rikeijo

[rikeijo]

Today's translation #617

Newtype 01/2017, Otsuka Manabu interview

Part 1.

-- Please tell us about the circumstances, in which this project started moving?

Otsuka: I first got to know about this project, when I was told about it by the Director, Yamamoto Sayo, when we were working together on a different project. At first, I was very uncertain, if I and the studio have enough power to keep up with Yamamoto Director's TV series, because she always has been known as being very particular about quality. But inspired by the charming characters created by Kubo (Mitsurou)-san that I saw later, and Yamamoto Director insatiable love for figure skating, I decided 'let's try to do it!" and accepted the offer to work on this project.

-- When was it that you started to be sure that this project would be fine?

Otsuka: Maybe it wasn't that I was 'sure', but after we showed the second PV at 'TV Asahi Natsu Matsuri' event, I was able to think that I would trust Yamamoto Director's intuition and just run with what she feels is right. The last cut in that PV was the scene, where Victor puts his finger on Yuuri's lip and the two look at each other. When I saw it for the first time, I thought "[if we are going to show this scene in the PV] won't men not want to watch the show?" and I was considering removing that one scene from the PV. But I've talked about it with female staff members, who thought it would be a shame to not include it and I decided 'Let's [with force] put it in then!". People at the 'TV Asahi Natsu Matsuri' event venue cheered when that scene was shown. In this show, there is a lot of things that my senses did not cover, but at that time, I was able to think that [working on the project] I would realize all those ideas that Yamamoto Director and Kubo-san come up with without fear.

[Notes: It's really interesting how in almost all his interviews, Otsuka mentions this idea that including in an anime what your average otaku perceives as 'fujoshi fan-service scenes' (regardless of the creator's intentions - like, in even in YoI, a huge number of people in Jp fandom still sees those scenes as nothing more but fan-service, because that's the default) will give the anime reputation of pandering to fujoshis, and men (anybody other than fujoshis really) simply won't even consider it worth checking out. Otsuka doesn't even try to hide it here or in his other interviews, and like I've mentioned in the past, the way they were promoting Yurio so much, when Otsuka himself was claiming that thanks to Yurio, men could watch the show and enjoy it, shows, imo, what was the committee's real problem with YoI and why it may seem like they fumbled the bag and failed to capitalize on its potential so much (very little official side content, very few Y&V official arts etc...) - they wanted YoI to not be a 'fujoshi-pandering anime', but 'a serious sport anime for everyone'.]

#yuri on ice #yoi translations #yuri on ice translation

[rikeijo]

Today's translation #616

Febri vol. 41, Tominaga Keisuke talking about Yamamoto Sayo

[Yuri!!! on ICE music producer]

Part 2.

And, when it comes to skating, at any rate, she's an absolutely ultimate geek, and it was for me a great source of reassurance, that when asked, she was answering all my questions about music in figure skating with many details and a lot of care. When I think about how the overflowing love for figure skating that she has, was the reason why the depiction [of figure skating in Yuri!!!] is so detailed, I think that this passion of hers is something that deserves to be talked about.

And speaking about music, I haven't really asked her about her own music preference or her own experiences with music, but she seemed to be really knowledgeable... For the future, we are making plans for a more preposterous and reckless project that is more like what we personally find interesting, something like what they do in ItteQ [a TV show] and record [music] at various remote location around the world, for example - at any rate, we are planning this fantasy-like music project together and I think it will be very interesting, if it's going to see the light of day.

#yuri on ice #yoi translations #yuri on ice translation

[rikeijo]

Today's translation #615

Febri vol. 41, Tominaga Keisuke talking about Yamamoto Sayo

[Yuri!!! on ICE music producer]

Part 1.

That we had the opportunity to work together, was thanks to Watanabe Shin'ichiro, who was responsible for music in Yamamoto Director's previous works, introducing us to each other. The first time when we've met, if my memory serves me right, was at a studio, when working on episode 20. of "Space☆Dandy" (known as "the ROCK" episode) - I was the music producer, and Yamamoto Director drew ekonte and was the Episode Director for that episode. I don't think that we talked a lot at that time, but I asked Okamura Yasuyuki-san for music for the opening, and Yamamoto Director worked on music video for that song, and on the ending animation (a collaboration between Yakushimaru Etsuko and Sugano Yoko)... So it was indirect, but we were working just right next to each other on the same, busy production team.

My impression of her [was based on], an interview about 'Michiko and Hatchin' that I happened to came across before meeting her in person, in which she said: '[The show] is full of assholes. Only really shitty men are in it." and "The idea for this story came to my mind, just after I broke up with a guy". Reading that I thought: 'Just like the style of her works, what a tough and rockstar-like female director. I may be actually scared of her..." and in my head, I imagined her as a mix of Tsuchiya Anna and Nishikawa Miwa. The thing is, when I actually met her, my impression was that actually, she is humble and her way of directing is so thorough. It was also easy to talk to her, because we are close in age. I felt a great peace of mind, when working and communicating with her, so it was an actual pleasure to work with her.

#yuri on ice #yoi translations #yuri on ice translation

[rikeijo]

Today's translation #614

Febri vol. 41, Ujita Takashi talking about Yamamoto Sayo

[Screenwriter for Michiko and Hatchin]

Part 3.

And as you'd expect, her way of thinking is very unique. No matter if it's her talking about something that happened in the past, or something that happened recently, it's very unique how she frames things. I think the same kind of 'it's interesting' is there in her works.

And for the future, I want to tell her just 'follow your path!". No matter what she will make in the future, I'll just watch it and enjoy it as it is. She wouldn't destroy something that she is confident about, and she knows how to protect it from being destroyed. I think that she is a very good judge, so it's not that I have some expectations for her - I know, that next time she will show us once again a different face of hers, and I want her to keep doing that in her works.

As for things other than work-related, please be careful not to drink too much (laugh). Before, she once rolled down a hill [drunk, he means], and I was so aghast seeing that (laugh). So, please be mindful of your health.

[Notes: Some YoI fans should probably take notes... Just kidding, of course, I'm absolutely okay with people that don't like certain ideas, like the idea of a prequel movie. Everyone likes what they like and dislikes what they dislike. I do think, however, that wishing for her to fail, because she wasn't interesting in animating dojinshis, is not nice...

Also for people that may be worried about her, because of the drinking, he says that in a humorous way. A lot of Jp people are very happy-go-lucky with drinking, and that's not considered a serious problem most of the time. Although of course alcohol addiction is a serious problem.]

#yuri on ice #yoi translations #yuri on ice translation

[rikeijo]

Today's translation #613

Febri vol. 41, Ujita Takashi talking about Yamamoto Sayo

[Screenwriter for Michiko and Hatchin]

Part 2.

I think that Michiko and Hatchin is full of a lot of different feelings and experiences that Yamamoto Director personally had. I felt that when I wrote quite aggressive, or should I say, vulgar lines [in the screenplay for M&H]. She was grinning, all happy, every time she read them.

I don't remember if we had this conversation the first time that we've met, or maybe some time later - we once talked about anime for kids. And she said 'even if it's supposed to be an anime for kids, I don't want to make animes at kids' level'. What that meant is that sometimes, even if a small kid is not able to follow the story as they watch the show, they can understand it, when they're older. That's why she didn't want to make anime that targets small kids specifically. And that was a very nice idea.

Even after Michiko and Hatchin ended, sometimes we meet, and exchange mails. And talk about unimportant things... (laugh). Although recently, the topic of figure skating appears rather quite often (laugh). It's been almost 10 years now, since we met for the first time, but I still can't understand her at all. When she's strict, she's really strict, and when she's lenient, she's just lenient. She's really 'how a good man should be like' [男前].

[Note: Just normal Jp sexism at the end, everyone knows that all positive traits in human beings are masculine by nature and if a woman has them too, she's 'honorary' masculine 🥱]

#yuri on ice #yoi translations #yuri on ice translation

[rikeijo]

Today's translation #612

Febri vol. 41, Ujita Takashi talking about Yamamoto Sayo

[Screenwriter for Michiko and Hatchin]

She seems so tough at core, but at the same time she's soft

The first time I've met with her was about "Michiko and Hatchin". I was contacted about the project by a member of production team at manglobe (the studio that produced it). In the project proposal from that time descriptions of characters of Michiko and Hatchin, in addition to a rough outline of the story, some illustrations and ideas here and there, were included and I thought that it was simply a good story. It was a project full of 'firsts' for me - the first time working on anime, the first time working with female director and the first time working on a series. Intrigued, I accepted the offer.

My first impression of her was that she has such a great attitude [and at the same time physical 'stance'] when she is talking to people. I've been working on live action movies for a very long time, so I've met with a lot of different directors - most are quite imposing and you can see their self-assurance in their faces. Or better say, even if they don't have self-confidence, they act as if they had it (laugh). Things like that are then reflected in your attitude [and physical stance]. I think perhaps, the same can be said about me, too. But my impression was that Yamamoto Director is completely different. She's tough at core, but at the same time, she's soft - that was the impression that I had of her.

#yuri on ice #yoi translations #yuri on ice translation

[rikeijo]

Hi! I just found your account and I can't thank you enough for this! Being unable to access the original Japanese contents is very frustrating so reading it froom you is such a special experience. As IceAdo gets cancelled and we are thrown into radio silence (again), I'm more and more feeling like I want to understand where sayokubo's inspirations originally came from. Super excited to read your translations! Thank you for all your hard work!

Hi! Thank you for your kind comment! 💜

I'm of course going to continue translations! At least to 1000 daily translation ✨

Right now, the masterlist is not working (tumblr 😡), but in the near future I'm going to nicely put everything in order and better tagged, so it's easier to find stuff!

#yuri on ice #yoi translations #yuri on ice translation

[rikeijo]

Hi, I'd like to ask how fans in Japan have reacted to the movie cancellation and if you have any theories about the reasons behind the decision. I saw fans speculating that it was cancelled because of geopolitics (main character is Russian -> war, doping, anti-lgbtq laws etc.) and I think that would be really tone-deaf. A mostly finished movie doesn't get shelved without very good reasons.

Thank you so much for your translations. Hope you're okay over there!

Hi, thank you for your ask!

Yeah, that's right! Most people assume it's because of politics. It would make sense if IceAdo problems haven't started loong before the War. Japanese fandom is very hostile to any controversies (as an example, YoI still has the reputation of being 'copyright infringement anime', because of background of that one scene that was aired almost 10 years ago), so the idea of anime that may be interpreted as praising the country, that attacked another country and in addition to that, their skaters are cheaters and were banned from competitions is just not something that sits well with a lot of otakus. Not even necessarily because they are so noble etc., but because it means that their beloved anime is an easy target for (difficult to dispute) hate from antis.

The movie, however, I'm 99% sure, was cancelled because of money. Not because of MAPPA, of course, they don't have the rights to cancel it - Otsuka CEO was whining about not having enough power in production committees in relatively recent interviews (funny how he even mentioned specifically YoI's situation, isn't it? here). The rights to YoI are owned by Avex Pictures, it's their trademark.

It's really very simple - in January of 2019, the teaser was released in Jp cinemas together with the TV series split into 3 parts. Even though they had merch with new illustration as a free gift for every person that bought the ticket, most screening were like 90% empty. VicYuu fujos celebrated that the teaser without their uke, Yuuri, flopped and feminine Victor movie will likely flop now (I'm not going to post a link to their online archive because it's cursed, but it's easy to find) - I mean literally, they celebrated. After the teaser, the production committee just stopped caring about the IP. It's possible that after that they still tired behind the scene to make it work somehow, but I've also seen rumors recently that Sayo run away from the production (with a nuance of 'she had enough and just disappeared on them').

Here you can read a Jp anime journalist's analysis of the possible reasons behind cancelling of shows like YoI, and he also points out that it's mainly just about saying goodbye to unprofitable IPs.

#yuri on ice #ice adolescence #ask

[rikeijo]

Today's translation #611

Febri vol. 40, Mitsurou Kubo's comments

JJ, who makes an appearance in episode 8., was supposed to be a character that stands out a lot from the very beginning. When the fact that he was voiced by Miyano Mamoru-san, and the perfect song was added in to the mix, however, JJ became even more unhinged than I had imagined him to be. He has a flavor strong as curry and he makes everything taste like him, that's why the competition in Russia, in the end, turned out to be somehow different than what I planned... (laugh). Nah, but I absolutely love JJ!

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The plotline in episode 10., when Yuuri lost Victor's bag in Barcelona, was based on a true story that happened when we were traveling and gathering materials for the production. The person who lost a bag, was a skating fan friend that was with us and she was also the model for Minako-sensei. When we realized that the bag is gone, we went back taking the same path to search for it, but we couldn't find it... That we were extremely tired and the atmosphere got a bit awkward is also exactly what we had experience at that time (laugh). We decided to use this episode in the story, when sitting on the plane heading back to Japan.

#yuri on ice #yoi translations #yuri on ice translation

[rikeijo]

With the announcement of the movie cancelation I didn't get surprised because of what you said, you were right all along people just didn't want to accept it :/ is still sad tho

Thank you for you message!

Excuse me, as I will use this opportunity to vent.

It wasn't really hard to predict that the situation with IceAdo wasn't good at all since 2019 even by just looking at what was going on... Like the sudden lack of any effort to promote the show/movie after the trailer flopped (because of "you either give us what we want or you deserve to die in a plane crash" mentality that *a part* of YoI fandom had and still has...).

Later the same year, the rumor that IceAdo project was once reset to 0 dropped, then they announced the postponement, and the whole IP was just completely ignored from that point onward. (For people who speak Jp, I recommend searching for Yamada Reiji's video from Sep 2019 that he posted on his paid NicoNico channel just a couple of weeks after the postponement was announced... I'm 100% sure he recorded it right after going out to drink with Sayo - while he only says vague things, imo, it gives you a good idea that Sayo was most likely once told at that point that IceAdo, as she has wanted it to be like, just isn't going to happen.)

That, and on Japanese side of Twitter, you can find eg. share holders of various companies that do business in anime industry if you look hard enough, so based on info from such people, it was known that it isn't being worked on at all.

It's still a shock, though... It really is, to see that in writing.

There is also the thing that Jp news sites and so on chose to report it with "the news was met with 'well, it was inevitable' reaction from fans" blah blah comment, and while, sure, maybe in 2024 it was inevitable, but the history of IceAdo started in 2016, when Sayo had the idea when working on episode 10. It wasn't 'inevitable' at all that such an incredibly talented creator as her can't even finish making a movie in peace... I don't even know, but it just feels to me so deeply disrespectful... 😭😭😭 I'm genuinely devastated.

#yuri on ice #anon #ice adolescence

[rikeijo]

Today's translation #610

Febri vol. 40, Mitsurou Kubo's comments

Sure enough, it made me especially happy, when Yuuri's FS "Yuri on ice" was ready. Actually, this track has a history of corrections to give it a tempo that better matches with Yuuri's life, and I strongly feel that "it grew up simultaneously with the theme of the show and the characters". And the title, as well - it came to my head, as I was drawing the scene, when Yuuri is writing the title of the song on the CD and I decided that it should be the same as the title of the show. It was the moment when everything synchronized.

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Figure skaters holding cuddly toys is a view that you can see during real life competitions, too, and I wanted to draw it. My first idea was to make Yuuri hold a katsudon, but it would be difficult to make a katsudon plush toy and he *should* be on diet, so I decided to at least give him an onigiri or other type of food. For other skaters, as well, I came up with different plushies, that are characteristic for them, like the pets they have or characters that are similar to them.

#yuri on ice #yoi translations #yuri on ice translation

[rikeijo]

Today's translation #609

I never imagined that something that was hardly unexpected (realistically speaking) can still be such a shock... I guess despite everything I still had hope that somebody with power will eventually say "okay, lets do this, why not", because so many risky projects do get funded... 😞

Of course, even if there is no new YoI ever again, it doesn't change the fact that it's still an amazing show, made by incredibly talented creators, so to honor them, I'm going to continue daily translations.

I think both Sayo and Mitsurou moved on long time ago (we know nothing about Sayo, but Mitsurou is very successful as TV personality now), but I still cannot even imagine how painful it must have been for them to go through all of this, after all the hard work and love they put into the show... I hope there is a lot of happiness waiting for them in the future.

(I also hope that karma will come for all those people who wished for IceAdo to fail, because it wasn't what they wanted).

Febri vol. 40, Mitsurou Kubo's comments

The reason, why I chose Karatsu (in the show, it's called Hasetsu) as the setting for this story, is because I've always had a yearning for jōkamachi [a city that developed around a castle]. So when I though that I'd like to draw jōkamachi, that went a bit into decline, one such place that for me, a person born in Sasebo, feels the most familiar is Karatsu. Actually, it's a city with great potential and, like at Kagamiyama onsen that we used as a model, which isn't at all located in a hot spring region so they had to drill very deep to get to the onsen, there is a lot of people with great passion there. I thought that they would surely accept Victor, too, and that's why I made my decision to use this place as a model.

#yuri on ice #yoi translations #yuri on ice translation

[rikeijo]

Today's translation #608

Go Yuri go!!! Official fanbook, Making of programs

L'homme Armé O.S.T. from Destiny of Knights

Original costume design by Sagiri Yuuko (Chacott)

The theme of his SP is „chivalric ethos” and „a fantasy story that takes place in Medieval Europe”, so I designed a costume that resembles an armor suit. I think that Michele is a very serious person, so I wanted to express his masculinity and his strong „I have to protect my princess” mindset. The elements that look beige in the original design are made of a layer of black net placed on top of beige mesh fabric. I made it look as tough as possible, but actually it’s very soft fabric, so it’s possible to skate in the costume. The boot-like elements that reach the knees are made of fabric covered with small sequins and to not make them scratchy, they are covered with a layer of mesh fabric. To make the knee elements more bendy, they are made of a different kind of fabric.

Anime costume design by Ishikawa Kayoko

To represent the idea that he’s the righteous knight, I added wing motifs to the design to show that for Sara, he can fly no matter how far (laugh). It’s interesting to see armor suit used in figure skating.

Serenade for two

Original costume design by Sagiri Yuuko (Chacott)

The theme is a causal “going back home after a stylish date” look. I chose a tartan pattern for the pants, and I had much more fun with colors here than in case of any other costume. The sleeves are rolled up and a pocket square is sewn to his pocket. As it is the case for this costume, when we have shirt and vest or jacket etc. as elements of a costume, often it's only the front part of the costume that has these elements, and the skater puts it on as one top. I think Michele doesn't have much confidence in his own style of fashion. He wants to look stylish, but he probably needs his little sister, Sara's advice in everything. I can imagine that in case of this costume, too, he asked her if it's a good choice (laugh).

Anime costume design by Ishikawa Kayoko

The idea for this costume that I've been given is "going back home in the middle of the night after a date". I changed the tartan pattern of the pants to plain fabric, because the tartan pattern would be too difficult to animate.

#yuri on ice #yoi translations #yuri on ice translation

[rikeijo]

Today's translation #607

Go Yuri go!!! Official fanbook, Making of programs

Anastasis

Original costume design by Sagiri Yuuko (Chacott)

The theme for that the Director wanted to use for this costume was very clear - for example, something like “daft punk and SF movie about a near future”. I then designed a costume that looks nothing like normal human clothes, that made entirely of a slippery fabric that looks like leather. It’s the same fabric, as what is used for leotards, but covered with silver foil. I also added geometrical pattern to the design to make it feel less human. It’s a body suit type of costume and only tips of fingers are visible. Emil is into extreme sports and his everyday clothes look country-style - he doesn’t really give off the vibe of a figure skater (laugh). I think he cares much about the clothes that he wears, but when it comes to his costumes, I think he wears ones that really match his programs well.

Anime costume design by Ishikawa Kayoko

I think that’s at the same time retro and cosmic-looking design - very interesting. „I’m no longer human”… (laugh).

#yuri on ice #yoi translations #yuri on ice translation

[rikeijo]

Today's translation #606

Go Yuri go!!! Official fanbook, Making of programs

Minami's boogie

Original costume design by Sagiri Yuuko (Chacott)

I've heard that the music for Minami-kun's program is energetic with rock-like vibe, so as an accent color for the design, I used red that matches Minami-kun's hair. The untied bow tie is an important point in the design. He's small and young, so to not make him look too much like a child, I added a pocket square to the vest. It was really easy for me to visualize a costume design for Minami-kun. I created one more design for him, that was a little bit more pretentious, I should say? Or, I had the idea that he is trying to appear more adult-like than he really is.

Anime costume design by Ishikawa Kayoko

A lot of the costume is covered in sequins, it's so sparkly and cutely cool - I think it's the perfect costume for Minami-kun, isn't it? In this case, I've used the original design with almost no changes made to it.

#yuri on ice #yoi translations #yuri on ice translation

[rikeijo]

Today's translation #605

Go Yuri go!!! Official fanbook, Making of programs

Welcome to the Madness

Original costume design by Sagiri Yuuko (Chacott)

I thought that Yurio probably doesn't really like the costumes that they made him wear for his competitions, that's why for his EX, I designed a glam rock-like costume that he himself could like to wear. The gloves and knee-high boots are made from a stretchy fabric that imitates synthetic leather. The fabric the jacket is made of is chambray - on the outside it's in animal print, while inside, it has a different color. The sleeves and the collar are turned over. There is a slit on the back with studs and stones attached along the line of the spine. Stud and stones are also attached on the back of the gloves. Underneath the jacket, we have a wide mesh fabric that looks transparent. I thought that the rhinestones around the neck etc. should be the kind that sparkles in different colors, like green, pink and orange, depending on the angle.

Anime costume design by Ishikawa Kayoko

The order was "Yurio's self-indulgence to the max", so I thought that it would be nice to have a design that looks much different when the jacket is taken off. The tank-top has widely open back, and the hem has many cuts, like clothes that goths wore in the past - it's a fine line between 'sexy' and 'tacky' (laugh).

#yuri on ice #yoi translations #yuri on ice translation

[rikeijo]

Today's translation #604

Go Yuri go!!! Official fanbook, Making of programs

Almavivo

Original costume design by Sagiri Yuuko (Chacott)

The request from the Director was only "at any rate, make it showy". As I though that using just one showy color would be boring, things started to escalate more and more in case of this design (laugh). I've heard that step sequences are the highlight of his program, so I used birds as inspiration. The fluttery parts are cut fabric and they should flutter like bird's feathers, when moving. In the front of the top part of the costume, the fabric is longer, and you need to tie it yourself on your hips after you put it on. Seung Gil is very quiet and serious, and I don't think that he's interested in fashion a lot, but it's also the case that when his switch is flipped, he changes 180 degrees, so with full determination, I decided do create a design that is completely different that Seung Gil's everyday self. I think that he doesn't give you almost any requests, when ordering costumes. I think that if it is for a program that lets him show off his real strength, he will just wear anything.

Anime costume design by Ishikawa Kayoko

I heard that sometimes a skater would choose, for example, Latin music, when he wants to change his image. In case of this costume, the gap between it and Seung Gil the person was very interesting. That's one of the reasons why I've used the original design without changing much in it.

#yuri on ice #yoi translations #yuri on ice translation