[2025.02] Echoes of Life 'THE BOOK' - MIKIKO Interview
[Directing a Stage Performance Based on an Original Work]
——This is already the third time ICE STORY has been produced. Compared to the previous two installments, were there any major differences in terms of production design?
The biggest challenge this time was that we were working with an original source material and had to adapt it into a live-action performance. When people read a manga or novel first and then watch a live-action adaptation, the difficulty lies in having to go beyond what each person imagined in their own mind. Personally, that aspect really stumped me at the beginning. As for Hanyu’s performances on the ice, we could reference his past works, so I felt a bit more at ease there. But the video segments—that part really felt tricky and had to be approached with great care. The footage needed to have a near-futuristic style, but exactly what kind of near-future? Should it lean toward a 2.5D anime aesthetic, or take on more of a fantasy tone? That all depended on the video director. Since the themes included things like a desolate world and war, I wanted to soften those elements through visuals so the audience could ease into the story more comfortably. And since everything had to be done using CGI, we needed someone with deep CG knowledge and refined aesthetic sensibilities. With all of that in mind, we brought in director Jun Tamukai, whose style is very modern and who has a great sense of working in 3D space. I believed he could rise to the challenge.
——What was the most difficult aspect of the production design this time?
Honestly, just about every part could be considered a struggle, but the biggest challenge was figuring out which parts of the original story to cut and how to do that while staying true to the narrative while still making the story clear and engaging. That took a lot of thought. First, I read the original work over and over. Then, to ensure the audience would be able to understand the story even on their first viewing, the whole team contributed their impressions and questions. Everyone involved in the production shared their perspectives, saying things like “I didn’t quite get this part,” or “What about this scene?” Through this process, we refined the script together. From there, we collectively considered which moments were best conveyed through visuals alone, and which needed to be explained through narration. It was a collaborative effort across the whole team.
——How did Nova’s visual design come to life?
It was developed through discussions among director Tamukai, producer Mamoru Inagaki, stylist Tsuyoshi Takahashi who designed Nova’s costume, hair and makeup artist Ryoji Inagaki, Hanyu, and myself. Together, we had conversations along the lines of “maybe something like this,” “this direction feels right,” and gradually shaped Nova’s look step by step. Initially, I think Hanyu wanted to tone down his own identity as “Yuzuru Hanyu” in the portrayal. But considering how to let him embody Nova in the most natural and authentic way, we eventually arrived at the visual presentation you see now.
——This time, the performance was almost entirely carried by Hanyu alone. Was there anything you paid special attention to in that regard?
Since there are two distinct characters appearing in this production, we aimed to keep the video structure as simple as possible so the audience could easily understand each character’s role. During the alternating sequence of video and live performance—video, skating, video, skating—there are moments where the Nova in the video wears black, while the Nova who appears on the ice wears a different costume. That might cause viewers to wonder, “Wait, who is the one on the ice right now?” To prevent that kind of confusion and to make the costume changes feel more natural, we came up with a setting where Nova passes through a white door to transform. We created a scene that visually represents a game-like costume change, helping the audience interpret Nova’s appearance on the ice as part of a transformation process. As for the guide character, we did consider whether it could be played by someone else or perhaps even designed as a mascot-like character using CG. But Hanyu had very specific thoughts about the guide’s personality and presence, and he felt strongly that it would be best if all the roles in ICE STORY were performed by himself. So in the end, we chose to respect his vision and worked on ways to ensure that even first-time viewers wouldn’t feel confused by the structure or character presentation.
[Philosophy Expressed Through Piano Collection and Poem]
——The stage design showing the Piano Collection skating over the sheet music was absolutely stunning!
I think from the very beginning, Hanyu already had the concept of the Piano Collection in mind. When I first heard his idea, an image immediately came to my mind of him gliding across the musical staff, surrounded by falling notes drifting all around. But in reality, bringing this to life was much more difficult than I had imagined. Because our concept was to have him glide over a handwritten-style score, we asked professionals to transcribe the sheet music by hand based on the pieces played by Kiyozuka. Then we separated the staff lines and the notes, releasing them sequentially in sync with the music. However, this task could only be completed by someone who can both read and write music notation and understands music deeply. Asking the video production team alone to do this was very challenging. Moreover, no matter how well the timing was controlled, if the visuals weren’t interesting enough, it wouldn’t work. To balance these elements, we kept researching and refining. Since we wanted even people very knowledgeable about music to not find faults when watching, we made multiple revisions. However, the audience is there to watch Hanyu’s performance, so instead of focusing solely on whether the score was perfectly accurate, we placed more importance on whether it was fun to watch together with Hanyu’s performance. Moving in that direction, sometimes we designed the scrolling screen to look like piano keys, and other times the notes would scatter down like raindrops, constantly expanding our creative ideas. Generally, projections are cast onto screens of specific shapes, perfectly controlling the images within those boundaries. But we deliberately broke that concept, trying to let the sheet music overflow beyond the screen and fill the entire venue.
——The 'Poem' in the latter half was also quite impressive.
We designed the first and second halves so that the Piano Collection and the Poem would echo each other. At first, for the Poem section, Hanyu only wrote the word “poetry,” which left me a bit puzzled, wondering, “What exactly does he want to do here?” (laughs), so I put it aside for a while. After some time, I asked him, “What exactly do you want to do with the poetry part?” He said he wanted to use a certain training method from ELEVENPLAY to create the work. This training goes like this: I would recite a poem aloud, and the dancers would use their bodies to “voice” the poem through movements that reflect its meaning, rhythm, intonation, or emotional fluctuations. Four dancers face each other and practice repeatedly, and eventually, even without my reciting, the four dancers have the poem flowing synchronously in their minds, enabling them to coordinate perfectly in silence. Hanyu had also done this kind of training, and this time he wanted to incorporate it into the performance. Essentially, it is a practice of harmonizing the spirit through improvisational movement. To present it as a work, we first needed to experiment with various approaches. After deciding on this, Hanyu immediately wrote a large number of foundational poems and handed them to me. He really wrote so many that we found it difficult to decide which ones to select. Like the Piano Collection, the Poem scene was something Hanyu already had a vivid image of in his mind before creating the original work. To make this scene leave a strong impression in the performance, I felt it was best to have it appear somewhat transcendent. Therefore, we carefully chose poems that highlight Hanyu’s unique linguistic style. During the creative process, we had to stay close to the story, ensure that the numerous poems, large-scale projections, and ELEVENPLAY’s dance did not clash with each other, and at the same time let the poems expressing Nova’s inner emotions linger in the audience’s ears. This was truly a headache for us, but also a luxurious creative experience. I feel the background music flowing in the poetry scene acted like seasoning, providing excellent enhancement.
—Did he really write that many poems?
He really did! I half-jokingly said to him, “Isn’t it about time to submit the poems?” and he suddenly handed over a whole bunch (laughs). I think there were about 20 to 30 poems that didn’t even get used in the performance. Some are in the style of combining words and phrases like “Awake: Stepping onto a whole new path,” covering from A to Z, and others are themed poems like those in the second half. He wrote many of both kinds.
—So there are two forms of poetry?
Yes, but initially we didn’t plan to use the “Awake: Stepping onto a whole new path” type at all. Before the Saitama performance, we originally planned to present just music during the 30-second intervals between each piece of the Piano Collection. But while doing lighting and video simulations, we felt those 30-second gaps needed more meaningful stage design to fill them. I was racking my brain about what to use, and then I told Hanyu about this dilemma. He said, “Here, words and music are interconnected. These words come from the many books in Nova’s Room, and those words become the music of the five pieces—that’s the concept.” So we finally agreed, “Ah! This is the moment for those poems to appear!” When choosing the poems, we made sure they corresponded to the five pieces individually and also echoed the Poem scenes in the second part.
—So that’s how the structure works!
Regarding those five pieces, Hanyu also sent us detailed explanations about the music and the composers. He said, “I don’t think these explanations need to be included in the performance, but I’m sending them to you anyway.” After reading them, we learned a lot. The Piano Collection and Poem scenes involved very complex work, from calculating the scrolling screen to all the other details. The staff and I kept refining it like doing “a thousand trainings” (a baseball metaphor for repetitive practice). Thanks to this, we finally managed to present a quite captivating scene.
—At the end of the performance, Nova seems to walk through an orange panel and disappear somewhere. Where is he going?
For the ending, I want to leave the interpretation up to each audience member. One great thing about this story is the positive feeling of “Come on, let’s go, let’s start…” Although the path ahead is unseen and scary, there’s a strong and bright image of facing forward and moving bravely onward. From the very beginning of designing the art concept, I wanted the ending to be a silhouette walking toward a tunnel or an endless road. After many reviews, that image was finally realized on stage.
[What Takes Time and Effort]
—Did you discover anything new this time?
When Hanyu was practicing the rap part of "Mass Destruction," Emmy, the choreographer, pointed out, “If the intensity is too strong, it won’t feel like hip-hop. Maybe you could consciously practice how to relax.” Of course, giving it his all is one of Yuzuru Hanyu’s great strengths, but we told him that to dance coolly even without that full intensity, he needed to consciously practice relaxing his body. That was a completely new kind of training for him (laughs).
—This must have been his first time doing that kind of training (laughs).
Exactly! After being reminded, Hanyu earnestly and diligently practiced not to use excessive force when dancing. But later, we found that when he wore his skates and danced on ice, if he didn’t put in enough effort, it looked like he was slacking off. We realized that dancing on ice is completely different from dancing on a floor. So then we told him, “Maybe there’s a way to look composed and relaxed without using too much strength. If you can develop that, it would be amazing.” It sounds simple, but I imagine it’s really difficult to achieve. Still, he understood the necessity and, through continuous practice, ultimately reached that professional level.
—That’s a unique suggestion only you as a teacher could have made.
Since Hanyu was putting his life on the line, we couldn’t be careless or slack off, and excuses were out of the question. That was the unspoken consensus from the start. ICE STORY itself is like a form of training or ascetic practice. Even though I feel like I’ve overcome countless challenges and created many things, I keep discovering there are even higher mountains to climb. Using all the wisdom and experience accumulated so far to challenge new fields strengthens us, and I’ve also learned from Hanyu the importance of continuously challenging oneself. This show really requires more preparation time than any other performance, but I think we shouldn’t forget the value of investing such enormous time and effort into the work. These days, it’s hard to find staff who will stick with us and give it their all at this level. Everyone is truly going all out—and most importantly, everyone is enjoying the process.
— This is a place where everyone works together to create an outstanding work…
We’re always filled with tension. Everyone is driven by the mindset of “We can’t lose to Hanyu. Let’s overcome this challenge together!” Hanyu never forcefully emphasized, “I’m giving it my all,” but everyone just felt it. We all firmly believe that Hanyu will turn this into an amazing production. Because of that, we want to respond to him, and even surpass him. We hope that everyone who experiences this work, including the audience, can share in seeing the most beautiful scenery together.
Source: https://weibo.com/ttarticle/p/show?id=2309405174925811384382
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