Anno Fireside Chat on Amazon

[Gendo'sPapa]

I personally don't know who Hitoshi Matsumoto is (I'll educate myself on that) but there's a two part conversation running 82 minutes total between him & Hideaki Anno about their respective approaches to art on Amazon Prime in the US with english subtitles.

I'll watch this later. Should have some interesting insight.

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[hui43210]

Mastumoto is one of the biggest comedians in Japan and has been active since the 80’s. He’s part of the Manzi team Downtown and is probably best known for the show Gaki no Tsuki and it’s segment “Silent Library”. There’s also the annual Batsu games they have every New Year’s Eve.

I actually knew about him before Anno, but that’s because I’m a massive weeb. Looking forward to seeing this after work.

[TMBounty_Hunter]

If you wanna make family movie night really weird watch Matsumoto's R100

[ProcopiousJones]

Matsumoto also did a couple of shows for Prime, Documental and FREEZE!, both of which are evolutions of formats that first appeared on Gaki No Tsukai.

I would highly recommend watching Documental, especially if you're a fan of "no-holds barred" comedy.

[evaunit13]

This was a good watch, some of the highlights what will go into my Anno quote wall:
- "I'm fine being alone."
- "The movie doesn't change. People do."
- On why he's a director: "I'm unfit for society."
- "Those who provide the money have the ultimate authority. My top priority for a project is to recover the investment."
- "If it was boxing, I'd definitely put GoPros on the gloves. I'd want the referee's perspective too. A GoPro here on his head."
- "It comes down to camera position and focal length."

[hui43210]

I also liked, "Expect a lot of awkward silence "

"Being a producer forced me to become an adult "

Also, the way Anno has not seen any recent television and then really gets into it when talking about vintage Ultraman and Kamen Rider is a lot me talking to my normie friends.

[evaunit13]

I particularly liked his sentiment on even documentaries not being reality due to being edited. Adds another leg on his ontological hobby horse on what is reality.

His admittance to not watching a lot of movies or shows, preferring depth in his favorites over breadth, is in line with a lot of other artists who seemingly draw inspiration from outside their respective mediums.

[TomsonPRD]

What really interested me was Anno's forthright answer regarding how much he (doesn't) value the success of his works abroad, during the first minutes of Ep. 2 (taken from Amazon subtitles)

It's close to zero for me. Even Shin Godzilla was for a domestic audience. I create with Japanese speakers in Japan in mind.

I'm really thrilled that people in other countries enjoy it but a global audience wasn't my aim. It can't be. I don't get English. Unless you get English you can't make something fit for English-speaking countries. The way of thinking is different, I studied some English but I just don't get it. My brain just doesn't work that way, so I can only make things that align with a Japanese way of thinking. Japanese only.

I'm really happy that my work can be translated to English and other languages and shared with people in other countries, but I don't create with that in mind. Is it OK to say this on Amazon? Is it? (laughs)

[Though] The fact that it's available and they can understand and enjoy it really makes me happy.

[gatotsu911]

Weird flex from the guy who seems to have spent 8 years flipping out about precisely how and by whom his work is translated into English.

Though I don’t think he’s necessarily saying there that he doesn’t care how his works are received abroad, so much as that he doesn’t consciously target an international audience in the process of creation - which is a bit different.

[Gendo'sPapa]

Watched this and I love how much of an absolute nerd Anno is!! Getting answers from him in part 1 was a lot of awkward pauses and short responses. He answered the questions but he wasn't overly personable. But then in Part 2 the conversation turns to "What do you like about Ultraman?" and Anno just rambles on for like 7 minutes straight on nerdy little things about the original show he loves!

That was perfection!