The TV anime "Too Many Losing Heroines!" is based on a light novel from Shogakukan Gagaga Bunko (Shogakukan). It started airing on TOKYO MX, BS11 and other networks in July, and has been highly acclaimed as "the most anticipated anime of the season" and "the dominant anime" during the broadcast, with related words trending on social media. The director is Kitamura Shotaro, and this is his first directorial work. We spoke to Kitamura about the behind-the-scenes production.
◇Emphasis on empathy with the characters
The work is a light novel written by Amemori Takibi and illustrated by Imigimuru. It was also a hot topic when it was selected for the Gagaga Award at the 15th Shogakukan Light Novel Awards. It depicts a slapstick coming-of-age story featuring loser heroines (McCain) such as Anna Yanami, a gluttonous childhood friend type heroine, Lemon Yakishio, a lively sports type heroine, and Chika Komari, a shy small animal type heroine. The anime will be produced by A-1 Pictures.
Director Kitamura made his directorial debut with the TV anime "Zoids Wild" broadcast in 2018-19, and has participated in "Cardfight!! Vanguard", "Kaguya-sama: Love is War -Ultra Romantic-", and "Kaguya-sama: Love is War -First Kiss Never Ends-".
How did Director Kitamura read the original "There Are Too Many Losing Heroines!"?
"I felt a mind similar to the light novels I read in the 2000s. However, it's not just nostalgic, but the approach of focusing on the losing heroine and mob characters, which are not usually depicted, is new. So, I tried to express a classic romantic comedy in a new way in the anime. At the same time, I tried not to be too conscious of it being a romantic comedy. The most important thing is for the characters to stand out and for people to sympathize with each character. I thought about how to achieve that, and gradually developed into the current picture creation."
The story is set in Toyohashi City, Aichi Prefecture, and the cityscape is carefully drawn. He says that the scenery is a big element in expressing "empathy."
"I tried to make the scenery, colors, etc. that evoke a bit of nostalgia, so that they would connect to summer memories in the viewers. While scouting locations in Toyohashi, where the story is set, I thought that this place must be where someone spent their youth. I have no connection to Toyohashi, but it felt a bit nostalgic. I'm from the countryside myself, so even though the place is different, there are things I can empathize with, and I thought that if I could convey that in the form of an anime, it would be more persuasive."
The background is realistic, but it matches the characters and feels natural.
"It was difficult to decide where to draw the line of reality. It's a comedy-style work, but if it leans too much towards comedy, the drama will become light. If it leans too much towards drama, the comedy will stand out. It's difficult to strike a balance. So I decided to use character designs and colors that match the realistic touch of the background. The background is realistic, a little nostalgic, and a little glamorous. The characters have a deformation feel that is unique to anime. I tested the color and line processing many times to make the characters stand out against the realistic background, and that's how I arrived at the current shape."
For a pop and comical work, it is also characterized by a lot of shadows. I also paid attention to how to add shadows to the characters. I prepared several patterns of how to add shadows, and used them depending on the scene.
"It's very difficult, so it's something you don't usually do in anime, but I prepared several different patterns for the shadowing of the characters, specified the shadowing pattern at the storyboard stage, and made them brighter or darker according to the scene. If you just make it darker just because it's a dark scene, it will be difficult to see the character. The extent to which you can make it darker depends on the balance of the character's dose and deformation. You can make anime with characters that are closer to realism darker, but the more pop the design, the darker it cannot be. I raise the reality line and control it to the extent that it doesn't change the impression of the original illustration. I also pay close attention to the lens. The way things look is different between a camera lens and the human eye. I'm not trying to make it realistic, but I aim for a look that is close to the human eye based on realism."
By making full use of shadows, I tried to carefully express the presence of the characters. It's a detailed production, but it's effective, and the emotions of the characters are directly conveyed from the images. Director Kitamura says, "It's an expression that leads to empathy, and although it's difficult, I paid a lot of attention to it. To be honest, I also have a desire to make it popular (laughs)."
◇It may be a little different from the anime template
Even the colors were controlled in detail. For example, the famous scene at the end of the first episode, where Yanami stuffs her cheeks with chikuwa on the school rooftop, is made to have a strong blue tinge.
"The colors of the characters, especially human skin, are reddish, but the last scene of the first episode is made quite blue. The rooftop is surrounded by the sky. I tried to show Yanami and Onsui being engulfed in summer and dyed into the background. Each scene has a theme. For example, the emergency stairs are made darker to represent a gathering place for the shady, compared to the brightness of the surrounding students. By piling up the color expressions of each scene, I tried to create a feeling of the reality of youth and an ideal school comedy that is not likely to exist. I tried to create an image that makes you feel like you wish you had a high school life like that."
The good tempo is also attractive. Nowadays, some people watch movies and anime at double speed, but "Too Many Losing Heroines!" has a lot of information, so it would be difficult to watch it at double speed.
"At first, I was thinking of a slower tempo. If you try to build up the characters' feelings to create a youthful feel, the tempo will inevitably become slow. I considered how viewers today will perceive it, reconsidered the balance between seriousness and comedy, and made it faster. The anime is made up of four episodes for one volume of the original work, but the original work has a lot of text, and when you unravel each one, the content is rich. Even as we sprint along at a fast tempo, I try to build up the characters' feelings."
The tempo is fast, but there are also scenes that show the scenery clearly. It's well balanced, and you get the feeling that you're being drawn into the world of the anime.
"It's all about the pace. I think it's a failure if something that's fast seems too fast. I aimed for images that leave you with a feeling that you can't put into words after watching it. I didn't explain too much so that you would want to watch it again. Of course, I explained it to a degree that doesn't make it unhelpful, but I tried to avoid the steps that you would normally see in an anime, like changing the location or the time, and instead showed an impressive scene in one go. If you watch the first episode, you'll see that new characters keep appearing, but no one introduces themselves. It may be a little different from the template for anime, but I was still trying to depict it in a way that would get the point across."
It's not overly explanatory, but it's full of information. However, it feels like it naturally sinks into your head. You can understand it even if you watch it once, but you'll find new discoveries when you watch it again. The fact that it's an anime that encourages speculation may be what's causing the buzz on social media. Director Kitamura and the other staff's attention to detail is probably a big part of it. "People in the industry say it must be really hard..." I try to avoid comedy for the sake of comedy and comical expressions that are typical of romantic comedy anime. It's basically a lively, fun, and bright comedy, but when you stop and think about it, it's a story about girls who get dumped, so I try not to make that a joke in the important parts. If I made the fact that the losing heroine got dumped into a joke, it would just be a comedy anime, so I try not to use comical expressions in that part. That would make the difficulty and calories of the animation go up (laughs). There are also parts that I try to express through the way I put in the sound and music. For example, I use the sound of the cicadas as a joke. The sound of the cicadas taking off and the cicadas stopping abruptly are realistic, but I use them in a comedic way. It's difficult visually and sound-wise."
It's funny, but it's also sad. It's bittersweet, and it's an anime that makes you feel like this is what youth is all about. From episode 8, the season changes to autumn, and the story revolves around Komari.
"From episode 8, autumn arrives and the characters change clothes. The shadows in the background have also changed subtly. We also changed the filming filter to create a different blue for the sky than the summer blue, and there are scenes that look more like an autumn sky. Since it's Komari's story, we tried to make it look more gentle rather than hectic."
"Too Many Losing Heroines!" is an anime that offers new discoveries no matter how many times you watch it. You're sure to notice something if you compare episodes 1 to 8. Keep an eye on future developments.
