"Eternal Yugure" is an original TV anime produced by PAWORKS, the animation production company behind "true tears" and "SHIROBAKO." It is a full-fledged love story set in a future world where AI technology has advanced. The protagonist, Himegami Akira, who has pledged his love to his beloved lover, Ou Maki Towasa, wakes up from years of cold sleep to find a city devastated by war. An android named Yugure, who bears a striking resemblance to Towasa, appears before Akira, and they decide to travel together, believing that they will be reunited with Towasa, who is believed to be alive somewhere in the world. We spoke to animation producer Hashimoto Masahide about the behind-the-scenes production.
◇SF x Road Movie x Romance x Action
-What were you responsible for in this work?
As an animation producer, I am mainly responsible for schedule management, staffing, cost management, and quality control.
--When the anime was announced, Director Tsuda Naokatsu commented, "It all started when I thought, 'If I woke up in the distant future and an incredibly beautiful and cute android asked me to marry her, I wouldn't be able to resist.'" Is the background to the project's launch as stated by the director?
I think that's "also" true (laughs). The director loves science fiction. The project started when the director submitted two completely different ideas, one of which was about a salaryman or magic, I forget whether it was about magic, but the idea that became "Eternal Yugure" was so interesting that we decided to expand on it. It was about more substantial things, such as modern values and anxieties about the future (laughs).
-What is the appeal of your work?
This time, we're taking on the challenge of combining sci-fi, road movie, romance, and action. The sci-fi part is handled by the director, while the road movie part, with the setting changing with each episode, requires a lot of background energy, and is being led by art directors Asai Yuina and Tanabe Hiroko, along with director Shiwa Shiori. The romance part hinges on how compelling the characters are, so Saito Yoshiko is helping to bring it all together in her role as designer and animation director, while the action parts are mostly handled by main animator Nabeta Kayoko. The sci-fi elements, which explore what happened over the past 200 years, and the changing settings unique to road movies create drama. I hope people will enjoy it from a variety of angles.
-What is the appeal of the anime created by Director Tsuda?
As he commented when the anime was announced, the director is a pure person (laughs). He loves anime and movies, and he (the director himself) creates things from the perspective of what he wants to see and hear, and that comes across, and there are many points that resonate with me as well. This time, the director himself is in charge of the series composition and the scripts for each episode, so he has carefully considered the process leading up to the visuals, including the background setting that does not fit into the anime's length. I think you will be able to enjoy Eternity even more if you pay attention to things outside of the main story, such as Hamada Hajime's comic adaptation, the booklet short story, and the activity report diary.
--Tayama Aoi, the original character designer, is participating in an anime for the first time.
Tayama-san was recommended by the director and introduced to me as "Girl Crush." I immediately became a fan of Tayama-san's unique silhouettes, compositions, fashion, and character expressions, all of which are created with a minimal amount of lines. I began to fantasize about what it would be like if Tayama-san drew the characters and fashion 200 years from now. I was delighted to receive the request from Aoi Hiroyuki of MBS, who kindly sent me Yugure, Akira, and Amor. They are so charming, even their costumes! When I saw Tayama-san's drawings, I just wanted Saito-san to design the characters!
◇The difficulty of creating a head-on drama
--What was important to you when expressing the future (a devastated world)?
Since this is an original road movie, I wanted to bring out freshness and interest in the visuals as well, and Kusanagi-san has drawn an appealing gradation of desolation to controlled society, including the art setting. Rather than just having something outlandish, I hope to leave some modern monuments in the motif country, and feel a mixture of nostalgia and new values.
--What are the unique difficulties of this work?
It was very difficult to create the images the director wanted to show (laughs), the symbolic expressions of anime were not used much and the camera was centered around mid to long shots, the acting was action-packed, the end of one episode was structured to connect with the beginning of the next, and there was no escape for us on set! (It was also difficult to separate the scenes) There were difficulties in creating a drama that was head-on.
--What did you pay particular attention to in the video?
The difficulty is also a commitment, so the image creation in the previous question is one thing. Also, in the beginning, Akira's warm daily life through episode 0, which is where the aftereffects of episode 1 begin, his relationship with Towasa, and the action scene in episode 1 when Yugure appears - the contrast between these two episodes is important in shaping "Eternal Yugure", so it is one of the commitments.
-Finally, please give us a message.
As this is an original work, we put a lot of thought into the production, from the story to the visuals! We hope that it will be a series that will keep you wanting to see what happens next every week and that you look forward to watching.
