Aniplex and Sony Music's original TV anime series "SI-VIS: The Sound of Heroes," based on the theme of "HERO x MUSIC," is broadcast every Sunday morning at 9:30 on Fuji TV and other channels. Its unique premise is that the hugely popular musical unit "SI-VIS" are actually heroes who save the world, using their musical performances to combat the mysterious disaster known as "Mirage." It's a unique hero anime among the fiercely competitive Sunday morning children's programming. It's also garnering attention for its impressive staff, including director Yoshida Daisuke, known for "Idol Incident" and "Blue Exorcist : All Night Arc," and series composition and scriptwriter Maruto Fumiaki, known for the original light novel "How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend."
◇ It wasn’t a smooth decision to broadcast it in the morning…
--It's an anime that airs on Sunday mornings.
This is Maruto-san's first time on a Sunday morning show. I've been working on adult games. You were involved in "Dai (Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai)," right?
Director Yoshida's "Dai" was a Saturday morning show, but I wasn't the main character, so in that sense, this is my first time working on a morning show.
-How did you end up participating?
Maruto-san, Aniplex told me on Sunday morning about an anime targeted at a younger demographic. The keywords were "music," "a musical unit in action," "heroes," and "fighting." And when they said it would be a "mixed-gender unit," I was honestly like, "What!?" I was okay with the idea of a "fighting musical unit," but I was initially confused by the "mixed-gender" theme. I thought there were only two options: a male unit that appeals to female fans, or a female unit that appeals to male fans, so I thought, "They're aiming for something big!" (laughs).
Director Yoshida: When I was talking to him, the keywords were "youth," "mixed-gender unit," and "hero." I was thinking, "Maybe it's a good balance of a "mixed-gender" unique group of members developing a drama, music, and heroes."
Maruto-san: You might think that it was decided to broadcast it in the morning without any fuss, but that's not the case. As the planning progressed, it went from morning to evening, then night and back to morning... and 24 hours passed (laughs). So it wasn't made with the morning in mind from start to finish.
Director Yoshida: Even though it was "night," it wasn't late at night, but prime time. The goal of making an anime that children could enjoy remained the same. The works of Yoshiyuki Tomino that I watched as a child had adult drama, and I thought it was great to mix adult elements into an anime that children could enjoy. I also feel that Maruto's scenario has a good balance between the adult and child characters, which makes it bounce around nicely.
Maruto: I haven't written much about heroes or battles up until now. I do write drama, though. I leave the heated battles to the professionals. I'm in charge of the dialogue and the dark side of humanity, while Studio VOLN is in charge of the action and Yano Shunsaku is in charge of the world setting.
Director Yoshida 's Studio VOLN president, Mita Keishi, is a disciple of Maruyama Masao, who founded Madhouse, and in that vein, he places great importance on the scenario. Emotions are important in a scenario, so how do you capture those emotions? Mita often talks about this. If the emotions and the flashiness of the cuts don't link, it's meaningless. To create cuts, you have to create a stage. You put drama on the stage. It's not just about having a stage, you have to think about a stage that will bring out the drama. This time too, I was conscious of what kind of cuts there are and what emotions they should express, relative to the drama line that Maruto created for me. The drama line has a nice difference in height, so even if there are various elements, they line up nicely.
◇The brilliance of Maruto Fumiaki's scenario
--Since it's a mixed-gender group of five members, is it a bit like Super Sentai?
That's what it means when you say Maruto Sentai.
--Although it is a Sunday morning anime, it also depicts the dark side of humanity.
Director Yoshida doesn't just depict the dark side of humanity, but he brings out all the emotions, depicting a heavy drama with ups and downs of emotion. This work also has music that rises, so the emotions act as a springboard to make the music bounce. It creates a good contrast between highs and lows.
-What do you think is the appeal of Maruto's script, Director Yoshida?
Director Yoshida's number one priority is "flamboyance." I really feel that. The "flamboyance" comes from the drama, but that's what really shines and is wonderful. All the characters are fascinating, and it's fun and satisfying to direct them.
--It may be a bit unusual for a Sunday morning superhero anime. Is there a balance to be considered, as it's an anime that both children and adults can watch?
Maruto: I don't really think about balance.
Director Yoshida: The film does not only depict the human condition. It is also connected to hope. Although it does depict the adult world, the drama of "SI-VIS" is at its core. As a youth ensemble drama, it can get heavy at times. However, it should also have a refreshing feeling. The music is also excellent by Mutsuki Shuhei, and sound director Nagura Yasushi provides music that matches the drama line, creating a beautiful flow.
◇The power of music
Music is also an important theme.
It's difficult to calculate Director Yoshida's music, but we're trying to organize the drama line, create a runway to determine where to take off and bring it to its peak, and we sometimes ask him to create film scores for that. That's the case for episodes 9, 12, and 13.
Maruto: For example, when music plays during a one-and-a-half minute battle, we decide at the storyboard stage that the finishing move will be made at this point, and that this emotion will be stirred, but these things can change as we create the character.
Director Yoshida: Sound director Nagura-san has a big influence on me. He has a deep knowledge of music. The person in charge of SACRA MUSIC and the director have been very flexible with me. For episodes 9, 12, and 13, I first drew storyboards, edited them, and then gave them to the music team, who then created the music based on that. This is something you don't hear much about in TV series. To be precise, it's called storyboard scoring.
Maruto: The scenario includes the flow of who is singing in this scene, when the vocals will be changed, etc. However, once you write the storyboard, it just keeps expanding. For me, once I write the script, I'm done, so I basically just ask them to "make it sound good."
Director Yoshida sings as the story unfolds, so when things get destroyed during action scenes, the sounds overlap. With music, sound effects, and dialogue, it can be difficult to decide which to let the listener hear. When you want to emphasize a line, you make the line louder, and sometimes you want to emphasize the singing. You have to adjust the volume of each. Takuya Hasegawa, who is in charge of sound effects, and Shota Kumagai, who is in charge of recording adjustment, first listen to all the sounds during the test, and then make adjustments. The other day, we were dubbing episode 21, and the sound was really jammed. Even in those cases, they adjusted it beautifully, and it was done almost in one take.
◇The quality of failure changes in the second course
Was it a challenge for the two of you?
Director Yoshida: That's true. But we're creating something amazing as a team, so it's a lot of fun. This is an unprecedented environment for me, so I'm trying to throw myself into it as much as possible.
Maruto-san , while singing, defeats enemies with his bare fists?! He doesn't even use weapons, so I was a bit confused as to what that meant, but I did my best.
Director Yoshida is packed with stuff.
Maruto: I should have adjusted it from the beginning. Considering that music is the main focus, it would have been fine to use a little less, but I almost always end up going over the limit. The performances that use music are fixed, and the length is also decided.
I consult with Director Yoshida almost every time.
Maruto: Sometimes shaving it down makes it thicker and better, but sometimes shaving it down makes the lines less clear and it ends up crumbling, so I consult with him about that.
--What will happen in the second season?
Maruto-san, it's been a good story up until now. But the end of the first season was like that. The second season starts off on a dark note. Naturally, there will be situations where the conventional approach won't solve the problem like before. The setbacks and overcoming of the first season were something that a hero should definitely do, but the quality of the setbacks will change.
Director Yoshida is also an artist, so there are times when we delve into the creative worries. As someone who has worked on things, I can understand some of those worries. As they struggle, the characters' personalities shine even more, so it should be worth watching. It's fun to make.
Maruto: There will be a lot of XENOS stuff coming up. The first season focused on SI-VIS, but the second season will also focus on XENOS. XENOS also has many unique characters, so I hope you'll look forward to that.
Director Yoshida 's story of Crios and Lycos in episode 12 will become clearer from now on. As a creator, I know what's going to happen, and when I watch episode 12, I can see that Uchida Maaya's acting (as Lycos) is really good. It's hard to understand the emotion of this when you're watching it for the first time, though. Maruto is quite cruel.
I think there will be some parts that will slowly resonate with you when you watch Maruto-san again.
Director Yoshida 's first season featured Kyoya's hometown, and he has faithfully depicted the local Aomori and Namioka areas, including the station building and pylons. Going forward, there will also be models for the colors of the school uniforms, and there will be other areas that are expressed in great detail, so I hope you will enjoy those as well.
Anima Mitsuru/MANTANWEB
