Creating inner color: interviews with director Naoko Yamada and composer Kensuke Ushio

Naoko YamadaLatest feature films inner color The film will be released in the United States on January 24 next year, but some viewers will be able to see it earlier. The film will be screened in Glasgow on 2 November (including a live Q&A with Yamada and the composer) Kensuke Ushio), November 9 in Edinburgh and November 16 in London.

Original story created by Yamada and her regular writers Reiko Yoshida, inner color Told primarily through the eyes of Higurashi Fujiko, a dream girl attending a Catholic high school in present-day Nagasaki. Tozuko has the ability to see the inner colors of people around her. She is attracted to another girl in school, Nozomi Tsunaga, whose colors are particularly beautiful. When Kimi stops going to school, Totsuko tracks her to a small bookstore, where she also meets a shy boy, Rui Kagehira. Somehow, the three young men end up practicing together as a band on a nearby island, expressing their secrets and insecurities through the music they create.

because Animation Co., Ltd.I interviewed Yamada together Kensuke Ushiowho will need little introduction. He composed music for Yamada silent voice and liz and the bluebird He is now passionate about anime. in addition inner colorwho provided music for very different people science saru japanese cartoon He Dahe and the series Orb: On the Movement of the Earth. Or maybe you know him because of his chainsaw man music?

You start with some keywords and phrases provided Reiko Yoshida Developed into a script. Can you talk a little bit about your initial ideas and whether the three main characters were fully developed from the start?

Naoko Yamada: I think the three main characters emerged while writing the script. I started with the inner world of these characters, who are very sensitive children who have all kinds of troubles and secrets that they can’t reveal. They don’t want to hurt those around them, which makes them sensitive. That sensitive view of the world turned into Tozuko’s feelings about color, and then the fact that they couldn’t translate those feelings into words turned into expressed ideas. [them] Through music.

Much of the film takes place in a Catholic high school, which I imagine is an unfamiliar setting to most Japanese viewers, but more familiar to some viewers outside of Japan. Why does this setting appeal to you?

Yamada: you’re right. It’s set in a Catholic school, but I didn’t set out to make a film specifically for Catholics. But I do think that people around the world who watch this movie, people who are familiar with Christian teachings will see it and it might help them understand it better. I thought it might provide a framework for the film and help people understand it without having to explain everything in words.

Less than one percent of the Japanese population is Catholic, but there are many other religions, Buddhism, Shinto… Most people would probably say they have no religion in Japan, but at the same time, there are people who believe in different things, Living next to each other, going to the same school, accepting and respecting each other. I think this says a lot about the Japanese acceptance of differences.

So there are two things: the impression this movie will give to audiences in other countries, and then the impression the Japanese will get.

Two of your films feature characters with unusual views on the world. exist inner colorTozuko perceives the colors in people’s hearts. In your previous films, silent voiceThe protagonist Shoya also sees crosses blocking people’s faces. Do you agree that Tozuko and Shoya have the opposite view?

Oxtail: [in English]: This is really an interesting question! do you know Heike story? [Naoko Yamada‘s historical series in 2021 for Science SARU, for which Ushio also composed]. main character [the girl Biwa] See the past and the future…

Yamada: I lost my train of thought…

Oxtail: sorry! (laugh)

Yamada: I never really connected them in that way, but now that you mention it, I guess they are opposite ways of looking at the world, one positive and one slightly negative. Shoya “hides” people’s faces, while Totsuko, when she’s interested in someone, senses their colors. So I guess the effect is opposite, but they both have this way of perceiving the world that’s what they have in common. So as you said, they are similar but at the same time opposite.

He thought it was a good question, so I thought I had to give a good answer!

Oxtail: Sorry, my bad!

in a scene inner colorIn the film, the girls break a school rule and the music in the scene is a mellow version of the Underworld song “Born Slippy.” This may particularly surprise British audiences, who may associate the song with the film’s brutal depiction of drug addicts trainspotting. Were you trying to make a joke and relate the song to a more innocent situation?

Oxtail: I actually don’t know who came up with the idea for the “Born Slippy” scene; it was a chicken-and-egg situation. This was something when we were teenagers, and when we were discussing what songs should be playing in the scene, we came up with, based on the meaning of the scene, “It should be a little bit like Slick.” In this case, why not just use “Born Slippy”?

So I stayed up late and wrote that version of “Born Slippy,” then put it into a video, sent it to Mr. Yamada, and said, “What do you think?” The reason why I chose “Born Slippy” for that scene was because we We all feel like the worst thing we could have done when we were teenagers was set the Born Slippy soundtrack to the background. As you said, the reason this is a soft release is because no matter how bad [the girls] I feel like I’m really cute and sweet in this scene, but if I think it’s bad, adults will think, “Huh?” This is their version of “Born Slippy”.

[in English] she [Yamada’s] The response has been great! She didn’t understand it was a cover version. She thought it was Ushio’s new song, so her answer was that it was actually very similar to “Born Slippy” (laugh).

Yamada mentioned in an interview that the music created by the teenage characters has a “new wave” sound. I think this is especially true of the film’s central song, “Sui Kin Chi Ka Moku Dotten Amen.” Did Ushio-san have a specific group in mind, such as the police?

Oxtail: Various, I guess…more of a feeling, but I think maybe The New Order, The Cops, Talking Heads maybe…maybe The New Order is the main one for me. We chose this music because that’s our roots, not just new wave.

Yamada: I also wanted these songs to be songs that these three teenagers could actually write and perform. There are no complicated chord progressions, but at the same time, they are trying to be the coolest alternative band possible. Don’t have too many voices, don’t have too professional or commercial voices…

Oxtail: We thought about making a K-pop version, it might sell better!

Yamada: Ushio is a professional, but the hard part is how far he can go with these arrangements before they sound like they were written by a professional. This balance is very important.

Tozuko’s designs seem to be an extension of the designs of the girls in your films Memorial Gardenhas a “rounder” figure than most girls in anime. [Yamada discussed this in a previous ANN interview.] You took the opportunity to show off Totusco’s very active side and showed beautiful images of her running and dancing. Do you find it refreshing to use this round body shape in your work?

Yamada: and Memorial Gardenone of the things I set out to do was create a plump female character and show the soft appeal of that round body, the slight looseness and appeal of her everyday life. Tozuko is going through puberty; this is a time when your body goes through many changes from the inside out; you are not yet the final version of yourself. She’s going through her second growth spurt, and I just feel like a character like Tozuko, who’s immature…it feels natural to draw her like this. Because all people are different, when I draw her, I feel like I’m on the same level as her.

I also thought Tozuko had some really interesting moves and facial expressions in the movie. Do you think it’s easier to create interesting characters in? science saruconsidering the studio’s animations tend to have a looser, more exaggerated animation style kyoto animation?

Yamada: I don’t think that’s a studio situation; that’s what the movie requires. If I say this is the freedom I needed to create this film, that would be possible at any studio.