"Sword Art Online" is a light novel developed from a web novel, which was later published by Kadokawa (**)'s brand Dengeki Bunko. In Japan, the series sold a total of 14 million copies, and it was a huge hit. Animated for television in 2012, the thrilling story tells the story of Kirito, the protagonist of the game, escaping from a virtual prison in the context of the game's death being equated with real death. In subsequent works, the author Mr. Kawahara will show a different world view every time the game background is changed, and finally the work has been enthusiastically sought after by fans for nearly ten years since its serialization. The first season of the anime continued to be popular after it aired, and at the end of 2013, the anime special "Sword Art Online ExtraEdition" was broadcast. In July of this year, the second season of the anime was also broadcast (which is still on the air), which made its popularity rise dramatically!

This time, we invited Mr. Tomohiko Ito, the general director of the "Sword Art Online" anime series, to talk about the future development of anime. How will the upcoming "Holy Sword Chapter" and "Our Lady Psalm Chapter" be adapted into animation? See below for details.

1. Since the person in charge of the performance is not a professional painter, what kind of work does he mainly do?

INTERVIEWER Director Ito: When did you receive the decision to make a sequel to the anime?

After the first season of 2012 was completed, it was decided to make the second season of zuò.

INTERVIEWER So, the audience's response was already good, right?

Actually, no, to be honest, I don't really know how the response is. When I go abroad to participate in events, I am always praised by others, but after all, it is a promotional event, so I can't take it seriously. Later, a friend who works at another studio said to me, "I hope to see the second season soon!" I was a little happy when I heard it, because I was glad to have people around me who wanted to see my own work.

INTERVIEWER When you were preparing for the second season, what kind of preparations did you make?

"Ghost Bullet" is based on the large-scale online game "GunGaleOnline" (hereinafter referred to as GGO), but it is a game with strong first-person shooting elements, and most of the combat items in the game are mainly guns, so shortly after the first season ended, Mr. Keiichi Tokiyuzawa, who was in charge of firearms supervision, immediately took me and went to Guam to practice marksmanship with the original author, Mr. Kawahara Shuo, and other staff members, as if I was going on a consolation trip (laughs). In order to record the sound of the gunshot, the colleague in charge of the sound effect also went with us. When I arrived at the local area and pulled the trigger with the gun in my hand, I couldn't help but think in my heart, "I really got something amazing...... I really did", and that feeling was really shocking!

His personal experience in Guam even influenced the production of the scene where Kirito first fires a shot at a shooting range in the fourth episode of the anime. Even if it is the great hero Kirito, it is impossible to hit the target lightly with a gun for the first time, and I hope to bring the realism of shooting into the animation to make the animation more convincing.

- Listening to what you just said, Mr. Shi Yuze has been involved in the production of zuò since the initial script stage, right?

Mr. Shi Yuze gave me a lot of new ideas that were not in the original work, and he also generously lent me his model gun. He supervised the firearms very carefully, even the fingers that could get stuck in the trigger, which at a glance knew was a layman's way of holding the gun, and I am very grateful for his meticulous supervision.

In the third episode, Shino's gun jammed, and such a detailed description will make the scene look even more thrilling. I've also heard that some foreign fans even think that Shino's time has stopped.

Not only that, but I also attach great importance to painting firearms. In the second season, the new staff members are Mr. Tetsuya Takeuchi, who is in charge of action painting, and Yu Aoki, who is in charge of firearms painting. If it weren't for Mr. Takeuchi, Kirito probably wouldn't have been able to do that kind of sharp slashing motion; If it weren't for Aoki, the painting of firearms might not be as detailed as it is now.

INTERVIEWER Director Ito: You took on the challenge of writing a script for the first time in this work, how do you think you are doing?

What else can a non-artist perform lead contribute to the team when he is a director? I think it's probably the art and the sound. This time, the sound supervisor was handed over to Miwa Iwanami (recent work: "Silver Spoon"), so I thought I might as well take on the challenge of writing the script myself. But even so, the original work is detailed, and I'm just picking lines from them and sorting them out.

INTERVIEWER Director Ito, did you add any new descriptions?

In the first episode, in order to be able to connect to the "Psalm of the Virgin" in the future, the description between Asuna and her mother was added, and the scene where Kirito talks about his future dreams was only remembered to be added in the second half of the production of zuò. Just like that, not only in the storyboard stage, but even in the post-production stage, we were able to respond as flexibly as possible and make the work more perfect.

- Can you tell us about the anime theme song?

In the opening theme song, I wanted to bring in content from the beginning that could express the worldview of the story, and the red line was actually a ballistic prediction line. The ending theme song is very different from the style of the main anime, and I asked for the appearance of the current Shino and the young Shino, and it gives a light blue feeling overall, and Miss Nobuko Sato has done my elusive request very well, and I like it myself after watching it.

Second, Kiriko's voice is actually ...... There can be several

INTERVIEWER Next, I'd like to talk about voice casting. I heard that when you read the original work, you had already decided that Miss Miyuki Sawajo would be the voice actor of Shino, can you tell us your reason?

Because her voice is the most suitable for the line "kill all the strong enemies", it may also be influenced by the previous "CANAAN" starring Miss Sawajo. I still remember reading the original work and saying to myself, "Asuna is not sure yet, but Shino must be in charge of Sawashiro."

INTERVIEWER Can you tell us a little bit about the recording?

At the beginning, Ms. Sawajo gave me the impression that she was still trying to figure out how to play it. I told her, "Shino can't be too tough, you have to let Kirito win", and Miss Sawajo's voice is relatively low, so in order to cooperate with Kirito, I often tell her, "It makes people feel a little older just now."

As for Matsuoka, who was in charge of playing Kirito, he said at first, "I can still play several girls' voices," and it wasn't until I heard it with my own ears that I finally put my mind at ease. Matsuoka's "several different female voices" are featured in the Blu-ray and DVD commentary tracks, so be sure to check them out if you're interested.

- In the first season of the anime, the enemy characters used skilled voice actors such as Hiroichi Yamadera and Taketo Koyasu, and this time the "Ghost Bullet" chapter chose Soichiro Hoshi to play the role of Dead Gun, can you tell us the reason for casting?

Originally, Mr. Hoshi was recruited for the role of Kyoji Shinkawa, the younger brother of the death gun, but considering the age, this role was chosen by Natsuki Hanae. But later I found out that Mr. Bao Zhi and Hua Jiang had very similar voices, so I asked Mr. Bao Zhi to play the role of Hua Jiang's brother. Since the voice of the dead gun is processed in the anime, I didn't plan to hire a big-name voice actor to play it, but after I explained that I would gradually appear in the original voice in the future, Mr. Hoshi finally agreed to my job request (laughs). Choosing a powerful voice actor for the enemy is also to make the work more compact. The main characters are basically selected through guò auditions, and there will be many powerful voice actors in the second half of the second season in the future, so please look forward to it!

3. How will the second season, which depicts three stories, end?

- The heroine of the "Psalm of the Virgin" chapter is played by Miss Yuki Bi.

"Because it's Yuki-san, I decided to let you play Yuki", this is a joke I told her (laughs). In the game, she also played Yuki, but in the anime version, we still invited her to participate in the audition according to the procedure, and then decided to use it with the consent of the original author, Kawahara-sensei. The reason for choosing her is that in addition to her special voice, her skill also accounts for a large level. Because Yuki is a complex character with a lot of lines, and the voice actor who plays her must have the ability to move the audience in dialogue, so all things considered, at this stage, we don't think anyone can do a better job than Miss Yuki, so we chose her to play the heroine Yuki. Although Yuki is the heroine, it can't be said that there are many opportunities to appear, so it is quite difficult to make the sense of existence of the character clear in the few appearances.

- The stage of the "Ayn Grant" chapter described in the first season is "SAO", the "Ghost Bullet" chapter in the first half of the second season is "GGO", and the "Sacred Sword" chapter in the second half of the second season continues to use the stage "ALO" of the first season of "Fairy Dance".

Ah, it's really a super hassle (laughs). But as a director, you first have to deal with the worldview of the stage. Before I started making zuò, I was in charge of concept art with Mr. Sotaro Hori, who was in charge of concept art, and I was responsible for creating a zào world. Of course, that's pretty pleasant. First of all, Mr. Hori drew a lot of original designs for us, for example, the original "GGO" did not mention such a tall building, but we added such a building to better show the world. When I was designing, I asked for a building with a sci-fi feel like Blade Runner, but because it would increase the workload of the art department, Mr. Hori complained about it.

- There is no position of "script coordinator" in this work, how is this work done?

Since we don't make a big adaptation of the original work, it's basically up to me, the original author, Mr. Kawahara, and the producer to decide on the general policy, and then gradually divide the story without disrupting the sense of flow as much as possible. The short story "Holy Sword" was inserted before the "Psalm of the Virgin", partly because it was set in time, and partly because it allowed the characters from the first season to reappear. However, in the case of the Psalm of the Virgin, we will attach great importance to the handling of new characters, especially Yuki, who can be said to be meticulous. Nowadays, people don't like themes that are too strict, so I wanted to find a balance when dealing with the character of Yuki.

- You say balance, right?

Yes, as a director, I don't plan to incorporate my own ideas into the characters, but I hope to convey what was expressed in the original work in a simpler way and more widely. For example, it is like how much to put in the seasoning, and you need to think about it again.

- What is the position of the Psalm of Our Lady in the second season?

The "Ghost Bullet" chapter can be said to remind Kirito once again of an easily forgotten fact - Ain Grandrie has lost as many as 4,000 lives. As for the Psalm of the Virgin, I think the most important thing is how Asuna gets along with Yuki. If you focus too much on Yuki, the story will deviate from the original, so I think it's important to strike a balance.

In addition, from the overall point of view of the second season, the idea of using a general ending to unify the "Ghost Bullet", "Holy Sword" and "Song of the Virgin" has been there since the beginning of the system, and as for what kind of ending it will be, please go and see the anime for yourself.

Fourth, Kirito became the reason for the current charge

INTERVIEWER How do you plan to describe Asuna in your future story?

I paid special attention to the description of Asuna's actions, hoping that she would not give the impression of "troublesome", "verbose", etc. For example, in the third episode, when Kirito said that he was going to "GGO", Asuna did not take the opportunity to say "I want to go too"; And in the seventh episode, she just listened quietly to the phone and didn't ask Kiritto what happened to "GGO". I think Asuna is probably one of those girls, and I deliberately created a feeling of a quietly waiting wife for her in the first half of the second season.

In the "Psalm of the Virgin", there is a description of her leaving the game and being at home, and I still don't understand the character of Asuna, but I believe that some viewers who don't have too deep feelings for Asuna will also have a feeling of "you're not easy".

- Asuna is also quite popular among high school girls.

Are you sure? That's great! I think that many girls will look forward to this image in the future while being able to fight on their own while helping boys. Well, that's how I felt after watching "Pretty Girl of Light". From the era of the fighting heroine ("Sailor Moon") to the era of the heroine of the meat bullet ("Pretty Girl of Light"), I think that girls have really grown in the past ten years, because they are no longer willing to be in a protected position, which shows that they have grown.

INTERVIEWER By the way, director, which character do you most want to choose as your wife in this work?

I liked Lizzebet at first, but the people around me are like Shino, so now I like Shino (laughs). There is a big difference between a good mood and a bad mood, and when I read the original work, I thought that Shino was a difficult person to get along with, but after I got married, I could easily accept her. This kind of person with a huge contrast between joy and anger, yes, is still very common, so I now think that Shinai is a very realistic character.

INTERVIEWER Life experiences such as getting married and having children do have an impact on your attitude towards the work, and even the work itself.

It's true.,The first episode is a sweet date with people and Assuna in the real world.,Maybe there's a little bit of selfishness on my part (laughs). I feel like I've become less resistant to this "sweetness" now. Even if other people complained to me, "It's so full of money, I die of envy when I see it," I probably just reply, "Really?" Anyway, I don't have any resistance to this, so it's nice to watch" (laughs).

- In that case, will the two of them continue to charge in the future?

I don't know, but I don't know if there will be one in the play (laughs).

INTERVIEWER Although the second season is still in the works, what new works do you plan to try in the future?

I wanted to make a silly comedy film (laughs). Personally, I'm a big fan of Egg Wright's "Shaun the Zombies" and "Detective Grim", so I wanted to make a work that would make me feel bad (laughs), for example, one second I put on a pretty strict look, and the next second I suddenly stepped on or something, but unfortunately I couldn't let Kirito step on (laughs).

INTERVIEWER Director Ito, your debut work "The End of the Century Supernatural Academy" is also a work that combines rigor and comedy.

Personally, I think I'm best at that, but I don't have a chance to do it (laughs). So Kirito saw Shiina's ass, probably influenced by me.

INTERVIEWER Finally, I would like to say a few words to all of you.

I think you must have great expectations for this work.,I'll do my best to satisfy you! Since Mr. Shingo Adachi, who was in charge of the character design, said that he really wanted to draw Yuki, I was going to leave an irresponsible sentence here - "Please take care of Yuki's pitiful beauty in the end!" (laughs).