An event commemorating the 10th anniversary of the TV anime "Concrete Revolutio: Superhuman Fantasy," titled "'Concrete Revolutio: Superhuman Fantasy' 101st Year of Divine Transformation! Everyone Gather!", was held on June 19th at Shinjuku Loft Plus One (Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo). Director Seiji Mizushima, original creator, series composition, and scriptwriter Noboru Aikawa, character designer and concept designer Hekiru Hikawa, and voice actress Eriko Nakamura (who plays Furota) appeared on stage, with Hisashi Maeda serving as MC. Behind-the-scenes stories from the planning and production of the series were revealed.
◇They tried to summarize their own Showa era.
"Concrete Revolutio: Superhuman Fantasy" is an anime series exploring the theme of what would happen if all the superhumans depicted in countless works of fiction actually existed simultaneously. It is set in a fictional era called "Shinka," in post-war Japan, more than 20 years later, a time of rapid economic growth. The first season of the TV anime aired from October to December 2015, and the second season from April to June 2016. It is currently available for streaming on Anime Hodai, d Anime Store, DMM TV, Bandai Channel, U-NEXT, and others.
The anime is an innovative original work featuring various fictional heroes, but director Mizushima revealed, "I came up with the plan and brought it in, and it was approved surprisingly easily." He continued, "Looking back at it, I thought, 'Wow, I actually made this...' We were trying to summarize our Showa era. We struggled with how to make it appealing to young people today, and what kind of look to give it. In the end, it became pop. I'd like to do it again, but I wonder if anyone would be willing to join me?"
Although the story is set in a fictional era called "Shinka," it has a Showa-era feel. Aikawa said, "We tried to portray the Showa era seriously, referencing newspaper articles and videos from that time. There's no other anime like it. We have our own feelings about it, but we also tried to depict things that we didn't understand at the time. The challenge was how to turn that into our own story."
"It's not about Showa-era history, but rather the anime, special effects, dramas, movies, and events we saw as children, and we couldn't distinguish between what was inside and outside of television. I wondered if we could depict all of these things together. Mr. Minami (producer Masahiko Minami) suggested, 'Let's get the rights to as many characters as we can and use their real names.' But there were things we could and couldn't get the rights to, and we couldn't use their real names either. So we made everything fictional and tried to reweave what we had seen. We went deeper and deeper into what we had seen..."
◇Messages from Kaito Ishikawa and Sumire Uesaka
The timeline is jumbled, and you notice things when you look back at it. Aikawa revealed, "I wasn't really conscious of shuffling things. There's past and future, cause and effect, and results. There are reasons, but I thought that not depicting them would add depth."
There are many characters, and each one is unique. They are based on past heroes and other figures, and the creators had a particular vision: "Behind every hero on screen is a creator. We put the creator's story into the superhero. Earth-chan depicts the struggles of the manga god. We didn't want to include giant robots. The history of robot anime is a different story, and giant robots are not superheroes. However, we couldn't leave that out, so we included it. Bones does make robot anime, and it might look like a parody, but it's not a parody."
The event was a great success, with tickets selling out in just two days. Messages from Kaito Ishikawa, who plays Jiro Hitoyoshi, and Sumire Sumire Uesaka, were read aloud, and it was also announced that merchandise featuring newly drawn illustrations by Hikawa, Noizi Ito, and Ryo Hirao would be released.
Finally, Director Mizushima concluded by saying, "We did something pretty edgy. I wanted to praise myself for doing a good job. I can't believe we actually made it. It's rare to make something this intense. It's definitely one of my masterpieces."
