" Tatsuki Fujimoto 17-26" is a collection of eight short stories by manga artist Tatsuki Fujimoto , known for works such as " Chainsaw Man" and "Lookback ." The series premiered worldwide on Prime Video on November 8th, and has been showing for a limited two-week period since October 17th at nine theaters nationwide, including Shinjuku Wald 9 (Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo). The original works are " Tatsuki Fujimoto Short Stories Collection 17-21" and "Tatsuki Fujimoto Short Stories Collection 22-26," which are collections of short stories written by Fujimoto between the ages of 17 and 26. This is an unprecedented project, with seven directors and six studios working on animating all eight stories. We spoke to Ryo Oyama, producer at Avex Animation Labels, the studio behind the anime, about the aims of the project.
◇It seems disjointed but is consistent
Oyama also worked on the animated feature film "Lookback," which was based on Fujimoto's manga and was the subject of much discussion when it was selected for Best Animated Feature at the 48th Japan Academy Awards. This is a bold project to adapt all of the works from "Tatsuki Fujimoto Short Story Collection 17-21" and "Tatsuki Fujimoto Short Story Collection 22-26" into animation, rather than just selecting a few.
"These eight works represent the path that Fujimoto-sensei took from the age of 17 to 26, and also represent his origins. I thought that the key to the project would be to show all eight of his works together, so that people could get a sense of the breadth and depth of his talent. However, I thought it would be difficult to make this work without some ingenuity."
A total of eight works were animated by seven directors, including Watanabe Tetsuaki of the anime "Blue Lock," Takeuchi Nobuyuki of the film "Fireworks, Should We See It from the Side or the Bottom?", and Terazawa Kazuaki of the anime "The Ancient Magus' Bride Season 2," as well as six studios: ZEXCS, Lapin Track, GRAPH77, 100studio, Studio Kafka, and PAWORKS.
"We had two options: either animate all eight films with the same studio and director, or use a different team for each film. Considering the core of the project, we thought the best thing to do would be to combine Tatsuki Fujimoto's high level of artistry with the individuality of the animation creators. Working with different teams for each film would be difficult, but it would be more interesting that way. Rather than trying to create a unified overall look, it would be more interesting to hack out the individual personalities of each film and amplify the breadth through animation. At the same time, we also thought that a common thread could be seen within the wide range of expression."
The eight works are all different, ranging from science fiction, romantic comedy, action, and human drama, but there is also a sense of "something consistent" between them.
"It's hard to put into words, but... One is the evil within innocence. There is a childlike innocence, but also a cruelty due to that. I think what's appealing about the work is how this duality is portrayed in an exquisite balance. The other is that the protagonists are placed in a variety of situations, from familiar relationships such as sisters and lovers to extreme situations such as aliens, mermaids, vampires and assassins, and are depicted struggling to communicate, even though they are very clumsy, and I think this is something that runs through all of the works."
◇It's better not to lump them all together
The eight works are animated versions of the "Tatsuki Fujimoto World," each with their own unique style. It's interesting to see how the staff were chosen.
"I spoke to the studios I had in mind and received ideas on what would be interesting with this director, and it took me over a year to decide on a partner. My current animation studio has projects lined up for the next four or five years, but I think the fact that it was a short film of 10 to 20 minutes made it easier to work on. A series would be difficult in terms of schedule, but we were able to give them some flexibility in terms of the production period, and they were able to get to work on it right away."
Each piece is edgy, but there is also a sense of unity.
"I told each director, 'Rather than trying to wrap things up, please go ahead and direct.' I thought the greater the range, the more it would lead to the richness of variation that is the core of this project. Fujimoto-sensei himself said, 'I'm embarrassed that my old work is being made into an anime,' but he also told me, 'Please tell the director to do what you want, freely, to your heart', so he really gave me the push I needed. It was a very easy job."
◇Reasons for streaming and theatrical release
Rather than broadcasting it on television, the film was chosen for streaming and theatrical release.
"The original length of each work was completely different, so I thought it would be difficult to make them all fit together into a unified length. If that's the case, I thought it would be better to let them create the length freely. Fujimoto's works are hugely popular all over the world, so I thought it would be best to have them all watched at the same time. With ' Lookback,' the worldwide distribution on Prime Video was a great success, so we decided to team up again this time. We are also screening the film in theaters to satisfy fans who want to see it in theaters."
The unusual project "Tatsuki Fujimoto 17-26" vividly showed the breadth of Fujimoto's work, while also beautifully expressing the underlying theme.
The animated film version of "Chainsaw Man," "Chainsaw Man : Reze Arc," was released on September 19th and has become a huge hit. "Chainsaw Man" and "Tatsuki Fujimoto 17-26" are produced by different companies, and it is extremely rare for the works of a single manga artist to be adapted into anime simultaneously. Fujimoto's unique talent is currently attracting attention all over the world.
