The animated feature film "The Camphor Keeper," based on Higashino Keigo's novel, which has sold over one million copies, will be released on January 30th. Many of Higashino's works have been adapted into live-action films and TV dramas, but surprisingly, this is the first time they have been made into an anime. This will be the first anime directed by Ito Tomohiko, known for works such as "Sword Art Online," "Erased," and "HELLO WORLD." Director Ito, who aims for an expression unique to anime, spoke about the thoughts he put into the film.
◇The significance of turning "The Camphor Keeper" into an anime
"The Camphor Keeper" tells the story of Naoi Reito, a young man who loses his job after being unfairly fired, who becomes the mysterious "The Camphor Keeper" and meets people with all sorts of circumstances. After losing his job and being driven to the brink, Reito is arrested for a mistake. After accepting his lawyer's condition that he will be released if he follows his client's instructions, he is approached by Yanagisawa Chishu, who has made a major contribution to the development of the large Yanagisawa Group. Chishu is Reito's late mother's half-sister and instructs him to become The Camphor Keeper that stands at Tsukigo Shrine. Camphor trees seem to have mysterious powers, and before long, the mystery begins to entangle Reito's life and lead him to an unexpected truth.
Director Ito said that when he read the original work, he felt it was a "plain story." This may sound negative, but that's not the case. There's no flashy action, the characters aren't involved in a major incident that threatens the survival of humanity, and they're not reincarnated into another world. Looking at the anime of today, it may seem "plain," but it's a universal, solid, and moving work.
"Aniplex had a project to turn Higashino Keigo's works into anime, and I put my hand up, and that's how it all started. Then, ' The Camphor Keeper' was announced, and we decided to turn it into an anime. I said it was 'demanding' because I didn't think it was a story that would please anime fans. But it's worth doing, and I think it's good to have works like that. In recent years, what's been required of anime is action, songs, and journeys to other worlds, but ' The Camphor Keeper' has a strong core, and I thought it had to go wild with the pictures. In terms of character design, I wanted to create a world where it was acceptable to mix in some manga-like characters. It's not strange to see an elderly woman walking up a mountain in high heels. I tried to create a world where this was normal and acceptable."
It's not a work that can be segmented into those aimed at families, those aimed at hardcore anime fans, etc. It's a universal work that should be able to appeal to a wide range of people, from children to the elderly. It's a work that viewers will experience differently depending on their generation and environment.
"It's sometimes said that it's impossible to target a wide audience without segmenting. I understand that sentiment, but I also feel that everyone is segmenting their films too much these days. Looking at the industry as a whole, I feel that it's not good if someone doesn't make at least one of these films a year. You might wonder where I stand on this, but that's how I felt. I think it's worth taking on this challenge. That said, I do think that this film will resonate most strongly with this demographic."
Although this is the first time the work has been adapted into an anime, there were apparently no particular requests from the original author, Higashino.
"When he saw the character design for Senshu, I thought he would say something, but he just said, 'Oh, I see,' and didn't make any requests at all. Basically, I don't intend to ruin the spirit of the original, and I created it with the hope that the feeling after reading it would be the same. I spoke to him when I met him at the preview, and he said, 'Thank you for your hard work.'"
◇It's okay for everyone to be different
The anime "The Camphor Keeper" seems to focus more on the relationship between Reito and Senshu. The relationship between the two is complicated, but isn't there really no such thing as an uncomplicated family? It makes you think about that.
"There's no doubt that it's a story about Reito and Senshu, but fundamentally it's a story about family. At the same time, it's not necessarily important that they're related by blood. As the characters say in the play, we don't want to forget that that's not everything. Family is family in any form, and it's fine for it to take many different forms. You can't say that something is no good just because it's not connected. I wanted to convey that it's okay for everyone to be different."
The main character, Reito, has no dreams for the future and is easily swayed. This is partly due to his complicated circumstances, but he may also have some traits that make him uncharacteristic of a main character. On the other hand, Senshu has fought on the front lines of the business world and exudes dignity. Fumiya Takahashi plays Reito and Yuki Amami plays Senshu.
"Reito is a weak protagonist. Normally he'd be around third in line, a total loser. However, I was careful not to make him seem too unpleasant, so much so that his failings seemed cute. Senshu is exactly the same as the image I have of Yuki Amami. I see her as an older Amami, and I identify with her. So I was worried about what would happen if Amami turned me down... I tried to create a character who was resolute and cool. By making it into an anime, I was able to make the illustrations more convincing."
The cast of talented voice actors, including Takahashi, Amami, Asuka Saito as Saji Yumi, Ryubi Miyase as Oba Soki, and Osawa Takao as Saji Toshiaki, is also attracting attention.
"This time I was also the sound director, and from the beginning I asked them not to make the characters seem more artificial than necessary. When dubbing for anime, we often ask the actors not to move their bodies too much, but this time I said it was okay to move. For the scene where Reito is being held down and struggles while talking, the staff actually held Takahashi down and acted it out. For the scene where Reito and Chishu face each other and talk, they actually looked at each other's faces when recording. I cast them because I thought it would be good to have them sound like they normally talk, so I wanted them to feel free to do so. If they're too artificial there can be moments that sound fake, so I wanted to avoid that."
◇Strong visual impact of the background
The balance between anime-like expression and realism is exquisite. For example, the camphor trees are depicted in a mystical way, while the city of Tokyo is depicted realistically.
"This was largely down to the direction of art director Hiroshi Takiguchi, but I wanted the area around the camphor tree to have a slightly less realistic feel, and then for it to become more realistic once they returned to the city. I talked to Takiguchi about this at a fairly early stage. Higashino hadn't decided on a specific setting, but I heard that it was probably somewhere around Akiruno City. In fact, there aren't any public baths like that in Akiruno City, but I used that as a guide when creating the story. There is a very similar model for the shrine, although there is no camphor tree that big."
Takiguchi is known for having worked as art director on numerous films, including "Weathering with You" and "The Case of Hana and Alice."
"Takiguchi-san has a strong sense of competing with a single image. These days, anime backgrounds are often drawn in high contrast with the assumption that they will be processed during filming, and then adjusted during filming, but these are like the backgrounds of old Ghibli films, and I think Oga Kazuo probably took a similar approach, but I think the level of completion as a complete single image is high. The dynamic range of color tones is wide. If you add processing, it will get crushed, so it's better to reproduce it. He draws in a way that conveys the message, so he shoots it as is. Even in a shot where you can see light deep in the forest, I felt that he drew it in a mysterious, mysterious way. It was a fresh experience as it was an anime background I had never seen before."
In "The Camphor Keeper," the city of Tokyo is depicted with greenery here and there, there are foliage plants in the rooms, and the characters' clothing is also green, making for an impressive theme. Since it's an anime, everything drawn must have a meaning.
"There is a reason for the greenery in the city, but the clothing worn by the characters is also a result of that. Reito says, 'I want to leave something behind,' and I wanted that to be an impactful message, so that after watching the film, people might feel that maybe... or, for example, if people living in Tokyo pass through the locations where the film is set, I would be happy if they felt something similar. I also want Tokyo to retain its greenery. On the other hand, there is little greenery on the Yanats Corporation side. CEO Masakazu Yanagisawa has an image of being a tech-type person."
◇The appeal of Tsubasa Yamaguchi's designs
Tsubasa Yamaguchi, known for the manga "Blue Period," was in charge of character design. The unique expressions that are both manga and anime-like and realistic are what make the game so appealing.
"It's somewhere between realistic and manga-like. As he graduated from an art university, his drawings are solid, and the characters' backs when standing are very fleshy. There's a real presence to the backs of the characters when they're standing. I asked him, 'It's okay if they look a little bit Japanese.'"
Akiko Itagaki, who has worked on "Lonely Castle in the Mirror" and other projects, is also credited as a character designer.
"In traditional terms, Yamaguchi would be the original character creator and Itagaki the character designer, but we deliberately didn't separate them. Yamaguchi draws the silhouettes, costume designer Takahashi Takeshi comes up with the outfits, and Itagaki then uses that as a base to finalize the settings for the anime. For example, Yumi originally had black hair, but Takahashi suggested that brown hair would be better, and Saji Toshiaki's hair was originally shorter, but Takahashi, as a stylist, suggested that he should be a little sexier rather than more serious, so we adjusted it."
The barn owl is also unique to the anime, and its anime-like design adds a nice spice to the story.
"When we were writing the script, there were many scenes where Reito ends up alone in the shrine office, so we decided that it would be better for him to have someone to talk to rather than just talking to himself, and so we decided to create a pet-like character. We thought it should be a mascot character, so we asked Yukiko Horiguchi of 'K-ON!' to help us out. There is an answer to the existence of the barn owl, but it is not stated explicitly. It is probably a mysterious being, as it is the lord of the forest."
The music is also an important element. It was composed by Yugo Kanno, who has worked on Higashino's works such as the "Galileo" series and "Shinzanmono." Kanno also worked on Ito's "The Millionaire Detective: Balance: UNLIMITED."
"The reason for this was simple. I thought it would be good to have someone who had worked on Higashino's works, and Kanno's name came up. I work with him and I'm also a piano player. The final piano piece is the heart of the piece, so I wanted a piece to play when drawing the storyboard, so I asked him first. When I heard the demo, I thought, This is so moving! It will make me cry! Thank you!"
◇ Avoiding lost technology
Higashino's works have never been made into anime before, so some people may think that they are suited to live-action. The anime "The Camphor Keeper" brought together a stellar cast. The film's appeal lies in its meticulous attention to detail, blending realism with the unique expression of anime.
"I think that turning it into an animation makes it easier to watch. With live-action, there's a kind of heavy atmosphere, which may be unique to Japanese films. Of course, there are times when that's good, but animation is easier to enjoy. There are places that seem real, and I wanted viewers to feel like it would be nice if there was a camphor tree somewhere. I don't know if it's exactly what it looks like, and it might not even be a tree. But something like that is definitely there. I want it to be there. That's why I tried to incorporate a sense of realism."
Anime has dominated the box office rankings in recent years, and Japanese anime is attracting a lot of attention overseas as well.
"But many of them are based on manga. If we're going to make films, I think we need to make works like The Camphor Keeper. It seems like it's going to become increasingly difficult to make these kinds of works in the future. Someone has to keep making them, either by passing the baton to someone else or making them themselves. I'm going to go overboard here, but considering the diversity of Japanese anime, if we don't make works like this, they'll all end up being based on manga. That might be fine, but we need to keep making them so they don't become a lost technology."
"This time, I did the storyboards, production direction, and sound direction all by myself. I followed in the footsteps of my mentor, Hosoda Mamoru. Given my age, I thought this might be my last chance to do it. That's how I approached this project," says Director Ito, who says that "The Camphor Keeper" was a challenge for him. Director Ito's challenge has resulted in an anime that shows new possibilities for Higashino's work. (Anima Mitsuru/MANTANWEB)
