rikeijo

[rikeijo]

Go Yuri!!! Go, official fanbook Interview with Yamamoto Sayo (published 19th June 2017)

[Okay, it's time to make all the translations more readable, especially for people, who discovered YoI recently but would like to know more, so I'll post all parts as one post~ I'll then put all translations on a list for easy access.

I'll still post new translations though, there are still some that I've touched, or even magazines that I don't have in my library yet😆]

Watching [the animation of] Victor’s FS at Worlds, I became certain that this is going to be a film [as in a ‘roll of film’] no-one has seen before.

Q: First of all, tell us please, why you have decided to make an anime about figure skating.

I have been a figure skating fan for some time now. At first I was a light fan, watching competitions only on TV, but then gradually I started spending crazy amount of time on figure skating. I started inserting figure skating into other projects I’ve been working on, for example, even while working on storyboards for action scenes, I was thinking: “Wouldn’t it be interesting, if I used the motion of flying camel spin for this kick here?”. Around the time, I was working on “Lupin the 3rd. The woman called Fujiko Mine” I couldn’t help, but to start thinking seriously about it and at first, I was thinking about maybe making an anime about skating to air around the time of Sochi Olympics. People [from the industry] were listening, but not very intently - I heard comments like “Is it going to be about bukatsu [school sports club]?” or “Sounds like that’s going to be hard to do”. I personally wanted to animate competitions, because this is what I watch and find interesting, but it seems I couldn’t make this idea come across well. But at the same time, I became convinced that I’m trying to do something new, something no-one can visualize even. In this state, the project wouldn’t be accepted for around 2 years. During that time, I was inserting figure skating into other projects, for example, the opening to “Persona 5”, but I really wanted to make a TV anime with figure skating as the main theme. The breakthrough happened around the time of Sochi Olympics - there was a producer, who was looking to start a new project and he very kindly listened to my ideas.

Q: When have you become really hooked on figure skating?

Some time between Turin Olympics and Vancouver Olympics. For example, when it’s a short program, it’s like the whole life of a figure skater is packed into these 2min 50s. The longer you watch the better you can understand what the skater is thinking about, while they’re skating. The first time, I’ve watched a live competition was because of Johnny Weir back in 2009. At that time, he skated his own choreography to Lady Gaga’s “Poker face” at exhibitions in a very sensational way, and it left a huge impression on me. I thought that it was so cool and I just have to see it live!!… After Vancouver Olympics, one Johnny’s Angel was so kind to give me their ticket and I was able to go to Fantasy on Ice in Niigata and Fukui… The cast of skaters was dream-like! After that, I fell for figure skating for real.

Q: Please tell as about the circumstances in which Mitsurou Kubo has been invited to join the project.

At first I was thinking about working with a screenwriter. But screenwriters usually work on many project at the same time, so I thought I wouldn’t be able to find somebody who was as deep into figure skating as I was (laugh). Just at that time I really liked and often listened to “All night Nippon”, [a radio program] Kubo-san was doing with Noumachi Mineko-san [Mineko is a biological man living as a woman. You’d say trans woman, but afaik, as per her interviews, she doesn’t like the “trans” label. She’s an essayist, illustrator and writer]. I was just a random listener, but I had this one-sided conviction that “I could be good friends with this person” (laugh). So one time Kubo-san talked on the radio about figure skating and I thought her views on it are very interesting. I knew she has written the screenplay for “Moteki” movie (2011) in a form of manga storyboards, but then when I checked her bio in detail, I learned that for a very long time she was drawing a manga series in Weekly Shonen Magazine, so I could easily imagine her writing a screenplay for a TV anime. The big point was also the fact that she had experience with works based on somebody’s else original idea, so I thought that she’s for sure used to working with other people.

Q: What was the thing that made you feel drawn to Kubo-san?

Kubo-san is a person who doesn’t shy away from talking about things [like, normally you’d choose to maybe not talk about something for whatever reason]. She has her own way of interpreting things and she doesn’t hesitate to state that “Because of that thing, then we have this” [The context here is that very often Japanese people would rather choose not to speak up their mind]. She’s like this on the radio and in person too. One very important thing that I demand from a screenwriter is that they should be able to write dialogues with good punch lines - I thought that Kubo-san would be good at this, but she’s turned out to be even better than I expected. However, as it was the first time she was writing a screenplay for a TV anime, I decided that because I was used to working with the format of TV series, I should be the one to do the series composition, so I started to re-learn screenwriting. Working on the series was very fun, because after the project was launched, almost everyday I was visiting Kubo-san at her house and we were discussing the show, as well as exchanging info about figure skating. Kubo-san is very intelligent and observant and very good at collecting information, so even though she often says things like “I don’t really know that much about figure skating…” she very quickly became very knowledgeable, and in the end I even learned some things from her I didn’t know before (laugh). In addition, Kubo-san, as you’d expect from a person who for a long time was drawing a manga series for a weekly magazine, is really a pro when it comes to creating stories. I often had a revelation-like moments when I was thinking “Wow, now I see it!”. Also, as it was a first time Kubo-san was working on an anime, I was convinced she’s going to create very refreshing visuals, and without hesitation I decided to ask her to do character designs. The character design ideas she made were very stunning and while still a bit real-life-like, the points that make you excited while you watch them were highlighted by making them a bit super-deformed. Also, her bold art style is so pleasant to look at. I was very excited when the best possible team was created, after it occurred to me that Hiramatsu-san is the only person who can translate Kubo-san’s great art style into anime character design.

Q: Without going into details, how was the production organized?

The first step was that I did the series composition and created the plot for the whole series. Based on that, we discussed the details with Kubo-san and she drew manga storyboards for episodes 1-5. From ep 6 onward, it was… how I should put it? An uncharted land (laugh). In the GP series episodes, I was thinking we should make at least 6 skaters compete each episode. The time we had for one episode is 20min10s and normally a short program is 2min50s. When we ordered music for the programs, we asked to shorten it to about 2 min, but I wanted to animate all elements [of a program], so we asked Miyamoto (Kenji)-sensei, the choreographer, to save some time on the in-between sequences and spins. But we still haven’t got enough time, so when I was doing the series composition, I calculated everything like: from X min to X min this character skates, and then from X min this character skates… while taking into consideration all failed jumps and so on. But I had to shorten everything even more and decide where to put other elements, scenes and lines I wanted to include. But even then, when I drew the storyboards, they turned out to be way too long and I’ve spend enormous amount of time editing them. The very talented person who I worked with, Nagasaka Tomoki, has experience with editing live action movies, so thanks to him, we managed to make it, but every week a huge amount of time was spent on the editing.

Q: How did you decide on the program composition for each character?

Kubo-san and I created the story for each character’s program and then I made tables where each element of the story and how long it should be was mapped to the program’s music, plus I decided on other things, like what type of jumps should be included and I gave this all to Miyamoto-sensei. But when it comes to rules in figure skating, I’m not a professional, so even though I wanted to make this character do this jump and this spin, it turned out it was necessary to check if it would even be realistic or not. So, we worked with a figure skating coach, Yokoya Hanae, who works at Meiji Jingu Gaien sports club [fun fact: she still works there and you can totally buy individual lessons with her!]. Yokoya-sensei was active competitor at the same time as Ito Midori, and she has competed in GPF and won at Nationals. She kindly supervised all types of jumps and spins for us. We also asked her for her advice on the scores for each character, if they are actually possible and not wrong.

Q: Tell us about the process of choreographing the programs.

While listening to the music, first of all, I made a table where I put which fragment of the music (from which second to which second) I want to link with the specific element of the story. Even though it was a first time for me doing something like that, it was surprisingly easy because I had been previously working on anime openings and endings where I also had to fit the story to the music and lyrics of the song. Then, while taking advice from Miyamoto-sensei I decided where to put jumps. Together with Kubo-san, we explained to Miyamoto-sensei the story in each program, characters’ personalities and the origins of the music, so he could put it all into the choreography. At first we were thinking that on day one while practicing Miyamoto-sensei would create the choreography and then the next day we would film it, but because there were so many songs it was very tiring physically, and so we decide to film the choreography as it was being created.

Q: What took the longest?

I think it was Phichit’s FS. Miyamoto-sensei has hurt himself and so he had to skate with [kinesiology] taping. Also, in this FS we wanted to include elements of traditional Thai dance, so we had to do some research on it while creating the choreography - this also took time. We were really worried because Miyamoto-sensei has told us that even as an active competitor he has never had to skate with taping… There was a trainer from Edogawa who helped us with taping and massages, so it was reassuring [to have somebody like that who can help].

Q: Tell us about other interesting episodes that happened during the time you were working on choreography.

The very first program we created was Victor’s FS and only in case of this program I started from discussing with Miyamoto-sensei where to put what types of jumps. I told him that we want to show that this skater is the strongest one, and asked what jumps should we put into his program, so it would feel special. At present, there are skaters who can land this type of jump in competitions, but back then Miyamoto-sensei without a moment of hesitation answered “quadruple flip”. It was fall of 2015. Quadruple flip was the jump Daisuke Takahashi was trying to land successfully when he was an active competitor, and he managed to land it during the 6-minute practice session during NHK Cup in 2011. At that time it was a very special jump, nobody had ever landed in a competition. Sensei has said to us “I’m a choreographer so I don’t know anything about jumps”, but I think quadruple flip was a special jump to him. This is also one of the reasons why we made quadruple flip Victor’s symbol in the show, and the special jump Yuuri is so fixated on.

Q: What was particularly difficult in designing the costume?

I think Yuuri’s SP and FS costumes. The designer, Sagiri Yuko, also said that these two were difficult. We didn’t put a lot of color on Yuuri, or should I say, he doesn’t have in him a lot of manga-like, easily recognizable traits, so it was difficult to put his personality into a design. The way we placed orders for costumes was in general the same as the way we placed orders for choreography - we were providing the designer with information about the program, character personality, their image colors and photos as references, but first we talked about figure skating. Saigiri-san is a very flexible person, so whenever we gave her some examples, she was like “Oh yes, I know what you mean!”, so it was very easy to work with her.

Q: Why did you decide to use original music?

We thought that if we used already existing songs, then the impression left by the skater, who had skated to that piece in the past, would still be present there in the music, and so [the programs in the show] would be compared to real-life figure skating and it would possibly be difficult to simply enjoy [the anime]… We made the effort to create an original [fictional] story and wouldn’t it be quite suffocating to have to compete with real-life figure skating [e.g. in creating the best program to the same music]? So I thought animating figure skating would be really worth the effort, if we created programs that use original music no-one had ever heard before.

Q: Which song was the most difficult to compose?

Victor’s FS “Stammi vicino” took a considerably long time to compose. In the beginning of this piece there is that ennui [Google says ennui is a feeling of listlessness and dissatisfaction arising from a lack of occupation or excitement] part, before it picks up steam. But the composer, Matsushiba Taku-san, told us that “from the perspective of classical music, there isn’t” [I don’t know much about classical music theory, but I think that maybe she meant that what they wanted to achieve didn’t really fit the form of aria]. But if we weren’t somehow able to achieve this effect, then the music wouldn’t match well with the program, and it would be difficult for us to create the climax of the performance, so he adjusted this for us. Yuuri’s program, both SP and FS, took a lot of time to compose. In addition, with Yuuri’s FS we wanted to match the music with Yuuri’s skating life - at first there is something missing there, but this missing part is gradually filled up. So to achieve this effect we were discussing the music with Tominaga Keisuke-san (music producer) and Umebayashi Taro-san (composer) composed the music for us.

Q: Tell us about the ED.

The order we made for ED song was “Something that could be played during an ice show’s final or during a 6-minute warm-up session”. As for the visuals, first of all, I thought that it would be very difficult to animate skating, because of the amount of additional work we would have to do. That’s why we thought to use still images that would leave a strong impression, like unposed photos from the scenes that weren’t included in the anime, because of the time constrains… A lot of real life figure skaters use social media, so we thought that it would be interesting to use this as a theme. For example, when we went to see Karatsu before making the anime, we thought that we wanted to use the showers on the beach as a location, but in the end it wasn’t in the show, because of the time constraints. So instead we asked for it to be used in the ED. For example, in Almaty, where Otabek is, there is a metro station large enough to be a shelter, so we came up with ideas like “A skater from this country could do this in this place” and Hayashi (Yuichiro)-san organized these ideas very nicely into the ED.

Q: It’s a bit surprising that even Otabek uses social media.

A lot of foreign skaters have accounts. We can say that it’s normal to promote yourself by posting about what you are doing. Otabek too uses all sorts of social media. He practices at rinks not in his home country but abroad - I think, for skaters who have to travel all over the world, social media are also a method to stay in contact with their friends, families and fans.

Q: The fireworks scene in the ED was very memorable.

This was Hayashi-san’s idea. It’s not that all three of them were together in Hasetsu in the summer. So, it’s not that it’s a scene that actually happened somewhere sometime in the past - it’s an imaginary world. Hayashi-san is very observant and the visuals he creates are very convincing - he makes you think that the moments he portrays really happened.

Q: What was the most important thing to you when you were working on the visual side of Yuri!!!

First of all with screen layouts, at first I wanted them to look similar to Kubo-san’s original style of drawing, so I was thinking about making the black color of characters’ outlines really stand out. In addition, also in backgrounds, I wanted to leave the lines well-defined, and not make them too realistic and photo-like. With the exception of the town of Hasetsu, all [location] settings are essentially based in real world. In anime about figure skating, and one where we wanted to animate the GPF series, we wanted to have a link to real world locations where GP series events actually take place. Yuri!!! started airing in October, so the timing matched with real-life GP series, and by making the locations the same, we also wanted to make people, who don’t watch figure skating normally, interested in watching real-life competitions.

Q: The interior of Yu~topia Katsuki is a very unique world.

Tamura (Seiki)-san, who was responsible for the design, is the person who works with me since the first anime I directed, as the art designer. He has a good sense of fun and he’s really good at adding a special flavor to his designs. I think, if we just drew everything exactly in the same way as it appears in the photos we took for references, then it wouldn’t really be even worthwhile to work on the designs. Especially in case of Yu~topia Katsuki and the main building where Yuuri’s room is located, we wanted to make it look unique. We placed an order for a design that “shows you that the building has been remodeled, and some time has passed since the time when the Katsukis were running a ryokan [traditional Japanese inn] and now, when they use the ryokan building as their house with one-day [that is, you can’t stay the night there] onsen facilities added. So inside the building we have a lot of elements from different cultures and time periods. In contrast, when designing the locations we wanted to look realistic, like the GP series venues, we used 3D-modelling.

Q: How was your co-operation with the sound director, Kiyomizu-san, going during the voice overs recording?

I have previously worked with Kiyomizu-san on "Lupin”. He’s very passionate about voice acting. He also has the ability to manage voice actors very well. He read the story we wanted to tell diligently and had a very good understanding of what we want to do, to the point that he was able to give me some ideas I’ve never thought about - I could entrust this job to him without any worries. When we were checking the voice overs together, we almost always agreed on the lines which sounded off - it made my life so much easier. In Yuri!!! from time to time we have scenes when we use manga-like deformations but when we were casting voice actors, it was very important for us to have actors, who can act naturally. All VAs are very talented, so basically the voice overs aren’t that different from what I imagined they should sound like. Also I was the most grateful that Kiyomizu-san is also a skating fan. It is the director’s job to explain everything to people who don’t know anything [about the topic they need to work on], but it’s so much better when you have to give only additional information to somebody who already knows a lot, than when you have to make somebody with 0 level knowledge reach level 2 or 3. The number of episodes we could work on together was not so big, so I wouldn’t have much time to explain everything anyway - it was a luxury to be able to work with Kiyomizu-san, who already had know so much that I only had to give him some additional information.

Q: Do you have any interesting stories about voice over recordings?

Every time, the voice actors were giving better performances than we could have expected, so sometimes we had to change the animation to better match it with the voice overs. We only changed small details, but I must admit it wasn’t easy. When the voice actors’ performance is very intense, it’s easy to understand the characters - the character speaks their lines and that’s all they need to exist. But a more exquisite/delicate performance is what determines whether you can feel that the characters are real or not. Are they “characters that only exist in this anime” or can you feel that they “are really there” - it all depends on voice acting.

Q: Which scene was especially memorable to you?

While working on Yuri!!!, the scene that made me feel that “this is going to be an amazing show” particularly strongly, was the scene of Victor skating in ep 1. In animation, you have to explain the characters through actions and in figure skating, it is the skating performance that needs to express everything there is to be expressed - while working on this scene I had in mind both these principles. When I was editing this scene, and also the whole ep 1, I became convinced that “this is going to be a film no-one has seen before”. Of course, I had a lot of faith in this project from the very beginning, but when this 20min10s-long film was created I really felt that we were working on something absolutely new, something that has never been done before.

Q: At the very end of the last episode we see the “See you NEXT LEVEL” text.

It’s because we wanted to end the series with an element of “hope” to keep on going forward. Well, when we started working on the project we couldn’t really get enough money for the budget and there wasn’t any indication that we would be able to work on any sort of continuation (laugh). That’s why we decided very early on that we wanted to end the series like this, so we also can move on to the “NEXT LEVEL” [it’s not really clear if she meant they hoped they would be able to work on continuation anyway or the next level was their personal next level, as in they wanted to move on to different projects]. But before we reached the “NEXT LEVEL” ending, in the story Yuuri has grown as a person in a way we couldn’t have imagined, and because of that he has been changing. Especially the jumps in his FS changed more than any other characters’ from the show. This is because, as Yuuri has been growing as a person throughout the show, there were many moments when he made us feel that: “now is when I want to challenge myself”.

Q: What are you plans for the future?

Right now we are planning the production of the movie. While working on final editing of episode 10, suddenly an idea for this new project came to me, without any context. I think it’s going to be quite an epic story (laugh).

Q: And lastly, a message for the fans please!

Yuri!!! on ICE finished airing so we are in off-season now, but in real-life figure skating the Olympic season has just begun! It’s a very dramatic season that only happens once every 4 years, so please watch real-life competitions. I’m going to keep on working hard towards the NEXT LEVEL while getting my imagination inspired by figure skating and using this imagination to make anime!!!

[rikeijo]

Today's translation #1001

Yuri!!! on FESTIVAL

Part 1.

Yuuri: En~'ya en~'ya! Ah, so nostalgic! I haven't been on a festival for a long time!

Victor: Amazing! Wow, so this is Hasetsu-kun-chi?

Y: Victor, 'Hasetsu Kunchi'. If you say 'Hasetsu-kun-chi' it sounds like you mean 'Hasetsu-kun's place'. On Kyushu, 'kunchi' means 'festival'. [It's a joke about Japanese language intonation]

V: Yuuri, Yuuri!! Look, look! A lot of sumo wrestlers there!

Y: They are not sumo wrestlers. They wear 'fundoshi'. Fundoshi is well... How to explain it? You can say, it's an official costume for a festival. Hasetsu Kunchi style is a happi worn over white underwear.

V: Woah! I like fundoshi!

Y: Ughh…

V: Something's wrong?

Y: No, it's just… Hangover.

V: Hahaha, you were amazing last night! I've never thought you would do something like that…

Y: Have I done something again…?

V: You don't remember? Last night, you know? You…

Y: Stop, stop, stop! Don't tell me. Sometimes not knowing makes you a happier person.

Y: "Hasetsu Exihibition ~Onsen on ICE~ Victor with Friends" was a huge success, but I drank too much, again… Well, as usual, but… Huh? Speaking about that… Where are 'with friends'?

Yurio: Waaaaa! So fucking cool!!

Y: Yurio!

Yurio: So-so fucking cool, Hasetsu-kun-chi!!!

Y: What you just said means 'Hasetsu-kun's place is really cool'.

V: What kind of festival Hasetsu Kunchi is?

Y: It's a festival to thank for harvests.

V: So it's a harvest festival!

Yurio: Oi! What's that over there?! Looks like those vehicles in Mad Max: Fury Road!!!

Y: Those are called 'hikiyama', it's a dashi… Ah, I have no idea… How I should explain this to foreigners...?

Yurio: So fucking cool!

Y: Hikiyama have various shapes, and each one has a story behind it!

V: Is that enormous squid over there that men ride on also a hikiyama?

Y: Yes, that one is called 'Ankoku Ika Aramitama'

Yurio: Ankoku… Ika… Aramitama… Dark… Squid… Wild… Heart.

Y: It's an old story, but the Squid tried to destroy the whole world once.

Yurio: A squid...? How could a squid possibly destroy the whole world!? Can a squid destroy the whole world?!

Y: It sprayed everything with it's squid darkness ink.

Yurio: For real!? A fucking cool squid!

Y: They say that this is the origin of Hasetsu Kunchi - to calm the Squid down, people sung and danced, trying to appeal, appeal and appeal to the Squid to calm it down, and that's how they saved the world. Well, it's like a story for kids.

V: Wow! Saving the world by appealing to a squid sounds very innovative! Maybe we should make it your new Short Program, Yuuri? This year it will be a squid dance in fundoshi!

Y: Squid dance in fundoshi would get me expelled from the skating world on top of getting minus points.

Yurio: Squid dance in fundoshi? Isn't that what shit-faced Shitcutlet [Kusokatsu] was doing last night? Together with his dad…

Y: I don't want to be a human any longer…

--------------------------------------------------------

<Chris' monologue>

En~'ya en~'ya!

So this is Hasetsu Kunchi, yeah? I love festivals! Woah! Traditional Japanese Thong! Exciting! It has the potential to make the ice all wet… I came all the way here to visit Hasetsu, so it seems to be worth trying on… Where can I try it on? Let's ask that man over there, wearing Traditional Japanese Thong.

Ah, excuse me? I want to be your… your… fundoshi. When it's okay for you? [He wanted to say: I want to put on your fundoshi. Is it alright?]

Oh, he seems surprised… That caused quite a stir… Probably my Japanese wasn't right.

If that's the case, let's show them this… [shows a picture in a Japanese book] yes!! I wanna try... fundoshi!! Ah, he got it now! Yes, the same! Ah! Now is the time, when I can put the fundoshi on… Ah! So this is fundoshi… Freedom and danger combined together… I pretty like it.

Oh? Are you going to let me climb on this Kabuto shrine? Is it really okay? Woah! Fantastic!

----------------------------------------

Yuuri: Where is everyone? Even Yurio disappeared…

Victor: It's so interesting how Hasetsu Kunchi has so many types of hikiyamas. How many is there?

Y: Let me think… In total, there is 14. They say that in the past there were 15 of them, but one is gone now. The one that disappeared is 'Ame no Chihoko-nushi Ogami'.

V: Chihoko…?!

Y: ...nushi Ogami. If I remember correctly it's a deity that has a power over good harvest, marriage, harmonious family life and love.

V: ...is it a female deity?

Y: Nope, Ame no Chihoko-nushi Ogami doesn't have a gender. It's a deity that gives love to all living beings and it's called the highest of all deities.

V: Why did it disappear?

Y: It was long ago, so what exactly happened is unknown… Some say that it burned in a fire that broke out, some say that Ankoku Ika Aramitama killed it. The legend has it that when the world is once again filled to the brim with love, it will come back to us.

V: Love, hmm?

Y: Ah Victor, look! A hikiyama comes this way! That one is Shuten-dōji and kabuto helmet hikiyama… Wait, what is that? …isn't it like... wet? Who's over there, on top of it...?

V: Oh look at it, it's topped by an Eros, that I've seen somewhere before!

Y: Extreme Eros is oozing from it…! Isn't it… Chris?! He's getting lifted up, on top of the helmet. It's a difficult position, with pose change… He wants to get level 4 for that!

Chris: Oh? Isn't it Victor and Yuuri over there?

Y: Stop getting down from portable shrines in slow-motion triple salchows.

Chris: How do you like it? My Traditional Japanese Thong?

Y: How to put it... It really stands out, because Chris is the only one with a body of an athlete… in other words, Chris' Eros is impressive…

Chris: I'm thinking about making it my costume for next season.

Y: I think it's against the rules and will cost you 15 points deduction.

Chris: Ah, right... So what about an exhibition program? I can skate with Victor, as a pair…

V: Good idea! Fundoshi Bomb!

Chis: I and Victor will make the ice all wet with our Fundoshi Bomb.

Y: No, no, no, no. I absolutely don't allow for this to happen. Making ice wet isn't a good idea!

V: We also should join Chris and change to Hasetsu Kunchi style, Yuri? We are on a Festival right now! It's boring if there are people who don't participate… Participating in a festival is a very meaningful thing to do. Yuuuri... Yuuuri…!

Y: Even if you show me this cute face of yours, the answer is still no. I think I told you that I have a hangover and I don't feel that good?

Victor＆Chis: En~'ya! En~ya!

Y: I'm not changing to Kunchi style, absolutely not! Absolutely I'm not changing.

[Note: That's the first part out of three! The next parts will come in the near future~✨

Can you guess why Yuuri doesn't want to change to fundoshi?

It's transcribed by me from you know where hihi🤫 I highly recommend listening to it, especially to Chris... It's ultra funny.

✨✨Watashi wa... Anata no... Anata no... Fundoshi... ni... naritai.✨✨]

[rikeijo]

Today’s translation #1000

Newtype, 10/2016 Hiramatsu Tadashi's interview

Part 5.

-- So, on the other hand, what was important to you, when you were drawing everyday life scenes?

Hiramatsu: Expressions that we put on the face of a character were something that was important throughout the whole show. I haven't drawn these with such attention to details in quite a while. Even if it's a character crying, there are different kinds of emotions that can be swirling in them, as they are crying... like the character can be angry, hostile, or feel disappointment. It was necessary to keep track of all these emotions.

-- The impact of episode 10., which contains only everyday life scene, was huge.

Hiramatsu: When we got the storyboards for that episode, there was some uproar among guy side of the Yuri!!! team. Like "R..Rings?!" But we decided to draw Yuuri and Victor beautifully, give it all we can, and it turned out that this episode was very well-received. So it once again made me realize how important it is to give your best until the end.

-- In your first artbook, 'Hiramatsu Tadashi's Animation Art Collection' you also included a few Yuri!!! on ICE arts, is that right?

Hiramatsu: The artbook was complied right at the time, when Yuri!!! was airing, so the parts about Yuri!!! are a record of what was happening right in front of my eyes at that time. The artbook contains illustrations as early as from the time, when I first did character design, for 'Kare Kano [Kareshi, kanojo no jijou]' anime, but I didn't even imagine back then that I'd be doing character design for such a long time to this age, so that makes me quite emotional. Yuri!!! is an important show for me, also because when I was working on it I was thinking about all the past that led me were I'm now.

[Notes: End of this interview and woooooooooo, 1000th translation~~~✨🪄🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉 Fingers crossed my 1000 cranes wish will come true 🤞

Tomorrow, I'll post the first part of the Festival! As promised. I wanted to post everything at once, but life verified those plans hehe 😔

The story has three separate parts, and between them, Mitsurou and the VAs were playing some games on stage, so each part is kind of complete on its own, although there is the big story as well. So tomorrow 1/3!]

[rikeijo]

Today’s translation #999

Newtype, 10/2016 Hiramatsu Tadashi's interview

Part 4.

-- Another thing that was impressive was how the spectators' seats were portrayed in the anime.

Hiramatsu: Actually, these were portrayed with a lot of attention to elements that are typical for figure skating. Like the manners of the audience, and where on the rinksides people are standing and were they aren't. Even if it's something that in a normal anime would be drawn as a simple background, even if it's a cut that will be on a screen just for a brief moment, when a character is skating, the Director supervised every detail. Even if it already was the video editing stage of colored animation, sometimes it happened that corrections just needed to be introduced. Maybe it's a small detail, that nobody would even notice, but I think that such details, taken together, is what gave the show it's depth and made it appear to the audience so much.

-- How were the figure skating scenes created?

Hiramatsu: In general, figure skating scenes were the responsibility of Abiko Eiji-san and Tatenka Junpei-san. Near the end of the production, however, some were also redirected to me... Figure skating poses have some ballet-like elements in them, and some of the movements aren't what you normally see in a standard anime, so it was a lot of fun to draw them. In the end, I managed to understand why the Director and Kubo-san have always been talking about figure skaters' butts since the beginning of the production (laugh). The line of thighs, up to the butt of male figure skaters has something androgynous in it, and certainly it is a very important element of their silhouette. These areas are what I personally find sexy, too, so drawing, I put some emphasis on them.

[rikeijo]

Today’s translation #998

Newtype, 10/2016 Hiramatsu Tadashi's interview

Part 3.

-- Eyelashes of the characters were also drawn with a lot of attention to details.

Hiramatsu: Thanks to Yuri!!! I stopped having any doubts if I should draw eyelashes on male characters. Some of the expressions would be impossible to draw without those eyelashes.

-- What did you think about the theme of this show that is figure skating?

Hiramatsu: I don't know really a lot about figure skating. I watched it on TV, feeling deep emotions, but I've never thought that I'd end up drawing figure skating myself. Watching real-life skating competitions, I used what I saw as an inspiration mainly for how the facial expressions of figure skaters change in the time between when they enter the venue and when it's their turn, the start of their program. It was very important for the Director as well, to show how they enter the fight mode...　As they warm up behind the scenes, during the 6-minutes practice, when they wait at the rinkside and directly before their start their performance.

-- The focus on the show was more on the mental struggles, rather than on the physical development of the competitors.

Hiramatsu: It's a story about athletes, but it's not a 'supokon - sports anime'. It's not a story about learning how to jump a new type of jump, but it's the emotions and relationships between skaters what the story is about. So we didn't decided on a specific facial expressions for a character, but instead, if it's Yuuri, for example, then when he's with Victor, that's how he's is, when he's with Yurio, he's different, and when with Phichit he's also different - we draw the expressions, to show what each relationship between the characters is like.

[rikeijo]

Today’s translation #997

Newtype, 10/2016 Hiramatsu Tadashi's interview

Part 2.

-- When at first, you have received this job offer from Director Yamamoto, what was your impression of this project? You are known for drawing bewitchingly cute girls, so one of the reasons why Yuri!!! drew attention is that this time, Hiramatsu-san drew boys!

Hiramatsu: My first reaction was: 'What? Figure skating? What? And men's figure skating?'. What's more the request was that I were to draw boys in the same way as I draw girls to show off their charms, so I was like 'what's that supposed to be? This curved ball of a request!' (laugh).

-- What was the process of you working on character design?

Hiramatsu: In the project proposal, there were also rough sketches of the characters included, so I developed the designs, based on those rough sketches, but at that time, the design weren't all that stable still. After that, as the work on the storyboards progressed, we could also see what's in the heart of each characters, and that also made their outward appearance stabilize, too.

-- Your designs show off especially well the emotions shown in the eyes of the characters. It was also what made it possible for the characters to act [as actors in a play].

Hiramatsu: In case of the eyes, I've received a lot of very detailed instructions from Kubo-san, too. For example, Yuuri's eyebrows should go down a bit, and also be thick at the ends, but also have a little peak. I later on made some adjustments, when I was preparing a reference sheet for each character, but at first, there was some nuance, that I didn't really get, what it is supposed to be there for. But then, when the character was there, in a particular scene, it all made sense.

[rikeijo]

So close to one thousand! You are impressively dedicated and your work is a priceless treasure of this fandom!

Dare I hope your Yuri on Festival translation is close enough to done that it can be posted as #1000, without rushing either it or you?

Hi!

Thank you very much for your kind words! ✨🥺💜💜

And thank you for giving me motivation to work on the Festival haha 🩷

It should be ready around translation #1001 *fingers crossed* 🤞🤞

[rikeijo]

Today’s translation #996

Newtype, 10/2016 Hiramatsu Tadashi's interview

Part 1.

-- When you completed your work on the first cour of the anime, what emotions did you feel?

Hiramatsu: The state, that I'm in right now is something like when you drive on a highway, and you don't even know when, you start to drive faster and faster, and then you are like 'it's over' and you go back to driving on a normal road, but you are still not used to it (laugh). And driving on a highway, you get desperate, getting agitated by other drivers behind you, getting overtaken, trying to keep up with others, so you speed up even more. So normally, to finish your run, you mustn't slow down, and it's inevitable that you need go give up on more and more things. This time, to the very end we were driving at full throttle... 'The engine of this car is a real monster' was what I thought.

-- And what was your support on this road?

Hiramatsu: It's obviously the support of Yuri!!!'s fans. What was pushing us forward was the feeling that what we make reaches all of you. Without it, I think that somewhere along the way, we would have crashed this car. Also that we have received response from fans all over the world was very stimulating for us. The popularity of this show involved also real-life figure skating world into the hype.

[rikeijo]

Today’s translation #995

Newtype, 10/2016 Kubo Mitsurou's interview

Part 4.

-- I've heard that you were present during voice over recording for the first episode. How was it?

Kubo: All cast members are really incredible, but in the first episode, Toyonaga Toshiyuki-san, who play the role of Yuuri, had especially a lot of lines. I very liked his inexperienced purity. All real-life figure skaters also have this purity in them, so Toyonaga-san fits just right into that. And what's more, this time, in addition to this purity, we also need his sex-appeal to show through. The Director and I are very excited about this, because we think that this clean sex-appeal is just pure violence, and it will make me very happy, if this sex-appeal will explode in the show from now on.

-- What kind of director Director Yamamoto is?

Kubo: She's a director that has both the ability to take initiatives and passion, this kind of director that thinks 'If I don't make an anime about figure skating, I'm gonna die' (laugh). When I was working on the storyboards, she frequently visited my home, and we were talking while cooking together. For a few months, we met almost everyday. Yesterday, too, we talked 5 hours on the phone, but that also included staff meeting. She's the person that recently I've had the best relations with.

[rikeijo]

Today’s translation #994

Newtype, 10/2016 Kubo Mitsurou's interview

Part 3.

-- And the storyboards are so polished that you almost forget that these are supposed to be just manga storyboards [so a rough sketch, not a finished product].

Kubo: Thinking about how this is an original anime, I realized that it would be very difficult to share with so many staff members, what will make this show so interesting, and what kind of show we aim for. Even if the Director and I share the same vision, if we can't share it with the marketing team etc., they won't be able help us spread the word, and as a consequence, the show won't reach the viewers. So I thought that this is my role here, to draw the storyboards as diligently as I can, to be able to share our vision with everyone.

-- What kind of stimulation are Hiramatsu Tadashi's character designs and his animation for you?

Kubo: First of all, I've never before had my characters drawn and made into a final product by somebody else, so I feel both happiness and anxiety. Even now, I'm a bit worried for some reason, that my art style isn't that good for anime. Thanks to how Hiramatsu-san turned all my character setting into a character design, it made the characters really come to live, and when they move, there is so much charm in them. This provoked me to realize that 'so far, I've been always taking advantage of manga' [as a medium, in a sense that her characters didn't need to move]. Hiramatsu-san is well known for drawing cute girls, but this time, he draws for us a lot of sexy boys. What also deserves a special mention, is that in episode 1. each skater had his own animator. I think that thanks to this, the unique characteristics of each character will be even more pronounced.

[rikeijo]

Today’s translation #993

Newtype, 10/2016 Kubo Mitsurou's interview

Part 2.

-- So you haven't known with each other before that?

Kubo: That's right. Before Yuri!!!, my manga had never been turned into an anime. I was always just watching anime as one viewer, enjoying the show. That's why, I didn't know a lot about anime, and I wasn't really that knowledgeable about figure skating - so, when the project started, I also felt a lot of anxiety. But when I met with Director Yamamoto, we were talking and she laughed like 'dufufu' [otaku laugh] (laugh). Surprising, because woah, she didn't look like someone, who laughs like this openly at all... At that moment, I felt a sense of familiarity with her, because of that, and I thought that she's somebody I can trust. I also heard that her goal is to have the anime ready to air at the same time as Grand Prix series in two and a half years. Seeing how things were, I also didn't even think about it, if I should join the project or not, and my answer was something like 'okay, so let's start researching' - I just jumped into it.

-- How did you create the story?

Kubo: The vision of it being a story about a Japanese skater, standing on an edge of a cliff, who isn't able to fully show off his abilities and his complete opposite, a genius foreign skater, who has been on the top of the world for a long time, was something that the Director has already decided on. Starting from that, I developed the story further.

-- Just like it was the case with Moteki the movie, also for this project, you drawn storyboards in manga form, is that right?

Kubo: The plot, with quite a lot of details, was written by the Director, and based on that plot, I drew the storyboards. Before our characters started to act, we were talking all the time, because it was very important for us to be on the same page.

[rikeijo]

Today’s translation #992

Newtype, 10/2016 Kubo Mitsurou's interview

[Notes: As we are heading towards 1000th translation 😆 this is the last Mitsurou's YoI-related magazine interview that I haven't yet translated!]

Part 1.

-- How this project, anime original about men's figure skating started?

Kubo: From what I've heard the Director, Yamamoto Sayo had had an idea for this project since Vancouver Olympics in 2010. It started for real at the time of the next Olympics, Sochi.

-- Speaking about Sochi Olympics, it was when Hanyu Yuzuru, as the first Japanese person in history, won a gold medal in men' singles and when Asada Mao skated that free program that became a legend.

Kubo: At that time, figure skating was incredibly popular in Japan, and I was talking about how awesome Mao-chan is on radio and on TV. It was also the time, when my series in Weekly Shonen Magazine, Again!!! ended. And it seems that I posted on my twitter that 'I have no plans at all for the next manga series'. Director Yamamoto happened to see that post and thought that 'Looks like now it's the time we can get Kubo-san on board.' And they contacted me. What's more, it was a very meandering road, and in the end, they contacted me through Okamura Yasuyuki-san (laugh). Their connection was that Okamura-san's song was used as main theme for Space☆Dandy and Director Yamamoto also worked on that project as an Episode Director. And like that, we've met for the first time two years ago, in August of 2014.

[rikeijo]

A very deep dive into Yuri!!! on ICE canon #2

One thing that is for sure not talked about enough in the fandom is how ingenious Yamamoto Sayo is as a director & as an artist.

YoI is an masterclass of intertextuality and symbolism, and it isn't possible to talk about all of it in just one post, but I thought it would be fun to look into it in a series of posts~✨

In other words: I'm sure that a lot of people noticed it before, but let's discuss the hidden story of YoI, that's actually not so hidden if you look closely enough, to appreciate the art that this anime is.

~ Topic #1 ~

Blue, purple and red

I'm sure most people, who watched YoI noticed that these three colors have a special role in the story.

Of course they are Stammi vicino costumes' colors.

But they are also used in the OP in the same configuration:

It may be not as obvious, but the same colors are also used for DVD/Blu-ray vol. 1 & 6 covers, again in the same configuration: Yuuri always blue, Victor - purple and red.

So what is the meaning of these colors, because that's definitely not a coincidence, if they are used so often as a set...?

Let's look into what the show tell us.

One of the most important scenes in episode 1. is the scene of Yuuri/Victor skating Stammi vicino. The scene takes place one evening in Hasetsu/Tokyo.

The episode starts during the day. When Yuuri talks to Mari, it's still very bright outside. Then the sun starts to set, the evening falls and this is the shot that shows us this:

Blue to purple to red spectrum.

Then we see that the World Championships start, and Yuuri, instead of watching with Minako, heads to Ice Castle Hasetsu, where he meets with Yuuko.

Before Yuuri starts skating, we are shown this long shot:

Have you ever noticed the color parallel?

Yuuko, a girl, wearing red, and Yuuri, a boy is wearing blue... In the distance, we see doors leading to bathrooms, painted with the same two colors:

That's not the only instance, when the gender of the character is indicated like that in the show, but this idea most likely came from one of YoI's inspirations - Hedwig and the Angry Inch.

Genderqueer Hedwig (created and played by JCM, one of Victor's models) -> men's/women's bathroom's door behind her

But we have this question to answer - why show something so obvious - that Yuuri is a boy and Yuuko is a girl - in the visual, symbolic layer of the show? Like, isn't that clear that Yuuri is a boy, and Yuuko is a girl? Why did she need the colors to show us this?

Well, Yuuko isn't the only person wearing shades of red in this scene, is she?

Throughout this scene, we jump from Yuuri to Victor to Yuuko, and at the same time - we jump between these two colors. For example, this is an actual sequence that starts around 16:20:

So now, from the three Stammi vicino colors, we have two - red and blue.

And if these colors are mixed together, what do we get? As the sunset shot shows us - the answer is purple. Purple is in-between blue and red.

Purple is in-between genders.

If you are not sold that this was intentional, may I introduce you to what Sagiri Yuuko, costume designer, said about the Eros costume:

(...) I made the same design in two different colors, in darker colors to suit an adult - black version and purple version. If Yuuri is to wear the costume, then you could visualize that it should be blue, but for this costume, 'femininity' was also required, so I made it purple. (...) <source>

So...

Blue, that isn't femininity + femininity = purple

Blue + red = purple

Masculinity + femininity = in between genders, or as Victor says in ep. 3 'At that time, I had long hair, so I chose a costume that represents both a man and a woman'

(as we all know, the black version was used in the show, and we are shown that purple is Victor's color)

Now, let's see the scene, when we first hear teenage, long-haired Victor talking (ep. 7):

Blue, purple and red (and I really like it how she made him extend his hand like this to touch the red 😆)

Blue and pink flowers...

That's only just the beginning....✨✨✨

Isn't Sayo just a genius?

[rikeijo]

Today’s translation #991

Yuri!!! on Life official guidebook, Suzuki Akiko's interview

Part 2.

-- Please tell us about the Yuri!!! event that you took part in 'Figure skating wo 100 bai tanoshimu shuuchuu kougi' [Intensive class to enjoy figure skating 100 times more].

Suzuki: People, who came to listen to the lecture were much more passionate about it, that I had expected, so I was a bit overwhelmed by that. It made me very happy, however, that so many people watched Yuri!!! and because of that they got interested in real life figure skating. That was the first time that I had a chance to speak with Kubo-sensei. It was so obvious how much she loves figure skating - it was such an awesome experience! My impression was that this show couldn't have been born without that love. Other things that I remember are that Honjo Yuutarou-san, the voice actor of Ji GuangHong, looks very similar to figure skater, Yamamoto Souta, and that the lunch box that they've left for me in my dressing room was katsudon, and I've also got pirozhki as a gift.

-- A message for the fans, please!

Suzuki: I'm really happy that so many of you thanks to Yuri!!! on ICE became figure skating fans! Lets all have even more fun together from now on! Please, support real life skaters, too!!

+ a little comment about On Love ~Eros~:

What I like in this program is that the artistic expression in Eros shows the more daring side of Yuri, and also when he makes an this 'tap' accent with his free leg after he lands the last jump.

[rikeijo]

Today’s translation #990

Yuri!!! on Life official guidebook, Suzuki Akiko's interview

Part 1.

-- Please, tell us what do you think about Yuri!!! on ICE?

Suzuki: It's so beautiful, how faithfully the movements of figure skating are portrayed in the anime. In addition to that, the relationship between people connected to figure skating and their emotions are also so carefully portrayed, and it gives the anime a lot of realism. The relationship of trust between coaches and their students left a big impression on me, too. I think that what makes the anime so charming is how it sprinkles those funny scenes, that make you laugh a little, across this beautiful and delicate world of figure skating. Also, when I was in a cafe the other day, people sitting at a nearby table were talking very excitedly about Yuri!!! and that made me just so happy.

-- Watching the anime as a figure skating, what were you focusing on?

Suzuki: My impression was that in the programs, the movements of arms and head, and the free leg when the skater is performing a step sequence were those elements of the choreography, in which you could feel Kenji-sensei's spirit. And the conversations between coaches and their students, for me it was almost as if I were watching me and my coach, Nagakubo-sensei talking.... (laugh).

[rikeijo]

Today’s translation #989

Yuri!!! on Life official guidebook, Muramoto Satsuki's interview

-- The rumor has it that in the world of Yuri!!! on ICE, you are Phichit's coach!

Muramoto: That makes me so happy! In Thailand, where I'm right now, thanks to Yuri!!! on ICE, people not connected to figure skating started to come to the ice rink to skate.

-- Do people talk to you as if you really were Phichit's coach?

Muramoto: Yes. I take photos with people, too. It seems that in Thailand, as well, Yuri!!! is incredibly popular. Because of this, a lot of people come to the rink to take photos cosplaying as the characters, roleplaying and even making their own jerseys. Both boys and girls - really a lot of people visit the rink.

-- So the number of people, who visit the rink actually increased?

Muramoto: That's right! Our rink isn't that close to any urban area, so we normally don't have many visitors. But after Yuri!!! started airing, the rink is quite busy on weekends. I haven't yet seen any increase in the number of my students, but I hope that soon enough, that will also happen!

[rikeijo]

Today’s translation #988

Yuri!!! on Life official guidebook, Evgenia Medvedeva's interview

Part 3.

-- You were also doing cosplay, weren't you?

M: Yes! We are the only ones, who have Russia's team jackets. And Higuchi Wakaba also has it.

-- Did you gift her your jacket?

M: Yes (laugh). We did an exchange. I have Japan's jacket, vest and t-shirt.

-- So you can also do Katsuki Yuuri's cosplay (laugh).

M: I need to find his glasses. Oh, I think I even have some. I need to try it later (laugh).

-- Okay. I will check your twitter later, then (laugh).

M: Okay (laugh) *The interview was done in October of last year [2016]. After the interview, Evgenia actually posted pictures of her cosplay on her twitter account.

--You really are a big anime fan!

M: Sometimes people are surprised that I'm the Women's World Champion, but on my twitter, I only post about anime. When I'm not skating, I'm a normal 16-year-old girl. I watch anime and I love EXILE. I don't see anything wrong with that.

-- Wait a bit! EXILE?

M: Yes! It's a Japanese band. You don't know them?

-- No, I do! But I'm surprised that you know them!

M: I'd love to go on EXILE's concert some day. That's one of my dreams (laugh).