Welcome back to the I Am Anime website
―― thank you.
HongoYes, thank you very much.
―― Since when did you know about Shibayama Tsutomu?
HongoWhen I was a child, I liked the TV anime series “Original Genius Bakabon,” “Do-Genji Frog,” and “Gamba’s Adventure,” and Shibayama’s name appeared at the opening of these works, so I think I remembered it somehow.
―― So I wonder if they joined Asiado, the studio that Shibayama hosted?
HongoI agree. An anime magazine called for videos for Asiado. I only knew the names of Shibayama Tsutomu and Kobayashi Osamu.
―― Did you meet Shibayama there?
HongoI think so, but when I started videos at the age of 21, I rarely have any chance of interacting with them, and there are no memorable episodes.
―― So now after you start directing at Asiado?
HongoYes, that’s right. I had the opportunity and was a director at the age of 23 and was in charge of taking pictures at the manga Nippon Okuni Banashi, looking at the original drawings that had been published, and then I took charge of the filming. Igano Kabamaru, the first time I was in charge of directing the TV series, was Shibayama in charge of the previous episodes, and I started working with the idea of taking over that. I also had them check out the first few storyboards.
―― How did you see Shibayama’s work up close?
HongoIn the period, I’ve been watching it up close for less than 10 years since Shibayama directed “Doraemon: Nobita’s Undersea Demon Rock Castle” (editor: Shibayama Tsutomu’s first film, released in 1983). I joined Asiado as a complete amateur, but for a while after joining the company, only five people at Asiado, Shibayama, Kobayashi Osamu, Kawachi Hideo, Yamada Michishiro, and Suda Yumiko were experienced, and the other staff, including seniors, were close to me. All five of them were animators, who worked on storyboards, directing, and character design, so I thought that kind of person animators were (laughs).
―― That’s a huge misunderstanding (lol).
HongoAfter that, I met many animators as a production and learned that not all of them were.
―― I see (lol).
HongoI worked at Asiado for just under 10 years and became a freelancer, but it wasn’t until after I left the company that I realized how great Shibayama was.
―― What does that mean?
HongoWhen I was at Asiado, Shibayama directed the film “Doraemon” every year, and directed the TV series “Doraemon”, and at the same time served as director of “Chibi Maruko-chan” and general director of “Nintama Rantaro.” It was so close I felt like, “I’ve been a lot of directors.”
After “Igano Kabamaru”, I only helped out with “Doraemon” in the storyboards for each episode, and I never got involved with “Maruko” or “Rantaro”, and at that time I couldn’t imagine Shibayama’s workload in a concrete way.
―― I see.
HongoI became a freelance member and spent four and a half years working on the Crayon Shin-chan series, and during that time I made four films and realized once again that Shibayama’s workload had been superhuman.
―― Shibayama may be a unique figure in the history of Japanese TV anime.
HongoNew works from “Doraemon”, “Maruko”, and “Rantaro” mentioned earlier are still being broadcast, and when I was a member of Asiado, I also had the director of “Ranma 1/2” and “Please! He also designed the character for Samia Don, storyboards and directed the manga “Manga Nihon Mutsuboshi.”
―― That’s really an incredible amount of work.
HongoThere is also a job that Shibayama-san only I know. In three years from 1985, Shibayama was the chief director of the Japanese side for Tokyo Movie’s collaboration with Disney, “The Wuzzles,” “Whoaku Duck Dream Adventure,” and “New Winnie the Pooh.” There are probably no records left, but I participated in the Asiado group for three years as a production.
―― Even after 10 years of Hongo-san, that’s incredible.
HongoThe Asiado episode of “Samia Don” was full of new animators, so Shibayama, Kobayashi, and Yamada had rotated the layout of all the cuts. So even now, the screen is very well-made.
―― He also worked behind the scenes as the president of Asiado.
Hongoyes. Shibayama-san made the layout for the first episode in which new animators participated in “Esper Mami,” where I was directing each episode. Nishimura Hiroyuki, Fujimori Masaya, and Tamagawa Masato should have benefited from Shibayama.
―― Did you go that far?!
HongoI don’t think it was the work of a single person (lol).
―― It’s a different kind of work than the so-called “quickly” thing.
HongoThat’s right. Of course, the quality of each layout, storyboards and direction was high, but at the same time I was able to casually multitask various tasks. This overlaps with what I said earlier, but after experiencing a few directors later, I realized how amazing it was.
―― What is the amazing aspect of Shibayama’s direction and director from Hongo’s perspective?
HongoRegarding “Doraemon,” “Chibi Maruko-chan,” and “Nintama Rantaro,” he has the skill to smash the original work into an easy-to-understand anime series that everyone loves. “A work that will last forever” is not something you can create with your aim, but I think Shibayama-san had a grasp of the true essence of it.
―― At first glance, it’s a work that anyone can do.
HongoRather than bringing the artistic nature to the forefront, it seems that there are methods in advance that allow people other than Shibayama to create their works. If there are ambitious episodes, there is also room for play there…
―― Are there any other anime productions like that?
HongoI’ve never seen anything other than Shibayama. Originally, he worked as a big animator and worked as a director for a long time, working on storyboards and directing, which is what impressed me is that he doesn’t stick to the art.
―― That’s what you say?
HongoWhen a good animator does storyboards and directions, in most cases, he can’t stand the original drawings that aren’t better than him.
―― What will you do in that case?
HongoThe original drawings and timing are thoroughly fixed.
―― It’s a natural flow.
HongoShibayama-san doesn’t do that at all. In the movie “Doraemon,” I used to do the storyboards and animation meetings and leave the directional process to them.
―― This is rare for someone who is a good animator.
HongoActually, I’ve heard of Shibayama about this.
―― That’s bold (lol).
HongoAt the time, I was listening to everything in a hurry. Thanks to this, I’m still able to direct it.
―― So what was the answer?
HongoIt’s simple, but the response was, “After becoming a director, I stopped interfering with the art.”
―― Huh, the director doesn’t get in touch with the art?
HongoAt the time, I didn’t really understand what it means, but more than 10 years later, I realized it vaguely.
―― That’s what you say?
HongoFor example, even if I say something about painting, I’m not a very good artist, so animators can just say “a random guy who doesn’t know,” but if Shibayama-san plays with the painting and timing, I think most animators will lose meaning or lose confidence in their work. Also, it must be difficult to do that for all the work that Shibayama did, no matter how incredible the speed of the work.
―― That means you decided how to interact with me based on a broad perspective.
HongoThat’s what I think. I believe that I was involved with my work and thought about what kind of things would be better and put them into practice. “Doing a lot of work” is unlikely to be appreciated by critics and enthusiasts, but if there were none of the works that Shibayama had worked on, it would have become a little more lonely than it is now.
―― Finally, I would like to ask you, Shibayama-san is Hongo’s “master”, right?
HongoI agree. I think he has produced many other Shibayama children, including Mochizuki Tomomitsu, Arakawa Shinji, Mori Takeshi, Yuasa Masaaki, Hamana Takayuki, Fujimori Masaya, Sato Tatsuo (titles omitted), Hongo Mitsuru.
―― It’s about human resource development.
HongoI think that it wasn’t Shibayama’s awareness of this, but that Shibayama’s work methodology was suitable for human resource development. The reason I was able to do this job for a long time was that Shibayama was the first director I met when I was directing.
2024 Interview and composition: Hongo Mitsuru (one person and two roles)
●Profile
Hongo Mitsuru. Animation director. The directors include Chimpui, Crayon Shin-chan, Hoshikata Martial Arts Outlaw Star, Ascendance of a Bookworm, I can’t choose any means to become a librarian, and the four brothers of Yuzuki’s family. He has worked on numerous works, including “.
