#tr_animation

[rikeijo]

Today’s translation #900

Animage 2017/03, Hiramatsu Tadashi interview

Part 7.

-- Please, tell us about important points in animating other characters!

Hiramatsu: The personality of every character was firmly established from the beginning, so it was easy to draw them. First of all, JJ and Chris - there is something similar between them. Both of them are very self-confident, bold and proud. But Chris needs Victor. He's the type that's like 'That I can shine so brightly, it's only because Victor is here'. And JJ doesn't care very much about anything that's around him - he's that 'ONLY ME!' type of guy (laugh). I think that such differences between them are also expressed in their facial expression and appearance.

-- JJ's 'JJ fingers' pose is very well-known, isn't it?

Hiramatsu: Yes, that's right. It has been there in Kubo-san's storyboards from the beginning. The pose of his left hand does look a bit unnaturally strained though (laugh).

-- As for Otabek, the story of how he become Yurio's friend was very interesting.

Hiramatsu: Otabek is very much 'a manly man!' type of character, isn't he? He's silent, and somebody who is very stable, not easily swayed by people around him. I think that from Yurio's perspective, Otabek's 'I'll follow my own path!' stance appears very cool.

[Notes: 900th translation! 😆🎉]

[rikeijo]

Today’s translation #899

Animage 2017/03, Hiramatsu Tadashi interview

Part 6.

-- Victor during Rostelecom Cup also said that Yuuri is the type that is more motivated when he's an underdog in a foreign land.

Hiramatsu: It's like he can feel more confident, when he underestimates himself, like 'that's the best I can do anyway, so'. I think that when during Cup of China, Yuuri jumps and in his mind he shouts 'Victor, you idiot!!', and lands the jump successfully, that's also very Yuuri-like behavior.

-- Makkachin is also an important character, that brings Yuuri and Victor closer together. Her characteristic is the fluffy, very manga-like look.

Hiramatsu: She looks more like a stuffed animal toy than a real dog. But well, poodles actually do look like stuffed toys. A lot of pets make an appearance in this anime, but Makkachin is somebody who Victor has a real emotional bond with, his family. I draw her as one whole separate character. On the other hand, that would be rather unfortunate if people thought that there is a human hiding inside a dog-costume, so I'm careful to balance that properly.

-- Starting with episode 4. Yuuri gradually opened his heart to Victor, The scene when he touched his hair whorl was also interesting.

Hiramatsu: Ah yes, Victor is a bit worried about his hairline, perhaps? (laugh) At first, I didn't know what's the meaning of this scene. That 'am I so much in danger?' and why was he so depressed, when Yuuri touched his hair whorl.

-- Is it the reason why a part of Victor's character design is that larger-than-usual forehead?

Hiramatsu: No, no! (laugh) It's just how his hair flows, and the large forehead is a by-product of that! Everything is okay!

[rikeijo]

Today’s translation #929

Otomedia plus, 2017 Spring, Shimizu Youji's comment

~The Sound Director's comments about Yurio's rivals~

Part 2.

Christophe Giacometti

Even if you change your clothes, you can't change how physically attractive or not you are, right? No matter how silly a physically attractive guy is acting, he's still a physically attractive guy. That's how Chris is. And it's the same with his voice - no matter what he talks about, he has a sexy voice. Because I wanted to have somebody with a good voice, that even the voice actor himself is affected by, someone, who could sound sexy, no matter what he says, I asked Yasumoto-san to play the role of Chris.

Otabek Altin

I liked Hosoya-kun's rough and masculine voice that feels like it has some kind of texture. His voice isn't crystal clear like a sound a piano or wind instruments, but more like string instruments, and also has some kind of 'noise' in it. Otabek is a solitary type of person, like a wise man or a philosopher, and he doesn't reveal a lot of about himself. But actually his fighting spirit is stronger than any other person's. I cast Hosoya-kun for this role, because I was looking for somebody, who could give Otabek this presence and express what's going on inside his mind, even with how little information we have about him.

[rikeijo]

Today’s translation #897

Animage 2017/03, Hiramatsu Tadashi interview

Part 4.

-- Miyamoto Kenji, the person responsible for Yuri!!!'s skating choreography, said that he imagines Victor as a marble statue.

Hiramatsu: Ah yes, I think he meant that Victor really looks like a living legend would, I suppose? In addition, Victor has an adult and a child-like personality, living together in one body, so there is also that unpredictability in him, because you don't know what he will do next. I think that's also a part of what makes him such a charming character. And of Yurio I'd say that he's a gemstone, that still hasn't been polished completely. He's very delicate and often wavers. Of course, Yuuri often wavers, too, but in case of Yurio, he gives you the impression that he's a Russian delinquent, but in reality he's a child, that's very easy to hurt. It's like Yuuri and Yurio are the opposite sides of the same coin. Yuuri may seem to be timid, but contrary to expectations, he is very bold.

-- In case of Yuuri, it's very interesting how the impression you get of him changes dramatically, almost like there is a switch that gets flipped on and off. It's like, suddenly, he changes into that seductive man.

Hiramatsu: Yeah, even the shape of his eyes changes (laugh). When Yuuri decided that he's ready to do something, he's eyes look sharper, and the distance between his eyebrows and his eyes gets smaller. Normally, Yuuri's eybrows are shaped like ハ [ha] katakana character, which makes him look kind of tired and weary, but when that switch is flipped on, he looks more concentrated and there is that sense if tension. Yuuri on the cover of Animage 2017/2 is a Yuuri somewhere in-between the on/off setting.

[Notes: This's the Yuuri he's talking about: ↓　]

[rikeijo]

Today’s translation #901

Animage 2017/03, Hiramatsu Tadashi interview

Part 8.

-- And Otabek called Yurio 'a soldier'.

Hiramatsu: Perhaps, Yurio, as well, was impressed by Otabek's appearance [in a similar way to how Otabek was impressed by his soldier-like eyes]. I like Otabek, too, so I can understand that somehow - for one reason or another, you start to look up to people like him. I'm not so sure, if I could become friends with him, the same way as Yurio did, though (laugh).

-- I've heard that Popovich is very popular among staff members?

Hiramatsu: Oh yeah, for real! Watching him as a guy, the way it's so painful to look at him, I can't help but feel a little bit of affinity with him. When a couple of guys meet together, there is at least one guy, who's exactly like him. I think that he's a very lovable lad.

-- What do you think about Yuuri's friend, Phichit?

Hiramatsu: Phichit is such a cheerful and kind kid, with no sense of wariness towards people. The way he sees Yuuri and Victor wearing pair rings and screams 'Congratulations on you marriage-!' (laugh). It was a very good scene.

[rikeijo]

Today’s translation #868

Animage 2017/2, Tatenaka Junpei x Abiko Eiji interview (Figure Skating animation)

Part 7.

-- By the way, the reference live-action footage that you've mentioned is the footage of Miyamoto Kenji skating the choreography, correct?

Tatenaka: Yes. I went to the rink, when that footage was being recorded, and drew some sketches directly there, on the rink.

Abiko: They recorded it in the middle of the night, so I couldn't make it.

-- What did you think about Miyamoto-san performance, when you were watching it live?

Tatenaka: It was awesome. Absolutely beautiful. While sketching, I was really so happy to be there. Miyamoto-san's skating is really a series of beautiful poses and while animating them, it wasn't necessary to exaggerate anything at all. Drawing in tune with the music was a part of our job, and in the choreography, all the places, where you had this accents in the rhythm of the music, were nicely marked with a specific pose. So we didn't really had to do anything, just follow Miyamoto-san's movements and the animation in a natural way synchronized with the music. I was really in awe.

-- During Onsen on ICE in episode 3., in the scenes showing Yuuri and Yurio's performances, Yuuri was drawn more realistically, while Yurio's movements were more deformed - my impression was that this difference in how each character was drawn was introduced on purpose, but was it?

Abiko: More than on purpose, the reason for that was that each character was drawn by a different person (laugh). I drew Yuuri.

Tatenaka: And I drew Yurio.

Abiko: I think that the difference in our styles of animating is what gives people this different impression of each character.

[rikeijo]

Today’s translation #876

Animage 2017/2, Otsuka Manabu interview

Part 3.

-- So what advantages did using manga storyboards as screenplay have?

Otsuka: The visuals and the story are being created at the same time, so it's easy to share the image with all staff members. In case of a standard screenplay, everyone tends to think of and visualize something different even if based on the same, one word. But, in our case, we could share the same image even at the storyboard stage, and this let us make this show into something even deeper. It felt a little bit different than making an anime adaptation of a manga.

-- When you saw Kubo Mitsurou-san's manga storyboard, what was your impression of them?

Otsuka: I thought that the quality is exactly what you would expect from a mangaka that has been publishing her stories in top magazines for years. When I read the storyboards for the first episode, I was in awe of how good the lines that she writes are. Her choice of words is so clever and it has the power to build the entire character. I was absolutely amazed by this 'power of words', that she creates at the same time, as she creates the visual side of the story.

-- As a producer, what do you think about Director Yamamoto's abilities?

Otsuka: At any rate, her works are stylish. Trends changes all the time, but she has the sense that let her create 'cool' anime, every time no matter what the current trend is. Director Yamamoto's talent as a creator, and the story with deep emotions, created by Kubo-san, who as been publishing for years in a seinen magazine, turned out to be a perfect match.

[rikeijo]

Today’s translation #862

Animage 2017/2, Tatenaka Junpei x Abiko Eiji interview (Figure Skating animation)

Part 1.

-- You both are in the credits as 'Figure Skating animators', but how much have you drawn, specifically?

Tatenaka: Speaking about how much we have drawn.... it was a lot (laugh). It wasn't so much 'draw this and this, please', but 'until this deadline, please, draw as much as you can'.

Abiko: As much as we can, so really a lot, a lot.

-- Did you directly draw key animation frames?

Abiko: Not really key animation frames, but it was more a layout. Our job was to create the 'movements', which would become the base for key animation frames.

Tatenaka: After we created the draft of the movement and how the camera should move in a scene, as a part of this 'layout', we moved on to the next scene. The rest of work, we basically left to the key animators and animation directors, to do it as they please.

Abiko: However, sometimes those scenes came back to us later, like: 'We don't have time to draw key animation frames for these, so please, draw key animation frames, too.'

[Notes: New Year!! I hope 2025 is a good year for everyone! 💜💜

This year, 138 translations left to 1000~!

My New Year resolution is to create a proper YoI library on wordpress for easy access and clean the tags🫡✨]