This is a surprising 5th entry in the series of interviews I’m translating from the Sound! Euphonium official fanbook published last week by Takarajimasha. It’s surprising because my original goal was to only complete the previous 4 entries, but the story felt unfulfilled. To that end, I decided to translate the final two pieces to complete the tale. Here is the interview with the person who oversaw all the episodes as animation director and designed the characters for the anime.

Character Designer/Chief Animation Director
Shoko Ikeda

Animator at Kyoto Animation. Notable works include her work as character designer/CAD for The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and animation director for many shows.

The character designs were completed after many twists and turns

– What were your impressions after reading the novel?
At that time, there was only one novel published and only the cover was illustrated. Therefore, I was ordered to capture the image of the cover art. Director (Tatsuya) Ishihara-san said “I want to keep the atmosphere of the novel’s illustration,” so I began searching for designs that met that desire.

– And so did it take you many stages until you reached the final design for the character?
Yes. Relatively, creating character designs is something that is a very temporary stage, but there was a lot of twists and turns in that period. First, I read all of the works drawn by the artist who drew the original illustrations, Asada Nikka-san, in order to feel for the shojo manga-esque type characters they drew. After that, when we decided to depict a realistic approach to instruments, I had to think about ensuring that their designs matched their instruments so they could maintain that realistic quality. Finally, I was told by Ishihara-san that he “wanted to insert a sizzling sensation” in their designs. So I made their eyes sparkle and skin appear lustrous so their young vivacious side would show. And then when I could see their finalized lines, a new novel illustration was released. What can you do about that? (laughs)

– So you used the illustration on the top page of the official novel site too?
Right. There came to be a lot of novel illustrations, so that image was strengthened. I temporarily put aside what I had done to that point and, once again, injected a little more of Asada-san’s taste in their designs. At that time, the main characters’ hair were longer, so I thought about returning to the starting point and beginning again with a large silhouette that would match that image and structure their faces again.

– It sounds like you started with Kumiko, Hazuki, Sapphire, and Reina before moving on to everyone else.
Well, those were the designs I had drawn that would have been used for characters with those names. However, as I said we had many twists and turns, the main four’s designs weren’t approved. As we were close to production time, I designed the other concert band members before returning to them. If we couldn’t approve those 4’s designs, there’s no way we’d have time to finalize designs for 60 other band members. (laughs) I also felt that by drawing those other members, I’d be able to adapt my style and better sense how the girls would be drawn.

– What points were different between the early drafts and the final versions?
Small details like how the early version of Kumiko had a hairclip on her hair. I wanted some kind of trait that made her look like a protagonist, but in the end I had to stop adding extraneous points. Hazuki’s has completely changed; her first design had her wearing twintails, but that’s how her atmosphere was like at first. Series director (Naoko) Yamada-san was fussy over Sapphire’s skirt being long. “Since she’s so short, I want her to have a long skirt so her silhouette looks triangular.” I stopped its length in the final design on the longish side. Her socks having pompons was also Yamada-san’s idea. That reminds me, Kumiko at first had an ahoge. Ishihara-san had said “if someone has an ahoge, it feels moe-ish,” but in the end, it was Sapphire who has one, not Kumiko! (laughs) I thought it would be better to have Reina also hold some type of character trait, so her early designs had her wearing a hairband.

– What about the upperclassmen?
I drew Asuka as being this older “big sister” looking character, but Ishihara-san immediately rejected it saying “Asuka is cuter than this.” (laughs) Asada-san’s manga has a cute girl who wears glasses in it, so I included those aspects into her design to try and bring it closer to that. Haruka’s early designs are close to what became the final version. My impression of her from reading the novel was very faint, so thought it’d be nice to balance her design from Asuka’s. Yamada-san was pleased with her design and it had more or less been solidified when the second novel illustration was unveiled. She was in the middle of it, so I meekly went back and used it as a base. Aoi was done by me saying “I want to draw someone with braids” and it was okayed without much resistance.

– The second years Natsuki and Yuuko are also impressive. Those two are characters who had no novel illustration at all.
Yuuko was a revival of the design I drew for Sapphire with longer hair, but with a stylish knotted hairband. And since she adores Kaori, she has to be someone who’s immensely cute. If a uncute girl is adoring for a cute girl, it just looks kinda pitiful, doesn’t it? So to remove that impression and keep their relationship the way it is, I made sure she looked very cute. It was an unusual claim. (laughs) Natsuki looked awful with her glare and short hair like the novel described. I thought she’d look cuter if I made her hair a bit longer and then I put her hair in a ponytail since no one else’s was in one.

– How did you decide on Taki-sensei’s design?
I worked on his design as Yamada-san was fixated on what form it would be. At first she said “he should look like a certain actor” and so I drew him like that. Then she said “it’s too much like him.” (laughs) At the very end, I reframed his image to give him more of a soft impression and gentle expression.

– Having glasses was something unique to the anime.
That’s right. My order from Yamada-san was “he should feel dreamy with his glasses and wearing a cardigan.” Ishihara-san also left everything relating to Taki-sensei to Yamada-san. (laughs) With his good looks and short hair not matching the description of the novel, I had a different impression of him, but in the end I’m happy with how his character looks.

The staff’s passion supports this work at the production sight

– What kinds of things were you conscious of while working as chief animation director?
I immediately contacted the animation directors so that we could have a better unified impression and improve the quality of the work while keeping that unified impression. For my part, I was absorbed in ensuring that the characters appeared the same.

– What did you feel while you were checking the character drawings?
Everyone was able to properly visualize Yuuko, or rather I had properly conveyed how to draw her cutely. (laughs) In comparison, Sapphire has a complex hairstyle, but everyone was able to imitate it well. Conversely, I remember having to correct Taki-sensei and Gotou-kun a lot. Taki-sensei’s hairstyle is a characteristic that is new to KyoAni works, so perhaps there was a high level of difficulty.

– While working as CAD, what impressions remain while you were looking at the work?
The work from (Nobuaki) Maruki-kun in his episodes 5 and 12 as AD had too many lines. At first I was puzzled as what to do. (laughs) Trying to get everyone else to match his work or to alter his work to match everyone else’s would be too difficult, so I left them as-is and sent them on. In the end, both are important episodes, so I thought it would be good to have impressive visuals in them.

– As its part of this work’s theme, what parts were you particular about with the instruments?
That’s right. We have about 20 experienced musicians at our offices, so when a point came up where someone couldn’t understand how to draw something, they would consult one of those people. The staff would position the 3DCG materials for the instruments exactly how a character would be holding it and then use that as a base when drawing the scene. However, using those 3DCG materials was a bother. If everyone waited to use them, it would take too much time to finish an episode, so the people standing would draw while they waited to use the machine. As the CAD, I have my own problems at times when I’m drawing the promotional images as well. For (Hiroyuki) Takahashi-san to serve as instrument AD by himself is nothing less than amazing.

– When you were drawing the performances, did you use real performances as a reference?
Of course. We recorded some performances as they were necessary for drawing our scenes. We would match the timing from the spots on the video in our timesheets to keep that impression. I paid attention so that the work done to replicate an actual performance didn’t have any mistakes in it.

– Ikeda-san, what drawing to you was a highlight of this work?
For drawings, it has to be the scene in episode 12 when Kumiko runs along the bridge. And then as a scene I was incredibly picky about, it would have to be the reunion of Kumiko and Azusa in episode 5. There were a ton of amazing pink-colored director correction sheets indicating the animator should “pull back the line of her eyebrow until it’s reliable” from (Ichirou) Miyoshi-san. Here too Maruki-kun supported me by raising the quality greater than I ever thought.

– Please give your final impressions regarding this work.
I think the entire staff, not just myself, poured themselves into this show while making it. We were continually in high spirits as we headed to the final scene. Usually it’s normal for people to feel cornered due to the strict schedule of events. Along with everyone’s running passion to make something great, I felt we were able to keep the strengths of the novel.

This is the sixth and final piece in a series where I’ve translated the interviews with the staff in the Sound! Euphonium official fanbook. This has been a very enjoyable experience to translated the words from many people we don’t often hear from in anime production. I hope this has given you as a reader more insight into the various aspects of production of one anime series. This final piece has comments regarding production from various staff members from the backgrounds to the music production. Please enjoy this one last time.

Staff Comments

Art director:
Matsuo Shinobara

Art Director at Kyoto Animation. Participated in Love, Chunibyou, and Other Delusions, Clannad, and other works.

1: Please tell us how you were chosen to participate in this work.
I’ve heard that director Ishihara recommended me to the producers during one of their meetings. I feel immensely gracious.

2: When you were creating the screens for this work, what kind of art direction expressions did you use?
During my first meeting with the director, he said that he didn’t want the backgrounds to feel soft and gentle; he wanted them to feel strong. Wind music has this “feminine” image, so we challenged that by making the entire set of backgrounds feel “masculine” as we drew them. We talked about various other works and how, though we weren’t going to try to do too many new things, we wanted to do things like making normal scenes darker and strengthening the contrast to give it a strong and profound feeling. Those were the fundamentals that I wrestled with for this show.

3: What were some troubles that you may have gone through?
I wanted to continue strengthening the aim of this work to make it feel realistic through the backgrounds. In some scenes, we went a bit too off course with the realism, so I struggled with the balance between that as we were on a tight schedule. I still have some regrets at the moment.

4: What scenes would you like to highlight in the context of representing the backgrounds?
For all the places we feature in this work, there may be some points where our location scouting isn’t sufficient to cover everything. Each staff member would then go at that time to collect materials to draw their backgrounds. So I would say….the sheer passion that is put into this work cut-by-cut. This is our home area, so thanks to that, the amount of background information we have is immensely increased. Even on points where I didn’t recommend, pay attention to the expression of light. We constantly worked while being worried about how the shadows would look due to the strength, direction, and shade of light coming in.

5: Please tell us about some interesting events that occurred during production.
As this would be a work that wrestles with the theme of wind music, we began asking our internal staff who had experience playing an instrument prior to working. I was surprised at seeing many people with many different histories playing music. To think this staff has played so much…… To hear that there were members of the background staff who had detailed histories and ones who didn’t was extremely reassuring. Also……since the instruments in both CG and hand-drawn were so amazing, we as background staff kept the desire not to lose in effort to them.

6: Please tell us your impressions looking back at this work.
From the time production started until now, it feels like it went by in the blink of an eye. We had many challenges to overcome and many successes that overcame those challenges; it makes me immensely happy to say that we were able to improve the quality of this work in such a short period of production time. I was surprised by the reaction for this work for everyone around me compared to past works. The combination of people willing to help everyone else connecting with people holding a “we’re going to do this” sprit made this a very high spirited work as they were combined during production.

3D Artwork
Jyouji Unoguchi

Art director at Kyoto Animation. Participated in works like Free! and Nichijou among others.

Click for gif

1: Please tell us how you were chosen to participate in this work.
I’ve been in charge of inserting 3DCG in our previous works, so spontaneously I became involved in working on this one. Director Ishihara likes various movements in 3DCG, so I was excited at being able to do something fun.

2: What were the main reasons for occasionally using 3D backgrounds in this work?
This work is in a music genre where there are gatherings of a lot of people. I created 3D models of places like the music room and the concert hall so that the drawing staff and the BG staff could use them later as they were thinking about the space of their layouts. Up until now, we used reference sheets that the drawing staff would reference while drawing. Each person would have their own interpretation, so there would be a large difference between people. Different cuts in the classroom would be scattered in the representation of space. For that reason, I thought about creating an easy reference template in 3D to improve those situations. Furthermore, we attached hand drawn textures to the 3DCG modeling data to create a system that could be used for a 360° angle background when needed. This system was a boon when creating the whirling around music room cut in the opening. Besides that, the backgrounds in the train while the girls are traveling to and from school needed to be 3D as well.

3: What were some troubles that you may have gone through?
The reference models and backgrounds I created were not real live-action footage; I created them using the same colors we use for hand-drawn backgrounds in non-photo real 3DCG. That part was incredibly tough. As I was in charge of the modeling, texture, camerawork, and timing for the 3D backgrounds, I would have to re-do the modeling if the texture wasn’t good enough.

4: What scenes would you like to highlight in the context of representing your 3D backgrounds?
For 3D backgrounds, you don’t want the viewer to think “were those made in 3D?” at strange points, so you can only say “I did it!” when you make something that doesn’t feel unnatural in the cuts before/after it. In episode 7 where Hazuki gets off the train, bumps into Shuichi, who is getting on the train, and then mis-interprets their relationship, that entire cut has 3D CG backgrounds for the train’s interior and the station platform. I thought that was really good.

5: Please tell us about some interesting events that occurred during production.
How about episode 12’s Uji Bridge and Kumiko’s running scene? Actually, I was using newly installed software that I wasn’t accustomed to using. I quickly made it in a hurry and while I was at my wits’ end, just like how Kumiko was feeling in that scene.

6: Please tell us your impressions looking back at this work.
While I was constructing the music room and concert hall’s models, I began to reminisce about my own school days as I began seeing the small stools and small objects around the rooms. For me, this work is soaked in nostalgia. I’m able to sympathize greatly with the characters having gone through those same experiences to get where I am now. It takes all kinds of power to create these visuals, so it brings me immense joy to be able to convey them to our viewers.

Color Designer:
Akiyo Takeda

Color designer at Kyoto Animation. Participated in such works as Love, Chunibyou and Other Delusions, Tamako Market, and other works.

1: Please tell us how you were chosen to participate in this work.
It’d be nice if director Ishihara gave me a passionate offer, but he’s probably become accustomed to working with me through our previous works, so he just talked to me about it.

2: What do you keep in mind regarding choosing the colors as you’re making the visuals?
As we are making a “hot blooded club show,” I searched for colors representing “reality” while maintaining that “fantasy” portion native to animation. I consciously chose colors that represented a hybrid world between reality and fantasy.

3: What were some troubles that you may have gone through?
The numerous people and instruments. Though no character by themselves is a minor character, it was difficult to balance everyone so that people wouldn’t be too bland or too dazzling above our main girls. I’ve never come into contact with instruments so, as I had no idea how to construct those, I went to various photo stores, instrument stores, and consulted with our instrument AD Takahashi-san before choosing the colors.

4: What scenes would you like to highlight in the context of representing colors?
Rather than for color designs, I’d say the whole visual beauty of the work itself is a highlight. If I have to pick one thing, I’d choose how the colors for each girl’s eyes and the colors of their belongings and such are complimentary to each other. Also, I would change the colors around in different episodes to better match each character’s mental state, so it’d please me if you would notice that too.

5: Please tell us about some interesting events that occurred during production.
While we were doing our rush check (checking the completed visuals to ensure there’s no mistakes), director Ishihara quickly said “wouldn’t it be nice to add a swallow’s nest here?” and quickly drew the key frames and in-betweens himself. There’s actually a swallow’s nest in the real Keihan Rokujizou station, so the performance reflected reality. If you just look at it at a glance, you might not see it, but if you’re curious, please watch for the swallow flying.

6: Please tell us your impressions looking back at this work.
It’s very adolescent!! We as staff gave it our best alongside the girls. As you watch this work, that sensation of our passion alongside the girls’ can be felt. Thank you very much for your support!

Instrument Animation Director
Hiroyuki Takahashi

Animator at Kyoto Animation. Served as Instrument Animation Director for K-On!.

1: Please tell us how you were chosen to participate in this work.
Before this work was determined, I could feel series director Yamada-san’s indecision when she was in a neighboring seat as she flipped through the novel in her hand. The indecision was how to portray the instruments. I thought if she was that worried, I’d give her a push forward by telling her “I’ll do it Yamada-san. Please let me help you out again with the instruments.” I didn’t want her to hesitate about doing this work because of how to draw “instruments.” I wanted more than ever to do something that took place near us in Uji, so I said that I definitely wanted to do that. As I hit the mark a little, the thought of ”…we’ve not seen anything like this before with our works, why don’t we try it out” started to rise in her. I have no idea if that’s what pushed it to be done, but I believe my words helped her want to do this show. I’m immensely happy we were able to tell this story. By the way, I had no knowledge of these instruments. All I knew from my school days was playing electric guitar at a friend’s house. However, that experience has tied together to previous works where I was an animation director or created setting, so I understood it would be tied into this one as well.

2: What do you stress and what do you keep in mind as you’re representing instruments in animation drawings or setting creation?
First, I cut out the animation part and begin working on reproducing the instrument through the finest details. There’s nothing you can do if you don’t scrupulously work on that part. For that reason, I created a six-sided diagram as setting materials. This was the best reference I could draw to show part placement, proportions, and so forth. I thought if they could understand the details here, they could apply it later while drawing. When it was decided I would serve as instrument AD, I began thinking about how to finely detail everything as well as how to regulate it at that stage as well.

3: What were some troubles that you may have gone through?
There were many types of instruments that we borrowed from Yamaha, but when production started, they weren’t here. We wouldn’t have been able to distinguish between types if it wasn’t for their cooperation. However, we were able to work using reference photos and searches on the internet, but I remember worrying about how the parts would not come together as one in the drawings until people could understand how to draw them. They wouldn’t even come together in my wildest dreams. Finally, we were able to use the real instruments and the six-sided diagrams before we finished, so it made me happy when I was checking things. I finally got confidence we could pull it off.

4: You also served as instrument AD. What parts were you particular about? Was the degree of difficulty of depicting instruments as different as we think it is?
We created the first PV without rehearsing how to draw instruments, so I considered it a bout about how to use shadows and highlights. For this show, the instruments are all covered in plating, so it’s not a matter of how you highlight or shadow something; the entire piece itself should be reflecting something. The lights in the room from outside’s sunlight to the fluorescent lighting in the room should reflect for the bright parts and the dark parts should reflect people’s bodies. However, representing that in animation is difficult and our schedule was strict. So we highlighted their beauty by halfway representing highlights on and highlights off as well as shadows on and shadows off. I thought about only using background reflections a little bit when it’s needed for the mood, if the chance arises, or for promotional illustrations. Also, for instruments, I’d say it’s not so much the degree of difficulty as it is the degree of time is much larger. A high school girl would have a huge contrasting image if she were walking with something like Haruka’s baritone sax. I think Kumiko’s happy from the bottom of her heart to play her euphonium.

5: Please tell us about some interesting events that occurred during production.
Some people would say think that everyone around me was immensely troubled or would let out ghastly screams, but that wasn’t the case at all. The entire production felt like it was in sepia, so I can’t recall anything at all. At least I can’t remember anything now that we’ve reached the time where everything was completed.

6: Please tell us your impressions looking back at this work.
I’m from Kobe, so I’ve already spent about half my life here in the Kyoto/Uji area. For me, even though Sound! Euphonium is mainly about music, it’s also an Uji anime. Even though I spent my time only drawing instruments, to me, it still felt like I was always drawing Uji. Being able to boast that we made an animation about our local Uji is what concerns me the most.

Director of Photography
Kazuya Takao

Director of Photography at Kyoto Animation. Notable works include Free!, Nichijou, and other productions.

1: Please tell us how you were chosen to participate in this work.
Recently, director Ishihara has said “Takao-kun’s using some lyrical photography” so I believe that is what moved him to pick me! I believe!

2: What did you keep in mind as you were creating the screens for this work?
Director Ishihara would say things like “Make the background beautiful by using boke!” “I want to express this by using the two-type boke!” “Make it feel like you’re shooting a documentary!” “Also, make it lively!” He always said lively…….lively…….what?

3: What were some troubles that you may have gone through?
It wasn’t troubling, but I always regulated the way that light reflected off the instruments 1-cut at a time. It’d be bad if the final person’s who holds it screws up how it’s put together. Ah, I just fixated at the computer screen…..

4: What scenes would you like to highlight in the context of photography?
Even if your lens is good and you make it feel like its being shot on film, that doesn’t mean it feels like you’re shooting with an actual camera. So we made the camera move a little more than usual, used dirty lenses, and made it feel like a real cameraman was shooting the girls as we photographed.

5: Please tell us about some interesting events that occurred during production.
During the rush check for episode 1, director Ishihara said “There’s a swallow’s nest at this station. I’m going to draw a swallow!” and quickly drew the animation himself. I really love that part about the director.

6: Please tell us your impressions looking back at this work.
It was very enjoyable during production; my tear ducts wept so many times. Regardless, I won’t forget how emotionally moved I was during the rush check of the final episode. Even though the sound wasn’t added, it still felt that you could hear their performance. I realized the power of visuals in animation all over again. I felt like “Animation’s the best! It’s spectacular! Drink it up already!” I won’t forget drinking up this work. (laughs) Really, I’m happy to have been involved in this show!

Sound Director:
Youta Tsuruoka

Sound Director and representative at Rakuonsha. Participated in works such as Free!, Tamako Market, and Beyond the Boundary among others.

1: Please tell us how you were chosen to participate in this work.
Representatives from Kyoto Animation approached me and, since I’ve worked many jobs alongside director Ishihara and series director Yamada, I certainly wanted to participate. Concerning the work, since they were going to depict performances straightforwardly, I thought at first it would be a lot of physical work.

2: What points did you pay attention to during the direction of dubbing?
I always ensured that I never lost sight of how the characters were pulled to a direction as they were described in particular scenes. Among that, my impression was that this was a music series that merely incorporated everything, even things with no concrete connections.

3: What did you pay attention to in your use of music?
Director Ishihara mostly left me to use the background music as I wanted. I was particularly cognizant of how the music would fit and flow from the depths of the story without ruining the effectiveness of the direction.

4: Please tell us about any scenes where you particularly felt a response when you saw the completed visuals with the voices and music added.
Rather than a response, it’s more of an impression. When Kumiko was conflicted about “wanting to improve” in episode 12 when she finally realized what Reina was thinking as they played “Orpheus in the Underworld,” I felt that it was a thick expression that’s somewhat rare and smart in more recent works.

5: How was the atmosphere during recording? Please tell us any memorable moments that may have occurred.
We have so many young seiyuu that at first it felt like they were clashing against each other during recording. And then, even though getting physical would be impossible, the way their figures would move from being directly opposite to move in front of them remains with me today.

6: Please tell us your impressions looking back at this work.
This work has resounded to me by being a challenge that required me to carry many personal feelings toward music as I was working on it. Having worked on many jobs previously, this is something that I wish for many people to see.

Music Supervision
Masahiro Oowada

Saxophone player. Assistant professor at the Senzoku Gakuen School of Music. Works as the planning and budget supervisor for the Freshmen Wind Ensemble.

1: Please tell us how you were chosen to participate in this work.
While music lessons at the Senzoku Gakuen School of Music are lively, the “Freshmen Wind Ensemble” consisting of first years was chosen to perform for this work as they were the closest in age to high school students.

2: What did you do as a music supervisor?
Frankly, I merely concentrated on leading rehearsals and commanding the performances. The actual exchanges and business related tasks were left to my superiors who I am thankful to have completed such tasks.

3: What were some troubles that you may have gone through as music supervisor?
Definitely the level of quality of the performance. I struggled at ensuring the performance would not be too superior in order to match how the band was in the show prior to coaching. Also I concentrated on ensuring that the main song, “Crescent Moon Dance” would be strongly represented to have that emotional attachment that a performance piece has.

4: When viewed as a show that’s a “character drama inserted into wind music,” what scenes would you like to highlight?
It has to be the passion abundant in musicians where they are attached to a single note, wrestle with activities without giving up or being embarrassed, and the passion that people of all ages share that’s properly represented in this anime. I feel that people without any history of music would sympathize with everyone in the show.

5: Please tell us any memorable moments that may have occurred.
The way that the student members’ motivations came in high to their performances as a group and remained high day after day was quite memorable.

6: Please tell us your impressions looking back at this work.
Being able to perform in a real music studio with dozens of mikes and cameras is an incredibly valuable experience that cannot be replicated for our first years. It appears that deep memories have remained for all of them. I feel that being able to play a variety of genres from classical music to the upbeat opening and ending themes will surely improve their art. Conversely, it’s me who should be thanking everyone. Thank you all for letting us participate.

This is one of the three staff interviews featured in the guidebook for Amagi Brilliant Park. All three will be translated, but let’s start off nice and easy with the director of the show: Yasuhiro Takemoto!

Amaburi Staff Interviews

Director: Yasuhiro Takemoto

Director at Kyoto Animation. Notable works include Hyouka. Has participated as director in past Shoji Gatou animated works.

While including many original elements, director Takemoto also endeavored to show the charm of the original novels. Here we talk to him about the charm of the anime and the portions he was fixated on.

Properly re-show the charm of the original in the visuals!

– What impressions did you have when you first read the novels?

When I first read the novel, I felt “this is really a Gatouesque work.” I thought Yuka Nakajima-san’s illustrations are cute after I quickly saw them for the first time. Moreover, taking place at an amusement park makes it a wonderful setting and a lighter work. Furthermore, the story’s base is rather stout and the writing is both simple and yet thorough. Once again, I thought “Gatou-san is mentally a macho man” like I did when I read the Full Metal Panic! series.

– When you were making Amaburi into an anime, what points did you endeavor to keep?

“Properly deliver what I feel are the most emotional parts of the source I’ve been entrusted with.” It’s not just for Amaburi; our staff has handled each of the works that we’ve adapted like that. In Amaburi’s case, its greatest charms ares the cute visuals from Nakajima-san combined with the stout story from Gatou-san. We’re always thinking about how best to convey the atmosphere of a work like that.

The storyboards for the OP’s hook. One aspect of Takemoto’s direction for the OP was to increasingly add the cast’s hands clapping as they were gradually introduced throughout the episodes.

– Gatou-san served as series supervisor for this anime production. What discussions did you have with him as production advanced along?

Every time we met, he would chatter about “let’s make Amaburi a bright and fun work.” I felt the same and probably our staff also shared that sentiment. There’s often a lot of give and take when creating the details you pack into the setting for anime, but we didn’t experience any struggles though this process. All my conversations with Gatou-san were always entertaining.

– The protagonist Seiya is a cool yet narcissist protagonist who’s a bit detached from the other characters. What did you focus on when depicting him?

You could say that about him, but I personally find him to be an awfully cute boy. He’s not used to being frank in public, so he spontaneously begins to act that way in front of others. That’s why I always worked to bring out that cute portion of him since it was so important to his character. If perhaps everyone thought he was “cute” it would make me very happy.

– Then what did you think about one of the heroines, Isuzu?

Isuzu is a stiff personality with no lovely portions at all. But there’s a gap for her character because attached to that stiff personality is a sexy body. In order to convey that sexiness, I fixated on the camera angles and her trifling gestures.

The last scene for the OP. As it’s the last scene in episode 12 as well, this cut where all the cast greets the guests is a memorable image of this work.

– What about the other heroine, Latifah?

Usually, I have no interest in the so called “princess character” description, but Latifah is a special case. Despite being in such a sad situation, she has such a brave personality and a strong core above that. She also has a proper understanding of right and wrong as royalty; I think she’s a marvelous girl. I very much wanted to show off the various smiling faces a girl like that would show.

– Other than those three, please tell us about your favorite character.

Since every character in Amaburi is distinct, I have a certain impression for each one of them. Of course, I have special thoughts for Seiya, Isuzu, and Latifah, but other than those three…. It’d have to be the idiot trio of Moffle, Macaron, and Tirami. Those three are the symbol characters of Amaburi. If they weren’t around, the story wouldn’t start. I felt the performances by (Ryouko) Shiraishi-san, (Ayako) Kawasumi-san and (Ai) Nonoka-san splendidly fit their characters in the anime.

The work was produced by all the staff and cast supporting it

– You yourself were in charge of directing and storyboarding the opening animation. Please tell us about parts you put a lot of effort into, highlights of your direction and anything else.

It was nice to be able to create something where, as we introduced more characters, they would be added into the opening visuals. The last cut of the opening and the last cut of episode 12 were constructed similarly. That image was completed relatively early on in production, so I thought it would be interesting to include it in the opening animation. I’m personally happy with that effect. I wasn’t sure if the viewers would be able to feel the way I do, but I think they would be entertained with it regardless.

The three kindergartners who usually appear to torment Isuzu comedically appear as the key men to reaching 500,000 customers. It’s a touching and yet laughable scene.

– You also were in charge of the scripts for the anime original episodes 3 and 7. Please tell us about the highlights of those episodes.

While I think that they became entertaining episodes thanks to the staff who worked on them, I personally look back and think “they could have been more entertaining” and “we weren’t able to think of a better way to show this.” For those who watched those and were able to find something to enjoy, I feel incredibly happy. That’s why it’s tough for me to say something is a highlight. ….If I’m forced to say something I’d say how everyone in episode 7 is dressed like a pirate or in swimsuits. I’m especially pleased with Isuzu’s pirate captain outfit.

– Then, looking back at everything, what episode do you have a particular attachment to?

I have attachments to each episode, but the one I have the most to is episode 12. The scene where all the characters celebrate after achieving that impossible goal of “250,000 customers in 3 months” which had been built up episode-by-episode, was, in one word, moving. When it came time to make episode 12, I was swamped with various other jobs to do, so just for episode 12 I said “I definitely want to draw the storyboards myself.” I’m very thankful that the staff was able to construct it along the way I hoped it would be made.

Seiya holds the unforgetful and crying Latifah in his arms. This scene sorrowfully and beautifully depicts the fated twosome: the frantic Seiya and the pitifully cured Latifah.

– Were there any memorable scenes with the cast’s give-and-takes?

When I talked with Latifah’s seiyuu, (Yukiyo) Fujii-san, afterwards, she said “I’m immensely thankful for you allowing me to play as Latifah” incredibly sincerely. It made me immensely happy and still remains strongly with me today. I too am incredibly thankful for her to play Latifah. Of course Amaburi was created with marvelous performances by all the cast. I truly think everyone in the cast was a perfect fit for their role.

– Finally please give a message to all the fans who supported Amaburi.

Thank you so much for continuing to support us. Though the anime has ended, the story continues to continue in the novels and the manga versions. I think you’ll be able to enjoy the story in that form as well. If you enjoyed this anime, and think back with fond memories for the scenes you watched from time-to-time, it would make me very pleased.

This is the second of the three staff interviews featured in the guidebook for Amagi Brilliant Park. All three will be translated, but let’s unite the elements with the producer of the show: Yoshihisa Nakayama!

Amaburi Staff Interviews

Producer: Yoshihisa Nagayama

Producer at TBS Television. Has produced many anime shows including the K-On! and Hidamari Sketch series.

Nakayama P supported Amabrui through various jobs like bridging between the novels and anime and publicity. Here we talk to him about his enthusiasm for the work and various behind-the-scenes stories during the broadcast period.

It’s fun to produce a work with various faces.

– To begin, please tell us how you were invited to participate in the production of the anime adaptation of Amaburi.

I was approached by representatives of Kyoto Animation, who were handling the production, and asked “We’re wanting to animate this work. Would you be interested in it?” I really loved the Full Metal Panic! series and I’d wanted to work together with Gatou-san for a while, so when I read the novel and instantly found it entertaining, I decided to have TBS produce it with them.

– What were your impressions when you read the novel?

My impression was that each character was their own person and it was extremely easy to read. Though there are TBS anime which have a strong story aspect, there’s also a lot of works that you can watch carefreely and ones that have the characters at the front. It’s those points which nicely meshed with TBS as an anime. With “the characters are from a magic world” as its backbone, the story can expand in many interesting ways.

– As a producer, what kind of requests did you ask of the anime staff once it was to be animated?

I asked them to show the powerful edge that Gatou-san gave the characters. That’s the charm of this work. Ordinarily it’s quite hard to do that during a TV broadcast, but Gatou-san and director (Yasuhiro) Takemoto-san had discussed what to do prior to my joining production, and instantly appreciated what I wanted. We were easily able to talk about what to do when it came time to produce the scripts. As we also included ideas from series composer (Fumihiko) Shimo-san, we were able to safely complete a story suitable for broadcast.

-Ah, I understand.

I also had one other request: “as it’s a TV series, I want to make this so that the viewer to be very curious about what would happen in the next episode.” I don’t know if people who watched it realized it or not, but nearly every episode at the end had a hook to pull people to watch the next one.

The final scene of each episode, like Isuzu posing in front of Macaron (episode 7) or Muse looking bewildered (episode 8) tied into the next episode’s contents.

– During composition, episode 12 was made to be the actual finale of the show while episode 13 was more thrown out as an extra episode. What was your intention with that?

Due to programming concerns above my station, I knew that we could reliably air 12 episodes, but the ability to air up to 13 episodes was much less fluid. Knowing that, we fundamentally made it so that the story would pause at episode 12. Episode 13 was a story that took place after the pause so that people could enjoy it without worrying about the progression.

– On the PR side, what points did you take into consideration?

Gatou-san’s previous works like the Full Metal Panic! series are very popular and well-known, so of course I took into account promoting it towards Gatou-san’s fans. But with it being broadcast over-the-air, I wanted many more people than that to see it. I wanted many more people, like those who may not watch anime but are interested in theme parks, to see it. To do that, we ran commercials at various electronics shows and promoted it outside the various anime-related media at various places.

– There were a lot of collaborations too.

For this work, we collaborated with a croquette shop in Tokyo called Saigoutei so that we could bring the fictional world into reality and have fans eat croquettes based on ones made by Latifah. The collaboration with the J-League’s Tokyo Verdy was also a derivation of the story from the show.

– On May 17^th, you held a collaboration event with Yomuri Land in Inagi, Tokyo. Was this real life collaboration a mark similar to the one held on the final day of the story?

That’s not what it was meant to be at all. There were some questions towards me asking “aren’t we going to collaborate with this or that amusement park?” but as I only wanted the viewing audience to comprehend the park that we created for the anime until the broadcast was over, I held back from collaborating with any parks. As a matter of fact, we went to a fair number of parks to do the location scouting. However, I wanted to avoid everyone thinking that it was from a specific place’s motif. Once the broadcast was over and everyone was able to enjoy the Amaburi world, we could have a web radio public recording at Yomuri Land since people wouldn’t be tempted to judge Amaburi like other parks. As it had been a while since the broadcast ended, we brought out the seals from episode 7 in order to spur up memories of the anime’s story. While they were wondering what was going on, it made me happy to hear such a huge reaction.

– So it was like that. What gave you the idea to start “Buri Radio” in the first place?

“Buri Radio” started as a simple way for those who wanted to learn more about the show to do so. This was Latifah’s seiyuu, (Yukiyo) Fujii-san’s, first time as a radio personality, so it felt incredibly fresh and became a truly wonderful program. When she and Isuzu’s seiyuu, (Ai) Kakuma, would talk about the various seiyuu world activities, it really felt like they were two OLs talking about their job. I believe it became a wonderful broadcast with their strong will to learn more about the world outside of being seiyuu and strong will looking to have a career change. With it being full of originality as I thought it would be, there’s no one that would argue about it being an entertaining broadcast.

Showing his fixation for casting and music

– With Amaburi being Gatou-san’s latest work and one that was highly anticipated as an anime, what kind of reaction did you receive from the fans when it was announced to be an anime?

This is just concerning Isuzu and Latifah’s voices, but I received a lot of “they’re really pleasant” voices when casting those two. For casting, Kakuma-san and Fujii-san were the best fit. Also, I got a lot of requests for Seiya’s seiyuu to be (Kouki) Uchiyama-san. He can reliably work as a high schooler and he served as a child actor previously, but even though I questioned if he could bring some empathy for Seiya’s position, I still requested him to play for us. His performance was beyond my wildest expectations. I’m very glad I requested him.

– Speaking of casting, I was surprised when I heard that Moffle, Macaron, and Tirami’s seiyuu were women. As I read the novel, my inner image of them had old geezer voices…..

There were a lot of reasons why we cast them as women, but the top reason is that I wanted to show everyone that there are infinite possibilities for seiyuu. They are skillful presenters who act in every way from the way they breath to their voices itself. I’d say there were probably a lot of people who read the novel and imagined “the mascots sound like old men, so they’ve got a male voice.” But while we were casting the male voices, it ended with me thinking “this is too normal.” There’s many people who imagine Macaron’s seiyuu, (Ryouko) Shiraishi-san, as a young boy, Moffle’s seiyuu, (Ayako) Kawasumi-san, as a princess and Tirami’s seiyuu, (Ai) Nonoka-san, as a cute heroine, but I also wanted to see them act as old men. Those three are veterans, so while I thought they would be able to act well, they performed superbly. I wanted to bring notice to all the fans to have a new sense of surprise, but I also wondered if there would be any uncomfortable feelings for everyone.

Nakayama P’s favorite character is episode 3’s Macaron. Fake Seiya in episode 8 had delicate expressions and superb comical acting from Uchiyama.

– What other points did you put a lot of power into besides casting?

Not just for Amaburi, but I always put a lot of power into music. Music is something that brings up memories of the work in people even when the show isn’t being broadcast. For that reason, it’s a very important element for anime. I requested an opening song with an unforgettable catchy running beat that won’t leave you once you hear it from Flying Dog, the company in charge of music. In contrast, for the ED song I requested they make a song that was serene so people would be able to calm down after watching the episode.

– I see. Did you have some intention in mind when you were casting Brilliant 4, who would sing the ending theme song?

Since I thought they would sing it at a real event, I chose them based on the ability to since and dance. However, it was more important that they be balanced and work as a team. Since the girls are very friendly with each other in the show, it was important for me to choose girls who would bring out that harmonious feeling and be close in age with each other.

Aiming to create episodes that are “representative of anime.”

– Next, please tell us who your favorite character is.

I personally love all the characters. If I have to pinpoint something, I’m very fond of the scene where Macaron comes running and screaming “Stop it roooon!” when Moffle scares the customers by attacking one. (Tatsuya) Ishihara-san’s direction shows that cute layer to him.

– Then what is your favorite episode?

Episode 8. It’s the one where Moffle and the others go to school in place of Seiya, who fell ill. That was so entertaining. It’s a unique story, Uchiyama-san’s performance was amazing, and I’ve heard it was a popular episode among the staff. I’m glad that it wasn’t just gags; there’s a nice story that ends by the end of the episode.

-You had to prepare a lot of original episodes. What was your intention when inserting original elements in the show?

I’m always thinking about elements that are representative of anime when we’re making an adaptation of something. Even if you completely adapt the original source exactly, that doesn’t mean it’ll become an entertaining anime work. Of course, it’s important to respect the original source, but though it’s difficult, I think weaving in some originality is the best way to adapt something. In the case of Amaburi, though we were fundamentally following the story of the first volume, we could insert some new episodes and bring in some characters who appear in later volumes in order to bring out that originality.

– What were your impressions on episode 12, the real final episode?

Wasn’t it fitting as a final episode for Amaburi? I mentioned earlier that I wanted episode 12 to be the final episode when creating the series composition, so the entire staff made it such an emotional finale. TV anime have various restraints in expressions and lengths, but I think everyone on the staff are pros for being able to work within those restraints to create such a work to move the audience. I’m incredibly grateful for all the staff to work as professionals.

– Episode 14 included on the “special volume” was very comical.

That’s right. It’s an episode that moves so quickly you can’t even think “why do the kindergartners have an underground pro wrestling ring?” That episode is full of punch lines. I was a bit worried that all those punch lines would work out, but when I asked Gatou-san, who wrote the script for that episode, “will these punch lines be okay?” he replied with such confidence “It’s alright!” As a result, it’s very Gatouesque with its peculiar and funny jokes. I’d definitely check them out if I were you.

A scene from episode 14. Why is there an underground wrestling ring and why are the kindergartners so wild over wrestling? Was it intended to feel this surreal when you calmly watch it?!

– What problems did you run into while producing this show?

Of course there were little problems here and there, but there’s nothing “troubling” that I can think of. Thanks to director Takemoto’s wonderful leadership being shown, the production side had a wonderful atmosphere. He was also able to skillfully include all the portions I requested as a producer as well. Above all, since all the cast and staff were able to convey the fun they had while making this show, I was able to have fun while producing it.

– Looking back on it, what kind of work did the anime Amaburi become?

For me, I’d say that it’s a work I challenged by saying “since this is a work that Gatou-san and Kyoto Animation are producing, there’s no way they can’t produce anything that isn’t a great work.” It was also very enjoyable being able to challenge myself by tying in various collaborations outside of anime media. Due to that, it was a very profound work for me.

– Finally, please give a message to all the fans who supported the Amaburi anime.

We aimed to produce Amaburi for all the viewers to be entertained. How did we do? The novels are still ongoing, and we also plan to continue selling some related products in the future, so please continue to support Amaburi. Thank you all for watching.

This is the last of the three staff interviews featured in the guidebook for Amagi Brilliant Park. Let’s finish with the author of the light novels: Shouji Gatou!

Amaburi Staff Interviews

Creator/Series Supervisor: Shoji Gatou
Well-known author who has published various titles such as Full Metal Panic! (from the Fantasy Bunko label) He has also served as an anime scriptwriter for various shows and was the series composer for Hyouka alongside director Yasuhiro Takemoto.

The creator of Amagi Brilliant Park influenced the anime production from the role of “series supervisor.” Here we speak with Shoji Gatou about the birth of the franchise, the secret tales of how the characters were born, and shed light on the backstage events of the anime production!

Adding some slack spices up a work!

– Please tell us how you set out to write the original Amaburi novels.
For a long time, my Full Metal Panic! shorts were serialized in Dragon Magazine (published by Kadokawa Fujimi Shobo). While it was full of gags instead of the seriousness the main series had, it was quite popular with the readers and I also enjoyed writing them. That’s why I wanted to write something light with gags and comedy in it. I’m in my forties now. I think it would be difficult to write something light when you’re in your fifties, so I felt that if I didn’t write something like that now, I’d never get a chance to write it. (laughs)

– What was the reason behind choosing an amusement park?
It started when I went to an amusement park with a friend and we saw a mascot energetically playing around with the kids. I thought “wouldn’t it be funny if that mascot actually hated kids?” If I could depict the real world worries and problems that an amusement park mascot had in a light manner, then wouldn’t that be something new for me? Also, if it was at an amusement park, then I thought that the reader would be able to enjoy the scenery and the spectacle of the setting.

– How did you construct the story as a whole?
My first inclination was to make a straightforward rags-to-riches story so that it’d be easier for the readers to emphasize with the characters. I felt they could easily sympathize with the re-building of an amusement park that was near ruin. And then, because this wouldn’t be a type of story where you have that “person inside” a mascot, there’d inevitably have to be a detail  where ‘the mascots came from a magical land.” Now you have the general setting completed. However, despite that I usually think about the setting for my works to be incredibly detailed, I never settled  on how the magical world “Maple Land” would exist in Amaburi. There would be points that I’d decide upon as I was writing too. I’d write the directions to Maple Land being “head on the JR Nambu Line until you get to Yokohama. From there, just take the limited express.” (laughs) Sometimes the readers get upset at you if you’re too lax, but that slack is the flavor of Amaburi to me.

– Next, please tell us how the characters were created. First, what was the reason behind the protagonist, Seiya, being a high school student who acts as the general manager?
I wrote Seiya as a high school student so that more people would accept him as a character. In Japan, almost everyone has lived that high school lifestyle, so it’s easy for anyone to sympathize with a someone going through that. But Seiya becomes the key man in restoring the failing amusement park, so he’s not just an ordinary high school student; his character needed an element to know about the adult world as well. That’s why I added the part where he was a former child actor. It fit him to look on from up high and say various things to improve the park’s entertainment due to knowing about the entertainment industry.

– And with that, Seiya became a very talented character.
There was one more reason: I’m not great at moving around a character without any weak spots, so I took it upon myself to make him this super incredible person as my own challenge. But it was hard to continue writing like that, so when he spoke to Isuzu about his past traumas, he became a character who showed some weaknesses as well. In the end, you could say “he became a character with a weak spot like all of Gatou-san’s works.”

– Seiya is a high school student, yet this story takes place in the amusement park and doesn’t really depict school life at all. What was the reason for that?
Because I don’t think that everyone in the world lives a fully satisfying high school life. I think that if there’s people who have fun during high school, then there has to be others who continually spend it by themselves. Possibly those people would find entertaining things outside of school. For Seiya, Amaburi is that place and I wanted to portray that “school isn’t everything” sense. Although, episode 8 in the anime, the school one, was very popular, so perhaps I might insert some stories like that at times.

– Next, please tell us how you created the heroine, Isuzu.
Isuzu came into my head when I was talking with my editor about “what if Sousuke (Full Metal Panic!’s protagonist Sousuke Sagara) was a girl?” Fundamentally, she’s quite talented, but she has that inflexible and constant fruitless effort part in common with Sousuke. Also, since she’s the type of character who’s very capable as a secretary, but poor as a leader, I attached “low self-esteem” to her personality. With her being a girl with a fair amount of issues, she’s suitable to be a heroine.

-Then how about the other heroine, Latifa?
I straightforwardly tried to keep her as my image of a “princess.” Since I wanted to create a story where everyone tries their best for this young girl, I endeavored to keep her as a pure, pitiful heroine without a hint of that “actually, I’m bad to the bone” personality. I created that “reset of a year’s memories” aspect so that she’d be that “heroine who needs saving.” I kept thinking about how to add more and more to her to the point where I looked back at my past self and said “Who would think about creating such a horrible situation for her?!” (laughs)

– We’d like to hear about the mascot characters next. Moffle looks like Bonta-kun from Full Metal Panic!. It’s quite impactful.
Bonta-kun was one of my favorite characters, so I asked the illustrator for Full Metal Panic!, Shiki Douji-sensei, if I could use her design. Personality-wise, he’s been through many different roles, so he’s the kind of person who takes a long-term view on things. My editor said “Hey, Gatou-san, this can pretty much stay as it is.” (laughs) He may be the character I’m most attached to in the series.

– What about Macaron and Tirami?
Macaron came to me when I was thinking “it’d be entertaining if there was a mascot who was separated from his wife and children and talked with his lawyer about paying child-raising expenses.” After that, I added various danger elements like being a former delinquent. For Tirami, when I referenced all the violent girls around them, Tirami became a woman lover. Since there’s no real depth for Tirami, I talked with (Yasuhiro) Takemoto-san about “what if Tirami loves women, but has no experience with them?” The truth is that it’s unknown. (laughs) I like Moffle the best of those three, but if the chance comes, I’d like to write an episode of those three at the bar.

– How about the four Elementario girls?
I created them with the thought about including more pretty girls besides Isuzu and Latifia in the series. But, as there wasn’t any background on them at the time they appeared in the novel, I had to think about a detailed backstory for them for the anime. For example, Sylphy is a bit of an airhead now, but at first she was the older-sister type character. How Salama likes Muse also came from the anime. Thanks to the charming depiction of their images, all four of them were able to stand out.

While the other three girls were doing something, Sylphy would be frolicking by herself saying meaningless things. In episode 13, she was the only one throwing paper airplanes.

– There are a lot of other characters who appear. Did you think of all of them by yourself?
I didn’t come up with everyone by myself; some were jokes the editor threw out while we were drinking. Anyways, the stock increases every time we drink, so there’s still a lot of characters who haven’t appeared yet. Although I don’t know if there’s a chance I could show a useless character like someone who’s only trait is “a mascot who went to jail on false molestation charges.” (laughs)

My favorite characters are the three kindergartners!

– This time you were credited with “series supervisor” for the anime. In what way did you influence production?
When I first heard that it was going to be animated, I thought I could compose the series entirely by myself, but as I was also writing the novels at the same time, I was caught without enough time to do both. Due to that, I put my faith in the veteran scriptwriter (Fumihiko) Shimo-san to do the main work and I would work as a supervisor. Also as the person in charge of saying dumb things. Takemoto-san is relatively serious and wouldn’t include things like pointless sexy scenes. Me on the other hand would encourage everyone to “include more sexy!” I worked together with Takemoto-san on Hyouka before this, and he flat out rejected me while I was fighting as the sole soldier of erotic justice. (laughs)

– You were in charge of the scripts for episodes 4, 9, and 12. What was the reason you chose those four episodes?
These were episodes that had parts that weren’t in the novels, so I thought “I’ll do these for them myself.” Especially episode 9. I was finalizing the background for the Elementario while writing the script, so I had to write that one. Episode 12 was the real finale, and I felt the novel’s “we made our goal with the attendance for the soccer match” was a bit too weak of a punch line for the anime, so I wanted to insert some original elements. When talking with Takemoto-san and Shimo-san, we agreed that mobilizing all the characters surrounding our staff members would be a suitable conclusion.

-I laughed at the fact that the three kindergarteners were the final three guests.
I wrote that punch line thinking “if those three were the last guests, it’d be quite the surprise.” They first appear in episode 4, which I wrote the script for, so as I wrote them eagerly saying strange lines like “give us food and water!” they became weird characters. Because of that, I became instantly attracted to them and wanted them to appear whenever was a good point for them to show up.

Every scene with the three kindergartners had quite an impact. Their ferociousness and the impressive sight of their attacks on Isuzu was quite an attraction.

-What impressions of the visuals still remain with you?
The scene near the end of episode 12 when Latifa and Seiya are talking in Maple Castle; I thought “Yep, this is a KyoAni work” when I saw the beautiful images. The way the flowers on the trees were sparkling still remains with me. Takemoto-san’s thoughts on that scene was that we should “dig deeper into Latifia’s feelings about her memory resetting,” so I thought more about it as I wrote its script. As a result, it became a very touching scene when we included her being saved. Some people may think it’s “too easy” for that to have happened, so even though I thought it felt perfect to end the anime with, it wasn’t the final shot.

– You also wrote the script for episode 14, which is included on the BD/DVDs. It’s completely a gag episode.
Seriousness is important, but you have to have gag episodes too. I wanted to include an incredibly slapstick episode, but with only 12 episodes, there wasn’t enough space to fit one in. Thankfully, I could do whatever I wanted in the remaining 2 episodes, so episode 14 got the brunt of me doing everything I wanted to do. My favorite three kindergarteners appear as well and they are both in and around gags too.

A surprising development in the relationships between Seiya, Isuzu, and Latifa?!

– What event remains with you regarding the anime?
Since I was fundamentally at every recording session, I thought about adlibbing Sylphy’s meaningless one-liners there. Though the basic script had been completed at that point, while we were recording, sound director (Youta) Tsuruoka-san would come to me and ask “This adlib’s a bit too long, I’d like one a bit shorter,” and so I’d quickly think of a new one. When I’m working on a manuscript at my desk, I don’t give a damn about what anyone thinks, but I felt like I’d die of embarrassment trying to think of one in front of everyone else. (laughs) This was the most embarrassed I’d felt since I was asked “please come up with some magic incantation” while we were recording “The Tower of Druga,” which I wrote the scripts for. I was stuck reading aloud how to pronounce each spell in front of everyone.

– After the anime, were there any characters you wanted to delve into more?
Actually, I’m writing a story for the novels that delves into the four Elementarios. I want to write more and more about those girls and the three part-timers, but since sentences aren’t as flashy as visuals, perhaps they’d look better in the anime. I wouldn’t mind writing about Tricen or the sober and present Jaws, but I don’t know if there’s any demand for that. (laughs)

– Having watched the anime, I’m curious about the relationship between Seiya, Isuzu, and Latifia. What will happen later for those three?
Though it doesn’t appear I deliberately wrote it as such in the novel, it does seem like they’ve eventually become a love triangle. By the way, at this point it may feel better to go with Latifia more or less in the novel. But will Isuzu make a comeback victory? Please stay tuned to find out what’s coming next! (laughs)

– Finally please give a message to all those who watched the anime.
Thank you very much to everyone who stayed and watched the Amaburi anime until the very end. It would make me very happy if you all enjoyed it. Afterwards, I think you’d like reading the various publications as well. If you desire something where “I want to see this kind of episode!” please contact the Kadokawa Fantasy Bunko editing department in your spare time. If it’s a good idea, I might consider writing about it if I feel like it. (laughs)

In 1998, Shoji Gatou’s second novel series Full Metal Panic! began serializing in Fujimi Shobo’s Dragon Magazine before being published in their Fantasy Bunko label. This work became popular and so Kadokawa Shoten’s producer Atsushi Ito began work to have it made into an animated series. He was able to get two more adaptations created following the first series’s conclusion before the main novel series ended in 2011. In October 2013, Kadokawa celebrated the 15th anniversary of the novels by publishing a special Blu-ray Box that contained all 3 anime adaptations of the series. I’ll be reviewing that box while commenting on some of the previous releases.

Full Metal Panic! (season 1) was partly financed by the TV station WOWOW in Japan and ran on it from January 2002 until June 2002 after being postponed from a Fall broadcast due to the September 11th hijackings.  The second adaptation, Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu, was partly financed by Fuji Television and ran on it from August 2003-November 2003. Kadokawa partnered with WOWOW again for a sequel to the first season called Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid, which ran on WOWOW from July 2005-October 2005.  Each series was released on DVD initially with separate Blu-ray boxes being released in 2008 following Kadokawa purchasing timeslots to re-air each series throughout the year.

This “All Stories” Blu-ray box is a re-release of those three boxes in one package. The previous releases were in a digipak containing 5 BDs, 2 BD+1CD, and 3BD+1DVD discs respectively while Kadokawa has remade those discs into 10 BDs and 2 CDs for this set. Season 1 is a re-pressing of the 4 main feature discs released before with new menus and disc art. Fumoffu is a re-pressing of its two BDs excluding the textless OP/ED with new menus and disc art. The Second Raid is newly authored (though not encoded) to have 5 episodes on 2 discs with the remaining 4 on another disc. All previous bonus features (textless OP/ED, TV commercials, bonus footage, Hong Kong Location Scouting, interviews, and excluding the image gallery from S1’s BD) are re-authored onto a bonus disc. There are two drama CDs included: a re-pressing of the collection of shorts from the Fumoffu DVDs that was with its BD-Box, and a re-pressing of the bonus CD with the TSR OVA DVD release.

Each series has its own amaray case containing all relevant discs with the final amaray case holding all the bonus discs. A bonus booklet fills the rest of the box.

I’ve contributed two posts on my thoughts for Fumoffu and TSR having re-watched them for my KyoAni re-watch. In short, the former holds up very well on multiple viewings (I’ve honestly lost count on how many times I’ve seen it), but the latter doesn’t work as well when you know what’s coming. In contrast to both of those, I found myself more engaged with the first season than I thought I would be. Outside of the original Helmajistan arc, it’s a very good mixture of seriousness and humor that’s lost in the two “sequels.” I’d still recommend this series to anyone who hasn’t seen it; FMP is a very solid series with a good “ending” in TSR.

Video-wise, Kadokawa encoded these episodes in 1080i, which is generally not used for Western releases (because most encoders at those companies put out subpar releases with those settings). This is generally due to the OPs being 30 fps compared to the standard 24 fps for most TV anime. Having seen the releases from Funimation, who encoded the episodes at 24 fps to make it a 1080p release, it’s a great improvement for the OPs and the video looks better. Having said that, it’s still an upscale and has some issues, especially in Fumoffu’s student council room due to the lighting. I didn’t notice the banding issues as much with this release, though some scenes like the Danaan’s motion scenes have it.

There are two audio tracks provided: a Linear PCM Japanese track in stereo (S1/Fumoffu) or in 5.1 (TSR) and a 5.1 Dolby HD English track (all). The commentaries for TSR are kept in a Dolby Digital 2.0 format, but they’re meant to be sound, not kept in lossless. I’m honestly happy with both tracks as they work in their own way. When playing the disc in a BD-player/software, the English track has mandatory Japanese subtitles (to the English dub, not to the Japanese audio) and cannot be toggled on/off without accessing either the top menu or the pop-up menu. Of course, there are alternatives, which is how I know for certain the subtitles reference the English audio and not the Japanese.

Bonus feature-wise, this set compiles together the bonus features from all the previous blu-ray boxes onto one disc. This is accomplished by encoding everything (except the Gatou & Koichi Chigira interview and TSR textless opening/ending) at 720×480 (displayed at 640×480 or 852×480). I cannot say for certain if the previous boxes had these specific encodes or not (except the location scouting since that was on a bonus DVD with the TSR set). It’s a fantastic amount of extras that help add to the value of the set. I’m still amused by the location scouting commentary, which remains a huge recommendation for any FMP fan/viewer. Most of these are kept on the NA Funimation releases, except for the Fumoffu DVD promotional video shown in stores.

The booklet contains information about the construction (arcs and broadcast dates) for each of the main series as well as the OVA. Each episode is given a brief synopsis along with an image. Inter-spliced between productions are character designs along with some costumes worn throughout the series (highlighted for which ones they’re worn in). At the end, we have details and specs for the various mecha for the series (including one Bonta-kun). The final page gives the script, storyboards, episode director, and animation director credits for each episode.

Overall, I was very very very pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed this set. It’s a great purchase for any FMP fan and the sheer amount of bonus material makes this the “must-buy” for anyone who hasn’t picked up the JP sets before, especially with the previous boxes out of print.

This is a translation of the (long) roundtable discussion between Director Ishihara, Series Director Yamada, and Author Takeda that was published in the Sound! Euphonium Official Fanbook (published on September 25, 2015 by Takarajimasha). Thanks to @yuyucow, @tadamari, and @animenewsdotbiz for their comments and reviews.

Director x Series Director x Author Roundtable

Director:

Tatsuya Ishihara
Anime director at Kyoto Animation. Previous works directed include Chuunibyou Demo Koi ga Shitai!, Nichijou, and The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.

Series Director:

Naoko Yamada
Anime director/animator at Kyoto Animation. Previous works directed include K-On!, Tamako Market, and the award-winning Tamako Love Story.

Author:

Ayano Takeda
Author. Debuted with “Today, We Breathed Together” in 2013. Also in 2013, Sound! Euphonium was published; currently there are 3 volumes and a collection of shorts published.

It’s rare to see an ordinary protagonist among anime characters

– Director Ishihara and Yamada-san, what were your thoughts when you first read the novel?
Ishihara: Actually, there had been discussions at a “talking about it” level about wanting to produce a work that was set in Kyoto by people inside our company. With the setting near our company, my true first impression was that I wanted to animate this more and more. (laughs) Also, since I always think about how I would animate something when I read it, I pondered how we would animate the SunFest parade. (laughs) For animation, we would have to animate a lot of people walking and holding instruments. It’d burn a lot of calories watching it.
Yamada: My first impression was that the atmosphere felt right somehow. It was depicted lively with lots of adolescent palpitations and breaths, so I was immensely hooked. I thought that it would be good to depict anything where people get fired up and that you could sympathize with the ongoing relationships with the people taking part in it, not just the concert band itself.

– Takeda-sensei, what were your impressions about your work being made into an anime?
Takeda: At first I had no idea what that meant. (laughs) It didn’t mean that it was a hit, so I wasn’t that startled. Honestly, when I met with the staff for our meeting, we would just talk about various topics.
Ishihara: Rather than feeling like it was a business meeting, we had random discussions that made it feel more like an introduction. After that, it was more like steadily creating the setting for the anime for us, but what did it feel like to you, Takeda-sensei?
Takeda: It felt like I was talking about my whole family. At first, I was just passing on information about the characters as well as the minor characters, but after a while, I started to steadily pass on settings for the story that I would write. After it was decided to make the novel into an anime, I believe I took some of our talks and put that in the two volumes published afterwards. (laughs)

– As you were working on the series, how did you think about how you were going to portray the work?
Ishihara: What do you mean?
Yamada: We went a little here and a little there. At the beginning of the scenario stage, there were discussions about putting more gag-type elements in it.
Ishihara: Definitely. By comparison, the novel is more a pure story, right? But the broadcast time was one where the people watching were late night anime fans, so I thought about making it have a more manga-type tempo in favor of them. Eventually, we didn’t go that route, but the storyboards for episode 2, which I drew, may have the most manga-type comical gags portrayed. (laughs) When you compare it to the first episode, the tempo definitely feels different. The reason is that the beginning feels more like trial and error still but as the episodes progress, the feeling solidifies into one tempo as well.
Yamada: In the novel, Kumiko’s personality is very charming, but she’s a type that isn’t the general anime character. She’s so ordinary feeling; not at all like you’d picture a heroine being. She started to play music because her older sister played it, she worries over the flavor of the ice cream she bought afterwards, and so on. (laughs) If we depicted Kumiko, she’d feel a bit out of place as a character in an anime. But because of that, this was a very fun challenging production.

One page of Ishihara’s storyboards for episode 2

– She certainly doesn’t feel like she’s the protagonist in an anime.
Yamada: Furthermore, she goes along with the flow, but she’s at the core of the story. One question was how we can bring that out in anime-form.
Ishihara: I’d say her outward appearance is also a bit low on the range of late night anime heroines. But when she’s with the other three girls, her height on that range is her tallest point. To comment on what Yamada said earlier, an ordinary protagonist would be a prodigy player or be absolutely awful, but Kumiko plays her euphonium reasonably well. It’s rare to see that type of protagonist for an anime character.
Takeda: Actually, there is a real person I modeled Kumiko from. Since she was tall as well, I was pulled by that image of her. Of the other characters, Sapphire also was modeled after someone. The bloody hands incident was an episode that happened entirely in reality.

– Takeda-san, what was the process for how you put Kumiko as a protagonist character?
Takeda: After I wrote my debut work, “Today, We Breathed Together,” (published in the Takarajimasha Bunko) my editor asked me “what would you like to write about next?” I told them that I wanted to write about an ordinary girl in a concert band and their first response was that it was too ordinary. (laughs) However, I wanted to capture the insides of the people there rather than merely depict the ups-and-downs of club activities. I consciously kept that balance between the two as I wrote and eventually, it felt like Kumiko’s current personality came out. She became the kind of girl you see around who has that strong will of a protagonist and is still able to be recalled in someone’s mind.

– Was it also a difficult part to portray a too ordinary protagonist in an anime?
Ishihara: It was part of it. For novels, readers have the ability to stick their own kind of love onto the protagonist, but it’s difficult to make anime in that first-person setting. The standard is to get involved in fun things with a protagonist-seeming protagonist in anime. On the other hand, there are group setting styles from the past that have their own charm by depicting each protagonist one-at-a-time like “Two Years’ Vacation.”
Takeda: I love that style. When you combine various types of personalities and ways of thinking and not just one, it gradually settles together like a puzzle you can’t quite piece together at first. Each girl has their own traits and when their mutual traits meet, it starts a chemical reaction of entertaining moments. If one girl doesn’t move a certain way, then another girl with a different personality can cover for her. It’s really fun to depict relationships like that. I’m thinking that I’m a reader wanting to constantly watch over them.

– After depicting things in the anime, were there any things that you became conscious about?
Ishihara: With it being a 1-cour 13 episode show instead of a film, there’s no practical turning point scene as the episodes go on one-by-one. I thought for a while about various locations to put one in the series. Though we were to divide the novel into 13 episodes from the beginning, I was re-arranging and fine-tuning the contents until the final episode was finished.
Yamada: That reminds me, at the first scenario meeting, I clearly remember you and series composer (Jukki) Hanada-san saying “let’s end the first episode with Kumiko kicking Shuichi in the back.”
Ishihara: Eventually, that didn’t happen.
Yamada: That’s right. I believe you two shook on it, said farewell, and then at the next meeting it was “let’s think about that again.” What happened there? (laughs)
Ishihara: The first episode itself has to have a turning point and so ending with Kumiko talking to Shuichi felt a bit lacking in that aspect. Due to that, as we were inserting the flashback scene for the middle school concert, we decided to use that flashback scheme for every episode as well. Incidentally, the original plan in episode 1 was for people to sense that the school song was being played poorly as a link to that concert, but the audience wouldn’t know what the school song for North Uji High was. Thus we thought about how to convey that clumsy playing. Since we wanted to have an entertaining song, we put in the theme from “Abarenbou Shogun.”
Takeda: That was an incredibly entertaining moment. (laughs)
Ishihara: Modern anime end the first episode with properly raising a question to be answered. The general show would move the story along to the end of our episode 3 where Taki-sensei rebukes the band’s performance by asking “What is this?” However, I thought it fit this show’s tempo to have episode 2 have the students picking their instruments. And there are a lot of works with that kind of tempo who have the protagonist as a beginner. In that instance, Hazuki saved us. With her there, adding a subplot where she previously bought the wrong mouthpiece was a plus to the story. Both I personally, and the likely large number of viewers, with no knowledge of concert band, would purchase the wrong mouthpiece because we had no idea it was wrong. That fundamental mistake would continue to add up bit-by-bit and feel entertaining.
Takeda: Sapphire was enjoyable as well with her slightly “old man” elements and her knowledge of music.
Yamada: She’s the type of girl who would cite sayings by musicians, so basically we depicted her as Joe Strummer. (laughs) Thanks to that, we were able to improve the scenario to have her move around more and bring out more of her charm from the novel.

– Takeda-san, what were your impressions as you read the anime scenario?
Takeda: As I read it, I felt “so you can make an anime like this.” The contents were so enjoyable. I was surprised at Sapphire-chan’s proper Japanese (Note: While all the characters in the novel except Kumiko speak with the Kansaiben dialect, Saphire really uses it.) and her interest in Tuba-kun. (laughs)
Yamada: That mascot has the “just right” feeling to put the euphonium in the shadow of a tuba. When I was a child, we would collect “Sylvania Families,” but the series with musical instruments had a tuba included, but not a euphonium. I really remembered it and felt that we could use it as a technique to convey how minor the euphonium is.
Ishihara: Did you know what a euphonium is?
Yamada: Yes I did. My older sister played one. When she explained instruments to me, she said “It’s a small tuba” and “There’s a lot of tuba merchandise but…..” and her depressed mood is an image that remained with me. (laughs) Eupho-kun has a different facial expression than Tuba-kun; one that matches Kumiko, and is cute too. As I was creating the goods for inside the show, I thought about how to add the character’s charms.
Takeda: Horn-chan is also cute.
Yamada: There’s also Sax-kun, but Eupho-kun recently came out. (laughs)
Takeda: It’d be funny to create a UFO-themed Eupho-kun design. (laughs) Either way, I truly feel thankful these goods were made.

Wanting to depict fellowship greater than love

– The characters’ distance is a bit different than in the novel. How did you think about that range?
Ishihara: Reina, in the early stages, would touch Kumiko, like point point, during the entire conversation.
Yamada: Additionally, we really paid attention to the imagery paying attention to that distance from the beginning when they weren’t close.

– It feels like the composition of their distance and the growth of Kumiko is somehow weaved or linked together.
Ishihara: At the beginning, I don’t think it was this deep, but as we were producing the show, perhaps it led towards this direction. They’re different than ordinary friends. It’s like you’re friends with this amazing person and you want to try your best so that you can be on their level. To Kumiko, Reina is that presence.
Yamada: The descriptions in the novel when Kumiko sees Reina were so unbearably stimulating. Therefore, I wanted to properly depict that.
Takeda: Thank you very much.
Yamada: I planned to measure the amount of force so that I wouldn’t make a mistake, but it felt like the entire detailed atmosphere that I worked so hard to gather between Kumiko and Reina was just released. (laughs) On one hand it was difficult, but it was irresistibly fun to create on the other. I wanted to convey that adolescent uproar of excitation. Kumiko’s the type of girl to be looking around herself constantly and sometimes her depiction of what she sees is interesting. From her point of view, she sees Reina somewhat sensually, but that’s also a characteristic shared by girls too, right?
Takeda: (laughs) In almost every work, not just novels, there’s so many that put romance above fellowship, aren’t there? I wasn’t satisfied with that, so I wrote this work thinking of making fellowship above romance. It’s just as Yamada-san says, Reina is a bit sensual from Kumiko’s point of view. It’s something characteristic that a girl would sense and describe. If a man were writing it, wouldn’t it be more like a lusty wolf coming out? (laughs)
Yamada: In this world, there’s so much that doesn’t just move because of love for love’s sake.
Takeda: Shuichi is special as well, but for Kumiko, Reina is depicted as a presence that is above him. Before Kumiko met her, he may have been her special guy, but now her relationship with Reina is eternal. It’s not just those two; that type of relationship is throughout this entire story. I wanted to show fellowship as this vastly important thing that gets cultivated by mankind depending on each other and working hard in that closed space of club activities.
Ishihara: Relating to that description, honestly, Yamada saved us by being present. I don’t know the first thing about girl friendships or fellowships, but I can surmise from this discussion that it’s quite difficult. By all means the way guys look at girls may be depicted in stereotypes. While there is a portion of this work that feels like the processed view guys see, it was important to escape away from that stereotyping.
Yamada: There were some points that Ishihara-san felt he couldn’t grasp. Therefore, I worked as the series director so that not only could I provide a feminine intuition for the work, but I could provide another way of thinking for portions that he was able to grasp. Listening to him is also important as well.

– Were your conversations grounded on Takeda-sensei’s experiences?
Takeda: I previously played in a concert band, so I included that experience. There are a lot of novels about concert band with flashbacks or written from the point of view of an instructor, but how many would want to read a story depicted from the point of view of a real student? Since I was able to write from a new point of someone who hasn’t lost her love of it, I was able to write freely while weaving and mixing in my own experiences. (laughs)

– Was that image shared when the anime was being made?
Ishihara: As the setting was in a location near our studios that we know quite well, we talked about wanting to try to make it feel like on-the-spot filming. I was obsessed over the camerawork while making sure that the background and layout of the screen felt like it was from a real camera.
Yamada: The locals were surprised. Uji is Uji, but to have North Uji as the setting surprised people that we would go that far to depict it as such. (laughs)
Takeda: I had a moment with my editor when I told them about the setting being in North Uji. It was a kind of “maybe we should put in an episode about green tea” moment. (laughs)
Yamada: That’s so true. For my screen layout image, I thought it might be better to have the space seem more masculine despite there being girls in the room since there are so many girls in the club. If we did that, we could use stronger colors in the backgrounds.
Ishihara: My ideal backgrounds for this production would not feel like they were taken by a digital camera, but processed like how Kodak film used to be. Older film has somewhat narrow latitude (the rate of light exposure), so the contrast is strong and shadowy parts properly sink into the image. As I was saying that to her, Yamada replies “wouldn’t it be better to have the background hues seem more masculine.” Though Yamada and I both love film, the amount of viewers who would support us who love it is unknown, but we went that course anyways. Additionally, there’s a self-documentary atmosphere feeling as well. While it has the quality of a special about concert bands, we very skillfully chased after the appearance so it would have a feeling of a documentary as well. (laughs)

– Can you give a concrete way of how a documentary would be shown?
Ishihara: The camera is from a third person point of view. It’s not from one particular character’s point of view; instead it feels like there’s a cameraman chasing after the subjects. There are still some cuts of that left in where I said “I don’t dislike this style” like in the characters being introduced again in the fourth episode.

– Yamada-san, was there any other proposals that you suggested for this show?
Yamada: For this show, there were a lot of times that we would just say “that’s right” in agreement for something in contrast to disagreeing with each other. Each person has their way of directing, so there were some points of disagreement with the way to use the camera, but the screen layouts we each wanted were similar.
Ishihara: I love cameras, so I’m very perceptive when it comes to depth of field or the way to use aperture. We could use soft focus to make the subject stand out more so they would be more beautiful, or we would obscure the background like a gravure photo shot so that the subject would stand out and still be beautiful. I would control for that kind of difference when creating a screen.
Yamada: Sometimes that can be used to depict their psychological state besides how beautiful the subject is.

– It felt like the scene where the girls are waiting for the walk light to turn green in episode 1 was very impressive photography.
Ishihara: That’s right. It might sound bad to say, but we intentionally blurred the screen. Recently, TV shows and digital cameras are incredibly clear and pretty, but reality is not like that. From our point of view, the background isn’t so clear; it’s a more blurred point of view right? Older film styles let you experience that kind of reality.
Takeda: It definitely felt like I was watching a movie. It didn’t feel like so-called modern anime; it felt more like the characters were really living in the real world. Coupled with the performances by the seijyu, the show always penetrates with that beautifully feeling of reality.
Yamada: We also used a similar effect in the scene with the sakura tree rows. I asked to film it with a lens similar to how a bad milk bottle would look. Originally, Ishihara-san is the director, but he asked me to draw the storyboards for the first episode, so I was very worried. But when I see Kumiko’s standpoint and think back about it after later events, that sakura tree row scene image comes to mind as a symbol of where she was. I depicted it as Kumiko wondering how long they’ll be remembered while mingling in a guardian’s point of view. Furthermore, I wanted it to be burned into her swirling heart, so I made it feel more like film.
Ishihara: It’s generally associated with a simple Photoshop where you gradually remove the detail, but the so-called 2-line boke can be used sometimes when you want something to appear as if you have a bad lens.
Yamada: That shaded-off feeling looks magnificent like in the scene where Midori’s waiting at the station in the final episode. I love that representation from the director of photography (Kazuya) Takao-san. He’s able to process images to create a very good creation.

One page of Yamada’s episode 1 storyboards

– Takeda-sensei, was there any scenes that you wanted to see at the time the anime was determined?
Takeda: I looked forward to seeing the climbing of Mt. Daikichi. Also, while I had a lot of expectations for the show, I watched it with fresh feelings much like an ordinary viewer.

– The direction for that felt so detailed. For example, the way the water flew was very deliberate.
Ishihara: For an example, if we were to overlap a pretty flower over a girl, it would appear to be more beautiful than the girl, wouldn’t it? We aimed to have a similar effect here.
Yamada: Directing is psychological battling. Therefore, one of the points where you show your craft is how much you unintentionally move things around to a point where you affect the feelings of the viewers. For that reason, you study daily and keep lots of things secret. (laughs)
Ishihara: Is that so?
Yamada: Yes. I think I’ve said a bit too much today, so I’m stopping there. (laughs)

Presenting musical instruments with a great deal of unknowns

– Let’s look back at how you portrayed wind music since it’s one of the themes of this show.
Ishihara: From before we started work on production, we, as novices, underwent various forms of preventions to guard for unforeseen errors in handling or playing of musical instruments. As you’d imagine, we had quite a bit of them. (laughs) Our contrabass stand would inevitably start to lean down on the rightward side when it was on its stand for example. The reason why is because the right side would disengage once we set the sound post onto the pillar supporting it, and so it’d lean down on the right. We had no idea it would do that, did we? (laughs)
Yamada: Similarly, when we were told the keynote for our horn was wrong, I immediately went into a panic without immediately understanding what they said. (laughs)
Ishihara: We first drew the tuba with its tuning pipe closed too. But during performances, we were able to make alterations to progress somewhat normally.
Takeda: I can feel your obsessions from hearing you talk about them. (laughs) Additionally, there’s a lot of re-occurring parts that would surprise you.
Yamada: Also, there was a girl who would play the trombone in our studio who said “When I played in concerts, I would close the tuning pipe and intentionally sound different during tuning.” (laughs) After she said that and I replied “hmm, that so,” I quickly went back to correct her work.
All: (laughs)
Yamada: I was so nervous every time we would bring in experienced musicians for what they would correct. (laughs)
Ishihara: But it helped us tremendously to being them to our studio.

– Do you have any memories of how you were able to handle the highly energetic performance scenes?
Ishihara: You can’t run away from them.
Yamada: That’s right. It may be the charm of this production, but our staff would research how each instrument would perform during those performances. They would try to convey things like the weight of each piston in their drawing.
Takeda: That is amazing.
Yamada: It’s worth doing that to give this work credit. From the very beginning, Kyoto Animation as a company has pursued finely detailed expressions. Everyone always carries with them that feeling to always do more for a production.
Ishihara: It’s tough work, but it helps you clearly present what you’ve sought out. For example, if I were to depict an overhead spaceship, all I would have to go on is my imagination, right? But musical instruments have form and a way to play them that you have to clearly understand.
Yamada: It may seem like you do whatever you can to make the image look better, but it also helps make the portions excluding music with universal human relations come together easier too.
Takeda: While I was re-reading the novel, I thought about how the beginning performance and the SunFest performance would look. In the story itself, I had to limit the tale to the characters mentioned or else it would get too confusing, but you constructed settings for all the members of the band. (laughs) I was astonished that you would go so far to determine parts and names for everyone.
Yamada: That reminds me, when I asked you about the mysterious step for SunFest, you replied that it’s “A certain samba.” (laughs) As I was conveying it to the episode director (Ichirou) Miyoshi-san, it got a bit entertaining.
Ishihara: If it was an ordinary production, the animator would want to stop drawing pictures as soon as possible.
Yamada: Miyoshi-san is the kind who would resolutely take it on as a challenge. At the time we would decide to give him certain episodes, he’d do a determined pose. At the same time, he might be increasing his resolve not to quit on it. (laughs)

– Takeda-san, going through the whole show, what scene is your most memorable?
Takeda: The performance scene with Kumiko and Reina on Mt. Daikichi in episode 8. In the novel, I didn’t insert musical instruments to link the two girls, but I was moved more by the anime scene. Also, the visuals were immensely beautiful.
Ishihara: There were a lot of circumstances where we refined the musical performances in the novel. When we had an opinion that an entertaining performance would fit the anime we tried to insert them as much as possible like the performance of the three girls playing “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” in episode 6 or the duet with Kumiko and Reina in episode 8.
Yamada: We included episodes 6 and 8 as episodes from the short story collection. Since the short story collection would be announced during the real-time production of the anime, we actively moved to mix in the episodes during the storyboarding phase. Actually, it felt really good to include the portrayal of Hazuki’s unrequited love in episode 8.
Takeda: I’m glad I wrote it. (laughs)
Yamada: Ishihara-san and I were glad when Chikao Takigawa showed up.
Takeda: I borrowed the names that were attached to them in the anime when writing the story where the guys get together.
Yamada: It felt like we were writing an exchange diary as we were working on the anime and then the novels were announced. I would learn that Taki-sensei likes coffee milk and then it’d show up in your writing. (laughs)
Takeda: Right. It was very fun.
Ishihara: I’ve wanted to ask Takeda-sensei something. The first novel contains elements that affect the second and third novels. Did you include them from the beginning to write a sequel?
Takeda: I included them feeling “If I write one, then that’ll be good.” Also, I included meaningful overcoming reluctance scenes because I think stories that resolve things up very clearly are quite nice. Since I was pursuing realism for the first novel, Asuka became this mysterious upperclassman who thinks about various things and that aspect gave weight to her character image. If the novel and anime clearly explained why you don’t know a lot about her, then she wouldn’t be that realistic mysterious upperclassman, would she? (laughs)
Ishihara: Along with that way of thinking and what I mentioned earlier about photography, we purposely would use an unclear lens to bring that feeling closer to the viewer. Our thoughts were that it would strengthen that realistic feeling to not bring everything in focus clearly.

– Please give a message to all the fans about your thoughts that were affected by this work.
Ishihara: I’ve made shows with high school protagonists many times now, but I learned a lot from this work since it was my first time using a concert band as a stage. It’s been a fun production year. I can’t say something profound like it was slowly reliving my high school days all over again but, through the frantic wrestling with this work, I was able to experience something valuable such as that frantic perseverance I felt during that time.
Yamada: This work is something similar to taking all the feelings of Takeda-sensei, the staff, and everyone who watched and putting them into one mass eruption. With all that power pushing me forward, I was able to firm my heart and persist in depicting the strong emotions of adolescence. During the various forms of production, it was troubling, but looking back on it, it was quite fun……
Takeda: Being able to have a work animated like this feels like I won the lottery. (laughs) Minutely depicting the depths of wind music, bringing each and every character into reality, and furthermore diligently scraping the novel for all information, I’m thankful for everything. Furthermore, I was blessed with the chance to write sequels and safely conclude my work. All of it was a blessing I never knew once it was set to be animated. I truly thank you all.

This is the second of a series of interviews with various staff members of Sound! Euphonium that was published in the Official Fanbook released by Takarajimasha on September 23.

Series Composer:

Jukki Hanada

Scriptwriter. Notable works include Beyond the Boundary, Love, Chuunibyou, & Other Delusions, and Steins;Gate (series composer for all).

A scenario packed with the atmosphere of a concert band

– What impressions did you have after first reading the novel?
It was a very entertaining read. I was completely absorbed into the story as I read, especially with the power behind the last part with the showoff between Reina and Kaori for the solo. As I took notes for the scenario, I wondered if we would be casting too big a net with the number of characters we have for only 13 episodes, considering the number of people in a band is so huge. How we would narrow down our depiction of which characters was something I was aware of from the very beginning. In a novel, you aren’t concerned with characters that are around the protagonist if you don’t write about them, but you’ll see them in an anime.

– Did Director (Tatsuya) Ishihara give you any requests concerning how the scenario would go?
Ishihara-san thought about thoroughly depicting the story of the first volume so that we could put it into 13 episodes. Generally, when novels get animated, there’s a lot of works that put the content of 2-4 books into 1 cour (12-14 episodes), but with one book, we had to insert elements between scenes to thoroughly depict it. Even if I felt the other way was easier, I would have to stop that in order to meet what Ishihara-san wanted for the composition.

– What did you concentrate on while thinking about creating the series composition?
Well, the peak of the novel was during the re-audition between Reina and Kaori, so how would we set things in motion to arrive at that point? Also, I proposed how we would depict the final part of Kumiko’s plot. The anime would arrive at a temporary final episode through a different path, so I wanted a different arrival and climax for her. Thus, while I was creating the episode structure, I kept in mind that the 12^th episode would be Kumiko’s turning point. From the very start, Ishihara-san was fixated on having the final episode’s B-part contain the final performance scene. Since they are part of this work’s very nature and that there was an extraordinarily large emphasis on performances, I was very aware of when I could insert them in the planning stages of the composition.

– I was curious: what considerations did you have in mind to change the distance between characters as the story progressed?
I wanted that sense of moving forward step by step that you get when making a TV anime sometimes. For example, episode 8 holds the summit of Kumiko and Reina’s relationship, so how do I shorten that distance between them as I move to that point? Though the point at the start of episode 2 isn’t in the novel, perhaps I could insert that exchange so viewers will be aware of how far apart they are…. However, I had to stay alert and make allowances here and there so that I don’t overdo it and ruin the novel’s merits. From where we reach the summit for their relationship, I then surged into the novel’s peak of the re-audition and furthermore into Kumiko’s climax point. It’s a bit rough, but you get how that feels.

– What do you keep in mind when adding portions that were not in the novel?
I try to use my imagination as necessary while keeping the contents of the novel in mind. Hazuki is a beginner and she has a wild personality, so perhaps including an episode where she buys the wrong mouthpiece would be appropriate. Sapphire is really self-conscious about her name, so her having to correct Asuka-senpai every time she calls her “Sapphire” would fit. (laughs) As work progresses, my understanding of the characters grow, so I can strongly move them around with my own hand, not worrying so much about the logic. I personally like the president, Haruka, a lot, but unfortunately, she doesn’t have many appearances in the latter half of the novel. (laughs) So when I would write her lines for that part, I used a certain kind of image of her that I had in mind as she speaks. Also the conversation with Asuka and her before the re-audition felt like it came out so spontaneously.

– Were there any orders from Director Ishihara relating to each episode’s scenario?
Actually, there weren’t any at all. From the very beginning, he told me ”please write this as freely as you want.” To start I had to figure out what kind of work this was and to put it in a crude state. Using that as a chopping board, we would boil down the contents during discussions with everyone saying “would this character do such a thing?” or “this scene is surprisingly important, isn’t it?”

– Besides the performance scenes, what elements did you include to make the show seem more like a concert band?
When I went to observe a concert band, their practicing imagery was something that remained with me. Elements like instruction given to members and how those members responded are portions people don’t see on the stage. That experienced feeling of tension and the sudden rush of sounds pitter-pattering in like a mosaic inside the room is truly unique. Both Ishihara-san and Yamada-san, who I went with to see the band, gave me an order that “[we] want to insert scenes around practicing as much as possible.”

– What points in particular did you see while you were observing the band?
We observed high school and collegiate concert bands and a concert performance. At the start of our observation, the students were performing the “Crescent Moon Dance” piece and we were also able to see them practicing it as well. There were many instances where the instructor would say “play this song like this” and while the students listened to their explanation, they would know what to do to make the song sound like what the instructor wanted. (laughs) It’s so much of a positive to see the song being plated and understand how to play that song. I was scribbling notes for what Taki-sensei would say as we were observing them. (laughs) Additionally, the specific phrases the instructor used were memorable. “A bit more stingy” or “More cool.” Someone who’s new to playing instruments wouldn’t know what they’re saying, but it’d be properly communicated to someone who’s played a lot. Also, this is something people may not remember, but try to think back to when you listened to a concert band when you were a student. The tune doesn’t suddenly stop after 2 stanzas, right? At that time, what part is the band practicing? When I listened and heard that in reality, it immediately intrigued me, so I thought it would be great to try and skillfully add that to the scenario. There’s a lot of modern anime shows that have depictions which suddenly float away from you, but this work feels like you thoroughly depict everything about it.

A youthful drama reflecting student hierarchical relationships

– One of the side aspects of this work was adolescence. What did you have in mind to depict that side of it?
For us, there doesn’t appear to be any difference between first, second, or third years in high school. But looking back at that time, there was a huge difference that a single year makes. You act like a first year would when you are one and you start to act like a second year when you become one. I remained aware of things like the difference between Reina’s immature conduct and Kaori’s more adult attitude and their subtle differences despite being students in the same decade. At the time I wrote Gotou saying “You’re a first year. Don’t worry about it,” I was thinking I would say the same thing when I was in his position. (laughs) It’s also a bit easy to use club activities as a spot to show the entertaining ups and downs of a scripted drama.

– Kumiko is a bit disconnected from what you would imagine a protagonist to look like. What issues did you have while you were writing her?
I’m a similar person to her, so it never felt difficult at all. I’d just write myself as a base and then it would become Kumiko’s lines. (laughs) Can I depict all of the flaws that Kumiko has…. She says just a bit too much, she’s like a cold splash of water on everyone else burning around her, and while she says some profound things, she’s not profound herself. If they aren’t recognized, then Kumiko should be seen as detestable, but it’s not like that at all. Everyone in the staff and cast shared that “Kumiko component” and worked towards the same direction to depict her well.

– What impressions remain with you of the depictions of the other characters?
Perhaps the character who changed the most from the novel is Sapphire. Everyone in the novel (except Kumiko) spoke with the Kansaiben dialect, but Sapphire used it in the most lively and chattery ways. When I changed it to standard Japanese, she became this ordinary character. So then we had to change her tone a bit. After that, as I added Yamada-san’s idea that she “loves rock,” Sapphire became this entertaining character. From the beginning when she says “I’ll risk my life on it,” and nothing else, Sapphire became this necessary character.

– Now that you’ve seen the completed visuals, what scenes remain impressive for you?
It’s gotta be the last scene in episode 12 where Taki-sensei confesses to Kumiko “I haven’t forgotten that you said you can do it.” Actually, at the scenario stage, it was “I still truly believe we will go to Nationals,” just like it was in the novel. That was what episode director (Ichirou) Miyoshi-san changed it to in the storyboards and it became this truly impressive line. As a screenwriter, I feel like “I lost!” (laughs)

– Please give us your final thoughts after participating in this work.
This was something truly worth doing. I can say that it’s one of my most notable works. Before this work, I put it as a standard and felt my next work would be indexed according to it. If our fans would continue to forever love this show and watch it again while recommending it, it would greatly please me.

This is the third of a series of interviews with various staff members of Sound! Euphonium that was published in the Official Fanbook released by Takarajimasha on September 23.

Composer x Music Producer

Akito Matsuda

Composer/Arranger. Composed music for Baka and Test, Natsuiro Kiseki, and Love, Chunibyou, and Other Delusions.

Shigeru Saito

Music Producer at Lantis. Began work as a producer with Kyoto Animation’s productions and has since produced music for countless anime titles.

Explaining the trusted and unique menu of music for shows

– Please tell us the details of how Matsuda-san was chosen to compose the music for Sound! Euphonium.
Saito: He helped Director (Tatsuya) Ishihara with the music before for Love, Chuunibyou, and Other Delusions. Their affinity for that production was quite good as a pair, and I thought this work would have an extraordinarily high amount of trials and tribulations, so I nominated the positive and proactive Matsuda-kun to give it his best.
Matsuda: There are very few anime that have wind music as a theme and I myself haven’t been involved in any of those productions. I thought it would be a challenge in a new field, so I felt like giving it a shot.

– Do you have any knowledge or experience with wind music Matsuda-san?
Matsuda: It didn’t come up at my college of music, so while I’d like to say that I know a ton of detailed information, that’s not the case at all. (laughs) But I was a member of the concert band from middle until high school, so I was able to use that experience in studying for this production.

– By the way, what instrument did you play?
Matsuda: I played all kinds. (laughs) I started out playing the trombone and then switched to the percussion section. When I graduated from high school, I was studying conducting.

– How did you settled on a concrete direction for the music in this show?
Saito: Usually when I deal with the staff at Kyoto Animation, I produce a large menu of options for the director. After that, the sound director and I begin to plump it up during our discussions. For this show, in addition to how strongly obsessed sound director (Youta) Tsuruoka-san usually is, he also worked as a representative for his company, Rakuonsha, on the production committee. I could easily feel how strong his enthusiasm for working on this show was. Rakuonsha has always been in charge of producing the sounds for Kyoto Animation’s works since they moved from being a subcontractor. Due to how long we’ve worked together, I know that I can propose something and leave it up to the director, and this time Tsuruoka-san, to implement it. When I’d talk about something, Tsuruoka-san would say “I definitely want to do that!” Therefore he had a key role in deciding everything about producing the sound for this show. He spoke with Matsuda-kun about the image for every single piece of music.
Matsuda: Yes. The approach this time felt different than usual for anime; instead of making BGM, it felt like I was making musical creations. Because of that, the titles for our music menu were a bit hard to understand. (laughs) There’s a lot of them that feel literary which later made it to the soundtrack titles like “Spreading Consciousness.”
Saito: Usually when we create a menu for anime, there’s a lot of titles like “fast rhythm, stringed instruments” or “everyday 1,2,3.” It’s rare to see poetic titles like this menu had. We didn’t create tunes with these titles in mind; these words were the memories we had when creating these tunes.
Matsuda: But they aren’t easily expressed when you see them as sheet music. (laughs)

– So were you instructed not to use certain instruments and melodies for this work?
Matsuda: Basically yes. I mentioned that I did not want to use wind instruments before we started since this is a work that has wind music as a theme. If we included them in BGM, people wouldn’t be able to distinguish it from the sound of the instruments during practice scenes.

– Not being able to use wind instruments was quite difficult, wasn’t it?
Matsuda: It was. Usually, you feel safe trusting melodies to wind instruments. (laughs) Since I couldn’t do that this time, when it came to creating melodies, my options were either the piano or woodwinds. It was quite difficult to create variations around those.

– Was there a symbolic instrument?
Saito: It’d have to be either strings or the piano. Rather than say we aimed to use those, we were more or less forced to use them. I’d say Matsuda would agree. (laughs)

– What piece did you start with?
Matsuda: The first BGM piece I made was used for promotion inside the Comiket hall called ”Starting the project (Big Band Ver).” I was asked to create a wind music-like piece for demonstration, we went into a different direction, and eventually it became something with a taste of jazz. Usually, I’m happy inserting some wind music theme in promotion, but here it felt very wasteful to not contemplate how it would be used. Somewhere I thought to use “Crescent Moon Dance,” as the face of this work.
Saito: But I also liked the “That’s Wind Music” kinda feeling for the first tune as well. For a promotional tune, I feel that it was a nice bluff to use a rather jazzish piece.

– “Crescent Moon Dance” is a piece that’s depicted in the novel. Did you keep its descriptions in mind while working on that song?
Matsuda: Of course. It’s depicted as starting with a trumpet melody and then the woodwinds start to pile in, so I remained firmly aware of how that went.
Saito: You remade it how many times, right?
Matsuda: Too many. (laughs)
Saito: There’s many ways that one could interpret that title, so the staff at Kyoto Animation carried with them a complete image of what they wanted the song to be from the beginning. On our side, Matsuda-kun would think about a more smooth melody and then it took time combining the two into the same image. Every time we talked about it, they said to “make it more violent!” (laughs)
Matsuda: That’s right. I wasn’t going to change directions to be too violent.

– What did you keep in mind while working on its trumpet solo part?
Matsuda: When the solo part was first proposed, I thought “isn’t that too easy?” I continued to ask about it, searching for the right level of difficulty. I asked “Is it alright if I put it at a professional level?” (laughs) Additionally, I wrote a very difficult phrase for it. Not only do you have to use all three pistons, but you have to alter the sound that comes from your lips. It’s a very busy phrase that uses lots of high notes as well.
Saito: As we watched this exchange, we were constantly worried over what the performance level would be set at. Almost all of the people who would watch the anime would not be experienced with wind music, but while you don’t want to create something unpleasant for experience musicians, you have to make something so people who know nothing about wind music could understand the situation. Eventually, we settled on having a high level of talent for the skilled players in the anime as it would be easier to convey. We pushed aside the middle level and set the differences in talent at high and low so that it would be easily understood.

– How were the insert music pieces decided?
Saito: We decided on them with all the staff at the scenario meetings. The theme from Abarenbou Shogun was chosen because many people from all walks would know it and it would be a surprisingly entertaining tune. “Rydeen” in episode 5 was from (Naoko) Yamada-san and using “The Place Where We Found Love” as Kumiko and Reina’s duet in episode 8 was Director Ishihara’s wish. When we asked Senzoku Gakuen’s School of Music’s (Masahiro) Owada-sensei “what songs would be good for the rival schools,” he advised us to use “The Fairest of the Fair March” and “Scheherazade” and so we settled it then.
Matsuda: I arranged “The Place Where We Found Love” and it was a bit difficult as I had no visuals to use while arranging. Originally, I had Reina’s trumpet play the melody and Kumiko’s euphonium become the base of the song, but I received an order saying they wished it to be more intertwined like their friendship. From that, I organized it so that the A melody would be the trumpet the first time and the euphonium the second time and the hook would combine the two sounds into one. It took about 5 times of reworking it with small modifications until it was complete.

– Senzoku Gakuen’s Freshmen Wind Ensemble were in charge of performing the pieces. Please tell us how they were asked to participate in this production.
Saito: One of the companies that our firm coordinates music with introduced us to them. We met with the assistant principal and explained our plan to him of which he very cheerfully decided to cooperate with us. Senzoku Gakuen has four wind music courses. One is a course that only the upper two years may choose whom collects a group of skilled players that could put professionals to shame. For us, the Freshmen course that we used was one that all first years must participate in. The assistant principal recommended them to us saying “since this is a high school story, wouldn’t using the freshmen be more realistic since they are the closest in age?” We decided to use them according to his wishes.

– Were there any other benefits that Senzoku Gakuen added to production besides their performances upon collaborating with them?
Saito: Of course. The director and scenario writer (Jukki) Hanada-san went to observe them practice and that observation influenced the work greatly. One of those was watching how the conductor instructed; but there were a lot of things they observed for the first time. For example, a Japanese person has difficulties distinguishing between “B” and “D,” so in a situation where they want to indicate “start from B,” they’ll say “Let’s go from B as in baseball.” As they took notes on statements like that, Taki-sensei’s lines began to take form.

– Were you able to meet them Matsuda-san?
Matsuda: I wasn’t able to directly talk with them. I did meet them while we were recording though.
Saito: Matsuda-kun isn’t a wind music specialist, so he was very nervous at the beginning.
Matsuda: I was.
Saito: When the mentor for Senzoku Gakuen, Owada-sensei, saw the sheet music for “Crescent Moon Dance,” he gave us some hurtful advice. He quickly pointed out points that made him nervous so quickly making me clench my abdominals, but then he said “It’s a good playing piece, so it’s fine.”
Matsuda: While it gave you some relief, it also made you feel a bit uneasy, right? (laughs)
Saito: But when I heard “DREAM SOLISTER Wind Orchestra Ver” play over the final episode, I said “I’ve leveled up. Through these various trials, I’ve gone from the sheet music of “Crescent Moon Dance” to create something even more enjoyable.”
Matsuda: I’m happy to hear that. Rather than clash together, wind music has many points where you can hear the different sounds mingle together. I was able to make the final episode’s ending arrangement come to life because of the experiences I went through with “Crescent Moon Dance”
Saito: When we were recording “Crescent Moon Dance,” we were also recording the classic “FUNICULI FUNICULI” at the same time. Matsuda-kun saying “there’s songs with some easy to play elements in them, huh” when comparing the performance of sheet music he wrote to a song that’s been loved for many years is something that remains with me.
Matsuda: The recording atmosphere is very important. You can see how a song will sound well when performed as compared to by your side when you create it. That’s why I’m always thinking of various things to try next when I watch the recording live.

– Based on that experience, what tricks did you use when creating the orchestral arrangement of the opening theme?
Matsuda: I created “Crescent Moon Dance” with different instruments playing the same phrase to give it that powerful feeling. If I can say a negative, there were no moments where each instrument and each note were given their own emphasis. For the arrangement for the opening theme, I limited the ensemble to only woodwinds and brass while making beautiful chords.

The images obtained through repeating the same pieces

– Let’s return to the background pieces played in the show. Matsuda-san, what pieces did you first create when receiving the orders?
Matsuda: I began with the main theme for the show, “The Beginning Melody.” Tsuruoka-san requested a definitive piece that could be used in many ways, and I feel it’s became quite a good piece in itself. Because of that, I was aware it would be an emotional theme when we also would use it for the climax in the final episode. Also, though I had composed a fair amount of melodies for background music, it was decided that it would be playing as the first episode opened to somehow give it that “beginning” image. Since I had a bit of freedom to do what I wanted for the latter half of the show, I originally wanted to create some long pieces as well. So I slowly began to compose all at once and meandered a bit. That welcomed a lot of troubling points during the BGM composition. (laughs)
Saito: If you overly meander during music development, it’s tough to use when editing. But “The Beginning Melody” is truly a very good piece and is, what I think, the one piece that embodies all of Sound! Euphonium. When you hear it again during that final episode, it sounds like it’s given more strength that time. That tune you created is truly amazing, Matuda-kun.

– Was it true that there were no re-takes for the tunes you composed from Tsuruoka-san?
Matsuda: None at all.
Saito: Tsuruoka-san was quite pleased with the tunes Matsuda-kun created. Even going as far to say “They’re academic.” While Tsuruoka-san would get involved in deciding what tune, I think he would be prepared from the very beginning to meekly accept whatever he was given. From his standpoint, I think that’s quite a challenge. It’s an enjoyable and unpredictable chemical reaction when you toss out an order and let a musician fulfill it. I think it’s a move befitting a veteran sumo wrestler. If a musician isn’t given a chance to grow, then there’s no certainly no meaning at all for its production.

-How many BGM pieces in total were made for this show?
Saito: This show has a bit fewer than usual. Recently, modern anime would have around 40-50 background pieces for a show, but this doesn’t even have 30. Perhaps people who have seen the show would realize that we used the same songs repeatedly for similar scenes. Tsuruoka-san was concerned about building up this image as we moved towards the final episode. As we would watch, it was building up, unbeknownst to us, and making the music in the final episode very moving. Similar to Pavlov’s dogs, when we would play a certain tune, it would be associated with a moving scene. If you use a lot of pieces, this effect wouldn’t happen, so this was a trick we used for this show so that the music would create a maximum effect for the viewers where they could be emotionally invested.

– Which of the background pieces continues to have an impression on you today?
Matsuda: Around the time episode 8 aired, I received an order for more music. I used how I saw the anime on-air while creating “The Flow of Fate”, so that song suggests what I felt while watching the show. I was aware of how that sisterly tune would be inserted and how it would sound while making it.
Saito: Maybe for me it would be the approach of “Crescent Moon Dance.” We consciously used its melody while creating the background music, so it was thanks to doing that for Tsuruoka-san to accumulate those emotions and have a huge effect which remains with me now.

– So all the background music has a taste of “Crescent Moon Dance” in it?
Saito: That’s right. Matsuda-kun did a good job responding to our wishes this time. As an artist, there’s many times where you go through troubles like “make your orders more concrete so I can understand what kind of image you want.” At first, I think Matsuda-kun was perplexed, but as he silently worked with the music, he very much saved us this time around.

– Do you not get beat down while you are composing music?
Saito: I think there’s times we all are, but we don’t show that we are.
Matsuda: But I think this time, due to how we produced it, I frankly didn’t let it show at all. (laughs) I adopted a stance where I would get worried, say there’s no use in getting worried, and then gradually make it take form.
Saito: Because of the unique way we ordered, you had to simply follow up with what you were given. Also, Matsuda-kun would be persistent in wanting to know what we said at the business meetings, which was nothing at all, so I couldn’t say anything else to him. That was reality though, so he had to be prepared to make music however he could. Of course, those were the moments where I was the most busy too. (laughs)
Matsuda: Also, I think you dig your own grave if you listen to so many different things. (laughs)
Saito: If you listen to something, you have to reply to it in your product.

– Were there any memorable scenes that have stayed with you for how they were used?
Matsuda: Perhaps how well “Thoughts Wanted to Convey” was used when Taki-sensei appeared in a scene. My request from Tsuruoka-san was to make a “holy sanctuary” feeling piece, but when we opened the bottle, it became something like Taki-sensei’s theme. (laughs) So while it wasn’t what I had imagined, seeing it was entertaining.
Saito: When it was used in episode 8 by the Agata Festival, it was impressive, but when you look at it overall, it makes a strong impression with Taki-sensei. We had made a court music version as well, but in the end, it wasn’t used in the show.
Matsuda: That’s a bit too individual piece. (laughs) Speaking of episode 8, I was completely surprised at how well the images matched when “The Place Where We Found Love” played. There’s other scenes that felt the same way like the beautiful playing when Yuuko was crying at the re-audition in episode 11.
Saito: I also loved the way that music was played.
Matsuda: It makes me happy when the music I make can evoke those feelings. It’s impressive how many scenes come to mind like that for this show.

– What’s your favorite scene?
Matsuda: I look back at that re-audition scene at times. That tension in the air is absolutely amazing. I think the staff at Kyoto Animation has to prepare some kind of schooling to make those detailed gestures by the characters. It’s not just Reina and Kaori; you can clearly see all the characters’ expressions.
Saito: It’s episode 11 for me too. When you think about it all, not just the performances, you can feel how heartbreaking it is for Yuuko, who wants Kaori-senpai to play the solo.

– Who was your favorite character?
Matsuda: Yuuko. I think it’s absolutely lovely to have a character who tries her hardest for someone else’s sake.
Saito: I like Natsuki personally. She’s not going to be your star athlete, but I think that sense of balance she brings feels nice. She’s like the lubricating oil for the wheels. I feel somewhat similar to her position in my own role.

– Please tell us your impressions about this show.
Matsuda: I’ve written many wind music-esque pieces before, but this was a challenge to write actual music for the first time. It was extraordinarily wonderful to hear the music I wrote played magnificently. I was enchanted. As for the show itself, I feel it’s something that both people who know music and people who don’t can find entertaining. Perhaps it may bring up some old wounds for those experienced musicians, but that too is part of the charm it brings. (laughs) I’m incredibly happy to have participated in this show. Thank you very much for having me.
Saito: I’ve produced the music for various types of anime, but this was the most difficult one in all well meaning. Firstly, this is a group of 50 people with some good and bad players, so finding that right mixture of people is quite unlikely. And then while we’re recording, it’s difficult to ask the students to play an approximate amount poorly. This was my first time as a recording director, so I was nervous about pointing out the things that needed improvement after a performance. Additionally, it was decided that the music scene storyboards would be determined based on the performance, so if the sound was lacking, we would have to continually do it again every time. With all those conditions, this work was the one I spent the most time, effort, and brain power on, but it made a marvelous show. As I have gained new experiences working on this show, I feel blessed to have been able to participate in creating it.

This is the fourth in a series of posts where I’ve translated the various staff interviews about Sound! Euphonium from the official guidebook published by Takarajimasha last week. This post, unlike the others thus far, is a compilations of mini-interviews with the various producers for the show. It’s rare to hear from this side of production, so I hope you enjoy reading these comments from the people who make everything happen via arranging things together.

Producer:
Eharu Oohashi
Member of the Sales Department of Kyoto Animation

1: Please tell us what position you held during the development of Sound! Euphonium.
I was the Executive Secretary for the production committee for my firm (Kyoto Animation). For me personally, I worked as a producer for the committee.

2: What do you feel is this work’s charm?
In one word: “passion.” At the beginning of this work, Kumiko doesn’t feel that “passion” on the outside, but as she meets the various characters who have their own “passion,” and goes through various experiences with the people around her, that “passion” begins to unconsciously and gently surface.

3: Please tell us what your favorite scene is.
I’d like to stay above picking out a particular scene. (laughs) If we have to go “personally,” then it would be the first PV we made. We made a simple offer of “we want to make a cool PV!” and when it was done, both the animation and music truly made it “cool.”

4: Please tell us a memorable event that happened to you during production.
I had the priviledge of doing many things during the production process, but the one that I remember most has to be experiencing that “passion” that the wind music students whom we met had in overwhelming amounts. I vividly recall thinking “I could never continue playing to this kind of level” from seeing all the students with my own eyes both from our model concert band’s students and advisor at East Uji High School and going to see the participating students from various schools at the Kyoto Wind Music Contest.

5: When you think about the modern animation environment, where do you see Sound! Euphonium fitting into that space?
Modern anime has a huge variety of shows, so I can’t say where this show exists in that spectrum. As someone who works at an animation producer, we want to be aware and keep in mind to create something that lands “right in the middle.” That is a very important direction for us.

6: Please tell us your impressions relating to this work.
I mentioned earlier that the students who devoted themselves to wind music had quite a lot of “passion” about them. During production, our own staff was covered in “passion” so that we wouldn’t lose out compared to them. I could feel the “passion” from everyone: cast, sound staff, music staff, publicity and broadcast staff, video disc package staff, and everyone else involved in the animation process. I think that if everyone watching were able to also feel that “passion” that the staff held, it would bring us utmost pleasure.

Producer:
Shinichi Nakamura
Employed at Pony Canyon’s Crossmedia Headquarters

1: Please tell us what position you held during the development of Sound! Euphonium.
In addition to serving as a producer for the production committee, I also participated in bringing together the publicity, video package sales, and foreign contact staff at Pony Canyon.

2: What do you feel is this work’s charm?
What I liked the best is that this work has first years, it has second years, and it has third years. It spun together everything into one story as it piled together those one-on-one relationships. I really liked episode 11 where that was most abundant.

3: Please tell us what your favorite scene is.
Nothing in particular feels above the other, but I did enjoy the scenes in episode 8 where Reina runs along Kumiko’s nose and says to call her “Reina,” Sapphire’s “I’m George-kun, keep at it!” in episode 9, the conversation between Natsuki and Kumiko at the fast food restaurant in episode 10, and so forth.

4: Please tell us a memorable event that happened to you during production.
When we were meeting about the entire scenario, series director (Naoko) Yamada-san was extremely fixated on this character she created called “Tuba-kun.” At that time, I had no idea what she was trying to convey, but it because an important key item for our first years.

5: When you think about the modern animation environment, where do you see Sound! Euphonium fitting into that space?
For animation, we have a tendency to want to curl up with our most sentimental works, but, as a business, we have to take a wide viewpoint as if we’re at the base of a mountain. Analysis and forecasting is important, but it’s essential for us to create anime that makes people feel “I’ve never seen something like this before” and believe that it could reach everyone’s hearts. In that kind of meaning, this work has magnificently been able to breach into many peoples’ hearts and awareness.

6: Please tell us your impressions relating to this work.
Often when I’m watching this show, I miraculously feel caught and think “what am I seeing right now?” You can tenderly see the passion born from their thick expressions. Those feelings can be sensed because it deviates from a lot of television anime categories. As a producer, it was extremely wonderful to be able to produce a work like this. If I were to lose my life right now, it wouldn’t be that bad since I made this.

Producer:
Shigeru Saito
Lantis Company Executive

1: Please tell us what position you held during the development of Sound! Euphonium.
I served as both the music producer as well as a producer for the production committee

2: What do you feel is this work’s charm?
How it depicts adolescence. It has enough tenacity to not lose to a hot-blooded sports program. One of the beauties of this work is that you’re able to love all the characters who appear in it. Because the characters and story is told episode by episode, you’re able to magnificently sympathize with them. The animation itself is spectacularly done too. With a splendid scenario, you can feel the passion in the direction and animation. Being able to experience that “passion” and “love” from the participating staff and cast is amazing as well.

3: Please tell us what your favorite scene is.
The scene in episode 11 where Kaori-senpai loses to Reina. In many episodes I wonder “what would sound good here?” Technically, Reina should sound better, but due to how much history and contributions Kaori has put into the club, her music may resonate better in everyone’s hearts. I always think “good music raises the bar for a good drama.” Kaori has built up a lot of drama behind her while Reina has none. The choice to pick Reina is the correct one for those watching the performances in the concert hall, but Kaori’s tones may sound better to the club members. Being able to think about that makes me love episode 11. That and the music made it feel like God had descended. I wept.

4: Please tell us a memorable event that happened to you during production.
This is more related to my role as a music producer, but I was immensely worried about how to direct and record the poor and good performances. How bad should we have the theme for Abarenou Shogun played so that people will know that it’s being played poorly? Since they’re still a concert band, when we say they’re playing poorly, it doesn’t mean they’re playing awful. However, it needs to be bad enough so that the many potential viewers for the anime who have no familiarity with playing need to think “ah, that’s definitely bad.” And so forth. I was extremely concerned over the “level of badness.” In the end, I went for the masses and concluded “let’s make it extremely easy to tell. They’re going to play incredibly poorly.” I resolved myself to hear the critics say “there’s no way they would play that badly!” However, I felt relieved since it was coupled with wonderful direction. I was also extremely concerned over the differences between Reina and Kaori during the trumpet solo competition. We needed to express that while Kaori plays incredibly well, Reina is outrageously talented. As I was thinking this scene also needed to be oriented towards the general public, I thought how best to make the difference easy to tell. Kaori’s performance was performed by the best girl in the band (Senzoku Gakuen’s freshman team) while I asked a professional concert band’s top trumpeter to perform for Reina. Reina isn’t professionally better than Kaori, so I worried that I might have overdone it, but I needed to emphasize that “easy to tell” portion. Regardless, there were many other worrying points that made me nervous until every broadcast day. It was necessary for experienced musicians and for unexperienced people to understand the story. I thought every day about that balance between the two in my music direction.

5: When you think about the modern animation environment, where do you see Sound! Euphonium fitting into that space?
It’s a rare work that depicts adolescence as it should. Additionally, it’s an important event in anime history for how it expresses the world of wind music as well. Drawing instruments (by hand) is extraordinary difficult. When you take that challenge head on, this show is what you get in return. You’re always having to constantly face that challenge of expressing music (drawing as well as sound) without running away. This is a work where every surface is difficult. But because of that, the staff’s immense “passion” and “love” can be felt. Animation is team power. This work has the biggest display of team power I’ve seen. Cut-by-cut, sound-by-sound, everything is loaded with “energy.” I think the meaning of this work is all the “passion” and “love” from the staff in order to give rise to a good work. The current generation should check it again and see that.

6:Please tell us your impressions relating to this work.
I’ve participated in a number of various works in this industry, but this show is number 1 on the list of works that I have a deep connection with. Of course it’s due to the struggles I went through when creating music, but above that, it’s the best team that I’ve been able to be a part of. Being able to work for such a dreamy team like this is the best joy I can say.

Publicity Producer:
Takayuki Konishi
Member of Pony Canyon’s Cross Media 3^rd branch at the Cross Media Headquarters

1: Please tell us what position you held during the development of Sound! Euphonium.
I was in charge of this work’s publicity. It was my job to think about promoting this work and how to bring it out into the world by answering questions like “when can this information be revealed?” or “how about holding this kind of event?”

2: What do you feel is this work’s charm?
It has to be that “real” feeling, right? I was in the concert band myself, so though this show, I was able to awaken memories to those days by going “oh, that’s right.” It brought tears to my eyes when I saw the tuners sitting on the music stand. (laughs) Though club activities, Kumko grows a bit. Also, since they’re high school students, they have arguments in the clubroom. If I didn’t look outside, I’d think I was dreaming with how “real” the activities are on screen. The atmosphere and other parts of the club activities are so “real” that I think I’d still be touched fondly and reminisce about my school days even without the concert band. It feels like a work that surpasses the anime label.

3: Please tell us what your favorite scene is.
If I have to pick one, it has to be the “final episode’s performance scene.” I was entranced by the feeling of the spectators looking towards me. (laughs) You could feel that unique atmosphere only present at performances throughout the screen. The feeling of putting your whole soul into that “Crescent Moon Dance” performance you worked on all summer was quite moving. I was crying so much that it looked like everyone had a halo on top of their head. I also pictured everyone’s faces as they practiced. It’s an irresistible moment where everyone, the performing members and the supports like Hazuki and Natsuki, become one team.

4: Please tell us a memorable event that happened to you during production.
During the broadcast, we had an event in Kyoto. After it ended, the four main seyuu and I went to impose on Kyoto Animation’s production studio. At that time, they were working on creating the end card for the final episode which shows everyone together. It was so impressive that the girls started crying once they got to see it. Of course the production side did as well. It lifted up everyone’s spirits once again for all of us to put all of our energy into this work and strengthened our feelings to deliver this work to many, many people.

5: When you think about the modern animation environment, where do you see Sound! Euphonium fitting into that space?
It aired in the late night slots, but there were many comments that stood out like “parents and children are watching this.” I think it resonated with a wide range of users. There’s also a lot of people who cosplay as the characters from this show at foreign events as well. It’s a magnificent adolescent story that has resonated not just in Japan, but all around the world.

6: Please tell us your impressions relating to this work.
I was once a member of a concert band and I even played the euphonium, so it feels like it was fated for me to be in charge of this work. (laughs) With a work that faithfully replicates wind music and develops a spectacular story, there was no hesitation in my promotion. Every time an episode broadcast, there would be many warm comments flowing out into the world, so its familiarity piled onto the broadcasts making it well-known. I’ve been able to return back to my starting points through this work. It’s a show that people want to keep sounding both domestically and internationally!

Publicity/Assistant Producer:
Riri Senami
Member of the Sales Department of Kyoto Animation

1: Please tell us what position you held during the development of Sound! Euphonium.
I participated as an assistant producer and helped with publicity. Also, while it wasn’t directly related to being a producer, I was a member of a concert band during my school days, so I was asked a lot of questions every time they needed an experienced musician.

2: What do you feel is this work’s charm?
It’s an adolescent story featuring many young girls who are giving it all they have. Despite having different views on life, everyone in the cast is trying their hardest. When you gather various people together for one goal, everyone may be yearning and sympathizing for the same outcome, but each person has their own feelings that cry out. Also, it was a new challenge to “depict a concert band.” In addition to the high level of difficulty for wind music itself, you have to tackle the activities head-on. For that reason, one charm of this work is that it’s a fresh type of animation that hasn’t been experienced.

3: Please tell us what your favorite scene is.
There’s too many for me to pick just one, but I love scenes where characters communicate their beliefs with actions. Episode 4’s Taki-sensei declaring “we’ll go to Nationals,” episode 8’s confession from Reina, episodes 10-11’s scenes with Kaori, Yuuko, and Reina each with their own thoughts, episode 12 with Kumiko being influenced by Reina, and so on. I can’t trim them down to just one. Everyone handles things so earnestly; it feels like their strong will was born from them trying their hardest. When I see scenes with people saying “I want to do it!” instead of “I can’t do it,” I’m absolutely charmed. Though everyone feels differently, there’s never a time where there’s only one right answer. I also love how the girls aren’t afraid to collide with their strong emotions against each other for fear of hurting each other.

4: Please tell us a memorable event that happened to you during production.
I was deeply moved at the scene in the opening when Yuuko plays her trumpet and presses down on the third piston at the same time the hook of the song is playing. This wasn’t expressed in the storyboards, so I unintentionally asked the director (Ishihara) “I understand movement is needed, but that’s too trivial! How was this cut completed to match the music?!” once I saw the video. (laughs) It was a musician who handled that scene, so it was their proposal. Their obsession is amazing……!

5: When you think about the modern animation environment, where do you see Sound! Euphonium fitting into that space?
An unlikely adolescent story, right? This work feels like you have to head into it incredibly earnestly to depict a difficult subject. It’s a work that straightforwardly depicts school life emotions, but as it’s the first work with concert bands, it’d please us if everyone remembers it.

6: Please tell us your impressions relating to this work.
I remember wanting to see an anime about wind music when I was a student. However, having worked in the actual animation industry, it feels like it couldn’t have been done until now. There’s a lot of instrument variety and people variety, the depiction of performances is quite difficult….. regardless, it’s quite hard! (laughs) On the other side, it feels like there’s a big challenge being the first to show something distinctly new. Now, I’m happy that I was able to meet and be affected by this show.

This is a surprising 5th entry in the series of interviews I’m translating from the Sound! Euphonium official fanbook published last week by Takarajimasha. It’s surprising because my original goal was to only complete the previous 4 entries, but the story felt unfulfilled. To that end, I decided to translate the final two pieces to complete the tale. Here is the interview with the person who oversaw all the episodes as animation director and designed the characters for the anime.

Character Designer/Chief Animation Director
Shoko Ikeda

Animator at Kyoto Animation. Notable works include her work as character designer/CAD for The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and animation director for many shows.

The character designs were completed after many twists and turns

– What were your impressions after reading the novel?
At that time, there was only one novel published and only the cover was illustrated. Therefore, I was ordered to capture the image of the cover art. Director (Tatsuya) Ishihara-san said “I want to keep the atmosphere of the novel’s illustration,” so I began searching for designs that met that desire.

– And so did it take you many stages until you reached the final design for the character?
Yes. Relatively, creating character designs is something that is a very temporary stage, but there was a lot of twists and turns in that period. First, I read all of the works drawn by the artist who drew the original illustrations, Asada Nikka-san, in order to feel for the shojo manga-esque type characters they drew. After that, when we decided to depict a realistic approach to instruments, I had to think about ensuring that their designs matched their instruments so they could maintain that realistic quality. Finally, I was told by Ishihara-san that he “wanted to insert a sizzling sensation” in their designs. So I made their eyes sparkle and skin appear lustrous so their young vivacious side would show. And then when I could see their finalized lines, a new novel illustration was released. What can you do about that? (laughs)

– So you used the illustration on the top page of the official novel site too?
Right. There came to be a lot of novel illustrations, so that image was strengthened. I temporarily put aside what I had done to that point and, once again, injected a little more of Asada-san’s taste in their designs. At that time, the main characters’ hair were longer, so I thought about returning to the starting point and beginning again with a large silhouette that would match that image and structure their faces again.

– It sounds like you started with Kumiko, Hazuki, Sapphire, and Reina before moving on to everyone else.
Well, those were the designs I had drawn that would have been used for characters with those names. However, as I said we had many twists and turns, the main four’s designs weren’t approved. As we were close to production time, I designed the other concert band members before returning to them. If we couldn’t approve those 4’s designs, there’s no way we’d have time to finalize designs for 60 other band members. (laughs) I also felt that by drawing those other members, I’d be able to adapt my style and better sense how the girls would be drawn.

– What points were different between the early drafts and the final versions?
Small details like how the early version of Kumiko had a hairclip on her hair. I wanted some kind of trait that made her look like a protagonist, but in the end I had to stop adding extraneous points. Hazuki’s has completely changed; her first design had her wearing twintails, but that’s how her atmosphere was like at first. Series director (Naoko) Yamada-san was fussy over Sapphire’s skirt being long. “Since she’s so short, I want her to have a long skirt so her silhouette looks triangular.” I stopped its length in the final design on the longish side. Her socks having pompons was also Yamada-san’s idea. That reminds me, Kumiko at first had an ahoge. Ishihara-san had said “if someone has an ahoge, it feels moe-ish,” but in the end, it was Sapphire who has one, not Kumiko! (laughs) I thought it would be better to have Reina also hold some type of character trait, so her early designs had her wearing a hairband.

– What about the upperclassmen?
I drew Asuka as being this older “big sister” looking character, but Ishihara-san immediately rejected it saying “Asuka is cuter than this.” (laughs) Asada-san’s manga has a cute girl who wears glasses in it, so I included those aspects into her design to try and bring it closer to that. Haruka’s early designs are close to what became the final version. My impression of her from reading the novel was very faint, so thought it’d be nice to balance her design from Asuka’s. Yamada-san was pleased with her design and it had more or less been solidified when the second novel illustration was unveiled. She was in the middle of it, so I meekly went back and used it as a base. Aoi was done by me saying “I want to draw someone with braids” and it was okayed without much resistance.

– The second years Natsuki and Yuuko are also impressive. Those two are characters who had no novel illustration at all.
Yuuko was a revival of the design I drew for Sapphire with longer hair, but with a stylish knotted hairband. And since she adores Kaori, she has to be someone who’s immensely cute. If a uncute girl is adoring for a cute girl, it just looks kinda pitiful, doesn’t it? So to remove that impression and keep their relationship the way it is, I made sure she looked very cute. It was an unusual claim. (laughs) Natsuki looked awful with her glare and short hair like the novel described. I thought she’d look cuter if I made her hair a bit longer and then I put her hair in a ponytail since no one else’s was in one.

– How did you decide on Taki-sensei’s design?
I worked on his design as Yamada-san was fixated on what form it would be. At first she said “he should look like a certain actor” and so I drew him like that. Then she said “it’s too much like him.” (laughs) At the very end, I reframed his image to give him more of a soft impression and gentle expression.

– Having glasses was something unique to the anime.
That’s right. My order from Yamada-san was “he should feel dreamy with his glasses and wearing a cardigan.” Ishihara-san also left everything relating to Taki-sensei to Yamada-san. (laughs) With his good looks and short hair not matching the description of the novel, I had a different impression of him, but in the end I’m happy with how his character looks.

The staff’s passion supports this work at the production sight

– What kinds of things were you conscious of while working as chief animation director?
I immediately contacted the animation directors so that we could have a better unified impression and improve the quality of the work while keeping that unified impression. For my part, I was absorbed in ensuring that the characters appeared the same.

– What did you feel while you were checking the character drawings?
Everyone was able to properly visualize Yuuko, or rather I had properly conveyed how to draw her cutely. (laughs) In comparison, Sapphire has a complex hairstyle, but everyone was able to imitate it well. Conversely, I remember having to correct Taki-sensei and Gotou-kun a lot. Taki-sensei’s hairstyle is a characteristic that is new to KyoAni works, so perhaps there was a high level of difficulty.

– While working as CAD, what impressions remain while you were looking at the work?
The work from (Nobuaki) Maruki-kun in his episodes 5 and 12 as AD had too many lines. At first I was puzzled as what to do. (laughs) Trying to get everyone else to match his work or to alter his work to match everyone else’s would be too difficult, so I left them as-is and sent them on. In the end, both are important episodes, so I thought it would be good to have impressive visuals in them.

– As its part of this work’s theme, what parts were you particular about with the instruments?
That’s right. We have about 20 experienced musicians at our offices, so when a point came up where someone couldn’t understand how to draw something, they would consult one of those people. The staff would position the 3DCG materials for the instruments exactly how a character would be holding it and then use that as a base when drawing the scene. However, using those 3DCG materials was a bother. If everyone waited to use them, it would take too much time to finish an episode, so the people standing would draw while they waited to use the machine. As the CAD, I have my own problems at times when I’m drawing the promotional images as well. For (Hiroyuki) Takahashi-san to serve as instrument AD by himself is nothing less than amazing.

– When you were drawing the performances, did you use real performances as a reference?
Of course. We recorded some performances as they were necessary for drawing our scenes. We would match the timing from the spots on the video in our timesheets to keep that impression. I paid attention so that the work done to replicate an actual performance didn’t have any mistakes in it.

– Ikeda-san, what drawing to you was a highlight of this work?
For drawings, it has to be the scene in episode 12 when Kumiko runs along the bridge. And then as a scene I was incredibly picky about, it would have to be the reunion of Kumiko and Azusa in episode 5. There were a ton of amazing pink-colored director correction sheets indicating the animator should “pull back the line of her eyebrow until it’s reliable” from (Ichirou) Miyoshi-san. Here too Maruki-kun supported me by raising the quality greater than I ever thought.

– Please give your final impressions regarding this work.
I think the entire staff, not just myself, poured themselves into this show while making it. We were continually in high spirits as we headed to the final scene. Usually it’s normal for people to feel cornered due to the strict schedule of events. Along with everyone’s running passion to make something great, I felt we were able to keep the strengths of the novel.

This is the sixth and final piece in a series where I’ve translated the interviews with the staff in the Sound! Euphonium official fanbook. This has been a very enjoyable experience to translated the words from many people we don’t often hear from in anime production. I hope this has given you as a reader more insight into the various aspects of production of one anime series. This final piece has comments regarding production from various staff members from the backgrounds to the music production. Please enjoy this one last time.

Staff Comments

Art director:
Matsuo Shinobara

Art Director at Kyoto Animation. Participated in Love, Chunibyou, and Other Delusions, Clannad, and other works.

1: Please tell us how you were chosen to participate in this work.
I’ve heard that director Ishihara recommended me to the producers during one of their meetings. I feel immensely gracious.

2: When you were creating the screens for this work, what kind of art direction expressions did you use?
During my first meeting with the director, he said that he didn’t want the backgrounds to feel soft and gentle; he wanted them to feel strong. Wind music has this “feminine” image, so we challenged that by making the entire set of backgrounds feel “masculine” as we drew them. We talked about various other works and how, though we weren’t going to try to do too many new things, we wanted to do things like making normal scenes darker and strengthening the contrast to give it a strong and profound feeling. Those were the fundamentals that I wrestled with for this show.

3: What were some troubles that you may have gone through?
I wanted to continue strengthening the aim of this work to make it feel realistic through the backgrounds. In some scenes, we went a bit too off course with the realism, so I struggled with the balance between that as we were on a tight schedule. I still have some regrets at the moment.

4: What scenes would you like to highlight in the context of representing the backgrounds?
For all the places we feature in this work, there may be some points where our location scouting isn’t sufficient to cover everything. Each staff member would then go at that time to collect materials to draw their backgrounds. So I would say….the sheer passion that is put into this work cut-by-cut. This is our home area, so thanks to that, the amount of background information we have is immensely increased. Even on points where I didn’t recommend, pay attention to the expression of light. We constantly worked while being worried about how the shadows would look due to the strength, direction, and shade of light coming in.

5: Please tell us about some interesting events that occurred during production.
As this would be a work that wrestles with the theme of wind music, we began asking our internal staff who had experience playing an instrument prior to working. I was surprised at seeing many people with many different histories playing music. To think this staff has played so much…… To hear that there were members of the background staff who had detailed histories and ones who didn’t was extremely reassuring. Also……since the instruments in both CG and hand-drawn were so amazing, we as background staff kept the desire not to lose in effort to them.

6: Please tell us your impressions looking back at this work.
From the time production started until now, it feels like it went by in the blink of an eye. We had many challenges to overcome and many successes that overcame those challenges; it makes me immensely happy to say that we were able to improve the quality of this work in such a short period of production time. I was surprised by the reaction for this work for everyone around me compared to past works. The combination of people willing to help everyone else connecting with people holding a “we’re going to do this” sprit made this a very high spirited work as they were combined during production.

3D Artwork
Jyouji Unoguchi

Art director at Kyoto Animation. Participated in works like Free! and Nichijou among others.

Click for gif

1: Please tell us how you were chosen to participate in this work.
I’ve been in charge of inserting 3DCG in our previous works, so spontaneously I became involved in working on this one. Director Ishihara likes various movements in 3DCG, so I was excited at being able to do something fun.

2: What were the main reasons for occasionally using 3D backgrounds in this work?
This work is in a music genre where there are gatherings of a lot of people. I created 3D models of places like the music room and the concert hall so that the drawing staff and the BG staff could use them later as they were thinking about the space of their layouts. Up until now, we used reference sheets that the drawing staff would reference while drawing. Each person would have their own interpretation, so there would be a large difference between people. Different cuts in the classroom would be scattered in the representation of space. For that reason, I thought about creating an easy reference template in 3D to improve those situations. Furthermore, we attached hand drawn textures to the 3DCG modeling data to create a system that could be used for a 360° angle background when needed. This system was a boon when creating the whirling around music room cut in the opening. Besides that, the backgrounds in the train while the girls are traveling to and from school needed to be 3D as well.

3: What were some troubles that you may have gone through?
The reference models and backgrounds I created were not real live-action footage; I created them using the same colors we use for hand-drawn backgrounds in non-photo real 3DCG. That part was incredibly tough. As I was in charge of the modeling, texture, camerawork, and timing for the 3D backgrounds, I would have to re-do the modeling if the texture wasn’t good enough.

4: What scenes would you like to highlight in the context of representing your 3D backgrounds?
For 3D backgrounds, you don’t want the viewer to think “were those made in 3D?” at strange points, so you can only say “I did it!” when you make something that doesn’t feel unnatural in the cuts before/after it. In episode 7 where Hazuki gets off the train, bumps into Shuichi, who is getting on the train, and then mis-interprets their relationship, that entire cut has 3D CG backgrounds for the train’s interior and the station platform. I thought that was really good.

5: Please tell us about some interesting events that occurred during production.
How about episode 12’s Uji Bridge and Kumiko’s running scene? Actually, I was using newly installed software that I wasn’t accustomed to using. I quickly made it in a hurry and while I was at my wits’ end, just like how Kumiko was feeling in that scene.

6: Please tell us your impressions looking back at this work.
While I was constructing the music room and concert hall’s models, I began to reminisce about my own school days as I began seeing the small stools and small objects around the rooms. For me, this work is soaked in nostalgia. I’m able to sympathize greatly with the characters having gone through those same experiences to get where I am now. It takes all kinds of power to create these visuals, so it brings me immense joy to be able to convey them to our viewers.

Color Designer:
Akiyo Takeda

Color designer at Kyoto Animation. Participated in such works as Love, Chunibyou and Other Delusions, Tamako Market, and other works.

1: Please tell us how you were chosen to participate in this work.
It’d be nice if director Ishihara gave me a passionate offer, but he’s probably become accustomed to working with me through our previous works, so he just talked to me about it.

2: What do you keep in mind regarding choosing the colors as you’re making the visuals?
As we are making a “hot blooded club show,” I searched for colors representing “reality” while maintaining that “fantasy” portion native to animation. I consciously chose colors that represented a hybrid world between reality and fantasy.

3: What were some troubles that you may have gone through?
The numerous people and instruments. Though no character by themselves is a minor character, it was difficult to balance everyone so that people wouldn’t be too bland or too dazzling above our main girls. I’ve never come into contact with instruments so, as I had no idea how to construct those, I went to various photo stores, instrument stores, and consulted with our instrument AD Takahashi-san before choosing the colors.

4: What scenes would you like to highlight in the context of representing colors?
Rather than for color designs, I’d say the whole visual beauty of the work itself is a highlight. If I have to pick one thing, I’d choose how the colors for each girl’s eyes and the colors of their belongings and such are complimentary to each other. Also, I would change the colors around in different episodes to better match each character’s mental state, so it’d please me if you would notice that too.

5: Please tell us about some interesting events that occurred during production.
While we were doing our rush check (checking the completed visuals to ensure there’s no mistakes), director Ishihara quickly said “wouldn’t it be nice to add a swallow’s nest here?” and quickly drew the key frames and in-betweens himself. There’s actually a swallow’s nest in the real Keihan Rokujizou station, so the performance reflected reality. If you just look at it at a glance, you might not see it, but if you’re curious, please watch for the swallow flying.

6: Please tell us your impressions looking back at this work.
It’s very adolescent!! We as staff gave it our best alongside the girls. As you watch this work, that sensation of our passion alongside the girls’ can be felt. Thank you very much for your support!

Instrument Animation Director
Hiroyuki Takahashi

Animator at Kyoto Animation. Served as Instrument Animation Director for K-On!.

1: Please tell us how you were chosen to participate in this work.
Before this work was determined, I could feel series director Yamada-san’s indecision when she was in a neighboring seat as she flipped through the novel in her hand. The indecision was how to portray the instruments. I thought if she was that worried, I’d give her a push forward by telling her “I’ll do it Yamada-san. Please let me help you out again with the instruments.” I didn’t want her to hesitate about doing this work because of how to draw “instruments.” I wanted more than ever to do something that took place near us in Uji, so I said that I definitely wanted to do that. As I hit the mark a little, the thought of ”…we’ve not seen anything like this before with our works, why don’t we try it out” started to rise in her. I have no idea if that’s what pushed it to be done, but I believe my words helped her want to do this show. I’m immensely happy we were able to tell this story. By the way, I had no knowledge of these instruments. All I knew from my school days was playing electric guitar at a friend’s house. However, that experience has tied together to previous works where I was an animation director or created setting, so I understood it would be tied into this one as well.

2: What do you stress and what do you keep in mind as you’re representing instruments in animation drawings or setting creation?
First, I cut out the animation part and begin working on reproducing the instrument through the finest details. There’s nothing you can do if you don’t scrupulously work on that part. For that reason, I created a six-sided diagram as setting materials. This was the best reference I could draw to show part placement, proportions, and so forth. I thought if they could understand the details here, they could apply it later while drawing. When it was decided I would serve as instrument AD, I began thinking about how to finely detail everything as well as how to regulate it at that stage as well.

3: What were some troubles that you may have gone through?
There were many types of instruments that we borrowed from Yamaha, but when production started, they weren’t here. We wouldn’t have been able to distinguish between types if it wasn’t for their cooperation. However, we were able to work using reference photos and searches on the internet, but I remember worrying about how the parts would not come together as one in the drawings until people could understand how to draw them. They wouldn’t even come together in my wildest dreams. Finally, we were able to use the real instruments and the six-sided diagrams before we finished, so it made me happy when I was checking things. I finally got confidence we could pull it off.

4: You also served as instrument AD. What parts were you particular about? Was the degree of difficulty of depicting instruments as different as we think it is?
We created the first PV without rehearsing how to draw instruments, so I considered it a bout about how to use shadows and highlights. For this show, the instruments are all covered in plating, so it’s not a matter of how you highlight or shadow something; the entire piece itself should be reflecting something. The lights in the room from outside’s sunlight to the fluorescent lighting in the room should reflect for the bright parts and the dark parts should reflect people’s bodies. However, representing that in animation is difficult and our schedule was strict. So we highlighted their beauty by halfway representing highlights on and highlights off as well as shadows on and shadows off. I thought about only using background reflections a little bit when it’s needed for the mood, if the chance arises, or for promotional illustrations. Also, for instruments, I’d say it’s not so much the degree of difficulty as it is the degree of time is much larger. A high school girl would have a huge contrasting image if she were walking with something like Haruka’s baritone sax. I think Kumiko’s happy from the bottom of her heart to play her euphonium.

5: Please tell us about some interesting events that occurred during production.
Some people would say think that everyone around me was immensely troubled or would let out ghastly screams, but that wasn’t the case at all. The entire production felt like it was in sepia, so I can’t recall anything at all. At least I can’t remember anything now that we’ve reached the time where everything was completed.

6: Please tell us your impressions looking back at this work.
I’m from Kobe, so I’ve already spent about half my life here in the Kyoto/Uji area. For me, even though Sound! Euphonium is mainly about music, it’s also an Uji anime. Even though I spent my time only drawing instruments, to me, it still felt like I was always drawing Uji. Being able to boast that we made an animation about our local Uji is what concerns me the most.

Director of Photography
Kazuya Takao

Director of Photography at Kyoto Animation. Notable works include Free!, Nichijou, and other productions.

1: Please tell us how you were chosen to participate in this work.
Recently, director Ishihara has said “Takao-kun’s using some lyrical photography” so I believe that is what moved him to pick me! I believe!

2: What did you keep in mind as you were creating the screens for this work?
Director Ishihara would say things like “Make the background beautiful by using boke!” “I want to express this by using the two-type boke!” “Make it feel like you’re shooting a documentary!” “Also, make it lively!” He always said lively…….lively…….what?

3: What were some troubles that you may have gone through?
It wasn’t troubling, but I always regulated the way that light reflected off the instruments 1-cut at a time. It’d be bad if the final person’s who holds it screws up how it’s put together. Ah, I just fixated at the computer screen…..

4: What scenes would you like to highlight in the context of photography?
Even if your lens is good and you make it feel like its being shot on film, that doesn’t mean it feels like you’re shooting with an actual camera. So we made the camera move a little more than usual, used dirty lenses, and made it feel like a real cameraman was shooting the girls as we photographed.

5: Please tell us about some interesting events that occurred during production.
During the rush check for episode 1, director Ishihara said “There’s a swallow’s nest at this station. I’m going to draw a swallow!” and quickly drew the animation himself. I really love that part about the director.

6: Please tell us your impressions looking back at this work.
It was very enjoyable during production; my tear ducts wept so many times. Regardless, I won’t forget how emotionally moved I was during the rush check of the final episode. Even though the sound wasn’t added, it still felt that you could hear their performance. I realized the power of visuals in animation all over again. I felt like “Animation’s the best! It’s spectacular! Drink it up already!” I won’t forget drinking up this work. (laughs) Really, I’m happy to have been involved in this show!

Sound Director:
Youta Tsuruoka

Sound Director and representative at Rakuonsha. Participated in works such as Free!, Tamako Market, and Beyond the Boundary among others.

1: Please tell us how you were chosen to participate in this work.
Representatives from Kyoto Animation approached me and, since I’ve worked many jobs alongside director Ishihara and series director Yamada, I certainly wanted to participate. Concerning the work, since they were going to depict performances straightforwardly, I thought at first it would be a lot of physical work.

2: What points did you pay attention to during the direction of dubbing?
I always ensured that I never lost sight of how the characters were pulled to a direction as they were described in particular scenes. Among that, my impression was that this was a music series that merely incorporated everything, even things with no concrete connections.

3: What did you pay attention to in your use of music?
Director Ishihara mostly left me to use the background music as I wanted. I was particularly cognizant of how the music would fit and flow from the depths of the story without ruining the effectiveness of the direction.

4: Please tell us about any scenes where you particularly felt a response when you saw the completed visuals with the voices and music added.
Rather than a response, it’s more of an impression. When Kumiko was conflicted about “wanting to improve” in episode 12 when she finally realized what Reina was thinking as they played “Orpheus in the Underworld,” I felt that it was a thick expression that’s somewhat rare and smart in more recent works.

5: How was the atmosphere during recording? Please tell us any memorable moments that may have occurred.
We have so many young seiyuu that at first it felt like they were clashing against each other during recording. And then, even though getting physical would be impossible, the way their figures would move from being directly opposite to move in front of them remains with me today.

6: Please tell us your impressions looking back at this work.
This work has resounded to me by being a challenge that required me to carry many personal feelings toward music as I was working on it. Having worked on many jobs previously, this is something that I wish for many people to see.

Music Supervision
Masahiro Oowada

Saxophone player. Assistant professor at the Senzoku Gakuen School of Music. Works as the planning and budget supervisor for the Freshmen Wind Ensemble.

1: Please tell us how you were chosen to participate in this work.
While music lessons at the Senzoku Gakuen School of Music are lively, the “Freshmen Wind Ensemble” consisting of first years was chosen to perform for this work as they were the closest in age to high school students.

2: What did you do as a music supervisor?
Frankly, I merely concentrated on leading rehearsals and commanding the performances. The actual exchanges and business related tasks were left to my superiors who I am thankful to have completed such tasks.

3: What were some troubles that you may have gone through as music supervisor?
Definitely the level of quality of the performance. I struggled at ensuring the performance would not be too superior in order to match how the band was in the show prior to coaching. Also I concentrated on ensuring that the main song, “Crescent Moon Dance” would be strongly represented to have that emotional attachment that a performance piece has.

4: When viewed as a show that’s a “character drama inserted into wind music,” what scenes would you like to highlight?
It has to be the passion abundant in musicians where they are attached to a single note, wrestle with activities without giving up or being embarrassed, and the passion that people of all ages share that’s properly represented in this anime. I feel that people without any history of music would sympathize with everyone in the show.

5: Please tell us any memorable moments that may have occurred.
The way that the student members’ motivations came in high to their performances as a group and remained high day after day was quite memorable.

6: Please tell us your impressions looking back at this work.
Being able to perform in a real music studio with dozens of mikes and cameras is an incredibly valuable experience that cannot be replicated for our first years. It appears that deep memories have remained for all of them. I feel that being able to play a variety of genres from classical music to the upbeat opening and ending themes will surely improve their art. Conversely, it’s me who should be thanking everyone. Thank you all for letting us participate.

This is one of the three staff interviews featured in the guidebook for Amagi Brilliant Park. All three will be translated, but let’s start off nice and easy with the director of the show: Yasuhiro Takemoto!

Amaburi Staff Interviews

Director: Yasuhiro Takemoto

Director at Kyoto Animation. Notable works include Hyouka. Has participated as director in past Shoji Gatou animated works.

While including many original elements, director Takemoto also endeavored to show the charm of the original novels. Here we talk to him about the charm of the anime and the portions he was fixated on.

Properly re-show the charm of the original in the visuals!

– What impressions did you have when you first read the novels?

When I first read the novel, I felt “this is really a Gatouesque work.” I thought Yuka Nakajima-san’s illustrations are cute after I quickly saw them for the first time. Moreover, taking place at an amusement park makes it a wonderful setting and a lighter work. Furthermore, the story’s base is rather stout and the writing is both simple and yet thorough. Once again, I thought “Gatou-san is mentally a macho man” like I did when I read the Full Metal Panic! series.

– When you were making Amaburi into an anime, what points did you endeavor to keep?

“Properly deliver what I feel are the most emotional parts of the source I’ve been entrusted with.” It’s not just for Amaburi; our staff has handled each of the works that we’ve adapted like that. In Amaburi’s case, its greatest charms ares the cute visuals from Nakajima-san combined with the stout story from Gatou-san. We’re always thinking about how best to convey the atmosphere of a work like that.

The storyboards for the OP’s hook. One aspect of Takemoto’s direction for the OP was to increasingly add the cast’s hands clapping as they were gradually introduced throughout the episodes.

– Gatou-san served as series supervisor for this anime production. What discussions did you have with him as production advanced along?

Every time we met, he would chatter about “let’s make Amaburi a bright and fun work.” I felt the same and probably our staff also shared that sentiment. There’s often a lot of give and take when creating the details you pack into the setting for anime, but we didn’t experience any struggles though this process. All my conversations with Gatou-san were always entertaining.

– The protagonist Seiya is a cool yet narcissist protagonist who’s a bit detached from the other characters. What did you focus on when depicting him?

You could say that about him, but I personally find him to be an awfully cute boy. He’s not used to being frank in public, so he spontaneously begins to act that way in front of others. That’s why I always worked to bring out that cute portion of him since it was so important to his character. If perhaps everyone thought he was “cute” it would make me very happy.

– Then what did you think about one of the heroines, Isuzu?

Isuzu is a stiff personality with no lovely portions at all. But there’s a gap for her character because attached to that stiff personality is a sexy body. In order to convey that sexiness, I fixated on the camera angles and her trifling gestures.

The last scene for the OP. As it’s the last scene in episode 12 as well, this cut where all the cast greets the guests is a memorable image of this work.

– What about the other heroine, Latifah?

Usually, I have no interest in the so called “princess character” description, but Latifah is a special case. Despite being in such a sad situation, she has such a brave personality and a strong core above that. She also has a proper understanding of right and wrong as royalty; I think she’s a marvelous girl. I very much wanted to show off the various smiling faces a girl like that would show.

– Other than those three, please tell us about your favorite character.

Since every character in Amaburi is distinct, I have a certain impression for each one of them. Of course, I have special thoughts for Seiya, Isuzu, and Latifah, but other than those three…. It’d have to be the idiot trio of Moffle, Macaron, and Tirami. Those three are the symbol characters of Amaburi. If they weren’t around, the story wouldn’t start. I felt the performances by (Ryouko) Shiraishi-san, (Ayako) Kawasumi-san and (Ai) Nonoka-san splendidly fit their characters in the anime.

The work was produced by all the staff and cast supporting it

– You yourself were in charge of directing and storyboarding the opening animation. Please tell us about parts you put a lot of effort into, highlights of your direction and anything else.

It was nice to be able to create something where, as we introduced more characters, they would be added into the opening visuals. The last cut of the opening and the last cut of episode 12 were constructed similarly. That image was completed relatively early on in production, so I thought it would be interesting to include it in the opening animation. I’m personally happy with that effect. I wasn’t sure if the viewers would be able to feel the way I do, but I think they would be entertained with it regardless.

The three kindergartners who usually appear to torment Isuzu comedically appear as the key men to reaching 500,000 customers. It’s a touching and yet laughable scene.

– You also were in charge of the scripts for the anime original episodes 3 and 7. Please tell us about the highlights of those episodes.

While I think that they became entertaining episodes thanks to the staff who worked on them, I personally look back and think “they could have been more entertaining” and “we weren’t able to think of a better way to show this.” For those who watched those and were able to find something to enjoy, I feel incredibly happy. That’s why it’s tough for me to say something is a highlight. ….If I’m forced to say something I’d say how everyone in episode 7 is dressed like a pirate or in swimsuits. I’m especially pleased with Isuzu’s pirate captain outfit.

– Then, looking back at everything, what episode do you have a particular attachment to?

I have attachments to each episode, but the one I have the most to is episode 12. The scene where all the characters celebrate after achieving that impossible goal of “250,000 customers in 3 months” which had been built up episode-by-episode, was, in one word, moving. When it came time to make episode 12, I was swamped with various other jobs to do, so just for episode 12 I said “I definitely want to draw the storyboards myself.” I’m very thankful that the staff was able to construct it along the way I hoped it would be made.

Seiya holds the unforgetful and crying Latifah in his arms. This scene sorrowfully and beautifully depicts the fated twosome: the frantic Seiya and the pitifully cured Latifah.

– Were there any memorable scenes with the cast’s give-and-takes?

When I talked with Latifah’s seiyuu, (Yukiyo) Fujii-san, afterwards, she said “I’m immensely thankful for you allowing me to play as Latifah” incredibly sincerely. It made me immensely happy and still remains strongly with me today. I too am incredibly thankful for her to play Latifah. Of course Amaburi was created with marvelous performances by all the cast. I truly think everyone in the cast was a perfect fit for their role.

– Finally please give a message to all the fans who supported Amaburi.

Thank you so much for continuing to support us. Though the anime has ended, the story continues to continue in the novels and the manga versions. I think you’ll be able to enjoy the story in that form as well. If you enjoyed this anime, and think back with fond memories for the scenes you watched from time-to-time, it would make me very pleased.

This is the second of the three staff interviews featured in the guidebook for Amagi Brilliant Park. All three will be translated, but let’s unite the elements with the producer of the show: Yoshihisa Nakayama!

Amaburi Staff Interviews

Producer: Yoshihisa Nagayama

Producer at TBS Television. Has produced many anime shows including the K-On! and Hidamari Sketch series.

Nakayama P supported Amabrui through various jobs like bridging between the novels and anime and publicity. Here we talk to him about his enthusiasm for the work and various behind-the-scenes stories during the broadcast period.

It’s fun to produce a work with various faces.

– To begin, please tell us how you were invited to participate in the production of the anime adaptation of Amaburi.

I was approached by representatives of Kyoto Animation, who were handling the production, and asked “We’re wanting to animate this work. Would you be interested in it?” I really loved the Full Metal Panic! series and I’d wanted to work together with Gatou-san for a while, so when I read the novel and instantly found it entertaining, I decided to have TBS produce it with them.

– What were your impressions when you read the novel?

My impression was that each character was their own person and it was extremely easy to read. Though there are TBS anime which have a strong story aspect, there’s also a lot of works that you can watch carefreely and ones that have the characters at the front. It’s those points which nicely meshed with TBS as an anime. With “the characters are from a magic world” as its backbone, the story can expand in many interesting ways.

– As a producer, what kind of requests did you ask of the anime staff once it was to be animated?

I asked them to show the powerful edge that Gatou-san gave the characters. That’s the charm of this work. Ordinarily it’s quite hard to do that during a TV broadcast, but Gatou-san and director (Yasuhiro) Takemoto-san had discussed what to do prior to my joining production, and instantly appreciated what I wanted. We were easily able to talk about what to do when it came time to produce the scripts. As we also included ideas from series composer (Fumihiko) Shimo-san, we were able to safely complete a story suitable for broadcast.

-Ah, I understand.

I also had one other request: “as it’s a TV series, I want to make this so that the viewer to be very curious about what would happen in the next episode.” I don’t know if people who watched it realized it or not, but nearly every episode at the end had a hook to pull people to watch the next one.

The final scene of each episode, like Isuzu posing in front of Macaron (episode 7) or Muse looking bewildered (episode 8) tied into the next episode’s contents.

– During composition, episode 12 was made to be the actual finale of the show while episode 13 was more thrown out as an extra episode. What was your intention with that?

Due to programming concerns above my station, I knew that we could reliably air 12 episodes, but the ability to air up to 13 episodes was much less fluid. Knowing that, we fundamentally made it so that the story would pause at episode 12. Episode 13 was a story that took place after the pause so that people could enjoy it without worrying about the progression.

– On the PR side, what points did you take into consideration?

Gatou-san’s previous works like the Full Metal Panic! series are very popular and well-known, so of course I took into account promoting it towards Gatou-san’s fans. But with it being broadcast over-the-air, I wanted many more people than that to see it. I wanted many more people, like those who may not watch anime but are interested in theme parks, to see it. To do that, we ran commercials at various electronics shows and promoted it outside the various anime-related media at various places.

– There were a lot of collaborations too.

For this work, we collaborated with a croquette shop in Tokyo called Saigoutei so that we could bring the fictional world into reality and have fans eat croquettes based on ones made by Latifah. The collaboration with the J-League’s Tokyo Verdy was also a derivation of the story from the show.

– On May 17^th, you held a collaboration event with Yomuri Land in Inagi, Tokyo. Was this real life collaboration a mark similar to the one held on the final day of the story?

That’s not what it was meant to be at all. There were some questions towards me asking “aren’t we going to collaborate with this or that amusement park?” but as I only wanted the viewing audience to comprehend the park that we created for the anime until the broadcast was over, I held back from collaborating with any parks. As a matter of fact, we went to a fair number of parks to do the location scouting. However, I wanted to avoid everyone thinking that it was from a specific place’s motif. Once the broadcast was over and everyone was able to enjoy the Amaburi world, we could have a web radio public recording at Yomuri Land since people wouldn’t be tempted to judge Amaburi like other parks. As it had been a while since the broadcast ended, we brought out the seals from episode 7 in order to spur up memories of the anime’s story. While they were wondering what was going on, it made me happy to hear such a huge reaction.

– So it was like that. What gave you the idea to start “Buri Radio” in the first place?

“Buri Radio” started as a simple way for those who wanted to learn more about the show to do so. This was Latifah’s seiyuu, (Yukiyo) Fujii-san’s, first time as a radio personality, so it felt incredibly fresh and became a truly wonderful program. When she and Isuzu’s seiyuu, (Ai) Kakuma, would talk about the various seiyuu world activities, it really felt like they were two OLs talking about their job. I believe it became a wonderful broadcast with their strong will to learn more about the world outside of being seiyuu and strong will looking to have a career change. With it being full of originality as I thought it would be, there’s no one that would argue about it being an entertaining broadcast.

Showing his fixation for casting and music

– With Amaburi being Gatou-san’s latest work and one that was highly anticipated as an anime, what kind of reaction did you receive from the fans when it was announced to be an anime?

This is just concerning Isuzu and Latifah’s voices, but I received a lot of “they’re really pleasant” voices when casting those two. For casting, Kakuma-san and Fujii-san were the best fit. Also, I got a lot of requests for Seiya’s seiyuu to be (Kouki) Uchiyama-san. He can reliably work as a high schooler and he served as a child actor previously, but even though I questioned if he could bring some empathy for Seiya’s position, I still requested him to play for us. His performance was beyond my wildest expectations. I’m very glad I requested him.

– Speaking of casting, I was surprised when I heard that Moffle, Macaron, and Tirami’s seiyuu were women. As I read the novel, my inner image of them had old geezer voices…..

There were a lot of reasons why we cast them as women, but the top reason is that I wanted to show everyone that there are infinite possibilities for seiyuu. They are skillful presenters who act in every way from the way they breath to their voices itself. I’d say there were probably a lot of people who read the novel and imagined “the mascots sound like old men, so they’ve got a male voice.” But while we were casting the male voices, it ended with me thinking “this is too normal.” There’s many people who imagine Macaron’s seiyuu, (Ryouko) Shiraishi-san, as a young boy, Moffle’s seiyuu, (Ayako) Kawasumi-san, as a princess and Tirami’s seiyuu, (Ai) Nonoka-san, as a cute heroine, but I also wanted to see them act as old men. Those three are veterans, so while I thought they would be able to act well, they performed superbly. I wanted to bring notice to all the fans to have a new sense of surprise, but I also wondered if there would be any uncomfortable feelings for everyone.

Nakayama P’s favorite character is episode 3’s Macaron. Fake Seiya in episode 8 had delicate expressions and superb comical acting from Uchiyama.

– What other points did you put a lot of power into besides casting?

Not just for Amaburi, but I always put a lot of power into music. Music is something that brings up memories of the work in people even when the show isn’t being broadcast. For that reason, it’s a very important element for anime. I requested an opening song with an unforgettable catchy running beat that won’t leave you once you hear it from Flying Dog, the company in charge of music. In contrast, for the ED song I requested they make a song that was serene so people would be able to calm down after watching the episode.

– I see. Did you have some intention in mind when you were casting Brilliant 4, who would sing the ending theme song?

Since I thought they would sing it at a real event, I chose them based on the ability to since and dance. However, it was more important that they be balanced and work as a team. Since the girls are very friendly with each other in the show, it was important for me to choose girls who would bring out that harmonious feeling and be close in age with each other.

Aiming to create episodes that are “representative of anime.”

– Next, please tell us who your favorite character is.

I personally love all the characters. If I have to pinpoint something, I’m very fond of the scene where Macaron comes running and screaming “Stop it roooon!” when Moffle scares the customers by attacking one. (Tatsuya) Ishihara-san’s direction shows that cute layer to him.

– Then what is your favorite episode?

Episode 8. It’s the one where Moffle and the others go to school in place of Seiya, who fell ill. That was so entertaining. It’s a unique story, Uchiyama-san’s performance was amazing, and I’ve heard it was a popular episode among the staff. I’m glad that it wasn’t just gags; there’s a nice story that ends by the end of the episode.

-You had to prepare a lot of original episodes. What was your intention when inserting original elements in the show?

I’m always thinking about elements that are representative of anime when we’re making an adaptation of something. Even if you completely adapt the original source exactly, that doesn’t mean it’ll become an entertaining anime work. Of course, it’s important to respect the original source, but though it’s difficult, I think weaving in some originality is the best way to adapt something. In the case of Amaburi, though we were fundamentally following the story of the first volume, we could insert some new episodes and bring in some characters who appear in later volumes in order to bring out that originality.

– What were your impressions on episode 12, the real final episode?

Wasn’t it fitting as a final episode for Amaburi? I mentioned earlier that I wanted episode 12 to be the final episode when creating the series composition, so the entire staff made it such an emotional finale. TV anime have various restraints in expressions and lengths, but I think everyone on the staff are pros for being able to work within those restraints to create such a work to move the audience. I’m incredibly grateful for all the staff to work as professionals.

– Episode 14 included on the “special volume” was very comical.

That’s right. It’s an episode that moves so quickly you can’t even think “why do the kindergartners have an underground pro wrestling ring?” That episode is full of punch lines. I was a bit worried that all those punch lines would work out, but when I asked Gatou-san, who wrote the script for that episode, “will these punch lines be okay?” he replied with such confidence “It’s alright!” As a result, it’s very Gatouesque with its peculiar and funny jokes. I’d definitely check them out if I were you.

A scene from episode 14. Why is there an underground wrestling ring and why are the kindergartners so wild over wrestling? Was it intended to feel this surreal when you calmly watch it?!

– What problems did you run into while producing this show?

Of course there were little problems here and there, but there’s nothing “troubling” that I can think of. Thanks to director Takemoto’s wonderful leadership being shown, the production side had a wonderful atmosphere. He was also able to skillfully include all the portions I requested as a producer as well. Above all, since all the cast and staff were able to convey the fun they had while making this show, I was able to have fun while producing it.

– Looking back on it, what kind of work did the anime Amaburi become?

For me, I’d say that it’s a work I challenged by saying “since this is a work that Gatou-san and Kyoto Animation are producing, there’s no way they can’t produce anything that isn’t a great work.” It was also very enjoyable being able to challenge myself by tying in various collaborations outside of anime media. Due to that, it was a very profound work for me.

– Finally, please give a message to all the fans who supported the Amaburi anime.

We aimed to produce Amaburi for all the viewers to be entertained. How did we do? The novels are still ongoing, and we also plan to continue selling some related products in the future, so please continue to support Amaburi. Thank you all for watching.

This is the last of the three staff interviews featured in the guidebook for Amagi Brilliant Park. Let’s finish with the author of the light novels: Shouji Gatou!

Amaburi Staff Interviews

Creator/Series Supervisor: Shoji Gatou
Well-known author who has published various titles such as Full Metal Panic! (from the Fantasy Bunko label) He has also served as an anime scriptwriter for various shows and was the series composer for Hyouka alongside director Yasuhiro Takemoto.

The creator of Amagi Brilliant Park influenced the anime production from the role of “series supervisor.” Here we speak with Shoji Gatou about the birth of the franchise, the secret tales of how the characters were born, and shed light on the backstage events of the anime production!

Adding some slack spices up a work!

– Please tell us how you set out to write the original Amaburi novels.
For a long time, my Full Metal Panic! shorts were serialized in Dragon Magazine (published by Kadokawa Fujimi Shobo). While it was full of gags instead of the seriousness the main series had, it was quite popular with the readers and I also enjoyed writing them. That’s why I wanted to write something light with gags and comedy in it. I’m in my forties now. I think it would be difficult to write something light when you’re in your fifties, so I felt that if I didn’t write something like that now, I’d never get a chance to write it. (laughs)

– What was the reason behind choosing an amusement park?
It started when I went to an amusement park with a friend and we saw a mascot energetically playing around with the kids. I thought “wouldn’t it be funny if that mascot actually hated kids?” If I could depict the real world worries and problems that an amusement park mascot had in a light manner, then wouldn’t that be something new for me? Also, if it was at an amusement park, then I thought that the reader would be able to enjoy the scenery and the spectacle of the setting.

– How did you construct the story as a whole?
My first inclination was to make a straightforward rags-to-riches story so that it’d be easier for the readers to emphasize with the characters. I felt they could easily sympathize with the re-building of an amusement park that was near ruin. And then, because this wouldn’t be a type of story where you have that “person inside” a mascot, there’d inevitably have to be a detail  where ‘the mascots came from a magical land.” Now you have the general setting completed. However, despite that I usually think about the setting for my works to be incredibly detailed, I never settled  on how the magical world “Maple Land” would exist in Amaburi. There would be points that I’d decide upon as I was writing too. I’d write the directions to Maple Land being “head on the JR Nambu Line until you get to Yokohama. From there, just take the limited express.” (laughs) Sometimes the readers get upset at you if you’re too lax, but that slack is the flavor of Amaburi to me.

– Next, please tell us how the characters were created. First, what was the reason behind the protagonist, Seiya, being a high school student who acts as the general manager?
I wrote Seiya as a high school student so that more people would accept him as a character. In Japan, almost everyone has lived that high school lifestyle, so it’s easy for anyone to sympathize with a someone going through that. But Seiya becomes the key man in restoring the failing amusement park, so he’s not just an ordinary high school student; his character needed an element to know about the adult world as well. That’s why I added the part where he was a former child actor. It fit him to look on from up high and say various things to improve the park’s entertainment due to knowing about the entertainment industry.

– And with that, Seiya became a very talented character.
There was one more reason: I’m not great at moving around a character without any weak spots, so I took it upon myself to make him this super incredible person as my own challenge. But it was hard to continue writing like that, so when he spoke to Isuzu about his past traumas, he became a character who showed some weaknesses as well. In the end, you could say “he became a character with a weak spot like all of Gatou-san’s works.”

– Seiya is a high school student, yet this story takes place in the amusement park and doesn’t really depict school life at all. What was the reason for that?
Because I don’t think that everyone in the world lives a fully satisfying high school life. I think that if there’s people who have fun during high school, then there has to be others who continually spend it by themselves. Possibly those people would find entertaining things outside of school. For Seiya, Amaburi is that place and I wanted to portray that “school isn’t everything” sense. Although, episode 8 in the anime, the school one, was very popular, so perhaps I might insert some stories like that at times.

– Next, please tell us how you created the heroine, Isuzu.
Isuzu came into my head when I was talking with my editor about “what if Sousuke (Full Metal Panic!’s protagonist Sousuke Sagara) was a girl?” Fundamentally, she’s quite talented, but she has that inflexible and constant fruitless effort part in common with Sousuke. Also, since she’s the type of character who’s very capable as a secretary, but poor as a leader, I attached “low self-esteem” to her personality. With her being a girl with a fair amount of issues, she’s suitable to be a heroine.

-Then how about the other heroine, Latifa?
I straightforwardly tried to keep her as my image of a “princess.” Since I wanted to create a story where everyone tries their best for this young girl, I endeavored to keep her as a pure, pitiful heroine without a hint of that “actually, I’m bad to the bone” personality. I created that “reset of a year’s memories” aspect so that she’d be that “heroine who needs saving.” I kept thinking about how to add more and more to her to the point where I looked back at my past self and said “Who would think about creating such a horrible situation for her?!” (laughs)

– We’d like to hear about the mascot characters next. Moffle looks like Bonta-kun from Full Metal Panic!. It’s quite impactful.
Bonta-kun was one of my favorite characters, so I asked the illustrator for Full Metal Panic!, Shiki Douji-sensei, if I could use her design. Personality-wise, he’s been through many different roles, so he’s the kind of person who takes a long-term view on things. My editor said “Hey, Gatou-san, this can pretty much stay as it is.” (laughs) He may be the character I’m most attached to in the series.

– What about Macaron and Tirami?
Macaron came to me when I was thinking “it’d be entertaining if there was a mascot who was separated from his wife and children and talked with his lawyer about paying child-raising expenses.” After that, I added various danger elements like being a former delinquent. For Tirami, when I referenced all the violent girls around them, Tirami became a woman lover. Since there’s no real depth for Tirami, I talked with (Yasuhiro) Takemoto-san about “what if Tirami loves women, but has no experience with them?” The truth is that it’s unknown. (laughs) I like Moffle the best of those three, but if the chance comes, I’d like to write an episode of those three at the bar.

– How about the four Elementario girls?
I created them with the thought about including more pretty girls besides Isuzu and Latifia in the series. But, as there wasn’t any background on them at the time they appeared in the novel, I had to think about a detailed backstory for them for the anime. For example, Sylphy is a bit of an airhead now, but at first she was the older-sister type character. How Salama likes Muse also came from the anime. Thanks to the charming depiction of their images, all four of them were able to stand out.

While the other three girls were doing something, Sylphy would be frolicking by herself saying meaningless things. In episode 13, she was the only one throwing paper airplanes.

– There are a lot of other characters who appear. Did you think of all of them by yourself?
I didn’t come up with everyone by myself; some were jokes the editor threw out while we were drinking. Anyways, the stock increases every time we drink, so there’s still a lot of characters who haven’t appeared yet. Although I don’t know if there’s a chance I could show a useless character like someone who’s only trait is “a mascot who went to jail on false molestation charges.” (laughs)

My favorite characters are the three kindergartners!

– This time you were credited with “series supervisor” for the anime. In what way did you influence production?
When I first heard that it was going to be animated, I thought I could compose the series entirely by myself, but as I was also writing the novels at the same time, I was caught without enough time to do both. Due to that, I put my faith in the veteran scriptwriter (Fumihiko) Shimo-san to do the main work and I would work as a supervisor. Also as the person in charge of saying dumb things. Takemoto-san is relatively serious and wouldn’t include things like pointless sexy scenes. Me on the other hand would encourage everyone to “include more sexy!” I worked together with Takemoto-san on Hyouka before this, and he flat out rejected me while I was fighting as the sole soldier of erotic justice. (laughs)

– You were in charge of the scripts for episodes 4, 9, and 12. What was the reason you chose those four episodes?
These were episodes that had parts that weren’t in the novels, so I thought “I’ll do these for them myself.” Especially episode 9. I was finalizing the background for the Elementario while writing the script, so I had to write that one. Episode 12 was the real finale, and I felt the novel’s “we made our goal with the attendance for the soccer match” was a bit too weak of a punch line for the anime, so I wanted to insert some original elements. When talking with Takemoto-san and Shimo-san, we agreed that mobilizing all the characters surrounding our staff members would be a suitable conclusion.

-I laughed at the fact that the three kindergarteners were the final three guests.
I wrote that punch line thinking “if those three were the last guests, it’d be quite the surprise.” They first appear in episode 4, which I wrote the script for, so as I wrote them eagerly saying strange lines like “give us food and water!” they became weird characters. Because of that, I became instantly attracted to them and wanted them to appear whenever was a good point for them to show up.

Every scene with the three kindergartners had quite an impact. Their ferociousness and the impressive sight of their attacks on Isuzu was quite an attraction.

-What impressions of the visuals still remain with you?
The scene near the end of episode 12 when Latifa and Seiya are talking in Maple Castle; I thought “Yep, this is a KyoAni work” when I saw the beautiful images. The way the flowers on the trees were sparkling still remains with me. Takemoto-san’s thoughts on that scene was that we should “dig deeper into Latifia’s feelings about her memory resetting,” so I thought more about it as I wrote its script. As a result, it became a very touching scene when we included her being saved. Some people may think it’s “too easy” for that to have happened, so even though I thought it felt perfect to end the anime with, it wasn’t the final shot.

– You also wrote the script for episode 14, which is included on the BD/DVDs. It’s completely a gag episode.
Seriousness is important, but you have to have gag episodes too. I wanted to include an incredibly slapstick episode, but with only 12 episodes, there wasn’t enough space to fit one in. Thankfully, I could do whatever I wanted in the remaining 2 episodes, so episode 14 got the brunt of me doing everything I wanted to do. My favorite three kindergarteners appear as well and they are both in and around gags too.

A surprising development in the relationships between Seiya, Isuzu, and Latifa?!

– What event remains with you regarding the anime?
Since I was fundamentally at every recording session, I thought about adlibbing Sylphy’s meaningless one-liners there. Though the basic script had been completed at that point, while we were recording, sound director (Youta) Tsuruoka-san would come to me and ask “This adlib’s a bit too long, I’d like one a bit shorter,” and so I’d quickly think of a new one. When I’m working on a manuscript at my desk, I don’t give a damn about what anyone thinks, but I felt like I’d die of embarrassment trying to think of one in front of everyone else. (laughs) This was the most embarrassed I’d felt since I was asked “please come up with some magic incantation” while we were recording “The Tower of Druga,” which I wrote the scripts for. I was stuck reading aloud how to pronounce each spell in front of everyone.

– After the anime, were there any characters you wanted to delve into more?
Actually, I’m writing a story for the novels that delves into the four Elementarios. I want to write more and more about those girls and the three part-timers, but since sentences aren’t as flashy as visuals, perhaps they’d look better in the anime. I wouldn’t mind writing about Tricen or the sober and present Jaws, but I don’t know if there’s any demand for that. (laughs)

– Having watched the anime, I’m curious about the relationship between Seiya, Isuzu, and Latifia. What will happen later for those three?
Though it doesn’t appear I deliberately wrote it as such in the novel, it does seem like they’ve eventually become a love triangle. By the way, at this point it may feel better to go with Latifia more or less in the novel. But will Isuzu make a comeback victory? Please stay tuned to find out what’s coming next! (laughs)

– Finally please give a message to all those who watched the anime.
Thank you very much to everyone who stayed and watched the Amaburi anime until the very end. It would make me very happy if you all enjoyed it. Afterwards, I think you’d like reading the various publications as well. If you desire something where “I want to see this kind of episode!” please contact the Kadokawa Fantasy Bunko editing department in your spare time. If it’s a good idea, I might consider writing about it if I feel like it. (laughs)

This is a translation of the (long) roundtable discussion between Director Ishihara, Series Director Yamada, and Author Takeda that was published in the Sound! Euphonium Official Fanbook (published on September 25, 2015 by Takarajimasha). Thanks to @yuyucow, @tadamari, and @animenewsdotbiz for their comments and reviews.

Director x Series Director x Author Roundtable

Director:

Tatsuya Ishihara
Anime director at Kyoto Animation. Previous works directed include Chuunibyou Demo Koi ga Shitai!, Nichijou, and The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.

Series Director:

Naoko Yamada
Anime director/animator at Kyoto Animation. Previous works directed include K-On!, Tamako Market, and the award-winning Tamako Love Story.

Author:

Ayano Takeda
Author. Debuted with “Today, We Breathed Together” in 2013. Also in 2013, Sound! Euphonium was published; currently there are 3 volumes and a collection of shorts published.

It’s rare to see an ordinary protagonist among anime characters

– Director Ishihara and Yamada-san, what were your thoughts when you first read the novel?
Ishihara: Actually, there had been discussions at a “talking about it” level about wanting to produce a work that was set in Kyoto by people inside our company. With the setting near our company, my true first impression was that I wanted to animate this more and more. (laughs) Also, since I always think about how I would animate something when I read it, I pondered how we would animate the SunFest parade. (laughs) For animation, we would have to animate a lot of people walking and holding instruments. It’d burn a lot of calories watching it.
Yamada: My first impression was that the atmosphere felt right somehow. It was depicted lively with lots of adolescent palpitations and breaths, so I was immensely hooked. I thought that it would be good to depict anything where people get fired up and that you could sympathize with the ongoing relationships with the people taking part in it, not just the concert band itself.

– Takeda-sensei, what were your impressions about your work being made into an anime?
Takeda: At first I had no idea what that meant. (laughs) It didn’t mean that it was a hit, so I wasn’t that startled. Honestly, when I met with the staff for our meeting, we would just talk about various topics.
Ishihara: Rather than feeling like it was a business meeting, we had random discussions that made it feel more like an introduction. After that, it was more like steadily creating the setting for the anime for us, but what did it feel like to you, Takeda-sensei?
Takeda: It felt like I was talking about my whole family. At first, I was just passing on information about the characters as well as the minor characters, but after a while, I started to steadily pass on settings for the story that I would write. After it was decided to make the novel into an anime, I believe I took some of our talks and put that in the two volumes published afterwards. (laughs)

– As you were working on the series, how did you think about how you were going to portray the work?
Ishihara: What do you mean?
Yamada: We went a little here and a little there. At the beginning of the scenario stage, there were discussions about putting more gag-type elements in it.
Ishihara: Definitely. By comparison, the novel is more a pure story, right? But the broadcast time was one where the people watching were late night anime fans, so I thought about making it have a more manga-type tempo in favor of them. Eventually, we didn’t go that route, but the storyboards for episode 2, which I drew, may have the most manga-type comical gags portrayed. (laughs) When you compare it to the first episode, the tempo definitely feels different. The reason is that the beginning feels more like trial and error still but as the episodes progress, the feeling solidifies into one tempo as well.
Yamada: In the novel, Kumiko’s personality is very charming, but she’s a type that isn’t the general anime character. She’s so ordinary feeling; not at all like you’d picture a heroine being. She started to play music because her older sister played it, she worries over the flavor of the ice cream she bought afterwards, and so on. (laughs) If we depicted Kumiko, she’d feel a bit out of place as a character in an anime. But because of that, this was a very fun challenging production.

One page of Ishihara’s storyboards for episode 2

– She certainly doesn’t feel like she’s the protagonist in an anime.
Yamada: Furthermore, she goes along with the flow, but she’s at the core of the story. One question was how we can bring that out in anime-form.
Ishihara: I’d say her outward appearance is also a bit low on the range of late night anime heroines. But when she’s with the other three girls, her height on that range is her tallest point. To comment on what Yamada said earlier, an ordinary protagonist would be a prodigy player or be absolutely awful, but Kumiko plays her euphonium reasonably well. It’s rare to see that type of protagonist for an anime character.
Takeda: Actually, there is a real person I modeled Kumiko from. Since she was tall as well, I was pulled by that image of her. Of the other characters, Sapphire also was modeled after someone. The bloody hands incident was an episode that happened entirely in reality.

– Takeda-san, what was the process for how you put Kumiko as a protagonist character?
Takeda: After I wrote my debut work, “Today, We Breathed Together,” (published in the Takarajimasha Bunko) my editor asked me “what would you like to write about next?” I told them that I wanted to write about an ordinary girl in a concert band and their first response was that it was too ordinary. (laughs) However, I wanted to capture the insides of the people there rather than merely depict the ups-and-downs of club activities. I consciously kept that balance between the two as I wrote and eventually, it felt like Kumiko’s current personality came out. She became the kind of girl you see around who has that strong will of a protagonist and is still able to be recalled in someone’s mind.

– Was it also a difficult part to portray a too ordinary protagonist in an anime?
Ishihara: It was part of it. For novels, readers have the ability to stick their own kind of love onto the protagonist, but it’s difficult to make anime in that first-person setting. The standard is to get involved in fun things with a protagonist-seeming protagonist in anime. On the other hand, there are group setting styles from the past that have their own charm by depicting each protagonist one-at-a-time like “Two Years’ Vacation.”
Takeda: I love that style. When you combine various types of personalities and ways of thinking and not just one, it gradually settles together like a puzzle you can’t quite piece together at first. Each girl has their own traits and when their mutual traits meet, it starts a chemical reaction of entertaining moments. If one girl doesn’t move a certain way, then another girl with a different personality can cover for her. It’s really fun to depict relationships like that. I’m thinking that I’m a reader wanting to constantly watch over them.

– After depicting things in the anime, were there any things that you became conscious about?
Ishihara: With it being a 1-cour 13 episode show instead of a film, there’s no practical turning point scene as the episodes go on one-by-one. I thought for a while about various locations to put one in the series. Though we were to divide the novel into 13 episodes from the beginning, I was re-arranging and fine-tuning the contents until the final episode was finished.
Yamada: That reminds me, at the first scenario meeting, I clearly remember you and series composer (Jukki) Hanada-san saying “let’s end the first episode with Kumiko kicking Shuichi in the back.”
Ishihara: Eventually, that didn’t happen.
Yamada: That’s right. I believe you two shook on it, said farewell, and then at the next meeting it was “let’s think about that again.” What happened there? (laughs)
Ishihara: The first episode itself has to have a turning point and so ending with Kumiko talking to Shuichi felt a bit lacking in that aspect. Due to that, as we were inserting the flashback scene for the middle school concert, we decided to use that flashback scheme for every episode as well. Incidentally, the original plan in episode 1 was for people to sense that the school song was being played poorly as a link to that concert, but the audience wouldn’t know what the school song for North Uji High was. Thus we thought about how to convey that clumsy playing. Since we wanted to have an entertaining song, we put in the theme from “Abarenbou Shogun.”
Takeda: That was an incredibly entertaining moment. (laughs)
Ishihara: Modern anime end the first episode with properly raising a question to be answered. The general show would move the story along to the end of our episode 3 where Taki-sensei rebukes the band’s performance by asking “What is this?” However, I thought it fit this show’s tempo to have episode 2 have the students picking their instruments. And there are a lot of works with that kind of tempo who have the protagonist as a beginner. In that instance, Hazuki saved us. With her there, adding a subplot where she previously bought the wrong mouthpiece was a plus to the story. Both I personally, and the likely large number of viewers, with no knowledge of concert band, would purchase the wrong mouthpiece because we had no idea it was wrong. That fundamental mistake would continue to add up bit-by-bit and feel entertaining.
Takeda: Sapphire was enjoyable as well with her slightly “old man” elements and her knowledge of music.
Yamada: She’s the type of girl who would cite sayings by musicians, so basically we depicted her as Joe Strummer. (laughs) Thanks to that, we were able to improve the scenario to have her move around more and bring out more of her charm from the novel.

– Takeda-san, what were your impressions as you read the anime scenario?
Takeda: As I read it, I felt “so you can make an anime like this.” The contents were so enjoyable. I was surprised at Sapphire-chan’s proper Japanese (Note: While all the characters in the novel except Kumiko speak with the Kansaiben dialect, Saphire really uses it.) and her interest in Tuba-kun. (laughs)
Yamada: That mascot has the “just right” feeling to put the euphonium in the shadow of a tuba. When I was a child, we would collect “Sylvania Families,” but the series with musical instruments had a tuba included, but not a euphonium. I really remembered it and felt that we could use it as a technique to convey how minor the euphonium is.
Ishihara: Did you know what a euphonium is?
Yamada: Yes I did. My older sister played one. When she explained instruments to me, she said “It’s a small tuba” and “There’s a lot of tuba merchandise but…..” and her depressed mood is an image that remained with me. (laughs) Eupho-kun has a different facial expression than Tuba-kun; one that matches Kumiko, and is cute too. As I was creating the goods for inside the show, I thought about how to add the character’s charms.
Takeda: Horn-chan is also cute.
Yamada: There’s also Sax-kun, but Eupho-kun recently came out. (laughs)
Takeda: It’d be funny to create a UFO-themed Eupho-kun design. (laughs) Either way, I truly feel thankful these goods were made.

Wanting to depict fellowship greater than love

– The characters’ distance is a bit different than in the novel. How did you think about that range?
Ishihara: Reina, in the early stages, would touch Kumiko, like point point, during the entire conversation.
Yamada: Additionally, we really paid attention to the imagery paying attention to that distance from the beginning when they weren’t close.

– It feels like the composition of their distance and the growth of Kumiko is somehow weaved or linked together.
Ishihara: At the beginning, I don’t think it was this deep, but as we were producing the show, perhaps it led towards this direction. They’re different than ordinary friends. It’s like you’re friends with this amazing person and you want to try your best so that you can be on their level. To Kumiko, Reina is that presence.
Yamada: The descriptions in the novel when Kumiko sees Reina were so unbearably stimulating. Therefore, I wanted to properly depict that.
Takeda: Thank you very much.
Yamada: I planned to measure the amount of force so that I wouldn’t make a mistake, but it felt like the entire detailed atmosphere that I worked so hard to gather between Kumiko and Reina was just released. (laughs) On one hand it was difficult, but it was irresistibly fun to create on the other. I wanted to convey that adolescent uproar of excitation. Kumiko’s the type of girl to be looking around herself constantly and sometimes her depiction of what she sees is interesting. From her point of view, she sees Reina somewhat sensually, but that’s also a characteristic shared by girls too, right?
Takeda: (laughs) In almost every work, not just novels, there’s so many that put romance above fellowship, aren’t there? I wasn’t satisfied with that, so I wrote this work thinking of making fellowship above romance. It’s just as Yamada-san says, Reina is a bit sensual from Kumiko’s point of view. It’s something characteristic that a girl would sense and describe. If a man were writing it, wouldn’t it be more like a lusty wolf coming out? (laughs)
Yamada: In this world, there’s so much that doesn’t just move because of love for love’s sake.
Takeda: Shuichi is special as well, but for Kumiko, Reina is depicted as a presence that is above him. Before Kumiko met her, he may have been her special guy, but now her relationship with Reina is eternal. It’s not just those two; that type of relationship is throughout this entire story. I wanted to show fellowship as this vastly important thing that gets cultivated by mankind depending on each other and working hard in that closed space of club activities.
Ishihara: Relating to that description, honestly, Yamada saved us by being present. I don’t know the first thing about girl friendships or fellowships, but I can surmise from this discussion that it’s quite difficult. By all means the way guys look at girls may be depicted in stereotypes. While there is a portion of this work that feels like the processed view guys see, it was important to escape away from that stereotyping.
Yamada: There were some points that Ishihara-san felt he couldn’t grasp. Therefore, I worked as the series director so that not only could I provide a feminine intuition for the work, but I could provide another way of thinking for portions that he was able to grasp. Listening to him is also important as well.

– Were your conversations grounded on Takeda-sensei’s experiences?
Takeda: I previously played in a concert band, so I included that experience. There are a lot of novels about concert band with flashbacks or written from the point of view of an instructor, but how many would want to read a story depicted from the point of view of a real student? Since I was able to write from a new point of someone who hasn’t lost her love of it, I was able to write freely while weaving and mixing in my own experiences. (laughs)

– Was that image shared when the anime was being made?
Ishihara: As the setting was in a location near our studios that we know quite well, we talked about wanting to try to make it feel like on-the-spot filming. I was obsessed over the camerawork while making sure that the background and layout of the screen felt like it was from a real camera.
Yamada: The locals were surprised. Uji is Uji, but to have North Uji as the setting surprised people that we would go that far to depict it as such. (laughs)
Takeda: I had a moment with my editor when I told them about the setting being in North Uji. It was a kind of “maybe we should put in an episode about green tea” moment. (laughs)
Yamada: That’s so true. For my screen layout image, I thought it might be better to have the space seem more masculine despite there being girls in the room since there are so many girls in the club. If we did that, we could use stronger colors in the backgrounds.
Ishihara: My ideal backgrounds for this production would not feel like they were taken by a digital camera, but processed like how Kodak film used to be. Older film has somewhat narrow latitude (the rate of light exposure), so the contrast is strong and shadowy parts properly sink into the image. As I was saying that to her, Yamada replies “wouldn’t it be better to have the background hues seem more masculine.” Though Yamada and I both love film, the amount of viewers who would support us who love it is unknown, but we went that course anyways. Additionally, there’s a self-documentary atmosphere feeling as well. While it has the quality of a special about concert bands, we very skillfully chased after the appearance so it would have a feeling of a documentary as well. (laughs)

– Can you give a concrete way of how a documentary would be shown?
Ishihara: The camera is from a third person point of view. It’s not from one particular character’s point of view; instead it feels like there’s a cameraman chasing after the subjects. There are still some cuts of that left in where I said “I don’t dislike this style” like in the characters being introduced again in the fourth episode.

– Yamada-san, was there any other proposals that you suggested for this show?
Yamada: For this show, there were a lot of times that we would just say “that’s right” in agreement for something in contrast to disagreeing with each other. Each person has their way of directing, so there were some points of disagreement with the way to use the camera, but the screen layouts we each wanted were similar.
Ishihara: I love cameras, so I’m very perceptive when it comes to depth of field or the way to use aperture. We could use soft focus to make the subject stand out more so they would be more beautiful, or we would obscure the background like a gravure photo shot so that the subject would stand out and still be beautiful. I would control for that kind of difference when creating a screen.
Yamada: Sometimes that can be used to depict their psychological state besides how beautiful the subject is.

– It felt like the scene where the girls are waiting for the walk light to turn green in episode 1 was very impressive photography.
Ishihara: That’s right. It might sound bad to say, but we intentionally blurred the screen. Recently, TV shows and digital cameras are incredibly clear and pretty, but reality is not like that. From our point of view, the background isn’t so clear; it’s a more blurred point of view right? Older film styles let you experience that kind of reality.
Takeda: It definitely felt like I was watching a movie. It didn’t feel like so-called modern anime; it felt more like the characters were really living in the real world. Coupled with the performances by the seijyu, the show always penetrates with that beautifully feeling of reality.
Yamada: We also used a similar effect in the scene with the sakura tree rows. I asked to film it with a lens similar to how a bad milk bottle would look. Originally, Ishihara-san is the director, but he asked me to draw the storyboards for the first episode, so I was very worried. But when I see Kumiko’s standpoint and think back about it after later events, that sakura tree row scene image comes to mind as a symbol of where she was. I depicted it as Kumiko wondering how long they’ll be remembered while mingling in a guardian’s point of view. Furthermore, I wanted it to be burned into her swirling heart, so I made it feel more like film.
Ishihara: It’s generally associated with a simple Photoshop where you gradually remove the detail, but the so-called 2-line boke can be used sometimes when you want something to appear as if you have a bad lens.
Yamada: That shaded-off feeling looks magnificent like in the scene where Midori’s waiting at the station in the final episode. I love that representation from the director of photography (Kazuya) Takao-san. He’s able to process images to create a very good creation.

One page of Yamada’s episode 1 storyboards

– Takeda-sensei, was there any scenes that you wanted to see at the time the anime was determined?
Takeda: I looked forward to seeing the climbing of Mt. Daikichi. Also, while I had a lot of expectations for the show, I watched it with fresh feelings much like an ordinary viewer.

– The direction for that felt so detailed. For example, the way the water flew was very deliberate.
Ishihara: For an example, if we were to overlap a pretty flower over a girl, it would appear to be more beautiful than the girl, wouldn’t it? We aimed to have a similar effect here.
Yamada: Directing is psychological battling. Therefore, one of the points where you show your craft is how much you unintentionally move things around to a point where you affect the feelings of the viewers. For that reason, you study daily and keep lots of things secret. (laughs)
Ishihara: Is that so?
Yamada: Yes. I think I’ve said a bit too much today, so I’m stopping there. (laughs)

Presenting musical instruments with a great deal of unknowns

– Let’s look back at how you portrayed wind music since it’s one of the themes of this show.
Ishihara: From before we started work on production, we, as novices, underwent various forms of preventions to guard for unforeseen errors in handling or playing of musical instruments. As you’d imagine, we had quite a bit of them. (laughs) Our contrabass stand would inevitably start to lean down on the rightward side when it was on its stand for example. The reason why is because the right side would disengage once we set the sound post onto the pillar supporting it, and so it’d lean down on the right. We had no idea it would do that, did we? (laughs)
Yamada: Similarly, when we were told the keynote for our horn was wrong, I immediately went into a panic without immediately understanding what they said. (laughs)
Ishihara: We first drew the tuba with its tuning pipe closed too. But during performances, we were able to make alterations to progress somewhat normally.
Takeda: I can feel your obsessions from hearing you talk about them. (laughs) Additionally, there’s a lot of re-occurring parts that would surprise you.
Yamada: Also, there was a girl who would play the trombone in our studio who said “When I played in concerts, I would close the tuning pipe and intentionally sound different during tuning.” (laughs) After she said that and I replied “hmm, that so,” I quickly went back to correct her work.
All: (laughs)
Yamada: I was so nervous every time we would bring in experienced musicians for what they would correct. (laughs)
Ishihara: But it helped us tremendously to being them to our studio.

– Do you have any memories of how you were able to handle the highly energetic performance scenes?
Ishihara: You can’t run away from them.
Yamada: That’s right. It may be the charm of this production, but our staff would research how each instrument would perform during those performances. They would try to convey things like the weight of each piston in their drawing.
Takeda: That is amazing.
Yamada: It’s worth doing that to give this work credit. From the very beginning, Kyoto Animation as a company has pursued finely detailed expressions. Everyone always carries with them that feeling to always do more for a production.
Ishihara: It’s tough work, but it helps you clearly present what you’ve sought out. For example, if I were to depict an overhead spaceship, all I would have to go on is my imagination, right? But musical instruments have form and a way to play them that you have to clearly understand.
Yamada: It may seem like you do whatever you can to make the image look better, but it also helps make the portions excluding music with universal human relations come together easier too.
Takeda: While I was re-reading the novel, I thought about how the beginning performance and the SunFest performance would look. In the story itself, I had to limit the tale to the characters mentioned or else it would get too confusing, but you constructed settings for all the members of the band. (laughs) I was astonished that you would go so far to determine parts and names for everyone.
Yamada: That reminds me, when I asked you about the mysterious step for SunFest, you replied that it’s “A certain samba.” (laughs) As I was conveying it to the episode director (Ichirou) Miyoshi-san, it got a bit entertaining.
Ishihara: If it was an ordinary production, the animator would want to stop drawing pictures as soon as possible.
Yamada: Miyoshi-san is the kind who would resolutely take it on as a challenge. At the time we would decide to give him certain episodes, he’d do a determined pose. At the same time, he might be increasing his resolve not to quit on it. (laughs)

– Takeda-san, going through the whole show, what scene is your most memorable?
Takeda: The performance scene with Kumiko and Reina on Mt. Daikichi in episode 8. In the novel, I didn’t insert musical instruments to link the two girls, but I was moved more by the anime scene. Also, the visuals were immensely beautiful.
Ishihara: There were a lot of circumstances where we refined the musical performances in the novel. When we had an opinion that an entertaining performance would fit the anime we tried to insert them as much as possible like the performance of the three girls playing “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” in episode 6 or the duet with Kumiko and Reina in episode 8.
Yamada: We included episodes 6 and 8 as episodes from the short story collection. Since the short story collection would be announced during the real-time production of the anime, we actively moved to mix in the episodes during the storyboarding phase. Actually, it felt really good to include the portrayal of Hazuki’s unrequited love in episode 8.
Takeda: I’m glad I wrote it. (laughs)
Yamada: Ishihara-san and I were glad when Chikao Takigawa showed up.
Takeda: I borrowed the names that were attached to them in the anime when writing the story where the guys get together.
Yamada: It felt like we were writing an exchange diary as we were working on the anime and then the novels were announced. I would learn that Taki-sensei likes coffee milk and then it’d show up in your writing. (laughs)
Takeda: Right. It was very fun.
Ishihara: I’ve wanted to ask Takeda-sensei something. The first novel contains elements that affect the second and third novels. Did you include them from the beginning to write a sequel?
Takeda: I included them feeling “If I write one, then that’ll be good.” Also, I included meaningful overcoming reluctance scenes because I think stories that resolve things up very clearly are quite nice. Since I was pursuing realism for the first novel, Asuka became this mysterious upperclassman who thinks about various things and that aspect gave weight to her character image. If the novel and anime clearly explained why you don’t know a lot about her, then she wouldn’t be that realistic mysterious upperclassman, would she? (laughs)
Ishihara: Along with that way of thinking and what I mentioned earlier about photography, we purposely would use an unclear lens to bring that feeling closer to the viewer. Our thoughts were that it would strengthen that realistic feeling to not bring everything in focus clearly.

– Please give a message to all the fans about your thoughts that were affected by this work.
Ishihara: I’ve made shows with high school protagonists many times now, but I learned a lot from this work since it was my first time using a concert band as a stage. It’s been a fun production year. I can’t say something profound like it was slowly reliving my high school days all over again but, through the frantic wrestling with this work, I was able to experience something valuable such as that frantic perseverance I felt during that time.
Yamada: This work is something similar to taking all the feelings of Takeda-sensei, the staff, and everyone who watched and putting them into one mass eruption. With all that power pushing me forward, I was able to firm my heart and persist in depicting the strong emotions of adolescence. During the various forms of production, it was troubling, but looking back on it, it was quite fun……
Takeda: Being able to have a work animated like this feels like I won the lottery. (laughs) Minutely depicting the depths of wind music, bringing each and every character into reality, and furthermore diligently scraping the novel for all information, I’m thankful for everything. Furthermore, I was blessed with the chance to write sequels and safely conclude my work. All of it was a blessing I never knew once it was set to be animated. I truly thank you all.

This is the second of a series of interviews with various staff members of Sound! Euphonium that was published in the Official Fanbook released by Takarajimasha on September 23.

Series Composer:

Jukki Hanada

Scriptwriter. Notable works include Beyond the Boundary, Love, Chuunibyou, & Other Delusions, and Steins;Gate (series composer for all).

A scenario packed with the atmosphere of a concert band

– What impressions did you have after first reading the novel?
It was a very entertaining read. I was completely absorbed into the story as I read, especially with the power behind the last part with the showoff between Reina and Kaori for the solo. As I took notes for the scenario, I wondered if we would be casting too big a net with the number of characters we have for only 13 episodes, considering the number of people in a band is so huge. How we would narrow down our depiction of which characters was something I was aware of from the very beginning. In a novel, you aren’t concerned with characters that are around the protagonist if you don’t write about them, but you’ll see them in an anime.

– Did Director (Tatsuya) Ishihara give you any requests concerning how the scenario would go?
Ishihara-san thought about thoroughly depicting the story of the first volume so that we could put it into 13 episodes. Generally, when novels get animated, there’s a lot of works that put the content of 2-4 books into 1 cour (12-14 episodes), but with one book, we had to insert elements between scenes to thoroughly depict it. Even if I felt the other way was easier, I would have to stop that in order to meet what Ishihara-san wanted for the composition.

– What did you concentrate on while thinking about creating the series composition?
Well, the peak of the novel was during the re-audition between Reina and Kaori, so how would we set things in motion to arrive at that point? Also, I proposed how we would depict the final part of Kumiko’s plot. The anime would arrive at a temporary final episode through a different path, so I wanted a different arrival and climax for her. Thus, while I was creating the episode structure, I kept in mind that the 12^th episode would be Kumiko’s turning point. From the very start, Ishihara-san was fixated on having the final episode’s B-part contain the final performance scene. Since they are part of this work’s very nature and that there was an extraordinarily large emphasis on performances, I was very aware of when I could insert them in the planning stages of the composition.

– I was curious: what considerations did you have in mind to change the distance between characters as the story progressed?
I wanted that sense of moving forward step by step that you get when making a TV anime sometimes. For example, episode 8 holds the summit of Kumiko and Reina’s relationship, so how do I shorten that distance between them as I move to that point? Though the point at the start of episode 2 isn’t in the novel, perhaps I could insert that exchange so viewers will be aware of how far apart they are…. However, I had to stay alert and make allowances here and there so that I don’t overdo it and ruin the novel’s merits. From where we reach the summit for their relationship, I then surged into the novel’s peak of the re-audition and furthermore into Kumiko’s climax point. It’s a bit rough, but you get how that feels.

– What do you keep in mind when adding portions that were not in the novel?
I try to use my imagination as necessary while keeping the contents of the novel in mind. Hazuki is a beginner and she has a wild personality, so perhaps including an episode where she buys the wrong mouthpiece would be appropriate. Sapphire is really self-conscious about her name, so her having to correct Asuka-senpai every time she calls her “Sapphire” would fit. (laughs) As work progresses, my understanding of the characters grow, so I can strongly move them around with my own hand, not worrying so much about the logic. I personally like the president, Haruka, a lot, but unfortunately, she doesn’t have many appearances in the latter half of the novel. (laughs) So when I would write her lines for that part, I used a certain kind of image of her that I had in mind as she speaks. Also the conversation with Asuka and her before the re-audition felt like it came out so spontaneously.

– Were there any orders from Director Ishihara relating to each episode’s scenario?
Actually, there weren’t any at all. From the very beginning, he told me ”please write this as freely as you want.” To start I had to figure out what kind of work this was and to put it in a crude state. Using that as a chopping board, we would boil down the contents during discussions with everyone saying “would this character do such a thing?” or “this scene is surprisingly important, isn’t it?”

– Besides the performance scenes, what elements did you include to make the show seem more like a concert band?
When I went to observe a concert band, their practicing imagery was something that remained with me. Elements like instruction given to members and how those members responded are portions people don’t see on the stage. That experienced feeling of tension and the sudden rush of sounds pitter-pattering in like a mosaic inside the room is truly unique. Both Ishihara-san and Yamada-san, who I went with to see the band, gave me an order that “[we] want to insert scenes around practicing as much as possible.”

– What points in particular did you see while you were observing the band?
We observed high school and collegiate concert bands and a concert performance. At the start of our observation, the students were performing the “Crescent Moon Dance” piece and we were also able to see them practicing it as well. There were many instances where the instructor would say “play this song like this” and while the students listened to their explanation, they would know what to do to make the song sound like what the instructor wanted. (laughs) It’s so much of a positive to see the song being plated and understand how to play that song. I was scribbling notes for what Taki-sensei would say as we were observing them. (laughs) Additionally, the specific phrases the instructor used were memorable. “A bit more stingy” or “More cool.” Someone who’s new to playing instruments wouldn’t know what they’re saying, but it’d be properly communicated to someone who’s played a lot. Also, this is something people may not remember, but try to think back to when you listened to a concert band when you were a student. The tune doesn’t suddenly stop after 2 stanzas, right? At that time, what part is the band practicing? When I listened and heard that in reality, it immediately intrigued me, so I thought it would be great to try and skillfully add that to the scenario. There’s a lot of modern anime shows that have depictions which suddenly float away from you, but this work feels like you thoroughly depict everything about it.

A youthful drama reflecting student hierarchical relationships

– One of the side aspects of this work was adolescence. What did you have in mind to depict that side of it?
For us, there doesn’t appear to be any difference between first, second, or third years in high school. But looking back at that time, there was a huge difference that a single year makes. You act like a first year would when you are one and you start to act like a second year when you become one. I remained aware of things like the difference between Reina’s immature conduct and Kaori’s more adult attitude and their subtle differences despite being students in the same decade. At the time I wrote Gotou saying “You’re a first year. Don’t worry about it,” I was thinking I would say the same thing when I was in his position. (laughs) It’s also a bit easy to use club activities as a spot to show the entertaining ups and downs of a scripted drama.

– Kumiko is a bit disconnected from what you would imagine a protagonist to look like. What issues did you have while you were writing her?
I’m a similar person to her, so it never felt difficult at all. I’d just write myself as a base and then it would become Kumiko’s lines. (laughs) Can I depict all of the flaws that Kumiko has…. She says just a bit too much, she’s like a cold splash of water on everyone else burning around her, and while she says some profound things, she’s not profound herself. If they aren’t recognized, then Kumiko should be seen as detestable, but it’s not like that at all. Everyone in the staff and cast shared that “Kumiko component” and worked towards the same direction to depict her well.

– What impressions remain with you of the depictions of the other characters?
Perhaps the character who changed the most from the novel is Sapphire. Everyone in the novel (except Kumiko) spoke with the Kansaiben dialect, but Sapphire used it in the most lively and chattery ways. When I changed it to standard Japanese, she became this ordinary character. So then we had to change her tone a bit. After that, as I added Yamada-san’s idea that she “loves rock,” Sapphire became this entertaining character. From the beginning when she says “I’ll risk my life on it,” and nothing else, Sapphire became this necessary character.

– Now that you’ve seen the completed visuals, what scenes remain impressive for you?
It’s gotta be the last scene in episode 12 where Taki-sensei confesses to Kumiko “I haven’t forgotten that you said you can do it.” Actually, at the scenario stage, it was “I still truly believe we will go to Nationals,” just like it was in the novel. That was what episode director (Ichirou) Miyoshi-san changed it to in the storyboards and it became this truly impressive line. As a screenwriter, I feel like “I lost!” (laughs)

– Please give us your final thoughts after participating in this work.
This was something truly worth doing. I can say that it’s one of my most notable works. Before this work, I put it as a standard and felt my next work would be indexed according to it. If our fans would continue to forever love this show and watch it again while recommending it, it would greatly please me.

This is the third of a series of interviews with various staff members of Sound! Euphonium that was published in the Official Fanbook released by Takarajimasha on September 23.

Composer x Music Producer

Akito Matsuda

Composer/Arranger. Composed music for Baka and Test, Natsuiro Kiseki, and Love, Chunibyou, and Other Delusions.

Shigeru Saito

Music Producer at Lantis. Began work as a producer with Kyoto Animation’s productions and has since produced music for countless anime titles.

Explaining the trusted and unique menu of music for shows

– Please tell us the details of how Matsuda-san was chosen to compose the music for Sound! Euphonium.
Saito: He helped Director (Tatsuya) Ishihara with the music before for Love, Chuunibyou, and Other Delusions. Their affinity for that production was quite good as a pair, and I thought this work would have an extraordinarily high amount of trials and tribulations, so I nominated the positive and proactive Matsuda-kun to give it his best.
Matsuda: There are very few anime that have wind music as a theme and I myself haven’t been involved in any of those productions. I thought it would be a challenge in a new field, so I felt like giving it a shot.

– Do you have any knowledge or experience with wind music Matsuda-san?
Matsuda: It didn’t come up at my college of music, so while I’d like to say that I know a ton of detailed information, that’s not the case at all. (laughs) But I was a member of the concert band from middle until high school, so I was able to use that experience in studying for this production.

– By the way, what instrument did you play?
Matsuda: I played all kinds. (laughs) I started out playing the trombone and then switched to the percussion section. When I graduated from high school, I was studying conducting.

– How did you settled on a concrete direction for the music in this show?
Saito: Usually when I deal with the staff at Kyoto Animation, I produce a large menu of options for the director. After that, the sound director and I begin to plump it up during our discussions. For this show, in addition to how strongly obsessed sound director (Youta) Tsuruoka-san usually is, he also worked as a representative for his company, Rakuonsha, on the production committee. I could easily feel how strong his enthusiasm for working on this show was. Rakuonsha has always been in charge of producing the sounds for Kyoto Animation’s works since they moved from being a subcontractor. Due to how long we’ve worked together, I know that I can propose something and leave it up to the director, and this time Tsuruoka-san, to implement it. When I’d talk about something, Tsuruoka-san would say “I definitely want to do that!” Therefore he had a key role in deciding everything about producing the sound for this show. He spoke with Matsuda-kun about the image for every single piece of music.
Matsuda: Yes. The approach this time felt different than usual for anime; instead of making BGM, it felt like I was making musical creations. Because of that, the titles for our music menu were a bit hard to understand. (laughs) There’s a lot of them that feel literary which later made it to the soundtrack titles like “Spreading Consciousness.”
Saito: Usually when we create a menu for anime, there’s a lot of titles like “fast rhythm, stringed instruments” or “everyday 1,2,3.” It’s rare to see poetic titles like this menu had. We didn’t create tunes with these titles in mind; these words were the memories we had when creating these tunes.
Matsuda: But they aren’t easily expressed when you see them as sheet music. (laughs)

– So were you instructed not to use certain instruments and melodies for this work?
Matsuda: Basically yes. I mentioned that I did not want to use wind instruments before we started since this is a work that has wind music as a theme. If we included them in BGM, people wouldn’t be able to distinguish it from the sound of the instruments during practice scenes.

– Not being able to use wind instruments was quite difficult, wasn’t it?
Matsuda: It was. Usually, you feel safe trusting melodies to wind instruments. (laughs) Since I couldn’t do that this time, when it came to creating melodies, my options were either the piano or woodwinds. It was quite difficult to create variations around those.

– Was there a symbolic instrument?
Saito: It’d have to be either strings or the piano. Rather than say we aimed to use those, we were more or less forced to use them. I’d say Matsuda would agree. (laughs)

– What piece did you start with?
Matsuda: The first BGM piece I made was used for promotion inside the Comiket hall called ”Starting the project (Big Band Ver).” I was asked to create a wind music-like piece for demonstration, we went into a different direction, and eventually it became something with a taste of jazz. Usually, I’m happy inserting some wind music theme in promotion, but here it felt very wasteful to not contemplate how it would be used. Somewhere I thought to use “Crescent Moon Dance,” as the face of this work.
Saito: But I also liked the “That’s Wind Music” kinda feeling for the first tune as well. For a promotional tune, I feel that it was a nice bluff to use a rather jazzish piece.

– “Crescent Moon Dance” is a piece that’s depicted in the novel. Did you keep its descriptions in mind while working on that song?
Matsuda: Of course. It’s depicted as starting with a trumpet melody and then the woodwinds start to pile in, so I remained firmly aware of how that went.
Saito: You remade it how many times, right?
Matsuda: Too many. (laughs)
Saito: There’s many ways that one could interpret that title, so the staff at Kyoto Animation carried with them a complete image of what they wanted the song to be from the beginning. On our side, Matsuda-kun would think about a more smooth melody and then it took time combining the two into the same image. Every time we talked about it, they said to “make it more violent!” (laughs)
Matsuda: That’s right. I wasn’t going to change directions to be too violent.

– What did you keep in mind while working on its trumpet solo part?
Matsuda: When the solo part was first proposed, I thought “isn’t that too easy?” I continued to ask about it, searching for the right level of difficulty. I asked “Is it alright if I put it at a professional level?” (laughs) Additionally, I wrote a very difficult phrase for it. Not only do you have to use all three pistons, but you have to alter the sound that comes from your lips. It’s a very busy phrase that uses lots of high notes as well.
Saito: As we watched this exchange, we were constantly worried over what the performance level would be set at. Almost all of the people who would watch the anime would not be experienced with wind music, but while you don’t want to create something unpleasant for experience musicians, you have to make something so people who know nothing about wind music could understand the situation. Eventually, we settled on having a high level of talent for the skilled players in the anime as it would be easier to convey. We pushed aside the middle level and set the differences in talent at high and low so that it would be easily understood.

– How were the insert music pieces decided?
Saito: We decided on them with all the staff at the scenario meetings. The theme from Abarenbou Shogun was chosen because many people from all walks would know it and it would be a surprisingly entertaining tune. “Rydeen” in episode 5 was from (Naoko) Yamada-san and using “The Place Where We Found Love” as Kumiko and Reina’s duet in episode 8 was Director Ishihara’s wish. When we asked Senzoku Gakuen’s School of Music’s (Masahiro) Owada-sensei “what songs would be good for the rival schools,” he advised us to use “The Fairest of the Fair March” and “Scheherazade” and so we settled it then.
Matsuda: I arranged “The Place Where We Found Love” and it was a bit difficult as I had no visuals to use while arranging. Originally, I had Reina’s trumpet play the melody and Kumiko’s euphonium become the base of the song, but I received an order saying they wished it to be more intertwined like their friendship. From that, I organized it so that the A melody would be the trumpet the first time and the euphonium the second time and the hook would combine the two sounds into one. It took about 5 times of reworking it with small modifications until it was complete.

– Senzoku Gakuen’s Freshmen Wind Ensemble were in charge of performing the pieces. Please tell us how they were asked to participate in this production.
Saito: One of the companies that our firm coordinates music with introduced us to them. We met with the assistant principal and explained our plan to him of which he very cheerfully decided to cooperate with us. Senzoku Gakuen has four wind music courses. One is a course that only the upper two years may choose whom collects a group of skilled players that could put professionals to shame. For us, the Freshmen course that we used was one that all first years must participate in. The assistant principal recommended them to us saying “since this is a high school story, wouldn’t using the freshmen be more realistic since they are the closest in age?” We decided to use them according to his wishes.

– Were there any other benefits that Senzoku Gakuen added to production besides their performances upon collaborating with them?
Saito: Of course. The director and scenario writer (Jukki) Hanada-san went to observe them practice and that observation influenced the work greatly. One of those was watching how the conductor instructed; but there were a lot of things they observed for the first time. For example, a Japanese person has difficulties distinguishing between “B” and “D,” so in a situation where they want to indicate “start from B,” they’ll say “Let’s go from B as in baseball.” As they took notes on statements like that, Taki-sensei’s lines began to take form.

– Were you able to meet them Matsuda-san?
Matsuda: I wasn’t able to directly talk with them. I did meet them while we were recording though.
Saito: Matsuda-kun isn’t a wind music specialist, so he was very nervous at the beginning.
Matsuda: I was.
Saito: When the mentor for Senzoku Gakuen, Owada-sensei, saw the sheet music for “Crescent Moon Dance,” he gave us some hurtful advice. He quickly pointed out points that made him nervous so quickly making me clench my abdominals, but then he said “It’s a good playing piece, so it’s fine.”
Matsuda: While it gave you some relief, it also made you feel a bit uneasy, right? (laughs)
Saito: But when I heard “DREAM SOLISTER Wind Orchestra Ver” play over the final episode, I said “I’ve leveled up. Through these various trials, I’ve gone from the sheet music of “Crescent Moon Dance” to create something even more enjoyable.”
Matsuda: I’m happy to hear that. Rather than clash together, wind music has many points where you can hear the different sounds mingle together. I was able to make the final episode’s ending arrangement come to life because of the experiences I went through with “Crescent Moon Dance”
Saito: When we were recording “Crescent Moon Dance,” we were also recording the classic “FUNICULI FUNICULI” at the same time. Matsuda-kun saying “there’s songs with some easy to play elements in them, huh” when comparing the performance of sheet music he wrote to a song that’s been loved for many years is something that remains with me.
Matsuda: The recording atmosphere is very important. You can see how a song will sound well when performed as compared to by your side when you create it. That’s why I’m always thinking of various things to try next when I watch the recording live.

– Based on that experience, what tricks did you use when creating the orchestral arrangement of the opening theme?
Matsuda: I created “Crescent Moon Dance” with different instruments playing the same phrase to give it that powerful feeling. If I can say a negative, there were no moments where each instrument and each note were given their own emphasis. For the arrangement for the opening theme, I limited the ensemble to only woodwinds and brass while making beautiful chords.

The images obtained through repeating the same pieces

– Let’s return to the background pieces played in the show. Matsuda-san, what pieces did you first create when receiving the orders?
Matsuda: I began with the main theme for the show, “The Beginning Melody.” Tsuruoka-san requested a definitive piece that could be used in many ways, and I feel it’s became quite a good piece in itself. Because of that, I was aware it would be an emotional theme when we also would use it for the climax in the final episode. Also, though I had composed a fair amount of melodies for background music, it was decided that it would be playing as the first episode opened to somehow give it that “beginning” image. Since I had a bit of freedom to do what I wanted for the latter half of the show, I originally wanted to create some long pieces as well. So I slowly began to compose all at once and meandered a bit. That welcomed a lot of troubling points during the BGM composition. (laughs)
Saito: If you overly meander during music development, it’s tough to use when editing. But “The Beginning Melody” is truly a very good piece and is, what I think, the one piece that embodies all of Sound! Euphonium. When you hear it again during that final episode, it sounds like it’s given more strength that time. That tune you created is truly amazing, Matuda-kun.

– Was it true that there were no re-takes for the tunes you composed from Tsuruoka-san?
Matsuda: None at all.
Saito: Tsuruoka-san was quite pleased with the tunes Matsuda-kun created. Even going as far to say “They’re academic.” While Tsuruoka-san would get involved in deciding what tune, I think he would be prepared from the very beginning to meekly accept whatever he was given. From his standpoint, I think that’s quite a challenge. It’s an enjoyable and unpredictable chemical reaction when you toss out an order and let a musician fulfill it. I think it’s a move befitting a veteran sumo wrestler. If a musician isn’t given a chance to grow, then there’s no certainly no meaning at all for its production.

-How many BGM pieces in total were made for this show?
Saito: This show has a bit fewer than usual. Recently, modern anime would have around 40-50 background pieces for a show, but this doesn’t even have 30. Perhaps people who have seen the show would realize that we used the same songs repeatedly for similar scenes. Tsuruoka-san was concerned about building up this image as we moved towards the final episode. As we would watch, it was building up, unbeknownst to us, and making the music in the final episode very moving. Similar to Pavlov’s dogs, when we would play a certain tune, it would be associated with a moving scene. If you use a lot of pieces, this effect wouldn’t happen, so this was a trick we used for this show so that the music would create a maximum effect for the viewers where they could be emotionally invested.

– Which of the background pieces continues to have an impression on you today?
Matsuda: Around the time episode 8 aired, I received an order for more music. I used how I saw the anime on-air while creating “The Flow of Fate”, so that song suggests what I felt while watching the show. I was aware of how that sisterly tune would be inserted and how it would sound while making it.
Saito: Maybe for me it would be the approach of “Crescent Moon Dance.” We consciously used its melody while creating the background music, so it was thanks to doing that for Tsuruoka-san to accumulate those emotions and have a huge effect which remains with me now.

– So all the background music has a taste of “Crescent Moon Dance” in it?
Saito: That’s right. Matsuda-kun did a good job responding to our wishes this time. As an artist, there’s many times where you go through troubles like “make your orders more concrete so I can understand what kind of image you want.” At first, I think Matsuda-kun was perplexed, but as he silently worked with the music, he very much saved us this time around.

– Do you not get beat down while you are composing music?
Saito: I think there’s times we all are, but we don’t show that we are.
Matsuda: But I think this time, due to how we produced it, I frankly didn’t let it show at all. (laughs) I adopted a stance where I would get worried, say there’s no use in getting worried, and then gradually make it take form.
Saito: Because of the unique way we ordered, you had to simply follow up with what you were given. Also, Matsuda-kun would be persistent in wanting to know what we said at the business meetings, which was nothing at all, so I couldn’t say anything else to him. That was reality though, so he had to be prepared to make music however he could. Of course, those were the moments where I was the most busy too. (laughs)
Matsuda: Also, I think you dig your own grave if you listen to so many different things. (laughs)
Saito: If you listen to something, you have to reply to it in your product.

– Were there any memorable scenes that have stayed with you for how they were used?
Matsuda: Perhaps how well “Thoughts Wanted to Convey” was used when Taki-sensei appeared in a scene. My request from Tsuruoka-san was to make a “holy sanctuary” feeling piece, but when we opened the bottle, it became something like Taki-sensei’s theme. (laughs) So while it wasn’t what I had imagined, seeing it was entertaining.
Saito: When it was used in episode 8 by the Agata Festival, it was impressive, but when you look at it overall, it makes a strong impression with Taki-sensei. We had made a court music version as well, but in the end, it wasn’t used in the show.
Matsuda: That’s a bit too individual piece. (laughs) Speaking of episode 8, I was completely surprised at how well the images matched when “The Place Where We Found Love” played. There’s other scenes that felt the same way like the beautiful playing when Yuuko was crying at the re-audition in episode 11.
Saito: I also loved the way that music was played.
Matsuda: It makes me happy when the music I make can evoke those feelings. It’s impressive how many scenes come to mind like that for this show.

– What’s your favorite scene?
Matsuda: I look back at that re-audition scene at times. That tension in the air is absolutely amazing. I think the staff at Kyoto Animation has to prepare some kind of schooling to make those detailed gestures by the characters. It’s not just Reina and Kaori; you can clearly see all the characters’ expressions.
Saito: It’s episode 11 for me too. When you think about it all, not just the performances, you can feel how heartbreaking it is for Yuuko, who wants Kaori-senpai to play the solo.

– Who was your favorite character?
Matsuda: Yuuko. I think it’s absolutely lovely to have a character who tries her hardest for someone else’s sake.
Saito: I like Natsuki personally. She’s not going to be your star athlete, but I think that sense of balance she brings feels nice. She’s like the lubricating oil for the wheels. I feel somewhat similar to her position in my own role.

– Please tell us your impressions about this show.
Matsuda: I’ve written many wind music-esque pieces before, but this was a challenge to write actual music for the first time. It was extraordinarily wonderful to hear the music I wrote played magnificently. I was enchanted. As for the show itself, I feel it’s something that both people who know music and people who don’t can find entertaining. Perhaps it may bring up some old wounds for those experienced musicians, but that too is part of the charm it brings. (laughs) I’m incredibly happy to have participated in this show. Thank you very much for having me.
Saito: I’ve produced the music for various types of anime, but this was the most difficult one in all well meaning. Firstly, this is a group of 50 people with some good and bad players, so finding that right mixture of people is quite unlikely. And then while we’re recording, it’s difficult to ask the students to play an approximate amount poorly. This was my first time as a recording director, so I was nervous about pointing out the things that needed improvement after a performance. Additionally, it was decided that the music scene storyboards would be determined based on the performance, so if the sound was lacking, we would have to continually do it again every time. With all those conditions, this work was the one I spent the most time, effort, and brain power on, but it made a marvelous show. As I have gained new experiences working on this show, I feel blessed to have been able to participate in creating it.

This is the fourth in a series of posts where I’ve translated the various staff interviews about Sound! Euphonium from the official guidebook published by Takarajimasha last week. This post, unlike the others thus far, is a compilations of mini-interviews with the various producers for the show. It’s rare to hear from this side of production, so I hope you enjoy reading these comments from the people who make everything happen via arranging things together.

Producer:
Eharu Oohashi
Member of the Sales Department of Kyoto Animation

1: Please tell us what position you held during the development of Sound! Euphonium.
I was the Executive Secretary for the production committee for my firm (Kyoto Animation). For me personally, I worked as a producer for the committee.

2: What do you feel is this work’s charm?
In one word: “passion.” At the beginning of this work, Kumiko doesn’t feel that “passion” on the outside, but as she meets the various characters who have their own “passion,” and goes through various experiences with the people around her, that “passion” begins to unconsciously and gently surface.

3: Please tell us what your favorite scene is.
I’d like to stay above picking out a particular scene. (laughs) If we have to go “personally,” then it would be the first PV we made. We made a simple offer of “we want to make a cool PV!” and when it was done, both the animation and music truly made it “cool.”

4: Please tell us a memorable event that happened to you during production.
I had the priviledge of doing many things during the production process, but the one that I remember most has to be experiencing that “passion” that the wind music students whom we met had in overwhelming amounts. I vividly recall thinking “I could never continue playing to this kind of level” from seeing all the students with my own eyes both from our model concert band’s students and advisor at East Uji High School and going to see the participating students from various schools at the Kyoto Wind Music Contest.

5: When you think about the modern animation environment, where do you see Sound! Euphonium fitting into that space?
Modern anime has a huge variety of shows, so I can’t say where this show exists in that spectrum. As someone who works at an animation producer, we want to be aware and keep in mind to create something that lands “right in the middle.” That is a very important direction for us.

6: Please tell us your impressions relating to this work.
I mentioned earlier that the students who devoted themselves to wind music had quite a lot of “passion” about them. During production, our own staff was covered in “passion” so that we wouldn’t lose out compared to them. I could feel the “passion” from everyone: cast, sound staff, music staff, publicity and broadcast staff, video disc package staff, and everyone else involved in the animation process. I think that if everyone watching were able to also feel that “passion” that the staff held, it would bring us utmost pleasure.

Producer:
Shinichi Nakamura
Employed at Pony Canyon’s Crossmedia Headquarters

1: Please tell us what position you held during the development of Sound! Euphonium.
In addition to serving as a producer for the production committee, I also participated in bringing together the publicity, video package sales, and foreign contact staff at Pony Canyon.

2: What do you feel is this work’s charm?
What I liked the best is that this work has first years, it has second years, and it has third years. It spun together everything into one story as it piled together those one-on-one relationships. I really liked episode 11 where that was most abundant.

3: Please tell us what your favorite scene is.
Nothing in particular feels above the other, but I did enjoy the scenes in episode 8 where Reina runs along Kumiko’s nose and says to call her “Reina,” Sapphire’s “I’m George-kun, keep at it!” in episode 9, the conversation between Natsuki and Kumiko at the fast food restaurant in episode 10, and so forth.

4: Please tell us a memorable event that happened to you during production.
When we were meeting about the entire scenario, series director (Naoko) Yamada-san was extremely fixated on this character she created called “Tuba-kun.” At that time, I had no idea what she was trying to convey, but it because an important key item for our first years.

5: When you think about the modern animation environment, where do you see Sound! Euphonium fitting into that space?
For animation, we have a tendency to want to curl up with our most sentimental works, but, as a business, we have to take a wide viewpoint as if we’re at the base of a mountain. Analysis and forecasting is important, but it’s essential for us to create anime that makes people feel “I’ve never seen something like this before” and believe that it could reach everyone’s hearts. In that kind of meaning, this work has magnificently been able to breach into many peoples’ hearts and awareness.

6: Please tell us your impressions relating to this work.
Often when I’m watching this show, I miraculously feel caught and think “what am I seeing right now?” You can tenderly see the passion born from their thick expressions. Those feelings can be sensed because it deviates from a lot of television anime categories. As a producer, it was extremely wonderful to be able to produce a work like this. If I were to lose my life right now, it wouldn’t be that bad since I made this.

Producer:
Shigeru Saito
Lantis Company Executive

1: Please tell us what position you held during the development of Sound! Euphonium.
I served as both the music producer as well as a producer for the production committee

2: What do you feel is this work’s charm?
How it depicts adolescence. It has enough tenacity to not lose to a hot-blooded sports program. One of the beauties of this work is that you’re able to love all the characters who appear in it. Because the characters and story is told episode by episode, you’re able to magnificently sympathize with them. The animation itself is spectacularly done too. With a splendid scenario, you can feel the passion in the direction and animation. Being able to experience that “passion” and “love” from the participating staff and cast is amazing as well.

3: Please tell us what your favorite scene is.
The scene in episode 11 where Kaori-senpai loses to Reina. In many episodes I wonder “what would sound good here?” Technically, Reina should sound better, but due to how much history and contributions Kaori has put into the club, her music may resonate better in everyone’s hearts. I always think “good music raises the bar for a good drama.” Kaori has built up a lot of drama behind her while Reina has none. The choice to pick Reina is the correct one for those watching the performances in the concert hall, but Kaori’s tones may sound better to the club members. Being able to think about that makes me love episode 11. That and the music made it feel like God had descended. I wept.

4: Please tell us a memorable event that happened to you during production.
This is more related to my role as a music producer, but I was immensely worried about how to direct and record the poor and good performances. How bad should we have the theme for Abarenou Shogun played so that people will know that it’s being played poorly? Since they’re still a concert band, when we say they’re playing poorly, it doesn’t mean they’re playing awful. However, it needs to be bad enough so that the many potential viewers for the anime who have no familiarity with playing need to think “ah, that’s definitely bad.” And so forth. I was extremely concerned over the “level of badness.” In the end, I went for the masses and concluded “let’s make it extremely easy to tell. They’re going to play incredibly poorly.” I resolved myself to hear the critics say “there’s no way they would play that badly!” However, I felt relieved since it was coupled with wonderful direction. I was also extremely concerned over the differences between Reina and Kaori during the trumpet solo competition. We needed to express that while Kaori plays incredibly well, Reina is outrageously talented. As I was thinking this scene also needed to be oriented towards the general public, I thought how best to make the difference easy to tell. Kaori’s performance was performed by the best girl in the band (Senzoku Gakuen’s freshman team) while I asked a professional concert band’s top trumpeter to perform for Reina. Reina isn’t professionally better than Kaori, so I worried that I might have overdone it, but I needed to emphasize that “easy to tell” portion. Regardless, there were many other worrying points that made me nervous until every broadcast day. It was necessary for experienced musicians and for unexperienced people to understand the story. I thought every day about that balance between the two in my music direction.

5: When you think about the modern animation environment, where do you see Sound! Euphonium fitting into that space?
It’s a rare work that depicts adolescence as it should. Additionally, it’s an important event in anime history for how it expresses the world of wind music as well. Drawing instruments (by hand) is extraordinary difficult. When you take that challenge head on, this show is what you get in return. You’re always having to constantly face that challenge of expressing music (drawing as well as sound) without running away. This is a work where every surface is difficult. But because of that, the staff’s immense “passion” and “love” can be felt. Animation is team power. This work has the biggest display of team power I’ve seen. Cut-by-cut, sound-by-sound, everything is loaded with “energy.” I think the meaning of this work is all the “passion” and “love” from the staff in order to give rise to a good work. The current generation should check it again and see that.

6:Please tell us your impressions relating to this work.
I’ve participated in a number of various works in this industry, but this show is number 1 on the list of works that I have a deep connection with. Of course it’s due to the struggles I went through when creating music, but above that, it’s the best team that I’ve been able to be a part of. Being able to work for such a dreamy team like this is the best joy I can say.

Publicity Producer:
Takayuki Konishi
Member of Pony Canyon’s Cross Media 3^rd branch at the Cross Media Headquarters

1: Please tell us what position you held during the development of Sound! Euphonium.
I was in charge of this work’s publicity. It was my job to think about promoting this work and how to bring it out into the world by answering questions like “when can this information be revealed?” or “how about holding this kind of event?”

2: What do you feel is this work’s charm?
It has to be that “real” feeling, right? I was in the concert band myself, so though this show, I was able to awaken memories to those days by going “oh, that’s right.” It brought tears to my eyes when I saw the tuners sitting on the music stand. (laughs) Though club activities, Kumko grows a bit. Also, since they’re high school students, they have arguments in the clubroom. If I didn’t look outside, I’d think I was dreaming with how “real” the activities are on screen. The atmosphere and other parts of the club activities are so “real” that I think I’d still be touched fondly and reminisce about my school days even without the concert band. It feels like a work that surpasses the anime label.

3: Please tell us what your favorite scene is.
If I have to pick one, it has to be the “final episode’s performance scene.” I was entranced by the feeling of the spectators looking towards me. (laughs) You could feel that unique atmosphere only present at performances throughout the screen. The feeling of putting your whole soul into that “Crescent Moon Dance” performance you worked on all summer was quite moving. I was crying so much that it looked like everyone had a halo on top of their head. I also pictured everyone’s faces as they practiced. It’s an irresistible moment where everyone, the performing members and the supports like Hazuki and Natsuki, become one team.

4: Please tell us a memorable event that happened to you during production.
During the broadcast, we had an event in Kyoto. After it ended, the four main seyuu and I went to impose on Kyoto Animation’s production studio. At that time, they were working on creating the end card for the final episode which shows everyone together. It was so impressive that the girls started crying once they got to see it. Of course the production side did as well. It lifted up everyone’s spirits once again for all of us to put all of our energy into this work and strengthened our feelings to deliver this work to many, many people.

5: When you think about the modern animation environment, where do you see Sound! Euphonium fitting into that space?
It aired in the late night slots, but there were many comments that stood out like “parents and children are watching this.” I think it resonated with a wide range of users. There’s also a lot of people who cosplay as the characters from this show at foreign events as well. It’s a magnificent adolescent story that has resonated not just in Japan, but all around the world.

6: Please tell us your impressions relating to this work.
I was once a member of a concert band and I even played the euphonium, so it feels like it was fated for me to be in charge of this work. (laughs) With a work that faithfully replicates wind music and develops a spectacular story, there was no hesitation in my promotion. Every time an episode broadcast, there would be many warm comments flowing out into the world, so its familiarity piled onto the broadcasts making it well-known. I’ve been able to return back to my starting points through this work. It’s a show that people want to keep sounding both domestically and internationally!

Publicity/Assistant Producer:
Riri Senami
Member of the Sales Department of Kyoto Animation

1: Please tell us what position you held during the development of Sound! Euphonium.
I participated as an assistant producer and helped with publicity. Also, while it wasn’t directly related to being a producer, I was a member of a concert band during my school days, so I was asked a lot of questions every time they needed an experienced musician.

2: What do you feel is this work’s charm?
It’s an adolescent story featuring many young girls who are giving it all they have. Despite having different views on life, everyone in the cast is trying their hardest. When you gather various people together for one goal, everyone may be yearning and sympathizing for the same outcome, but each person has their own feelings that cry out. Also, it was a new challenge to “depict a concert band.” In addition to the high level of difficulty for wind music itself, you have to tackle the activities head-on. For that reason, one charm of this work is that it’s a fresh type of animation that hasn’t been experienced.

3: Please tell us what your favorite scene is.
There’s too many for me to pick just one, but I love scenes where characters communicate their beliefs with actions. Episode 4’s Taki-sensei declaring “we’ll go to Nationals,” episode 8’s confession from Reina, episodes 10-11’s scenes with Kaori, Yuuko, and Reina each with their own thoughts, episode 12 with Kumiko being influenced by Reina, and so on. I can’t trim them down to just one. Everyone handles things so earnestly; it feels like their strong will was born from them trying their hardest. When I see scenes with people saying “I want to do it!” instead of “I can’t do it,” I’m absolutely charmed. Though everyone feels differently, there’s never a time where there’s only one right answer. I also love how the girls aren’t afraid to collide with their strong emotions against each other for fear of hurting each other.

4: Please tell us a memorable event that happened to you during production.
I was deeply moved at the scene in the opening when Yuuko plays her trumpet and presses down on the third piston at the same time the hook of the song is playing. This wasn’t expressed in the storyboards, so I unintentionally asked the director (Ishihara) “I understand movement is needed, but that’s too trivial! How was this cut completed to match the music?!” once I saw the video. (laughs) It was a musician who handled that scene, so it was their proposal. Their obsession is amazing……!

5: When you think about the modern animation environment, where do you see Sound! Euphonium fitting into that space?
An unlikely adolescent story, right? This work feels like you have to head into it incredibly earnestly to depict a difficult subject. It’s a work that straightforwardly depicts school life emotions, but as it’s the first work with concert bands, it’d please us if everyone remembers it.

6: Please tell us your impressions relating to this work.
I remember wanting to see an anime about wind music when I was a student. However, having worked in the actual animation industry, it feels like it couldn’t have been done until now. There’s a lot of instrument variety and people variety, the depiction of performances is quite difficult….. regardless, it’s quite hard! (laughs) On the other side, it feels like there’s a big challenge being the first to show something distinctly new. Now, I’m happy that I was able to meet and be affected by this show.

This is a surprising 5th entry in the series of interviews I’m translating from the Sound! Euphonium official fanbook published last week by Takarajimasha. It’s surprising because my original goal was to only complete the previous 4 entries, but the story felt unfulfilled. To that end, I decided to translate the final two pieces to complete the tale. Here is the interview with the person who oversaw all the episodes as animation director and designed the characters for the anime.

Character Designer/Chief Animation Director
Shoko Ikeda

Animator at Kyoto Animation. Notable works include her work as character designer/CAD for The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and animation director for many shows.

The character designs were completed after many twists and turns

– What were your impressions after reading the novel?
At that time, there was only one novel published and only the cover was illustrated. Therefore, I was ordered to capture the image of the cover art. Director (Tatsuya) Ishihara-san said “I want to keep the atmosphere of the novel’s illustration,” so I began searching for designs that met that desire.

– And so did it take you many stages until you reached the final design for the character?
Yes. Relatively, creating character designs is something that is a very temporary stage, but there was a lot of twists and turns in that period. First, I read all of the works drawn by the artist who drew the original illustrations, Asada Nikka-san, in order to feel for the shojo manga-esque type characters they drew. After that, when we decided to depict a realistic approach to instruments, I had to think about ensuring that their designs matched their instruments so they could maintain that realistic quality. Finally, I was told by Ishihara-san that he “wanted to insert a sizzling sensation” in their designs. So I made their eyes sparkle and skin appear lustrous so their young vivacious side would show. And then when I could see their finalized lines, a new novel illustration was released. What can you do about that? (laughs)

– So you used the illustration on the top page of the official novel site too?
Right. There came to be a lot of novel illustrations, so that image was strengthened. I temporarily put aside what I had done to that point and, once again, injected a little more of Asada-san’s taste in their designs. At that time, the main characters’ hair were longer, so I thought about returning to the starting point and beginning again with a large silhouette that would match that image and structure their faces again.

– It sounds like you started with Kumiko, Hazuki, Sapphire, and Reina before moving on to everyone else.
Well, those were the designs I had drawn that would have been used for characters with those names. However, as I said we had many twists and turns, the main four’s designs weren’t approved. As we were close to production time, I designed the other concert band members before returning to them. If we couldn’t approve those 4’s designs, there’s no way we’d have time to finalize designs for 60 other band members. (laughs) I also felt that by drawing those other members, I’d be able to adapt my style and better sense how the girls would be drawn.

– What points were different between the early drafts and the final versions?
Small details like how the early version of Kumiko had a hairclip on her hair. I wanted some kind of trait that made her look like a protagonist, but in the end I had to stop adding extraneous points. Hazuki’s has completely changed; her first design had her wearing twintails, but that’s how her atmosphere was like at first. Series director (Naoko) Yamada-san was fussy over Sapphire’s skirt being long. “Since she’s so short, I want her to have a long skirt so her silhouette looks triangular.” I stopped its length in the final design on the longish side. Her socks having pompons was also Yamada-san’s idea. That reminds me, Kumiko at first had an ahoge. Ishihara-san had said “if someone has an ahoge, it feels moe-ish,” but in the end, it was Sapphire who has one, not Kumiko! (laughs) I thought it would be better to have Reina also hold some type of character trait, so her early designs had her wearing a hairband.

– What about the upperclassmen?
I drew Asuka as being this older “big sister” looking character, but Ishihara-san immediately rejected it saying “Asuka is cuter than this.” (laughs) Asada-san’s manga has a cute girl who wears glasses in it, so I included those aspects into her design to try and bring it closer to that. Haruka’s early designs are close to what became the final version. My impression of her from reading the novel was very faint, so thought it’d be nice to balance her design from Asuka’s. Yamada-san was pleased with her design and it had more or less been solidified when the second novel illustration was unveiled. She was in the middle of it, so I meekly went back and used it as a base. Aoi was done by me saying “I want to draw someone with braids” and it was okayed without much resistance.

– The second years Natsuki and Yuuko are also impressive. Those two are characters who had no novel illustration at all.
Yuuko was a revival of the design I drew for Sapphire with longer hair, but with a stylish knotted hairband. And since she adores Kaori, she has to be someone who’s immensely cute. If a uncute girl is adoring for a cute girl, it just looks kinda pitiful, doesn’t it? So to remove that impression and keep their relationship the way it is, I made sure she looked very cute. It was an unusual claim. (laughs) Natsuki looked awful with her glare and short hair like the novel described. I thought she’d look cuter if I made her hair a bit longer and then I put her hair in a ponytail since no one else’s was in one.

– How did you decide on Taki-sensei’s design?
I worked on his design as Yamada-san was fixated on what form it would be. At first she said “he should look like a certain actor” and so I drew him like that. Then she said “it’s too much like him.” (laughs) At the very end, I reframed his image to give him more of a soft impression and gentle expression.

– Having glasses was something unique to the anime.
That’s right. My order from Yamada-san was “he should feel dreamy with his glasses and wearing a cardigan.” Ishihara-san also left everything relating to Taki-sensei to Yamada-san. (laughs) With his good looks and short hair not matching the description of the novel, I had a different impression of him, but in the end I’m happy with how his character looks.

The staff’s passion supports this work at the production sight

– What kinds of things were you conscious of while working as chief animation director?
I immediately contacted the animation directors so that we could have a better unified impression and improve the quality of the work while keeping that unified impression. For my part, I was absorbed in ensuring that the characters appeared the same.

– What did you feel while you were checking the character drawings?
Everyone was able to properly visualize Yuuko, or rather I had properly conveyed how to draw her cutely. (laughs) In comparison, Sapphire has a complex hairstyle, but everyone was able to imitate it well. Conversely, I remember having to correct Taki-sensei and Gotou-kun a lot. Taki-sensei’s hairstyle is a characteristic that is new to KyoAni works, so perhaps there was a high level of difficulty.

– While working as CAD, what impressions remain while you were looking at the work?
The work from (Nobuaki) Maruki-kun in his episodes 5 and 12 as AD had too many lines. At first I was puzzled as what to do. (laughs) Trying to get everyone else to match his work or to alter his work to match everyone else’s would be too difficult, so I left them as-is and sent them on. In the end, both are important episodes, so I thought it would be good to have impressive visuals in them.

– As its part of this work’s theme, what parts were you particular about with the instruments?
That’s right. We have about 20 experienced musicians at our offices, so when a point came up where someone couldn’t understand how to draw something, they would consult one of those people. The staff would position the 3DCG materials for the instruments exactly how a character would be holding it and then use that as a base when drawing the scene. However, using those 3DCG materials was a bother. If everyone waited to use them, it would take too much time to finish an episode, so the people standing would draw while they waited to use the machine. As the CAD, I have my own problems at times when I’m drawing the promotional images as well. For (Hiroyuki) Takahashi-san to serve as instrument AD by himself is nothing less than amazing.

– When you were drawing the performances, did you use real performances as a reference?
Of course. We recorded some performances as they were necessary for drawing our scenes. We would match the timing from the spots on the video in our timesheets to keep that impression. I paid attention so that the work done to replicate an actual performance didn’t have any mistakes in it.

– Ikeda-san, what drawing to you was a highlight of this work?
For drawings, it has to be the scene in episode 12 when Kumiko runs along the bridge. And then as a scene I was incredibly picky about, it would have to be the reunion of Kumiko and Azusa in episode 5. There were a ton of amazing pink-colored director correction sheets indicating the animator should “pull back the line of her eyebrow until it’s reliable” from (Ichirou) Miyoshi-san. Here too Maruki-kun supported me by raising the quality greater than I ever thought.

– Please give your final impressions regarding this work.
I think the entire staff, not just myself, poured themselves into this show while making it. We were continually in high spirits as we headed to the final scene. Usually it’s normal for people to feel cornered due to the strict schedule of events. Along with everyone’s running passion to make something great, I felt we were able to keep the strengths of the novel.