem difficult. (Laughs) That said, there were many things that had to be clarified. But it will be a good feeling to get through it all and the pleasure will surpass the pressure.<\/p>\nHabara:<\/em><\/span> I like it very much, but I once had the feeling that I didn\u2019t want to do it. Since the previous work 2199<\/em> was of such high quality, I was worried about whether or not I was fit to direct the continuation. But when I actually started I had a strong feeling that I would be happy. Whenever a screening happens, I always feel the pressure lift and I\u2019m like, \u201cIt\u2019s going to be OK.\u201d<\/p>\nOn 2199<\/em> I had the feeling of being in the care of Yutaka Izubuchi (when I participated as an episode director), so I didn\u2019t feel a sense of responsibility at all. It was just, \u201cI\u2019ll do what I like!\u201d But this time it\u2019s exhilarating.<\/p>\nInterviewer:<\/em><\/span> How about you, Mr. Oka?<\/p>\nOka:<\/em><\/span> Since I came from the live-action film field, the impression I got was, \u201cIt\u2019s going to be strange.\u201d Mr. Habara called me in, and I met Mr. Fukui and I was going to help out with Yamato<\/em>. But isn\u2019t Farewell<\/em> at the absolute peak of Yamato<\/em> history? \u201cDo I have to climb all the way up there? It has to be awesome.\u201d<\/p>\nMoreover, if we called it Soldiers of Love<\/em>, it was sure to be considered a remake of Farewell<\/em>. What was the correct way to cut the card? My first thought was that it would be impossible to do it exactly the same way as the original because the worldview was superceded by Gatlantis appearing ahead of schedule in the previous work, 2199<\/em>.<\/p>\nInterviewer:<\/em><\/span> 2199<\/em> has a pretty stubborn feeling to it.<\/p>\nOka:<\/em><\/span> It wasn\u2019t possible to ignore 2199<\/em> at all. But Mr. Fukui said, \u201cIt honored the old things and left good ones behind, and it\u2019s covered by a theme that leads to the present.\u201d What kind of story would it become, exactly? Part of me was excited while we were waiting. The flow of the story in the proposal book went up to Yamato<\/em>\u2019s launch, right?\u3000<\/p>\nFukui:<\/em><\/span> That\u2019s right.<\/p>\nOka:<\/em><\/span> I asked, \u201cWhat happens farther on?\u201d and he said, \u201cI don\u2019t think about it.\u201d (Laughs) I wanted to continue writing while hearing various surrounding opinions, but there were many different options in Mr. Fukui\u2019s mind, and it didn\u2019t take long to get them all out.\u3000<\/p>\nFukui:<\/em><\/span> The flow itself. For my part, I don\u2019t feel like making it for myself, I make it according to the present age, and I\u2019d already seen the course and knew I had no choice but to do it. The ultimate problem with Farewell<\/em> from those days was that it was said to \u201cglorify suicide.\u201d Now we\u2019re in a world where that\u2019s being done again with suicide bombings happening every day. It would become a terrible laughing stock if we didn\u2019t do something drastic with it. Then there would be no breakthrough. Nevertheless, the wall that looked like it could never be broken actually broke beautifully the moment I approached it.<\/p>\nWhen thinking about such a path, \u201cShall we go over here? Shall we go over there?\u201d there was no point where I was at a loss. The way to go was decided. I didn\u2019t know if they\u2019d all end up dead. It\u2019s a story in which the theme will be incorporated and conveyed.<\/p>\n
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\nNobuyoshi Habara<\/em><\/span><\/p>\nSpace Battleship Yamato<\/em> \u2013 an anime with a very special spirit<\/h3>\nInterviewer:<\/em><\/span> Yutaka Izubuchi was at the center of the previous work, 2199<\/em>. This time, the main staff is replaced. Could you tell me the reason and circumstances for this?<\/p>\nFukui:<\/em><\/span> We were asked to participate, but the reason for the staff change is simple, to make this work different from the previous one. But there are a lot of fans of 2199<\/em>, so it would be too inefficient to make a work that completely ignored it. So, while making the best use of 2199<\/em>, I want to rescue lost parts. There\u2019s a big market for Yamato<\/em> beyond the anime fans; among adults who aren\u2019t in the habit of watching anime, there are still people who will watch this. 2199<\/em> has quite a few parts that are attractive to current anime fans, but conversely they can become factors that make non-anime fans to say, \u201cThis is irrelevant to me.\u201d But there\u2019s a military gain from the bullet fired by 2199<\/em>, so I say let\u2019s throw a net over here now.<\/p>\nInterviewer:<\/em><\/span> Give it some fresh air.<\/p>\nFukui:<\/em><\/span> That\u2019s right. That\u2019s the purpose behind keeping the subtitle, Soldiers of Love<\/em>.<\/p>\nInterviewer:<\/em><\/span> Since Mr. Oka is from the live-action film field, his participation on the scriptwriting feels unexpected.<\/p>\nOka:<\/em><\/span> There was a request from Director Habara: If you could do The White Comet Empire as a 26-episode series, how would the story flow? I wrote up a document that explained it and eventually Mr. Fukui was brought in, so it was decided that I would act as his assistant. A lot of impossible things have piled up in my career, and because I\u2019m a Yamato<\/em> fanatic, I participated with the thought that I might be useful for something.\u3000\u3000<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/dec17\/276a03.JPG\")
\nMr. Oka\u2019s own <\/em>Yamato goods<\/em><\/span><\/p>\nInterviewer:<\/em><\/span> Yamato<\/em> is a considerable favorite with you, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\nFukui:<\/em><\/span> Out of the three of us, Oka is the biggest fan.<\/p>\nHabara:<\/em><\/span> His personal belongings speak for themselves. (Laughs)<\/p>\nOka:<\/em><\/span> However, it\u2019s strange to become a member of those who \u201cactually create Yamato<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\nFukui:<\/em><\/span> Mr. Oka and I see pretty much the same in terms of what we think is \u201cgood.\u201d So, on the day we first met, I asked the obvious question \u201cWhy didn\u2019t you go with Gundam<\/em>?\u201d To which the man himself replied \u201cWhy indeed?\u201d<\/p>\nHabara:<\/em><\/span> Generationally speaking, it wouldn\u2019t have been odd to have gone there.<\/p>\nFukui:<\/em><\/span> I did both, and as a result I\u2019ve come to realize recently that Gundam<\/em> and Yamato<\/em> have very different parts. What\u2019s different is that Gundam<\/em> rides on board White Base, and the battlefield is in the robot\u2019s belly. The main character is alone in there. There, he takes everything on, and all of the potential of mankind he has experienced is a lone experience. Gundam<\/em> is a place of irritation because the experience of that one individual can\u2019t be conveyed to others. But in Yamato<\/em>, everyone is there on the bridge.<\/p>\nInterviewer:<\/em><\/span> That\u2019s right.<\/p>\nFukui:<\/em><\/span> Therefore, instead of \u201cdoing it by myself,\u201d the story is, \u201cWhat can I do if I don\u2019t play a shared role?\u201d We always survive critical situations when we\u2019re united. Sometimes we split up and fight, but the focus is placed on moments when we people unite against a difficult situation. In the case of Gundam<\/em>, only friction arises when people gather. (All laugh)<\/p>\nHabara:<\/em><\/span> I see. (Laughs)<\/p>\nFukui:<\/em><\/span> Judging from the so-called anime market and anime fans, I think there are places where Gundam<\/em> is more approachable. But Mr. Oka didn\u2019t come to the site from anime. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s a question of not having seen Gundam<\/em> or that pictures were his forte. Rather, I think it\u2019s like the nature a person has. For myself as well, the anime industry has my head thoroughly pickled in getting results. When I consider how I didn\u2019t start out that way, it shows how very special Yamato<\/em> is amidst other anime.<\/p>\nInterviewer:<\/em><\/span> it may be so.<\/p>\nFukui:<\/em><\/span> During the era of rapid economic growth specifications, it might have been said that Japanese people are happy to see a story that says \u201cIf a person is part of a group, it will produce only friction, so how do you survive the friction?\u201d But instead of that, I\u2019m depicting something everyone has forgotten, something like, \u201cOf course, there is anxiety and this is a world of many mountains, so we must unite to survive.\u201d If you don\u2019t do that, everyone will look away from all the various problems and try to find a detour, so they don\u2019t even know what the problems are. In such a time, I think it\u2019s a very good thing to do Yamato<\/em> again.<\/p>\nInterviewer:<\/em><\/span> It\u2019s an opportunity to examine the current times.<\/p>\nFukui:<\/em><\/span> Susumu Kodai relates to Captain Okita as a great master, and there\u2019s a place that says \u201cWhen you get lost, return to Okita,\u201d or \u201cWe have the Wave-Motion Gun but we can\u2019t use it,\u201d or \u201cEarth had to be rebuilt, but on the other hand using the time fault built up a lot of debts.\u201d This whole \u201cYou shouldn\u2019t keep society alive with a bad deal\u201d is clearly a reflection of the collapse of the post-bubble-collapse Japanese.<\/p>\nKodai finally fires the Wave-Motion Gun at the beginning of Chapter 3, but I think there is a flow of, \u201cCaptain Okita would fire it if he was here, therefore I\u2019ll fire it, too.\u201d That\u2019s beautiful in and of itself, but that\u2019s not right. It\u2019s more \u201cCaptain Okita would show he was prepared to do it, but you shouldn\u2019t have gotten yourself into this mess in the first place!\u201d<\/p>\n
Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> That\u2019s certainly true, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\nFukui:<\/em><\/span> Taking the previous generation of business leaders and effective senior businessmen as an example, I think the old type of drama is, \u201cThis is how we did things when I was young,\u201d and the way to victory is opened by the younger man saying, \u201cI see! That\u2019s what he was talking about!\u201d However, \u201cBut you haven\u2019t experienced times of a declining birth rate! How do you sell things while people are decreasing?\u201d That\u2019s today\u2019s drama. <\/p>\nThis is the equivalent of Kodai shouting \u201cWhat\u2019s the good of being resolute?!\u201d As he says that, what is he reaching for? The fun of Yamato<\/em> is in examining what you gain by working in common cause.<\/p>\nInterviewer:<\/em><\/span> When I saw Chapter 3, I felt that the theme of Kodai being troubled is deep. He\u2019s suffering from various things. That\u2019s one of the highlights of the growth story.<\/p>\nFukui:<\/em><\/span> Then when Yuki supports him, that\u2019s one of the pickups of Chapter 3. <\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/dec17\/276a04.JPG\")
\nHarutoshi Fukui<\/em><\/span><\/p>\nA combination of Fukui throwing the ball and Oka doing course-correction<\/h3>\n
Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> Regarding the script, is it divided into the form of Mr. Fukui deciding the rough overall plot and Mr. Oka writing the script?<\/p>\nFukui:<\/em><\/span> That\u2019s right. I perform checks here and there and then it goes back to Mr. Oka again, then it\u2019s finally finished (by me)! I didn\u2019t think it would change again when it goes to the storyboard\u2026 (Laughs) No matter how many passes there are, it doesn\u2019t end.<\/p>\nOka:<\/em><\/span> Collaborating on a script like this isn\u2019t done that often?<\/p>\nHabara:<\/em><\/span> Basically, not really. Generally, it\u2019s settled with the storyboard at the discretion of production.<\/p>\nInterviewer:<\/em><\/span> Is the script continuously rewritten to the end?<\/p>\nOka:<\/em><\/span> Mr. Fukui partakes in the storyboard, and we certainly go to voice recordings together, and we check for discrepancies or mistakes.\u3000<\/p>\nFukui:<\/em><\/span> Mr. Oka\u2019s current job would be the post called the \u201cscript editor\u201d in a normal anime, and basically I have him concentrate on the finished product. (Laughs) I have to make sure \u201cThis person wouldn\u2019t say it like that,\u201d and \u201cThis is how it was said before.\u201d<\/p>\nOka:<\/em><\/span> After every battle is over, I feel like it\u2019s time for another one.\u3000<\/p>\nInterviewer:<\/em><\/span> The theatrical screenings consist of 7 chapters made up of 26 TV series episodes. Does that seem long, or short?<\/p>\nFukui:<\/em><\/span> It\u2019s not too long for me. To the contrary, I\u2019m more like \u201cThis is all we can put in?\u201d (Laughs)
\nThere\u2019s always that conflict.<\/p>\nInterviewer:<\/em><\/span> In the process of extending Farewell<\/em>, a 150-minute movie, into seven chapters, did you have parts to supplement those that were omitted wholesale from the original film?<\/p>\nFukui:<\/em><\/span> Farewell<\/em> is very complete. It\u2019s a movie that makes you feel like \u201cI\u2019ve seen so many things,\u201d and it gives a different impression from a work where \u201cI saw a very simple thing,\u201d but both are interesting, aren\u2019t they? I think Farewell<\/em> is a prime example of a movie that makes you think \u201cI saw so many things.\u201d So when I became a creator and asked what makes you feel like you\u2019ve seen a lot, it was a kind of model for \u201chaving your cake and eating it, too.\u201d So in my opinion, Farewell<\/em> is neither excessive nor insufficient.<\/p>\nHowever, if you just adapt it as is into a TV series, it may come off as cruel, so the approach I thought to take was why not take the approach of doing something in contrast to Farewell<\/em>? If we can end up making something that has the same flavor, that makes building the concept from square one easy. However, while it\u2019s Farewell<\/em>, there are parts where we have to make it with a strong impression of \u201cthis.\u201d<\/p>\nInterviewer:<\/em><\/span> This work has the word \u201clove\u201d in the title, and the subtitle for Chapter 3 is Pure Love.<\/em><\/p>\nFukui:<\/em><\/span> It\u2019s an awesome kind of \u201clove,\u201d isn\u2019t it? (Laughs) First of all, what is perceived as \u201clove\u201d now is received with a completely different feeling and impression by today\u2019s generation than it was then, so I started by rebuilding it from there.<\/p>\nInterviewer:<\/em><\/span> I wondered if the relationship between Kodai and Yuki would be at the center of the story when I saw Chapter 3, but then I got the impression that it wouldn\u2019t be just that. There\u2019s that feeling, too.<\/p>\nFukui:<\/em><\/span> First, the enemy also says, \u201cLove is needed.\u201d Therefore, it\u2019s a story about being caught in a paradox. The choices made by Kodai and Yuki happen as a result, but that wasn\u2019t a guarantee. But I\u2019m confident that if I was put in that position, I\u2019d probably make the same choices as Kodai. I think there is such a thing as, \u201cHumans are bound by love.\u201d<\/p>\nIt\u2019s not only a beautiful thing at all, sometimes it\u2019s similar to madness, and there\u2019s an ego-driven part, too. But humans can\u2019t survive without it, and I intend to depict that from here on. This episode is like the first mountain.<\/p>\n
Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> Did you discuss that with Mr. Oka?<\/p>\nOka:<\/em><\/span> Did we discuss it? No, we didn\u2019t. Did we?\u3000<\/p>\nFukui:<\/em><\/span> I feel like I did all the talking and you did all the listening. (Laughs)<\/p>\n
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