Interview of YOSHIHARA Rieko for the Ai no Kusabi 2012 Remake (episode 1)
Ai no Kusabi ~petere kanjū~: YOSHIHARA Rieko
Please, tell us your what your immediate thoughts were when you were approached to remake the ‘92 OVA.
At first there was some consideration to make a 13-episode-long anime broadcasted on television, so I thought it was quite bold. It ended up being only 12 episodes, but because of the type of content we’re talking about, it can’t be helped if we miss the target. So I may have refused the proposal if it hadn’t come from AIC.
Was this trust earned with the previous adaptation’s achievements, as one can expect?
Definitely. And the fact that I could feel how incredibly passionate the other party was about making it. So I couldn't not entrust it to them.
This time you are also in charge of the script. What did you particularly pay attention to when adapting the story to a script?
I was put in charge of it before I knew it (laughs). Truthfully, I had no idea what an "anime script" entailed! I wrote however I liked and I was asked "could you write it more like this?", I was told to leave the top of the page blank, how many characters could fit in a line... I basically learnt how to write a script from the basics.
The staff from the old OVA was reunited to work on this project. What kind of discussion did you have with the director, Mr AKIYAMA?
When we had our preliminary meeting, I had the impression we had known each other for a long time, though that was the first time we met face-to-face. The director was surprised by that too.
Did you not meet when making the previous OVA?
Back then, the publisher acted as a go-between, so we didn't. Not diving into whether it's a good thing or not for the original author to also act as the screenwriter, I really felt the difference between the male gaze and the female gaze during the staff meetings for this project. Being asked by the director "are nipples important?" was so funny! (laughs)
Like "do we have to draw them"? (laughs)
I thought that was obvious, so I didn't understand what he meant. It's fine if you can't see the lower half, but nipples are essential, right? (laughs) Ms HAYASHI, the producer from AIC, and I were the only women in the room, so we pushed back saying "they are important!"
On what other points did you, as the original author, want them to pay close attention to?
As for my particular points of obsession, they were very precise, like Riki's flanks tightening, or his legs twisting in his erotic scenes... so I wrote all those requests into the script as context explanations. But even if you can picture clearly the situation you want to show, it may not translate well into an image, or words may fail to convey the big picture. There were some things the director wanted to show, high points in term of animation, so in turn, I realized how directing works.
For this project, particular efforts were put into the concept artworks: Tanagura, Midas and the landscape of the cybercity all are captivating pictures.
It is truly impressive. I thought of Midas, the slums and Tanagura as lying on the same plane. But this time, that structure with different levels enables to immediately convey visually a sense of hierarchy. I am incapable of that kind of idea. I let others deal with everything that's visual.
TAKEUCHI Atsushi's concept art was gorgeous too!
It was very beautiful, right? When I was asked by AIC if I wanted something associated with the anime, I answered "a compilation of concept artworks". I asked them if there wasn't something like a mook compiling concept artworks, but I was answered with a strained laugh... (laughs)
And we have ONDA Naoyuki working on the character design, based on MICHIHARA Katsumi's original design for the original novels' illustrations.
I was told Mr ONDA would be in charge like last time, so I had nothing to worry about. He showed me the characters once before a decision was made and when he asked me what I thought of it, I answered it was all good.
Will the whole squad of Blondies makes its appearance this time?
Back then, there were only Iason and Raoul. Now, it will be all thirteen of them.
What kind of request did you make?
"Make all Blondies gorgeous!", though I myself don't really know what makes an image gorgeous! (laughs) To make Iason like a Scandinavian prince and Raoul like a Latin, or something like that. And to make it so that he wasn't confused with Gideon. Because Aisha has a background of being a puppet for the supercomputer Jupiter, I asked to make him look more like an android. They all have long blond hair in common, but they have a lot of variety: honey blond, light platinum blond...
It seems like Mr ONDA struggled a bit with the outfits.
Blondies each have something like their own symbol they display, and their outfit emphasizes that. And to show the difference between their full dress and their casual clothes, I suggested to Ms HAYASHI they wear something like a shoulder mark on top of their full dress uniform. When I was shown drawings, I only replied things like "maybe a wider belt would be better...", so I think it wasn't easy for Mr ONDA.
Kirie looks a bit more like a kid now, with freckles on his face...
I didn't pay much attention to it, but I still wanted a contrast that would show the three-year gap between Riki and Kirie. He's surrounded by adults, so even if he has ambition, he's still a child. In the second episode, there's a scene in which he brushes his hair in the mirror whistling, he was such a show-off kid, that made me laugh. That kind of character's deeper characteristics come out here and there.
I think the fans are paying close attention to this project's casting. The cast is the same as for the drama CDs released in 2007, but were you involved in the selection?
As the drama CDs came before the anime, so when I was contacted for the anime adaptation, I asked "please, if even one voice actor from the CDs cannot take part in this, recast all the roles"! Originally, I had planned the drama CDs to be produced independently, so if the cast had to change, I would rather have a clear-cut difference between the anime and the drama CDs. Thankfully, the director agreed to it, so we only had to ask them to reprise their role. So it was when I thought about casting voice actors for the drama CDs that I worried.
How did you choose the cast?
All things considered, the first role to cast was Iason's. In the previous OVA, Iason had become synonymous with SHIOZAWA Kaneto for fans, so deciding who would play Iason was the most pressing issue. So I thought Mr ÔKAWA would be good.
That must have been quite the pressure for Mr ÔKAWA. Did you talk about anything during the recording?
He struggled with speaking without conveying emotions, so much so he told me after recording that was difficult. I thought naively that speaking in even tones was easier, but listening to voice actors, it seems like speaking without emotions is the most difficult. Plus, don't you think he has a soft, caring voice? I wondered how it would turn out when he plays Iason, and my heart couldn't not pound during the first recording.
And did it go for ITÔ Kentarô, playing Riki?
I wanted someone who would be on par with Mr ÔKAWA, playing Iason, and I though Mr ITÔ would be good. It seems he had a hard time recording scenes from Riki's period as a Pet because he was asked to make his voice sound younger. (laughs)
What were your impressions when you saw the characters move in animation?
"Aah, they're sexy!" (laughs). There are also original scenes added by each episode's director, and I'm delighted they could depict them so closely.
By the way, please tell us if there is any scene in the first episode you particularly like or that we have to see.
I would have to answer "all of it". The main plot points of the story haven't changed, so what surprised me the most was the scene from the monitor screen reflected in Daryl's eyes. "It's really reflecting it!" I thought. And then, when the air car Iason has climbed in soars in the sky after Riki has run away. And the glowing tail lights leave a trail behind the car. That scene really moved me.
Now, I would like it if you could tell us more about the original work. The novel began publishing in 1986, but BL works in a Science-Fiction setting are still rare today.
At that time, it wasn't BL but JUNE though. Well, JUNE itself was made from submitted works, so you could pretty much write what you wanted. I wonder if that wouldn't be out of the question for publishers nowadays. A happy end in which you assume characters are lovey-dovey is fine, whether in fantasy or SF, but considering the content of that particular work (laughs).
What made you start writing it?
I wanted to write the last scene. Riki and Iason connecting their cigarettes... the climax to a series of events. Leading up to it was a class system that couldn't be overthrown, the characters would be the head of the ruling class and someone from the slums, and from there I thought about the setting. From the moment the serialization started, I had decided how I would write the end.
Some time has passed since the publication of the chapters into a novel, and the paperback version has been expanded to reach six volumes, that was quite the growth.
Rather than add to it, I would say I got the feeling I wanted to try digging up things I hadn't written in twenty years. I feel like back then, I rushed through Riki and Iason's relationship, and even though the story had ramifications, I didn't have the margin to write it. And when it was published anew by Tokuma Shoten in the Chara bunko collection, I thought this might be the last time I could add to it. So the second half became almost entirely original content (laughs).
Your works often deal with "obsession", but is there something you particularly care about in your depictions?
Rather than caring particularly about something, I'd say it's '"sticky and deep" depictions. Not only love scenes, I also want to depict human relations deeply. I do not feel "obsession" much because when I write, I do not think "obsess! obsess!" but "imagine! imagine!". Now for my literary fixations, even to express a single action, I would wonder if there isn't another word. It's a bit of an odd topic, but I like using a dictionary.
What kind of dictionary do you like?
I guess I like the Kôjien the best. In fact, I also found the tile "Ai no kusabi" in the Kôjien. Novels differ from manga and anime in that they only have text, so I want to look for more approriate ways to say things. Like, even if that means coining words. Speaking of coined words, I added two kanji to the subtitle and made it so that even if you can't read them, you can understand their meaning by looking at them.
The first title being ~petere kanjū~.
I thought about the two characters "cage" and "beast" and after explaining their meaning, I asked them to find the word that would fit in Latin, "petere". But the production team was surprised when they asked me "how do you read that?" and I replied "you don't need to read it". There was a moment of silence, after which they asked again "are you sure?!" (laughs).
You said there was no need to read it "kanju"...
I didn't want to spell out its reading. I would like people not to read it but imagine it, to understand it with their senses.
From the moment it began publication to now, Ai no Kusabi has been accompanying you for many years. What kind of work is it to you?
It was my first series being published, so I rushed through it, and though it wasn't the start, I feel like it was. I could still write about it now, I even recently wrote an extra short story for Shôsetsu Chara (vol.35, Tokuma Shoten), as it contained a bonus DVD of the preview. I would even like writing about the three years Riki spent as a Pet, if I were given the opportunity. To me, Ai no Kusabi is a work I could always expand, no matter where I place the spotlight.
To finish, do you have any message for the fans?
This is the first episode, so I would really want people to watch it. Because all my emotions, from seeing the words I wrote gain colors, accompanied by voices, and even 3D CGI are in this episode. I wish I could see the entire 12 episodes, so with your support, I hope the second season can be launched.
Interviewer: MURAYAMA Takako
