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Reproduced Editorial Department of Shonen Jump Perfectly!
Dir Ohne Jin’s ‘Baku-man’ Production Report: posted at 2:00, March 23, 2015
The live action movie of ‘Baku-man’ is based on the comic by Oba Tsugumi and Obata Takeshi. It is a cultural youth film where two high school boys co-create comics and aim at drawing a serial comic for ‘Shonen Jump’. Eiga Natalie visited Dir Ohne, who has been working on editing and got an early peek at an untold story behind its production. This film will be released in October.
‘This project was first offered by the producer while I was going around Japan for the promotion of the film ‘Moteki’. It took me about two years to write the script. I rewrote it more than twenty times. It was really hard.’ (Photo1: Dir Ohne)
After such growing pains, ‘Baku-man’ got rolling. Mashiro Moritaka, who has by far the best drawing ability, is played by Sato Takeru, and Takagi Akito, who is the original story writer is acted by Kamiki Ryunosuke. (Photo 2: Sato Takeru and Kamiki Ryunosuke)
‘I wasn’t worried so much about Kamiki, but what concerned me most was if Takeru would look like a cherry boy or not. (lol) But at the first fitting session, I saw him wearing the school uniform and the training suit, and thought, ‘Oh, not bad at all! It will be OK.’’
Contrary to what Dir Ohne thought, the publication of the casting of the two main characters, in May, 2014, caused a furor among the public, saying, ‘Shouldn’t the cast be the opposite?’
‘The reaction from the public was so unexpected that I thought, ‘What?’ Twitter went crazy, not to say ‘炎上 (enjo / getting littered)’. On the day of the publication of the cast, I went back home to find ‘Today’s Trend Word’ was ‘Baku-man / opposite’ in NHK’s news. (lol) But I can’t burn unless I’m not under adverse circumstances. ‘Baku-man’ had been running smoothly from its preparation and I felt a little short on fun. So the mess just after we started shooting motivated me to the contrary, thinking, ‘OK. Just wait. I’ll make you say, ‘it was the opposite of the opposite!’ (lol)’
‘When I make a film based on a comic, I consider if there is some part where some description special to films could defeat the original,’ says Dir Ohne. ‘As for a film, drawing manga is basically a simple work, driving a pen or a pencil on a paper. So if I took it as it is, it would be monotonous. As an entertainment film, I need something more than that,’ he thought and did a lot of research before starting the shooting, he said.
‘I went to see the ateliers of comic creators for Shonen Jump, from a successful one like Obata Takeshi to rookies. I visited about ten ateliers including comic creators who are still drawing slushes. Obata-san’s was especially terrific. He was just driving his pen, but there was strained silence of a successful creator, which made me feel, ‘The battle field, this is’. I heard from my friend, who is a comic creator, ‘What I’m doing is simple. But in my mind, it’s kicking,’ and I thought it was interesting. I described such battles of comic creators in many forms, using CGs.’
‘I’m often told my film usually has dirty rooms,’ says Dir Ohne, who actually has a self-described ‘gap-phobia’. In the film ‘Moteki’, the main character’s room was just like an exhibition of sub-cultural goods. In the set of ‘Baku-man’, stuffs are packed as if it were the inside of ‘Don Quixote (*note by steph: Don Quixote is a chain of discount stores)’. The toughest of all was the room for the Editorial Department of Weekly Shonen Jump. ‘I’ve had many chances to visit various publishing companies but I’ve never seen such a dirty room so far. It’s terrific. I understood this showed how they’d been keeping the lead for decades. It was really tough to reproduce it from nothing. But actually, the scene where Yamada (Takayuki)-kun appears from under the pile of the manuscripts was taken at the real Editorial Department.
The atelier of Moritaka and Akito is set as the one used by Kawaguchi Taro (Kudo Kankuro), Moritaka’s uncle in life, who was also a comic creator. Since the room is crammed with comic books and materials, you may be able to find unexpected treasures.
‘For me, the golden age of Jump was ‘80s, when ‘Dr. Slump’ and ‘Stop!! Hibari-kun!’ was being published. My taste is reflected on the film. There are some untold setting that Kawaguchi Taro is a fan of Eguchi Hisashi Sensei and Yudetamago Sensei. Their autographs he got at the party of Tezuka Award are displayed in his room. I asked Eguchi Sensei to draw ‘in about 1987’s fashion’’
Also, ‘I intended the film to be a story of ‘friendship, effort, and victory’, which represents Jump’, says Dir Ohne. ‘I want it to have a sense of a buddy story, and at the same time, of a team story. So I’m emotionally involved with each character.’ As he said, the ateliers of not only Niizuma Eiji, played by Sometani Shota, but also those of other comic creators are well-produced showing each one’s characters. Let’s wait for the theatrical opening in October, imagining what kind of story will come out at these places.
1. Dir Ohne
2. The left one is Sato Takeru as Mashiro Moritaka and the other is Kamiki Ryunosuke as Takagi Akito.
3. The atelier of Moritaka and Akito, full of comic books and materials.
4. ‘Super Hero Legend Backman’ by Kawaguchi Taro line at a one corner of their room.
5. Yamada Takayuki as Hattori, who becomes the editor in charge of Moritaka and Akito. / Kawaguchi Taro, who shows sorrows of a comic creator, is played by Kudo Kankuro.
6. A desk in the Editorial Department of Jump covered with manuscripts. / A conference room where editors of Jump discuss the serial comics.
7. Sometani Shota as Niizuma Eiji, who is a gifted high school comic creator. / Niizuma Eiji’s atelier, which has a dark atmosphere.
8. Fukuda Shinta, played by Kiritani Kenta, is a man who is rough in behavior but soft-hearted. / Fukuda draws delinquent comics, so his room also shows delinquency.
9. Arai Hirofumi as Hiramaru Kazuya, who once was a designer. / Hiramaru loves money so much as to display bills on his desk.
10. Nakai Takuro, who makes his debut after a long period of assistant, is played by Minagawa Sarutoki. / As a late bloomer, Nakai’s desk is well-seasoned.
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