The TV anime "3rd Year Z Class Ginpachi Sensei", based on the novel "Gintama: 3rd Year Z Class Ginpachi Sensei" from the popular manga "Gintama" by Sorachi Hideaki, which was serialized in "Weekly Shonen Jump" (Shueisha), will be broadcast every Monday at midnight on TV Tokyo and other networks from October 6th. The director is Higashida Natsumi, who has worked on "Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun" and "Tokyo Mew Mew New". The TV anime "3rd Year Z Class Ginpachi Sensei" will be her first directorial work. We spoke to Director Higashida about the behind-the-scenes of the production.
◇ "Gintama" will be a school drama
"Gintama" is a popular manga with a total circulation of approximately 73 million copies worldwide, including digital versions. It has been adapted into various media mixes, including a TV anime, a movie, and a live-action film. It has continued to be loved for over 20 years since its serialization began in 2003. The TV anime "Ginpachi Sensei, Class 3-Z" moves the setting from Edo to a school, where the characters from "Gintama" run wild.
Director Higashida has never worked on "Gintama" before, but he was selected to direct the TV anime "3-nen Z-gumi Ginpachi Sensei."
"I've been watching the anime since I was a child, and there was a lot of pressure because it's a popular series that everyone knows. But when I heard about the role and looked at it again, I felt that the characters were really appealing. They're all silly characters, but each one has a core, and an aesthetic sense for life. I think that this contrast is a big part of why they're loved. Sakata Ginpachi is a little different from Sakata Gintoki in 'Gintama,' but the other characters are just like in 'Gintama,' and live their daily lives in the world of 'Ginpachi Sensei.' I tried to be careful that this didn't change at all."
Sakata Ginpachi appears as the homeroom teacher for Class 3-Z. He wears a sloppy white coat and sandals, and has eyes like a dead fish, making his appearance and personality unsuitable for a high school teacher, but for some reason he is well-respected by the students.
"Sakata Gintoki in 'Gintama' is a character with the driving force to lead the story forward. However, in 'Ginpachi Sensei' he is in the position of a teacher, watching over the students one step behind while giving them a little push on the back, so he is less active than in 'Gintoki'. In 'Gintama' there is an image of him running, but in 'Ginpachi Sensei' he doesn't run, he is always looking listless and walks dragging his sandals. I also asked Tomokazu Sugita Tomokazu, who plays Sakata Ginpachi, to act in a way that always has a more listless aura than in 'Gintoki'."
Although the setting is a school, we tried to make sure that it was still "Gintama."
"Rather than making a new school anime, I aimed to make Gintama a reality within a school drama. The characters who were enemies in Gintama will now be in the box of Class 3-Z and will be living their daily lives together. Everyone will be wearing nondescript uniforms and will be in the same space, but they will do as they please, just like in Gintama. It's basically chaos, but sometimes a word from Sakata Ginpachi will bring it all together. There are also parts that you won't see in the main Gintama story. However, you mustn't forget that it is Gintama. I wasn't trying to add my own style to the production at all, but I analyzed and studied Gintama and my first priority was to make it enjoyable for Gintama fans."
◇Music line unique to "Gintama"
How did you come to think about "Gintama-ness" while analyzing and researching it?
"The dialogue is unique, and there are expressions that say 'Gintama'. In comedy anime, the drawings are sometimes deformed, but 'Gintama' has a natural acting style, and the faces remain realistic. This is how it is in the original work by the teacher, so we were careful not to change that. This time, some of the staff are working on 'Gintama' for the first time with 'Ginpachi Sensei', so when the direction was different, we asked them to make corrections."
Director Higashida also commented, "It's been about a year and seven months since the announcement that the series would be made into an anime. A lot has happened during this time. There were times when I wondered if it would really be completed..."
"It was difficult. Even at the beginning of the first episode, we express that aspect visually. I said it was Gintama-esque, but interpretations differ from person to person, and we discussed many times what we were aiming for with this anime. One of the things we struggled with was where to include the music. Just like Gintama, we had Audio Highs write all the songs, but Gintama has its own way of drawing the musical lines. There is always music playing during the comedy scenes in Gintama, and it has a bit of a variety show feel to it. We struggled with coming up with a musical line that is typical of Gintama, and we decided on it in consultation with sound director Goda (Hozumi). When dubbing the first episode, we realized it was difficult, so we studied the music of Gintama again and tried to incorporate it into our work."
Many of the staff, including Director Higashida, were working on "Ginpachi Sensei" for the first time. Although it is a comedy anime, the staff took the project seriously, saying, "We were serious. Not a single person laughed, even when we added mosaics and beeps."
"It all started with the idea of making 'Ginpachi Sensei' with a new staff, including myself. I had the participation of character designer and animation director Shinji Takeuchi, editor Akane Shiraishi, and music director Audio Highs, and I trusted everyone who knows 'Gintama' inside and out, but the main staff is new. However, rather than thinking that it was something new, I aimed for people to think that 'Gintama' had started again."
It is also a hot topic that Moriwaki Makoto, known for works such as "Onegai My Melody," "PriPara," and "Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun," will be the general director.
"Before I became a director, I was in production, and I had the opportunity to work with Moriwaki on PriPara. Even after I became a director, he looked at my storyboards and is like a mentor to me. This time, he was present in the sound and editing and wrote the storyboards, but he basically left the production to me. Moriwaki told me, 'You might be suited to this,' but comedy is difficult after all. It's fun, though."
The TV anime "Gintama Teacher, Year 3-Z" was created with new staff while maintaining the essence of "Gintama." The school life filled with laughter and chaos will further expand the world of "Gintama." Long-time fans will surely be drawn in.
