The latest film in the popular anime series "PreCure," "Wonderful PreCure!", is "Wonderful PreCure! The Movie! A Great Adventure in the Exciting Game World!". The director is Miyahara Naoki, who is known for working on many dance videos for the "PreCure" series and also made headlines for directing the hugely popular "THE FIRST SLAM DUNK." In the film, Komugi and her friends are sucked into the world of the game "Doki Doki Tanukingdom" and struggle to get back to Animal Town. The sight of Komugi and her friends moving around in the game world is impressive, and the dynamic CG expression is a major attraction. We spoke to Director Miyahara about what went on behind the scenes in the production.
◇The meaning of expressing things through CG
The motif of "Wonderful Precure!" is "animals," and it is set in Animal Town, a town where animals and people live together in harmony, and depicts the deep bonds that are woven between animals and people, such as dogs and their owners, and cats and their owners, and interactions that transcend species. It is also a hot topic that for the first time in the series, which began in 2004, a "dog Precure" will be appearing. It is currently airing on ABC TV and TV Asahi every Sunday at 8:30 a.m.
In the movie version, the world of the game is expressed in CG, and it was produced as a hybrid with the original drawings. The CG parts were created with the aim of expressing things that only CG can do.
"We started by asking ourselves how to combine 'Wonderful Precure!' with CG. We considered the point of using CG and what expressions could only be achieved through CG, and decided that it would match well with the world of games. 'Wonderful Precure!' is a work that has little fighting action. Instead, we tried to make the running and moving around more impressive. For the animation, we used difficult three-dimensional camerawork to show spiral movements and also tried scenes with a large number of characters on one screen. While taking advantage of the unique expressions of CG, we asked for the first half, which is centered on the animation, and the second half to be made to have familiar images that make you think, 'It's the Precure you always see on TV.'"
In the world of games, the characters' heads change.
"I made it obvious that it was CG to make the difference between the game world and reality clear. There is a way to make the CG look more like the animation and make it look seamless, but since the story goes back and forth between the game world and reality, I decided to make it clear that it is now a story set in the game world. I think I was able to express the game world-like feel of the background by making it more deformed rather than realistic."
The scene where a large number of raccoons appear and the "dancing ball toss" scene where a large number of balls come out are also expressions unique to CG. The overwhelming "volume" is also a big attraction.
"It was possible because of CG. I pushed the volume of material to the limit. It is better to be surprised by four people than by one person. It is better to have 1,000 people... than 100 people (laughs). It was possible because of the skills and hard work of the staff."
Director Miyahara also felt that the staff who worked on the CG had "matured."
"I feel like we've matured as a department! After working on Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero and Girls Band Cry, our skills have improved, so we were able to take on this challenge. I think it was great timing. The young staff have grown significantly, and they were able to accurately express even difficult scenes that were difficult to draw by hand, which was a great help."
◇Daifuku spoke! Mofurun too
The rabbit Daifuku, who never spoke in the TV series, has finally spoken and transformed, which has become a hot topic. It was a shock that Nakamura Yuichi, who is known for his deep voice, was cast as Daifuku. "Since it's a game world, why not have Daifuku speak at times?" he thought, and took on the challenge with a flexible mindset.
The appearance of PreCure from "Sky Wide! PreCure" and "Maho Girls PreCure!" is also one of the highlights. "Maho Girls PreCure!" aired from February 2016 to January 2017, and the sequel "Maho Girls PreCure!! ~MIRAI DAYS~" is scheduled to air from January 2025, and there is a lot of buzz about that. "We were thinking about a sequel, but that's not all, and Mofurun's presence is also a big factor," he said. "Mofurun is a stuffed animal, but he shares the same feelings as PreCure. It's similar to the relationship between an animal and its owner."
Mofurun is a stuffed animal that Mirai Asahina (/Cure Miracle) received from her grandmother when she was little, and it learns to speak with the power of miracles. The relationship between Mirai and Mofurun is similar to the relationship between an owner and an animal in "Wonderful PreCure!", so it seems that "Maho Girls PreCure!" will be appearing.
◇Maybe not be conventional
Director Miyahara has participated in many of the "PreCure" series so far. What do they think about the appeal of "Wonderful Precure!", which has been talked about for its unprecedented challenges such as dogs and cats transforming into Precure?
"Animals and owners have a relationship like family. Owners shower their animals with absolute love, and there is an absolute trust between animals and owners. This relationship is what makes it appealing in a way that is different from previous Precure series, and it is the basis for the team. I felt that if we did not express this appeal in the movie, it would not be fundamentally connected to the TV series. Komugi, who has entered the game world, believes in Iroha and runs desperately, saying, "Let's go home together!" I tried to properly depict how they truly desire each other."
The story is set in a game world, three generations of Precure appear together, and Daifuku transforms by talking... it's a work with a lot to offer.
"The story goes back and forth between the game world and reality, and it's a greedy work with many elements, so the structure may not be orthodox. However, I tried to make the development easy to understand so that each event is properly connected. The underlying principle is to make it enjoyable like an amusement park, so that children watching it don't get bored. I tried to make it an anime that doesn't stop, that keeps running, although there are parts that are depicted gently and carefully, and I tried to make it a deep feeling of "Komugi runs!" from the beginning."
The poster for the movie shows Komugi and the others running. Even in the movie, Komugi running desperately on two legs is impressive. I hope you will pay attention to the challenge taken on by Director Miyahara and the other staff.
