TV anime "Chop! Crimson Pupils ended in December 2014. This is a manga adaptation originally by TAKAHIRO and illustrated by Tetsuya Tashiro. In the story, the young swordsman Tazmi came to the imperial capital with his companions in order to lift the village out of poverty, but accidentally became a member of the killer organization "NIGHTRAID", and fought against the corrupt empire, and the story between him and the heroine Red Hitomi will become the main ...... of the whole work. The style of the work belongs to the standard dark works.,In addition, the current prequel comic "Chop! Crimson Pupil Zero is also being serialized, giving people a glimpse of the popularity of the series.

However, there is always a difference between manga and TV anime, so what is the difference? In the process of serialization of the original work, what is the purpose of the animation to launch the original plot development? In this regard, some Japanese media recently interviewed the director of the work, Tomoki Kobayashi, to learn all kinds of unknown inside stories from his mouth.

■This work tells the consciousness of each of the characters who appear on the scene

Q: In reviewing the entire "Chop! Crimson Pupils", what kind of story did Director Kobayashi think this was?

Kobayashi: If you use a phrase that often appears in your works, it is a story full of "enlightenment". I think the issue of enlightenment is portrayed in every episode. For example, Tazmi was put to the test when he joined the "NIGHTRAID". Although it is said to make the corrupt imperial capital better, a killer is a killer. Being aware of what she has to do is also a challenge for Tazmi.

And in episode 22, Red Hitomi also said to Will: "Unenlightened people, give me a retreat!" "It's true, you can't survive in your work without enlightenment.

Q: Since 19 episodes, the work has been the original development of TV anime, have you communicated with the original work and Mr. Takahiro?

Kobayashi: This project started two years ago, and although the story of the original work is still in full swing, the anime has to finish telling a story. So in any case, the anime had to end faster than the original. To that end, we listened to the plot direction and ending that Mr. Takahiro thought about, and then we structured the story here.

Among them, we decided to "let Tazmi die in the battle with the First Emperor's Throne" and "the final battle between Crimson and Estes". I just looked at the recent original work and realized that some of the things are different (laughs).

Q: The unfolding of the plot after 19 episodes is unpredictable, and I think the 23 episodes of "Killing the Emperor", in which Tazmi died in the battle with the First Emperor's Throne, also caused a strong response. Many people exclaimed: "I didn't expect Tazmi to die." ”

Kobayashi: Everyone's reaction was expected. Mr. Takahiro wanted to use this kind of story from the beginning, and it was fun and impactful. But that's just before. As I said earlier, after reading the recent original manga, I can't grasp the direction of the plot. Maybe it's because the animation did this.,It's the original work that has changed.。

Estes' trump card "Maha Bo Temo" has appeared in the original game, and I thought at first that the plot direction should be that the red pupil should break this trump card and then defeat Estes. However, in the most recent original, Tazmi had already beaten Maha Temo, and even Estes said, "I still have my cards." ”

The anime drives the story according to the original plot, but the manga has further incorporated new ideas on top of this, and the current result has been achieved, right?

Q: When an animation has an original work, do you, as an animation producer, often communicate closely with the original author?

Kobayashi: It depends on the situation on the site. As far as the works I am involved in are concerned, there are often some people from the original team on the scene, and it is still rare that no one comes to see the situation at all.

If it is an original development that is completely different from the original, then the treatment of the animation will be different. It's just "Chop! "Crimson Pupil" has a very solid original work, and if the original author does not appear at the discussion meeting, then it will be very choking. For example, if a new character suddenly appears, it will be a lot of time for both the original author and the animation producer, and it will not be cost-effective.

This is not an end work, but to unfold the plot according to the direction of the original work, so it is very necessary to work closely with the original work. THIS TIME, MR. TAKAHIRO CAME TO THE SITE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE WORK, AND THE COMMUNICATION BETWEEN US BECAME VERY SMOOTH.

Q: Has Director Kobayashi ever encountered a situation where "I want to do this in animation"?

A: The plot can't contradict the original work, and I'm very concerned about the picture drawing. Mr. Tetsuya Tashiro, who was in charge of the original painting, has a unique style of painting, and in order not to damage his style of painting, we also need to study how to present the style of painting in the animation in an authentic way. Some effort has been put into this. However, the effort is too much, and the weight of the guide is even more than we imagined......

We wanted to value Mr. Tashiro's sense of rhythm in the picture, so we also increased the number of storyboards. This also put a lot of pressure on the on-site staff, and everyone was quite hard.

Q: When there are many lenses, how many storyboards are there?

Kobayashi: In some episodes with a lot of fight scenes, you have to add storyboards anyway, and on average, there are more than 300. The most is 380 shots in 23 episodes. If it was more than 400, it was still too difficult, so we avoided this problem as much as possible and ended up getting stuck at 380. As for the duel between Red Hitomi and Estes in the last episode, there are almost 380 of them.

Just thinking about the rhythm of the manga makes me can't help but add shots. We apologize to the staff for this......

Q: The 23rd episode and the last episode are very important episodes for both the fans and the staff. And the First Emperor was also designed in the animation.

Kobayashi: At first, there was no design in the original work, and when I first heard from Mr. Takahiro, he really planned to use the portrait of the First Emperor. From the original setting, the bronze statue of the First Emperor was erected and then activated as the Emperor's tool. When I was thinking about "almost having to design for the First Emperor", I thought that it would be difficult for the huge bronze statue in the shape of a human figure to be animated in the form of a picture, so I changed it to the appearance of the anime while incorporating the setting of the original work.

Q: The First Emperor is really huge. So how big was the First Emperor?

Kobayashi: I'm not entirely sure (laughs). I wasn't particularly sure about the size in the setting, I just made it seem huge. Depending on the situation, sometimes it is not surprising that the First Emperor in some shots even makes people feel as high as 400 meters. We prioritized styling, and the animation broadcast footage also used some oppressive shots to express it.

■I want to be able to produce a picture that is not inferior to the original

Q: The work has always been developed from Tazmi's point of view, and I know that the subtitle of the last episode is "Chop! Crimson Pupils", I also thought, "It's finally here!" ”

Kobayashi: That's what the last episode is going to do. Including the original work, the plot of "NIGHTRAID" is almost always from the perspective of Tazmi, but I think that "in the end, we have to focus on Akatomi." ”

Although the title is "Chop! Crimson Pupil", but Red Pupil is a relatively honest character, and it's hard to see her active. This "protagonist has no role" approach also reflects some masochistic NETA elements (laughs).

Since Red Hitomi is a character who seems to be relatively perfect from the beginning, there is no special portrayal of her entanglement and growth.

Q: Episode 22 "Chop! Sister", the story between the red pupil and the black pupil is also a plot worth the ticket price for the red pupil fan.

Kobayashi: If you can read the prequel, "Chop! Crimson Pupil Zero", then you will have a deeper understanding of their story. To be honest, there are some parts that are hard to explain just by relying on the animation. So I hope you must read "Chop! Crimson Pupil Zero.

If the anime is a completely original development, then we may create a story centered on red pupils and black pupils, and the plot of 22 episodes may also be placed in the final episode. It is only thanks to the existence of such an indisputable and powerful enemy character as Zài Estes that the story is today.

Q: Although each character in the work is full of personality, Estes's sense of existence is still different.

KOBAYASHI: ESTES IS ALSO A POPULAR CHARACTER IN THE ORIGINAL WORK, AND MR. TAKAHIRO LIKES IT VERY MUCH (LAUGHS). Regarding Estes, we also encountered an unexpected situation, that is, in the 14th episode of "Chop! Great danger species" inside.

THERE ARE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MR. TAKAHIRO'S CHARACTER OF ESDES, WHICH IS SIMILAR TO THAT OF A CHARACTER IN A SIMILAR STYLE IN ANIME. If you want to portray a character like Estes in animation, then it is easy to portray her as a character with obvious emotional fluctuations. Although she looks very strong, she also has a weak side and a gentle side, so she is full of human touch. HOWEVER, MR. TAKAHIRO'S THOUGHT OF ESTES WAS A FLAWLESS CHARACTER. As the name suggests, it's an "S".

Especially in episode 21, everyone has a lot of headaches for the story. What kind of feelings should Estes have when he knows that the captured Tazmi is an enemy? What did Estes think when Tazmi was executed? In this case, it becomes very difficult to think about the actions of the characters.

Q: Let's tell us about the voice actors. This time, both Hitomi and Tazmi have new voice actors, and the other "NIGHTRAID" are professionals with absolute strength, which also makes me feel very interesting.

Kobayashi: The reason why a group of professionals gathered was actually quite accidental. Tazmi is the youngest in "NIGHTRAID", in other words, he is like a small employee in the company, so from the perspective of voice actors, I don't think it's better to subvert this position.

Sometimes, in the dubbing scene, the difference in each other's status will also be expressed in the work. Since Tazmi is a character who will be bullied by the people around him, I think it would be best if there was a young man to voice him. Thinking about it this way, I felt that Mr. Saito was very suitable for the requirements, so I was inclined to use him. As for Miss Amamiya Ten, who voiced Akamito, I can also feel a good freshness from her.

Q: Now that all 24 episodes have been broadcast, what do you think of looking back on this time?

Kobayashi: Well~ It's a long time! The project started exactly two years ago, and the anime was finished in December last year. At the end of the day, the schedule was a bit chaotic, and it would be nice to be able to get the job done a little bit more smoothly.

It's really a work that the staff works very. I've also mentioned the hard work of the 23 episodes before, and the staff did a great job in very difficult situations. If I had the chance to see this again, I would be very happy.

Q: The staff did their best to express Xiàn, and in the last part of the plot, it was indeed conveyed from the picture.

Kobayashi: In the first half, we did our best to make the original manga without destroying the original picture, but in the second half, there was no original manga, so we were very troubled when we were drawing. To be honest, since the original manga was still being serialized, I thought at that time that I couldn't lose to the original.

There are a lot of things in the original work that I think are very powerful. After the storyboard, we still encounter this situation in the midst of a very tight schedule: after entering the drawing stage, we get the original manga again, and we know that "the original work has gone to this plot". So I looked at the original work and revised the picture again.

When Shura died, the minister said, "Oh, if you're dead, you're dead." And this plot just illustrates the problem: the animation can't do the same effect as the original, and I have to say that Mr. Tashiro's graphic creation technique is really fantastic.

Q: Finally, would you like to give a few words to the readers?

Kobayashi: Personally, 17 episodes of "Chop! "Curse" contains a story of Chelsea. And the painting of this part of the plot gave me a big impact. I hope you will be able to check it out again. I would be very happy if people could re-enjoy the work on Blu-ray and DVD.

Q: Thank you for your time today!

Broadcast to Tencent**