Harutoshi Fukui (General Director) X Naomichi Yamato (Director)<\/h3>\n
Translated by Anton Mei Brandt<\/em><\/p>\n Profile: Harutoshi Fukui<\/em><\/p>\n Born November 15, 1968 in Tokyo. Debuted as a novelist in 1997 with The Depth of the River<\/em>. Won the 44th Edogawa Rampo Prize in 1998 for Twelve Y.O.<\/em> Other representative works include The Aegis of a Ruined Nation<\/em> (1999) and Mobile Suit Gundam UC<\/em> (2007). After experiencing adaptations of his own works to film, he now focuses primarily on visual media. Starting with Mobile Suit Gundam UC<\/em>, he has worked on anime like Space Pirate Captain Harlock<\/em> (2013) and Mobile Suit Gundam NT<\/em> (2018). He participated in the Yamato<\/em> remake series as the writer for Yamato 2202<\/em> (2017), essentially serving as a producer guiding the overall work. This time, he has been appointed as “General Director.”<\/p>\n Profile: Naomichi Yamato<\/em><\/p>\n Born November 1, 1973 in Yamaguchi Prefecture. After graduating vocational school, he joined \u201cTrance Arts\u201d and started in animation. He later pursuing directing while working as an animator, key animator and episode director on shows like Zegapain<\/em> (2006), Fairy Tail<\/em> (2009), Valvrave the Liberator<\/em> (2013), Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans<\/em> (2015), and Macross Delta<\/em> (2016). Served as assistant director on Night Raid 1931<\/em> (2010), From the New World<\/em> (2012), and Magic Kaito 1412<\/em> (2014).<\/p>\n Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> First, could you share how you came to be appointed General Director, Mr. Fukui?<\/p>\n Fukui:<\/em><\/span> Up until now my role was listed as Series Composition and Writer, but in reality I was deeply involved in even the minute details beyond that title. Due to that background, I was told it would be better to have a title matching my actual workload. I initially tried to play it down, but that didn’t fly. (Laughs) I gratefully accepted the new title. On Yamato 2202<\/em> I was in up to my waist, but now I’m completely submerged over my head. I don’t intend to psych myself out as if this is my first time directing though. While I’ll be involved in slightly more detailed areas compared to before, overall what I’m doing hasn’t changed that much.<\/p>\n Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> I see. It’s said that for REBEL 3199<\/em>, the project was launched simultaneously with Yamato 2205<\/em>, is that right?<\/p>\n Fukui:<\/em><\/span> When I was asked about a follow-up to 2202<\/em>, I wrote 3199<\/em> alongside 2205<\/em> on the cover of the proposal. It took a little while, but I’m relieved that it’s finally taking shape now.<\/p>\n Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> And how did you come to participate as the director, Mr. Yamato?<\/p>\n Yamato:<\/em><\/span> For the previous work, 2205<\/em>, I participated as an episode director. Around the same time I was also working on the theatrical version of Macross Delta<\/em> from the same studio, which is how that arrangement came about. But if the projects hadn’t overlapped, Director Kenji Yasuda said he would have wanted me as his assistant director. With that background, I ended up participating as the director this time.<\/p>\n Fukui:<\/em><\/span> When I watched the third episode of 2205<\/em> that you handled, I felt you were the type with a lot of directorial flair. Having that flair means not shying away from effort. In other words, a hard worker. And you’ve exceeded my imagination as a hard worker. (Laughs)<\/p>\n Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> Mr. Yamato, you were born in 1973. What impression did you have of the original Space Battleship Yamato<\/em>?<\/p>\n Yamato:<\/em><\/span> Well, “Yamato” is my real name, so I was always conscious of it. I have memories as a child of my father saying “There’s an anime with the same name as us” and watching it together. But I didn’t really become aware of it until the re-runs aired when I was older. The stories and settings of each series were all jumbled, so I didn’t have a proper grasp of each individual work. I’m from Yamaguchi Prefecture, and the Battleship Mutsu<\/em> Memorial Museum is located on Suo-Oshima Island, my hometown area. So battleships were a familiar presence since childhood, and I had an affinity for them. My friends and I often drew pictures of battleships to play with.<\/p>\n Fukui:<\/em><\/span> Having battleships floating on the sea being such a familiar sight is probably hard to relate to for someone like me growing up in Tokyo, huh?<\/p>\n Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> What were your impressions of actually working on 3199<\/em>?<\/p>\n Yamato:<\/em><\/span> Compared to other mecha shows, I felt there were more production processes involved. While 3D animation is used in other works too, the additional step of adding 2D lines over that is not something often done elsewhere. We needed staff capable of that, which is quite challenging in today’s anime industry. Given the title and content, there was considerable pressure on the production side too. (Laughs)<\/p>\n Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> How were the roles divided between the director and the general director?<\/p>\n Fukui:<\/em><\/span> The general director is the “person who decides what to make” and the director is the “person who actually makes it.” One advantage of this system was getting immediate answers to “can we do this?” If not, we could quickly choose an alternative approach, allowing risk avoidance at an early stage. The time saved there could then be devoted to polishing the visuals. So in terms of density, I think this is unprecedented among the previous Yamato<\/em> series.<\/p>\n Yamato:<\/em><\/span> While the \u201cgeneral director decides and we make it\u201d process gives a top-down impression, in practice we collaborate through ongoing discussions.<\/p>\n Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> What were your impressions of the original Be Forever Yamato<\/em>?<\/p>\n Yamato:<\/em><\/span> The opening scene of the enemy attacking Earth and the scene on Dezarium’s home planet left an impression. More fragmented impressions than the overall flow.<\/p>\n Fukui:<\/em><\/span> It was a movie meant to be enjoyed moment by moment, a “box of surprises” film. One surprise after another. “This is happening?” “We get to see this?” That kind of enjoyable movie.<\/p>\n Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> What did you keep in mind while remaking it?<\/p>\n Fukui:<\/em><\/span> I think The New Voyage<\/em> had a rather orthodox melodramatic structure, so it was easy to recreate that narrative flow for the remake. But Be Forever Yamato<\/em> doesn’t really have that core element. So for this new series, we were conscious of capturing that “box of surprises” feel the original had. I think we’ll deliver even more surprises than before.<\/p>\n Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> But just organizing all the previous characters must have been quite difficult.<\/p>\n Fukui:<\/em><\/span> No, it’s actually helpful having all these established characters for the remake series. Their designs are already solidly formed, so all we need to do is create the situations and the characters naturally react on their own. By extracting the foundational elements from the old works and funneling the characters into that framework, I think we can produce this one.<\/p>\n Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> How about themes or other elements worth discussing now?<\/p>\n Fukui:<\/em><\/span> I believe a major reason the original Yamato<\/em> resonated with the youth at the time was because it captured the real atmosphere of that era. The remake series maintains that spirit. The real world has become completely different from the future dreamed of 40 years ago. It’s a world our generation has no choice but to live in. We’re aiming to synchronize emotionally with that reality, too.<\/p>\n At the same time, and this applies to the remake project overall, being too modern despite it being a remake can feel discordant. So our basic mindset draws from the “future imagined” by the generation who spent their youth in the 70s and early 80s. Aligning too much with contemporary sensibilities would produce something completely different in texture. Yet, going too retro risks becoming mere fantasy, so bridging with the present day is also necessary. That’s why, for example, we’re newly incorporating smartphone-like devices the Yamato<\/em> crew each carry, serving as their ID cards.<\/p>\n Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> With that in mind, could you share what you find noteworthy about the first chapter?<\/p>\n Yamato:<\/em><\/span> It took a year and a half of production for the first chapter alone. It really was an unrelenting series of demanding scenes, to the point where the staff complained. “Why are you making us do such difficult things?”<\/p>\n Fukui:<\/em><\/span> Asking the fundamental question. (Laughs)<\/p>\n Yamato:<\/em><\/span> We really put a lot of burden on the staff. The scenes combining 3D CG and 2D required immense time and effort. But I think the finished quality matches that effort. Every scene is a highlight.<\/p>\n Fukui:<\/em><\/span> For this work, I really wanted to emphasize that final scene no matter what. The scene where Kodai unhesitatingly leaps from the Cosmo Hound to rescue Yuki, left behind on Earth. It follows the original, but let’s be honest \u2014 Kodai would die if he jumped from that height, right? But humans will attempt any reckless act to save their loved ones. It shows just how precious Yuki is to Kodai. <\/p>\n Blending the CG and hand-drawn animation made it an extremely laborious scene, but we intentionally kept it as one unbroken shot like the original. It’s a short scene viewers might gloss over. But that’s what cinema is \u2014 the most grueling scenes to produce end up feeling like a natural, matter-of-course part of the film. Yet I believe those are the moments you can’t avoid.<\/p>\n Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> Lastly, could you share a preview of the story development beyond the second chapter?<\/p>\n Fukui:<\/em><\/span> Maintaining the spirit of the initial TV series, what if we made a continuation? That’s the perspective I’ve created this remake series from, not deviating from that this time either. I didn’t agonize much over the core element. I just needed to tune the core of Be Forever<\/em> into line with the initial TV series. That’s how I approached it.<\/p>\n For this work, with battles taking place on Earth and in space, Yamato<\/em> visiting various locations, there are many new settings we had to establish. The workload far exceeds previous Yamato<\/em> series. The first chapter does trace Be Forever<\/em> more closely, but following it faithfully is limited to just this opening. From the second chapter onward, it’s a wild deviation. Things will get pretty crazy from here on out. We’re doing the same things, but what we’re saying is completely different. And vice versa. You’ll think “I never imagined seeing such scenery in Yamato<\/em>!?” That’s the kind of content coming up.<\/p>\n <\/br><\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/aug24\/3199ch1program13.JPG\")
\nDirector interview<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault-images\/sep24\/ch1Dint.JPG\")
<\/p>\n