IT SHOULD BE SAID THAT IN THIS YEAR'S JULY NEW EPISODE, "ALDNOAH. ZERO is an original work that is definitely a big hit on the popularity list. This work has a positive rating of more than 90% on NICONICO delivery, and related derivative topics continue to appear. Recently, some Japanese media interviewed the director of this work, Aoki Hide, and learned about the charm of the work and the director himself from his mouth.

I experienced the charm of animation from an old-fashioned OVA

Q: When you were a child, did you watch anime a lot?

Aoki: That's right. I'm a kid who loves anime. It's just that when I entered the industry, I found that the people around me were very professionally discussing topics such as "who drew this explosion scene", and I felt that there was a big gap between me and them. I just thought that "this character is so cute" and "this scene is so handsome", and I didn't have a very detailed understanding of painting.

Q: When did you discover a work that you will always remember?

Aoki: I think it was around the time of the upper elementary school ~ junior high school, and there was a boom in OVAs represented by Mamoru Oshii's "DALLOS" (1983). This also led to the debut of some animation works aimed at young people and above, and I think that old-fashioned style is very fresh. In particular, AIC and ARTLAND's work "MEGAZONE23" (1985) had a great impact on me, and the first thing to say is that there is a bed scene between the protagonist and the heroine in this work. At that time, I was still at an age where my heart would beat when I saw someone kissing (laughs).

And the last scene must also be mentioned. The protagonist loses in battle and walks the streets of Shibuya on crutches. Soon he threw away the crutch and began to walk on his own feet...... Speaking of which, I began to think that "the hero will win in the end anyway", so I was surprised by the plot that "the hero was defeated so easily" (laughs). And the fate of the protagonist in the future,No matter how you think about it, it's all the way to the black situation.,But it doesn't make people feel uncomfortable after watching it.。 The ending song is also very good, and it makes people feel refreshed. I was moved and thought, "How funny is this anime!" ”

Q: I see, this is the work that changed your life.

Aoki: Because of this work, I watched a lot of OVAs again, and I became interested in AIC animation studios, which produce a lot of OVAs. As a result, I decided that I wanted to work for this company in the future.

Q: Are there any other works that stand out to you?

Aoki: "Project Hades Shirema" (1988), also from AIC, was also very impactful, and this time "ALDNOAH. ZERO also references the content inside. In particular, the lighting method and camera handling of the second episode (art director: Tsutaka Kikuchi) are really amazing. The work also uses a rare on-site framing technique at the time, and the huge machine qì people stand in the real landscape...... There's nothing to say, it's so handsome. In addition, in the battle plot of the amusement park, the camera also moves slowly horizontally, and this panoramic performance technique is full of praise. It should be said that the atmosphere of this work can be compared to monster movies, and it can be described as a masterpiece. At first, I just used it as a review material, but it was so much fun that I ended up burying it in (laughs).

Learn the era of animation production

Q: But there was a long time between the age of watching OVA and entering AIC, right?

Aoki: That was after graduating from university. When I was a high school student, I wanted to watch something more adult-like, so I watched a lot of live-action movies. Therefore, I said goodbye to animation for the time being. However, when I was hired, I had a strong desire to make an anime, and I happened to see an advertisement for AIC, so I joined in as a producer. It was also the beginning of my animation career.

Q: When you were a student, did you have the experience of making or making some films on your own?

Aoki: Not at all. I learned the animation process while making some game videos in AICSpirits.

Q: Since it's a game image, it should be pixel art or CG, right?

Aoki: Naturally, the game itself is CG, but at that time (mid-90s), there were no digital animation tools like RETAS and Animo, so the process was the same as celluloid animation. In short, there are many problems that I don't understand, and when I build the materials for photography, I am often reminded that there are no parts here. "Since the set is made of paper, it has to be used with 120 percent care, and when it rains, it has to be covered with a delivery net and removed. At that time, I was able to experience all the experience required to make zuò anime, and although it was very hard, I had a lot of fun.

Q: How do you feel about the fact that "building materials for photography" is also part of the performance work?

Aoki: It feels like you're playing with an intellectual toy, so it's fun. The fragmented materials created according to different programs can be combined into one during the shooting process and turned into dynamic film. At first, I was very impressed.

Q: It was after all these things that you got a job in acting?

Aoki: Before that, I worked as a digital photographer for 1~2 years, which was very beneficial. The beginning of the century was a time of transition to digital, and there were not enough people at the time. I wanted to take on the challenge of acting, but I was told that I should try digital photography, and I was interested in it, so I agreed. At that time, I started using compositing tools such as AfterEffects, and I realized that there were many kinds of processes that could be done in photography, and that by fully adjusting the shooting process, I could also improve the quality of the image.

Q: At that time, animation companies were challenging the impossible on film cameras.

Aoki: There are regulations on the camera that limit the direction of movement, such as "no movement", and there is also a limit to the number of overlapping films. With the use of digital technology, any layer can be superimposed, and the picture can be fully expressed in a dynamic way, and show depth. I think my dedication to photography came from that time.

He is in charge of the performance of each episode in the TV anime series

Q: Which animation is your best performer?

Aoki: The first work I performed was an adult anime by AIC, and the first TV anime was "Please Teacher" (2002). We were commissioned by Kids' Dream to produce zuò, and I was in charge of the storyboard and performance of the fifth episode ("My ...... for Such a Teacher") in charge of AIC.

Q: How do you feel about coping?

Aoki: This was the first time I had been drawing a storyboard for a 30-minute TV anime, so I made a lot of mistakes. I was in a desperate situation, and I had to submit the storyboard on time. However, at that time, there was something that I didn't expect: Director Iide Yasuki only proposed his own revisions to the two shots, and commented, "I can change it here, but because the storyboard is great, let Mr. Aoki make the changes, right?" "I was very inspired and very moved. That comment note has been preserved to this day.

Q: Are there any other animations that you enjoyed in your early performances?

Aoki: "Little Princess Yuki" (2002). The work was directed by Mr. Masahiko Otsuka, who later founded TRIGGER, and co-produced by GAINAX and AIC. According to the director's idea, each episode of the work has different cutscenes, but the director told me, "Do whatever you like", so I acted as the storyboard and performance for all the cutscenes. And the cutscenes show the cute side of the characters that is different from this story, so I was happy to take over. It seems that the evaluation of the director and the staff is not bad.

Q: I feel that the cutscene shows a kind of digging deep into the character setting, so you had this idea from the beginning.

Aoki: Both the characters and the plot, the one qiē of "Little Princess Yuki" is very appetizing to me. And in the episodes I've been performing, it's also a great pleasure to dig deeper into the character's characteristics. And everyone is also very happy to make zuò. Although this work was not broadcast on TVB, I hope that more people will be able to watch it because it is a very good anime.

PERFORMANCES IN "SHUFFLE!" RECEIVED A LOT OF ATTENTION

Q: When you were performing for a single episode, the "empty pot" in episode 19 of "SHUFFLE!" (2005), "I Can't Forget My Thoughts", caused a lot of buzz.

Aoki: In this episode, the character named Kaede is completely broken. However, Mr. Takayama's script has a dark feel to it, and what sparks discussion is the conversation between Kaede and Primla. Although Kaede likes it, she can't express her heart because of a sense of sin. Primra asked, "Do you feel happy if this continues?" "To this, the script reads," Kaede replied crying, 'I can only do this.' However, I have been asking myself and making assumptions: In fact, did Kaede also make up some minds? And when I mentioned this plot again, I think Kaede doesn't really want to cry, so it should be done in other ways. So I thought I could do it in a slightly more wonderful direction.

Q: This still reflects Director Aoki's deep understanding of the mood of the characters?

Aoki: At first, I was going to smile like "the smile of early Greek statues," but the person in question replied, "Is that okay?" Just when I was thinking about "let the smiling Cheng dù be a little bigger", I accidentally found out that this happened to be the plot of Kaede cooking, so I had a flash of inspiration: "It's obvious that I'm cooking, but there's nothing in this pot, this should be terrible, right?" ”

Q: It's really chilling. And the state of "emptiness" is also very meaningful.

Aoki: But from a plot point of view, this will change the tone, and in the end, it will be up to director Naoto Hosoda to make a judgment. And he thought it was interesting and adopted it, which made me feel very difficult.

The experience gained by the director's ** work "Long Live the Girl".

Q: I'm sorry, but my question is a bit inconsistent in chronological order. However, I would like to ask you to tell us about the director's work "Long Live the Girl" (2004).

Aoki: "Please Teacher" was well received for "Swimsuit Return", so I felt like I was able to make the girls appear as much as I wanted in "Long Live the Girls" (laughs). And because of the appearance of a large number of girls in this work, I feel self-righteously that it is definitely necessary to create a "** state" to unfold the plot. Since it was the first time to be a director, I couldn't figure out the direction at all, and I didn't know how to interpret the schedule management, and I didn't know how to interpret the plot, so I left these problems behind. In retrospect, I would have said to myself, "I want to do this, I want to do that," but I'm not sure that "that's right." I'm also introspecting: because I always add my own opinions to my works, I often toss and turn others around.

Q: Sure enough, "director" and "performance" are completely different existences.

Aoki: It's different. Speaking of which, if the director were to be in charge of the storyboard of the whole episode, it would be impossible in terms of schedule. Therefore, the director had to give clear instructions to each staff member and expect them to "do what they do". To do this, I had to clearly convey the direction of wanting to make zuò. I didn't understand this at the time. As a result, the storyboards drawn by others were different from what I had imagined, so they were modified. But it's not someone else's fault, it's that I didn't do a good job when I set out the task. Due to the amount of time spent on storyboard revisions, there was not enough time for the guide's schedule, which caused problems for everyone. I learned a lot about this, and in my future directorial work, I will write the plot and synopsis, what I want everyone to do, and the direction of my goals.