Here's the next up in our Otakon series of anime related interviews! Just like in our previous entry with the staff of Production IG, this interview provides some insights regarding the Studio, it's past and future straight from the man who formed it himself! We hope you enjoy it.
Otakon deserves another big shout out for allowing us the opportunity to interview Minami-san! We hope to have our next interview out soon.
Translations into other languages are fine as long as you get our permission and let us know where it'll be posted so we can shout you out!
No more Bones about it, let's dive right in!
Q: You started with Sunrise and, in 1998, founded Studio Bones. When you founded the studio, was there a specific kind of work you wanted to produce?
A: I wanted to continue to make anime with Sunrise, but I started thinking to myself that it’d be more fun to create a studio where I’d also have more creative freedom. So I along with core team members such as Mr. (Hiroshi) Osaka,(Toshihiro) Kawamoto, (Shinichiro) Watanabe, Yoshiyuki Ito, Yutaka Nakamura, and others went on to form Studio Bones.
Q: As a major Shogakukan fan, I’m eagerly anticipating the upcoming adaptation of Fate Rewinder. This is also BONES' first Corocoro adaptation. Could you tell me how it came about?
A: The director of the anime, Ms. Rie Matsumoto is a huge fan of the manga and requested that she be the one to direct an anime adaption. We had both worked together on Blood Blockade Battlefront so I believe that she would be a good fit to work on it at Bones.
Q: On the note of Shogakukan I’m also a fan of Kazuhiko Shimamoto and have read Aoi Honoo. Would you say his depiction of you in the manga is accurate? Also, is he as energetic in real life as he depicts himself in the series?
A: It’s fiction. (Laughs) He and I went to college together so we have history. He had told me he was going to use some of the stories from that time in a manga which became Aoi Honoo, he said he’d fictionalize some of our interactions for his series which I said okay to IF it’s a fiction. But yes, the drama in the series is exaggerated.
(I mentioned here that our company would be translating Shimamoto-sensei’s Hero Company for Manga Mavericks Books.)
A: That’s very important. Translating the charm of Shimamoto-sensei’s manga for overseas audiences is very difficult work.
(I emphatically agreed, haha)
Q: There has been talk about the decrease in original productions from anime studios lately. Aside from playing it safe, why do you personally think that is, and would you like to see more original anime productions?
A: I too agree that there has been fewer original anime productions recently, and original anime movie productions especially have had a hard time becoming hits. This is, I think because the fans tend to prefer anime that are adaptations over original works. That being said, I do think there is a need to keep producing original anime works as it serves as an outlet for both animators and producers to flex and strengthen their creative muscles. By making these productions, then the ability to create and surpass themselves even on works that are adaptations strengthens. After all, the strongest facet of animation is freedom of expression, to depict things that can’t be seen in other mediums. There is nothing that cannot be expressed via animation.
Q: As a producer and founder of Studio Bones, are you involved in every show in some way? Or do you take more of a passive role and just ensure works are on schedule?
A: I’m at an age now where I should step back and simply supervise production, leaving the fine details to the staff on each show, but I can’t help getting involved in the anime directly. After all creating anime is challenging but so much fun that I end up getting drawn into the process despite myself.
Q: Incidentally, many BONES productions are related to Square Enix manga (such as Fullmetal Alchemist, Soul Eater, and The Case Study of Vanitas). Is this a coincidence?
A: We’ve worked with Square Enix since Fullmetal Alchemist so we do have a pretty good relationship with them, however this doesn’t mean we are exclusively locked in to producing titles based on the works that come from the publisher. We also have a great relationship with KADOKAWA where Angelic Layer was produced among several other series from them. We tend to produce a KADOKAWA related title every few years as well.
Comments
Post a Comment