Hideaki Anno interview 14/07/2012

Discussion of the new series of Evangelion movies ( "Evangelion Shin Gekijōban", meaning "Evangelion: New Theatrical Edition"). The final instalment made its debut in Japan on March 8, 2021.

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Hideaki Anno interview 14/07/2012

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Postby CtHuLhU » Sun Jul 22, 2012 11:35 am

Hi there :w00:

I found the most recent H. Anno's interview in Front Runner newspaper.

Below the original text I retyped and link to the machine translation from russian. Have fun...

SPOILER: Show

--ヱヴァンゲリヲン新劇場版4部作の第3部Qが、11月17日に公開されます。旧劇場版では主人公が何もできなかったのに対し、新作では少女を救おうと必死で戦う。ご自身の内面の変化が反映されているのですか?

うーん。時代じゃないですかね。受け取る人の感じ方が変わっているだけだと思います。自分の本質は変わりようがない。


--2005年のインタビューで「結婚して、自分に非オタク的な要素がプラスされていった。(嫁さんを)全力で守りたいですね。これからもずっと」と話されています。やはり変わった面もあるのでは?

それはそれとしてありますが、人間そうそう変わらないですよ。


--エヴァには、現実に背を向けてエヴァという作品に逃避するファンへの批判が込められていました。そうした意識は今も変わらないのですか?

旧作のエヴァでは、僕が娯楽としてつくったものを、その域を越えて依存の対象とする人が多かった。そういう人々を増長させたことに、責任を取りたかったんです。作品自体を娯楽の域に戻したかった。ただ、今はそれをテーマにするのは引っ込めています。そういう人々は言っても変わらない。やっても仕方がないことが、よく分かりました。


【特撮を文化に】


--新作のエヴァも、深くはまっている人は多い。依存性の強い作品をつくってしまうご自身についてどう考えますか?

何もないです。作品はヒットしてほしいが、過剰な反応は自分の責任の外です。作品の中に自分自身は反映されますが、僕1人でつくっているわけではない。僕と作品とは全然別です。ただ、新作のファンは旧作と質が違う。具体的にどう違うかは、言えませんが。


--新作は出資者を募らず、社長を務めるアニメ製作会社カラーが製作費をすべて負担している、いわば自主製作作品です。なぜ、このような形にしたのですか?

他人に製作費を出してもらうと「費用に見合った作品をつくらなければいけない」という制約ができます。自分でお金を出すことで、全部自分で責任を持って好きにやりたかった。配給や宣伝もスタッフはいますが、最終的には僕が仕切っています。「作品の出来はよかったけど宣伝が悪かった」などと言い訳したくないのです。


――東京都現代美術館で開催中の特撮博物館では館長を務めています。特撮を文化として後世に残したいそうですが、コンピューターグラフィックスCGが発達した現在、特撮の存在価値はありますか?

CGを使った初期作品ジュラシックパークはインパクトがありましたが、それを超える驚きには出会っていません。CGでは「そこにあるものを空気を通して見た存在感」を出せない。ミニチュアは現実にそこにあったものだから、映像にしてもやはり存在感がある。人間の感覚はその違いを敏感に感じ取れると思います。怪獣映画は製作当時からゲテモノ扱いされていたと聞きますが、日本の特撮作品は海外で高い評価を得ている。日本が誇るべきなのは、アニメーションよりもまずゴジラだと思います。


--学生時代の自主製作映画「帰ってきたウルトラマン」を見て、素顔のままウルトラマンを演じている庵野さんが、次第に本物のウルトラマンのように見えてきて驚きました。なぜ、そんなことができたのでしょうか?

物語、カメラアングル、ミニチュアの作り込みなど、さまざまな面から「現実にはあり得ない物が本当にそこにいる感じ」を出そうと試みることが、存在のリアリティーにつながります。アニメは絵ですから、現実的なものは何もない。だが、特撮作品は少なくともドラマ部分は本物の俳優が演じていますから、その延長で、うまくやれば特撮部分も本物に見える。数十年前の特撮映画でも、それに成功した例はあります。


【怖さ見せたい】


--特撮博物館で上映される短編映画「巨神兵東京に現わる」では、東京が徹底的に破壊されます。他の作品でも破壊や爆発のシーンが多い。破壊へのこだわりがあるのですか?

子どもの頃、そこにあるものが壊れると何かしら「うれしい、楽しい」という感覚がありました。僕に限らず、幼い子はそういうものだと思います。日本や現代社会全体が壊れることをイメージしていいなと思っていた時期もあります。でも、大人になって「そこに住んでいた人はどうなるのか」と、現実的に考えると喜べなくなる。3/11の映像もショックでした。絵空事だと楽しめても、本物は見たくないんです。


--子どものトラウマになるような映像を見せたいという気持ちがあるそうですね。

子どもに世の中には怖いものがあるという情報を伝えたいんです。今は、テレビをふくめ子どもに対してそういうことを隠蔽し過ぎる。僕が子どもの頃は怖いものが街にあふれていました。家の裏はもう闇。犬や猫の死体も放っておかれた。大人だって怖かった。戦争に行った経験のある人が身近にいたんですから。

I didn't translate an introduction article, wasn't worth it.

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Postby 1731298478 » Sun Jul 22, 2012 5:02 pm

Thank you very, very much for this!! Amazing interview!!

I think the machine translation of the Russian is actually quite clear, but I did a quick English translation that may make some parts clearer for some people.
-- The third part of the four-part "Evangelion: New Theatrical Edition" series will open in theaters on November 17. In contrast with the original film version, where the protagonist was unable to do anything, in the new work he fights desperately to save a girl. Is this a reflection of a change within yourself?

Anno: Hmmm. It's probably [just] the era. It's just, I think, that the way the audience perceives [it] has changed. I can't change my essential nature.

-- In a 2005 interview, you said: "Getting married, a non-otaku-like component has been added onto myself. I want to protect (my wife) with all my might. Always, from now on." Surely there is a side of you that has changed?

Anno: That's there, as far as that goes, but human beings do not change quickly.

-- In Eva, there was a criticism of those fans who turned away from reality and escaped to the work. Has that consciousness remained unchanged?

Anno: In the original Eva, there were many people who took something that I created as a source of amusement beyond those limits and made it into an object of dependence. I wanted to take responsibility for the fact that such people had been so "inflated." I wanted to bring the work back within the boundaries of entertainment. However, I have now withdrawn from dealing with it [or: from treating it thematically?]. Such people will not change no matter what I say. I now well understand that there is nothing I can do.

Tokusatsu as Culture

-- There are many people who have also become deeply absorbed in the new Eva. What do you think of yourself, as someone who creates works which produce dependence?

Anno: Nothing. I want the works to be successful, but an excessive response is not my responsibility. I myself am reflected in the works, but I am not creating the works by myself. I am completely distinct from the works. However, the new Eva fans are different in character from the old ones, though I can't specifically say what the difference is.

-- The production cost of the new works has been entirely financed by Studio Khara, without inviting contributions from outside investors. They are so-called "independently produced works." Why this type of approach?

Anno: If I accept investments from outsiders, then I face the limitation of having to make a cost-effective work. By using my own money, in all aspects I can take responsibility and do what I want. We have staff for distribution and advertisment as well, but ultimately I am responsible. I don't want to make excuses like, "the finished work was excellent but the advertising was poor."

-- You are the curator of the Tokusatsu Museum exhibit currently open at the Tokyo Museum of Conteporary Art. It seems you want to preserve tokusatsu as a culture for future generations, but does the existence of tokusatsu mean anything now that computer graphics have developed?

Anno: One of the early works to use CG, Jurassic Park, had a great impact, but I have not met with anything exceeding the sense of astonishment [Jurassic Park produced]. CG doesn't produce the feeling of presence where you are looking at something there without mediation. A minature is something that is actually there, so that even as an image on a screen it produces a feeling of presence. I think that human perception actuely grasps this difference. I hear that monster movies have been treated as crude and bizarre works ever since the days when they were made, but Japanese tokusatsu works have been highly regarded overseas. I think that, even more than anime, Japan should first of all be proud of Godzilla.

-- When I saw the independent film you made as a student, "The Return of Ultraman," I was surprised to find that you, playing an unmasked Ultraman, gradually started to seem like a genuine Ultraman. How were you able to do such a thing?

Anno: We attempted to evoke this feeling that "things impossible in actuality are really there" from multiple aspects, including camera angles, the creation of miniatures, and so on, and this fact connected [the film] to the reality of existence. Anime is just an image, so there is nothing actual. So, since in tokusatsu works at least the drama scenes are performed by real actors, by developing that - if you do it well, the tokusatsu scenes will also seem authentic. Even among tokusatsu films made decades ago there are successful examples of this.

I Want to Show Fear

-- In the film which is being screened at the Tokusatsu Museum exhibit, "The Giant God Warrior Appears in Tokyo," Tokyo is completely destroyed. In [your] other works, too, there are many scenes of destruction and explosion. Do you have an obsession with destruction?

Anno: When I was a child, whenever something around me would break I had a sensation like I was happy or this was fun. I don't think it's just me - very young children feel this way. There was a period of time when I felt it good to imagine Japan or the whole of modern society being destroyed. But, in becoming an adult, and thinking about it realistically - what would happen to the people living there? - I became unable to find pleasure in it. The images of March 11 were also a great shock. Even if I can enjoy it as a fantasy, I don't want to see the real thing.

-- It seems you have a desire to show images that will be traumatic for children.

Anno: I want to convey to children the information that there are frightening things in the world. Today, these things are too much concealed from children, including [what is shown on] television. When I was a child my town was filled with frightening things. There was a darkness behind my house. The corpses of cats and dogs had been left abandoned. Even the adults were frightened - because I was around people who had experienced going to war.

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Postby Monk Ed » Sun Jul 22, 2012 6:35 pm

:coffee: Fascinating... I'd quote choice portions but it's all choice portions.
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Postby Oral Stage » Sun Jul 22, 2012 7:10 pm

I don't want to make excuses like, "the finished work was excellent but the advertising was poor."


LOL!

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Postby TMBounty_Hunter » Sun Jul 22, 2012 10:47 pm

-- The production cost of the new works has been entirely financed by Studio Khara, without inviting contributions from outside investors. They are so-called "independently produced works." Why this type of approach?

Anno: If I accept investments from outsiders, then I face the limitation of having to make a cost-effective work. By using my own money, in all aspects I can take responsibility and do what I want. We have staff for distribution and advertisment as well, but ultimately I am responsible. I don't want to make excuses like, "the finished work was excellent but the advertising was poor."

So at this point they're completely free from outside interference? That should be quite fun. Amazing how it only took them two movies to get there.
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Postby Na7e » Mon Jul 23, 2012 12:04 am

View Original PostTMBounty_Hunter wrote:So at this point they're completely free from outside interference? That should be quite fun. Amazing how it only took them two movies to get there.


Well...2.xx blew 1.xx out of the world with sales. 19.7 million USD for 1.0's release. 2.xx was 40 million USD. And, third highest grossing Anime film for the year 2009. Though I am using my sources from wikipedia.

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Postby Gendo'sPapa » Mon Jul 23, 2012 1:21 am

Just reading this gave me goosebumps.

And as long as Anno & Co. deliver the goods creatively & commercially with the last two parts - at this point there's no reason to believe they won't- Anno will have a well off studio to create NEW NON-EVA works of his own if he chooses to do so!

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Postby Electric Sachiel » Mon Jul 23, 2012 1:26 am

Anno: One of the early works to use CG, Jurassic Park, had a great impact, but I have not met with anything exceeding the sense of astonishment [Jurassic Park produced]. CG doesn't produce the feeling of presence where you are looking at something there without mediation. A minature is something that is actually there, so that even as an image on a screen it produces a feeling of presence. I think that human perception actuely grasps this difference. I hear that monster movies have been treated as crude and bizarre works ever since the days when they were made, but Japanese tokusatsu works have been highly regarded overseas. I think that, even more than anime, Japan should first of all be proud of Godzilla.


As if I didnt have huge amounts of respect for the man before.....I am now just overwhelmed with a sense of amazement that he would say such a thing. As a Godzilla and tokusatsu fan myself I have even greater respect for the man now than before if thats even possible! :clap:

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Postby Brainman » Mon Jul 23, 2012 1:34 am

^
Both Godzilla and Jurassic Park are pretty frickin' rad.

Anyone notice that Misato's ring tone in 2.0 sounds vaguely like King Ghidorah?
Why do they even want the Loc-Nar? All it does is melt you.

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Postby Na7e » Mon Jul 23, 2012 1:50 am

View Original PostBrainman wrote:Anyone notice that Misato's ring tone in 2.0 sounds vaguely like King Ghidorah?


You were not the only one, good sir. But, this entire interview is rather interesting...and gives me the feeling 3.0 is going to turn everything on its head.

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Postby Warren Peace » Mon Jul 23, 2012 2:22 am

That was awesome. Hopefully it ends the weird idea that Anno completely changed just because he married. I didn't care for the advertising on the first two films, but had no idea he felt the same. Enough to pull up stakes, apparently.

Thanks to 1731298478 as always...

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Postby Electric Sachiel » Mon Jul 23, 2012 3:25 am

View Original PostBrainman wrote:Anyone notice that Misato's ring tone in 2.0 sounds vaguely like King Ghidorah?


It also doubles as a sound effect for when Ultraman gets a transmission i think.

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Postby Monk Ed » Mon Jul 23, 2012 4:29 am

View Original PostWarren Peace wrote:That was awesome. Hopefully it ends the weird idea that Anno completely changed just because he married. I didn't care for the advertising on the first two films, but had no idea he felt the same. Enough to pull up stakes, apparently.

I'm not much aware of the advertising. And I don't see where Anno "pulled up stakes" for that particular reason. It sounds more like he just wanted ... something. Not sure where I'm going with this. Oh look and now I've dropped it off the e dg e o f t h e ...
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Postby driftking18594 » Mon Jul 23, 2012 5:12 am

Godzilla? Great, next thing we know Misato's going to be featured in an ad for the Nissan GT-R.

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Postby Vicious » Mon Jul 23, 2012 9:58 am

In the original Eva, there were many people who took something that I created as a source of amusement beyond those limits and made it into an object of dependence. I wanted to take responsibility for the fact that such people had been so "inflated." I wanted to bring the work back within the boundaries of entertainment.


So basically this is the reason for Rebuild being more about popcorn entertainment than psychoanalysis? He's not interested in creating works that people will emotionally obsess over anymore? That's kind of lame. Many authors would kill for a work of theirs to be as emotionally resonant and as studied by the fans as Eva has proven to be.

Oh well, good thing he didn't have this mentality from the start, or this site might not even exist.

And the original Eva was just a "source of amusement" to him, really? Not an outlet or downright self-therapy? I kind of doubt that.

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Postby Brainman » Mon Jul 23, 2012 11:34 am

View Original PostVicious wrote:So basically this is the reason for Rebuild being more about popcorn entertainment than psychoanalysis? He's not interested in creating works that people will emotionally obsess over anymore? That's kind of lame. Many authors would kill for a work of theirs to be as emotionally resonant and as studied by the fans as Eva has proven to be.


It kind of reminds me of how Maurice Sendak kept saying he didn't get why people loved Where the Wild Things Are so much. You just think that maybe they're playing love games with fame. Just get over it and embrace it already.

Also, I don't think you should get to say your movie is just meant to be amusement when you have it end like he did. And maybe it was a bit conceited for him to think he could get the otakus to change their ways because of his show. It's kind of a self defeating mechanism. You inject meaning into the show, but moreover, it's the show that ends up being discussed. Because saying "go outside" would be more direct than hiding it under psychobabble and crazy characters that are fun to pick apart.
Why do they even want the Loc-Nar? All it does is melt you.

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Postby Chroma » Mon Jul 23, 2012 11:39 am

View Original PostVicious wrote:And the original Eva was just a "source of amusement" to him, really? Not an outlet or downright self-therapy? I kind of doubt that.


I think he's just trying to distance himself from that, because I'm almost certain he's admitted it before. Maybe he's really bothered about how people were so dependent on NGE that making it seem like he wasn't invested in it himself could change that.

Also, loads of respect for the guy now. The "Japan should be super proud of Godzilla" thing is awesome.
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Postby FreakyFilmFan4ever » Mon Jul 23, 2012 3:25 pm

View Original PostVicious wrote:So basically this is the reason for Rebuild being more about popcorn entertainment than psychoanalysis?

Either that, or his definition of "entertainment" isn't "hating otakus." He can be entertaining and still have room for some intellectual material. (Specifically, I'm thinking of Anno's involvement with His & Her Circumstances.)

Especially when taken with 3.0's piano teaser, this might be Anno promising to be more optimistic in his story-telling, rather than bashing his viewers with a sense of emotional ambiguity. But the techniques used to portray such an optimistic story can still be well thought and intellectual.

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Postby 1731298478 » Mon Jul 23, 2012 7:42 pm

View Original PostTMBounty_Hunter wrote:So at this point they're completely free from outside interference? That should be quite fun. Amazing how it only took them two movies to get there.

If I understand correctly, they were free from outside interference from the beginning. The interview is saying that they've always been independently financed. That is, the initial investment has been made independently (apparently by Anno). That doesn't mean that they can't bring in advertising partners, etc., later. However, those partners wouldn't have the authority of initial investors.

Here are a couple of other comments relating to that. One is a comment from an interview Anno did with Toshio Suzuki about a year and a half ago (around 26:15 here). The "[---]" was something Anno said I couldn't identify.

鈴木 エヴァって、なんか自分の金作ったんでしょう?
庵野 ええ。
鈴木 すごいよね。
庵野 100パー[---]. リスクも機けど、まあ、リターンも機。

Suzuki: You made [the new] Eva with your own money?
Anno: Yeah.
Suzuki: Incredible.
Anno: 100 percent [---]. It is a risk, but also an opportunity for return.

There was also a comment Tsurumaki made in the CRC interviews implying something similar:

庵野さんが原作者であり脚本家であり総監督であり、実質的にはプロデューサーであり作業会社の社長でもあって、配給と宣伝も見るという、すさまじいことになっている。

Anno-san is the original creator, the scriptwriter, the chief director, substantially the producer、the sponsor, the head of the production studio, and he also overlooks distribution and advertising; it's an awe-inspiring situation.

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Postby TMBounty_Hunter » Mon Jul 23, 2012 9:06 pm

View Original Post1731298478 wrote:If I understand correctly, they were free from outside interference from the beginning. The interview is saying that they've always been independently financed. That is, the initial investment has been made independently (apparently by Anno). That doesn't mean that they can't bring in advertising partners, etc., later. However, those partners wouldn't have the authority of initial investors.

Here are a couple of other comments relating to that. One is a comment from an interview Anno did with Toshio Suzuki about a year and a half ago (around 26:15 here). The "[---]" was something Anno said I couldn't identify.


There was also a comment Tsurumaki made in the CRC interviews implying something similar:


Thanks. That's quite interesting. I always thought the reason for so much recycling in 1.0 was because they sold it to investors as a low-risk quick cashgrab to get the project off the ground. Only then with the success of 1.0 decided to exercise more freedom in 2.0. Now I guess the real reason for the recycling is Anno's relatively shallow pockets at the time.
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