The TV anime "As an My Status As an Assassin Obviously Exceeds the Hero's(My Status As an Assassin Obviously Exceeds the Hero's)", based on the light novel by Akai Matsuri from Overlap Bunko, will be broadcast on TV Tokyo and other channels starting from October 6th. The director is Nobuyoshi Habara, known for works such as "Fafner in the Azure" and "Space Battleship Yamato 2202: Warriors of Love". "My Status As an Assassin Obviously Exceeds the Hero's" is a so-called "other world transfer" story, and although Director Habara is a veteran, this is his first time working on an "other world transfer" story. We spoke to Director Habara about the behind-the-scenes of the production.
◇I was thinking of quitting anime direction
Director Habara was born in 1963. He served as character designer and animation director for 1986's "Machine Robo: The Great Counterattack of Cronos," and made his directorial debut in 1988 with "Legend of the Reina Sword." He has directed works such as "D.N.Angel," "Fafner in the Fafner in the Azure," "Break Blade," and "Space Battleship Yamato 2202: Warriors of Love," and more recently "Kyoukai Senki." He also served as a director at SUNRISE BEYOND, but retired and is now working freelance. He also made headlines for directing "Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Freedom."
Director Habara revealed, "Actually, I've been thinking about quitting anime direction..."
"Making anime is really tough. All the staff put their lives on the line to make it. It takes a toll on you in many ways, and I think it's starting to take its toll. As you get older, you lose your ability to concentrate, and when you try to draw a storyboard, it comes to your head but it's difficult to get it down. I've never been particularly fast, but now it's getting to be too hard... I start to hate myself, and above all, the worst thing is making people wait. I thought I wouldn't be able to work on an anime set physically, so I turned down the offer at first. After a lot of things happened, I ended up taking on the role of director."
Anime is made by a group of people. Director Habara smiles and says, "I received a lot of help from the staff."
"Once again, the work took a long time and we apologize for the inconvenience, but we were able to move forward thanks to our fantastic team. Most of the production managers were in their early twenties, and there were many young staff members who helped us out a lot. In the end, I'm really glad we did it. The creators and production team worked hard as one. Basically, the team that was on SUNRISE BEYOND is still making it, but our colleagues at Bandai Namco Filmworks came to help us out. It was like allies came together out of nowhere when you're facing a big enemy, and it made me really happy. I was in charge of quality control, including the 3D, and deciding where to put our efforts."
◇I can't concentrate when the other world seems unrealistic
The story is about a high school student, Oda Akira, who is summoned to another world along with his classmates. Because he has a low presence, he is supposed to have gained the powers of an ordinary assassin, but his status easily surpasses that of a hero, the strongest profession... After being falsely accused, Akira takes refuge in the depths of a labyrinth, where he meets a beautiful elf girl named Amelia, and begins to become a true assassin.
"This is my first time working on an alternate world genre, but anime generally tends to be about alternate worlds. I don't think I'm particularly conscious of the category of alternate worlds. The original work has carefully drawn scenes, and I felt it would be easy to adapt for film. It's an interesting ensemble drama with a lot of characters appearing, but when adapting it for animation, I considered balance and tried to make Akira, Amelia, and Yoru the focal points. Many characters wear armor, and there are technically difficult aspects to adapting for animation, so I kept that in mind. If I had used the original character designs, the animation would probably have collapsed. I tried to reduce the number of lines to the bare minimum."
The setting is a different world, and the background was also carefully designed.
"If the other world seems unrealistic, it's hard for the viewer to concentrate. I wanted to make it as realistic as possible, so I asked the original team what city they had in mind, and tried to make it more realistic based on that. Basically, it's easier to depict places I've been to, so I used landscape photos of castles in France and other places as reference. It's difficult to explain to the art director if you don't understand the atmosphere. Art director Suzuki Akira worked hard, and the backgrounds are simply amazing. I hope that viewers will enjoy the scenery as well. Even parts that are only seen a little in the main story are used as sponsored backgrounds."
◇Prioritize coolness
Another appealing feature is the rich visuals, reminiscent of the OVAs (original video animations) of the 1980s and 1990s, a style that doesn't seem to be seen much these days.
"When deciding on the style, I basically tried to use a lot of shadows. By increasing the shadows, I am trying to increase the amount of information. I used ' The Rose of Versailles' as an example. I wanted the picture to hold up as much as possible even when stopped, and I wanted any slight fluctuations in the level of the animation to not be noticeable. Recent anime doesn't use many shadows, does it? That is beautiful in itself, but without shadows, the difference in drawing ability becomes obvious, and even if a character looks cool on the character chart, they can end up looking flat when displayed on screen. I think that the techniques of the '90s will feel fresh in today's world, and I wanted to emphasize that it is a dark fantasy and become the color of the work as a whole."
Indeed, in the Reiwa era, anime that emphasizes shadows looks fresh.
"It hasn't been done recently. It was around the early '80s that we started adding this much shadow. The younger staff had never done it before, so they said it would be difficult at first. We asked character designers Okada Hirona and Saito Kaori to make lots of samples, and we all looked at the ones that had shadows added in the first episode and added the shadows. Some staff said that the way the shadows were added was strange considering the light source, but we told them that it was okay to ignore the light source for this production. We value a cool, realistic look rather than realism, so it's okay to lie about the light source. It's an expression that can only be achieved with animation, and we prioritize coolness. It also creates a sense of dazzle and luxury."
According to a staff member, "Since it's a work by Director Habara... we gathered a great staff," and added, "There were a lot of young people, but we also had some veteran animators join us. We've gathered an amazing group of people, so please be sure to pay attention to that as well!"
Director Habara said, "I had thought I would stop directing anime," but after completing the production he smiled and said, "It was fun."
"We added in-between frames because they were not enough, smoothed out the movements, and did a lot of extravagant retakes. Everyone cooperated, and the quality just kept getting better. I'm so pleased. And this work, of course the opening and ending, but the music is also fantastic. This is the first time I've worked with Igarashi Satoshi, and the background music is even more gorgeous than I imagined. I hope you enjoy the dialogue, sound effects, and even the smallest details with headphones. This is a work that can be enjoyed by both those who have read the original work and those who haven't. I hope you'll watch until the end and enjoy the journey with Akira."
Director Habara has not retired, and is still involved in some projects. What kind of world will he show us next? Expectations are only growing.
