Director Tomohiko Ito, producers Go Wakabayashi and Shota Fujii, who worked on the animated feature film "The Keeper of the Camphor Tree," based on the novel by Keigo Higashino, held a talk show at the "Okinawa Animation Festival 2026" event held in Okinawa Prefecture on January 25th.
"Kamson Tree Keeper" tells the story of a young man, Naoi Reito, who loses his job due to unjust dismissal and becomes the mysterious "Kamson Tree Keeper," where he meets people with various circumstances. It has also been talked about as the first time that Higashino's novel has been adapted into an anime, and it will be directed by Ito, known for works such as "Sword Art Online" and "Erased." It will be released on January 30th.
Director Ito shared his impression after reading the original work, saying, "Generally, many of Higashino Keigo's works feature murders. But 'The Guardian of the Camphor Tree' is not that kind of story; it's a story in which almost no one dies. It's definitely not the kind of story with battles, explosions, or other worlds that are often depicted in animations these days, but that's why I set out to make it a visually appealing piece."
Producer Fujii said, "I became involved with this project when Director Ito had finished writing the storyboard. I've always loved mysteries, so I was happy to be able to animate Higashino Keigo's work. As the director said, the story doesn't involve any major incidents, so I worked on it thinking about how to make it into a film that everyone would want to watch. Director Ito's storyboards contained what he wanted to do, so I tried to give it a proper form. As you can see in the trailer, there are some images that are animated with a slightly different touch. I think there are scenes like these that act as attacks to add variety to the footage."
Director Ito also revealed, "When you continue to make commercial animation, you often end up using the same methods of expression, but one of my aims was to try a different style," and explained, "I wanted to keep the movie under two hours. The number two hours has many meanings, but with that as a basic premise, I tried and tested various ways to adapt it into a movie while retaining the essence of the original. I tried to keep the focus on the main character as much as possible and not exceed two hours...As you can probably tell from watching the trailer, the main character, Reito, is not at all like a hero; rather, his aunt, Chishu, is more like a hero. I tried to cherish that relationship and show how the slightly pathetic Reito grows throughout the story."
Director Ito explained, "A storyboard is like a blueprint of what the script will actually look like, what lines will be spoken, and what movements will be used. Even if they're not in the script, I sometimes add distinctive gestures or lines when I'm making the storyboard. I added the gesture of tapping his chest, which is depicted in the main story, to express Reito's slightly frailty and timidity. The length of a storyboard is about 100 pages for a 30-minute TV animation, and about 600 pages for a movie. I would write it all by myself, have everyone look at it, get their opinions, and rewrite it..." Wakabayashi reflected, "It's true that for a while, I had the impression that I was submitting storyboards, having various people look at them, getting their opinions, and then making corrections to reflect those opinions."
Director Ito continued, "Even if it's a storyboard, if it's not interesting the movie won't be interesting. So it's important to keep thinking about it as much as possible. I've heard that Makoto Shinkai also turns his own storyboards into visuals, adds all of his own lines and music, and revises them many times, so I tried to do the same. I put myself in the women's shoes and wrote the lines as if they were Amami Yuki, who plays Senshu. You can't really understand the lines until you hear them out loud."
Fujii shared his feelings during the production process, saying, "I looked at the storyboards that were created and told the director about any parts that concerned me and anything that I noticed because I joined mid-way through. I was happy that we were able to make repeated revisions, as it felt like we were creating the film together. We had time before starting the animation, and Ito-san is very quick to make decisions. We were able to make time to adjust things that are usually difficult to change once the storyboards are complete. I worked hard to make sure that the good qualities of Higashino Keigo's original work were incorporated into the film."
The character designs for the film were handled by Tsubasa Yamaguchi, known as the author of the manga "Blue Period," and animator Akiko Itagaki.
Director Ito explained the reason for choosing Itagaki, saying, "The novel doesn't have any illustrations, so there was a lot of freedom in creating the characters. Higashino-san told me, 'Do whatever you like,' so I had hoped from the beginning that there would be some manga-like elements. I was impressed by the high level of artistic skill in 'Blue Period,' so when I made him an offer, he accepted. The artistic skill was already high from the first picture that came up. The depiction of the back is like that of someone who draws with great artistic ability. As for Itagaki-san, he is still relatively young. I asked him to appear because I wanted to discover a new star."
Fujii said, "Yamaguchi was in charge of the parts closest to the original concept, while Itagaki drew the settings for when the animation would actually be made. Itagaki also served as chief animation director. His role was to revise the drawings submitted by each animator to make them as close as possible to the characters he designed. He didn't just fix the appearance, but also looked at various aspects such as movement and character, and made sure to create the work with great attention to detail."
The number of drawings reached approximately 60,000. According to Director Ito, "For TV anime, the average number of drawings per episode is around 4,000 to 5,000, but compared to that, this is an incredibly dense production," and Fujii continued, "When there are a lot of characters, or in action or battle works, the number of animation frames tends to increase because there is a lot of movement, but that is not the case with this work. Even so, the acting is carefully drawn, so I think the number of frames was inevitably high."
Hiroshi Takiguchi, known for works such as "Weathering with You" and "The Hana and Alice Murder Case," is participating as art director. Director Ito praised him, saying, "Takiguchi has worked on director Shinkai's 'Weathering with You' and other works. The camphor tree is definitely a key point in this film. I thought it would be great if someone who was interested in it could draw it, so Takiguchi agreed. It took a considerable amount of time for the first art board to come out, but he went on location scouting himself and repeated trial and error. It took time, but thanks to him we were able to create something wonderful. He really worked hard throughout the entire film."
The main cast includes actors such as Takahashi Fumiya as Naoi Reito, Amami Yuki as Yanagisawa Chifune, Saito Asuka as Saji Yumi, Miyase Ryuya as Ooba Soki, and Osawa Takao as Saji Toshiaki.
Director Ito commented, "For the works I'm in charge of, I often ask live-action actors to voice the characters. Takahashi, who plays the main character, Reito, is starring in a feature-length animated film for the first time, but he approached the role with a very positive attitude. I'm very grateful to him. From the first time I read the original work, I knew that Amami was the perfect person to play Senshu. She's already done some voice acting for animation, but after actually doing the dubbing, I didn't make a mistake."
"Saito Asuka and Miyase Ryuya were selected through auditions... when I say that, people tend to say, 'It wasn't really an audition,' but we really did audition. I want to say this loud and clear (laughs). Saito Asuka in particular said at the preview screening that she 'didn't feel confident,' but she was a good fit for the character and was very good," he revealed.
Fujii also nodded and said, "Everyone was such a perfect fit for their character that you could only see them as they were. I think they were a good fit for the work. Takahashi's steady growth as he recorded the voice-overs also matched Reo's growth, which I thought was great. Yumi is a slightly strong-willed character, but many people said that she is not unpleasant and fits the role very well." Wakabayashi added, "It makes you think, 'I would like to see these people in live action too.' I think they embody not only their voices but the characters themselves. The character that Osawa Takao plays looks like an ordinary 'old man,' but he also has a 'secret,' and having Osawa play the role adds to the mystery."
Director Ito said, "This time I also served as sound director, and we recorded in an unusual way. It's rare that good surprises or accidents occur when making animation, but there was one time when I felt something was missing during the dubbing of 'one scene' with Takahashi and Amami. So I thought, since they're real actors, why not have them face each other and say their lines? And so I did. In one place, Amami mispronounced Senshu's first-person pronoun 'watashi' as 'watashi'. It's different from the lines in the script, but I thought maybe it was because her true feelings were coming out, so I said, 'It's different from the script, but I'll accept it,' and then I heard a voice from behind me say, 'I also think this is better.' That was the feeling I got when I worked with Higashino Keigo, the original author!"
The theme song, "Tsukiyo by My Side," sung by Uru, is also generating buzz. The song was written and composed by Iyori Shimizu, and arranged by the band back number. Director Ito commented, "I heard the story behind Uru's debut (one of the reasons for her debut was the video she uploaded to YouTube of her cover of a back number song), and I thought it was great. I was grateful that Shimizu made time to speak with me directly before composing the song. After all, it's the song that plays at the end of the film, so I wanted it to fit the film. I explained the emotions before the ending to him before he composed it. It really is a fitting song."
Finally, Wakabayashi said, "This film will be released soon, and while I was checking out the main story, I sometimes found myself crying and unable to watch it," while Fujii said, "But it is a film that was made with great care from start to finish. It has a slightly different style from the films that are popular these days, but I think it is a film that people of all ages can enjoy. It is a film that is worth seeing on the big screen and with good sound in the theater. Please do go and see it in the theater," and Ito said, "I've said everything I wanted to say... (laughs), but I would really appreciate it if you would see it two or three times. Thank you very much."
