General Director Harutoshi Fukui & Director Naomichi Yamato interview!
What is the big wall standing in the way of the remake?
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REBEL 3199 is the latest in the Yamato 2199 series, a new interpretation of the third theatrical film Be Forever Yamato released in 1980. Seven chapters will be screened in theaters nationwide, with Chapter 2: Red Sun Sortie starting on Friday, November 22nd.
Ahead of the screening of Chapter 2, the Blu-ray & DVD of Chapter 1, Dark Invasion will finally be released to the public on Wednesday, October 30, 2024. To help you enjoy it, we interviewed Director Harutoshi Fukui and Director Naomichi Yamato.
How did Fukui, who has been involved in the series as a series composer and scriptwriter, become the director? What is the message contained in REBEL 3199? Please read this even if you have already seen Chapter 1.
Interviewer: Mr. Fukui, until now, you have been involved as a series composer and scriptwriter, and Mr. Yamato has been involved as an episode director, but in this work, you are both involved as director and general director. What was the background?
Fukui: Even though I’m now the general director, the work I do hasn’t really changed. The title of screenwriter before was rather strange. Even back then I was overseeing the whole picture, checking storyboards, and since I was in charge of deciding the final product, I felt like I had to take on the title of general director and I felt some pressure from the people around me. (Laughs)
The planning for REBEL 3199 began five years ago, and even back then I felt like it would be my greatest work to date if it went well, so when I was offered the job, even though it looked like it would be a lot of work, I accepted the offer in its entirety, including the title.
Interviewer: Mr. Yamato, you were involved in episodes of the previous work, Yamato 2205, and now you are the director. Has your mindset or involvement changed?
Yamato: Director Kenji Yasuda asked me if I would be the assistant director for 2205, but due to schedule conflicts, it was difficult, so I participated only as an episodic director. After that, when the production period for 2205 had passed to a certain extent, I was offered the directing position on 3199. I have done other sci-fi works in the past, but there aren’t many that depict the way society and the world are seen, and discuss philosophical matters like Yamato, so I was very grateful.
Interviewer: The planning started five years ago, but was the script already solidified to a certain extent at that time?
Fukui: At that time, we only had a concept. We had planned to start working on the script immediately after finishing 2205, but various things happened and we had to restructure the production system. We managed to get a good idea of the schedule around the summer of 2022, and then we started writing in earnest.
Interviewer: I see. What did you think, Director Yamato, after reading the script that overcame such a big wave?
Yamato: While making use of the original’s impressive visuals, this work also depicts the principles behind the action of each character, their thoughts and conflicts, etc. It depicts more than just superficial phenomenae, and I felt that it would be a fascinating work with depth.
Interviewer: In terms of focusing on individual characters, there is a scene at the beginning with the Nanbu family at Nanbu Heavy Industries.
Fukui: There is a sense that we are turning the camera on something that has never been shown before. The story up until now has been about how Yamato responds to the situation it finds itself in. But this time, it’s about how Earth society is responding, and Yamato is a part of that, so the camera lens is aimed at a very broad area. In the remake series I’ve been involved with since Yamato 2202, I’ve been trying to make it more socially relevant rather than character-based. That’s an element that the original Yamato had, so I wanted to do that properly. But it may be the first time it’s been this prominent.
Interviewer: What were the key points in remaking Be Forever Yamato?
Fukui: As Director Yamato said earlier, Be Forever is a film with a lot of strong visuals, so I decided to make sure to remember the key points and recreate them. However, I feel that even if the things we’re doing are the same, what we’re saying may be completely different. I think that in the first chapter, there are many parts where what is said and done is similar to the original, but from the second chapter onward, it becomes a rollercoaster ride where you have no idea where you’re going.
Yamato: I’ve been involved from the script meetings, and the way the work is made is very special. I don’t think there are many other works that have such a complex flow. In order to make something that everyone can be satisfied with, we’re building a production system to make Yamato.
Nowadays, there are fewer works that can depict space battles, and we don’t know what will happen to this kind of animation in the future. I’m not talking about the 3199 series itself, but there are many technologies that will be lost to future generations. Various staff members are working together on this every day, so I hope you’ll enjoy the culmination of that effort.
Interviewer: So this is a work that brings together the best of science-fiction animation techniques. What was the most difficult part of the production?
Yamato: The original film is a tough challenge. The images were created by super animators at the time, so it’s not easy to recreate them even with CG or digital technology. Many staff members are working together to somehow recreate it. There are many shots that Mr. Fukui requested to follow the original work, so I consult with the staff and think about how we can do it if we follow our flow.
Interviewer: The general director has a strong desire to follow the original work, but the staff has changed generations.
Fukui: That’s right. Many of the staff members who worked on Yamato 2199 have retired. There’s no doubt that there are fewer people who can draw, so we use CG to make up for that, but it’s not like we can do it all with CG alone. So we overlap the CG and hand-drawn parts to create a similar impression to the original, or show images that were impossible to make back then, but the task of blending the CG and hand-drawn parts is the most tedious thing.
In the past, everything was drawn by hand, so it was no problem for people to work that way. But the only way to recreate that now is to overlap the CG and hand-drawn parts. Nowadays, there are many ways to avoid this by splitting up the shots, but I thought it would be no good to avoid it. When doing a remake, that’s something the customers will definitely expect, so if we’re going to do it, we can’t shy away from it.
Interviewer: I understand that you’re taking on a difficult technical challenge. With that in mind, what kind of work did the first chapter turn out to be?
Fukui: I think the first chapter has a very simple structure. For those who have never seen Yamato before, or are interested but find it difficult to watch the previous series, we made a very detailed video called Space Battleship Yamato So Far. If you watch this before the main story, you’ll be able to enjoy the series again. In that sense, I think you can watch it without any worries.
Yamato: This first chapter is the equivalent of two episodes in a TV series, but it took a long time to make. Each episode is the culmination of the staff’s efforts, so I would appreciate it if you could watch it from beginning to end.
Interviewer: When you write the script, you probably think about chapters to a certain extent, but do you have the divisions and endings between chapters in mind from the beginning?
Fukui: I do think of the theatrical screening as a natural break. After that, the question is how to divide it into individual episodes, but I’ve been doing this long enough to get a sense of how much can be done in about 22 minutes. On the other hand, if I were to write a full-length book again in the future, I’m not sure I’d be able to do it.
Interviewer: Which characters would you like us to pay attention to in REBEL 3199?
Fukui: They aren’t all revealed in the first chapter. There are some people who only appear briefly. You might wonder who they are if you’ve been a fan of Yamato for a long time. But the fact that they’re shown in the first chapter means that they’ll have a big role to play in the future.
Until now, it was about how everyone fights within Yamato, and what kind of conflicts they face against various things, but this time the whole Earth becomes the stage, and Yamato itself travels to various planets. I tried to carefully plan how what happens will change the characters, and what kind of picture it will ultimately paint.
For example, why is this character here? Why does this guy appear at the very beginning? Why do the people of Bolar, who were chased away by Dessler at the start of 2205, appear again at the very beginning? All of this has meaning, so it might be interesting to follow the movements of the characters around here. This work is a genuine ensemble drama.
Yamato: There is a particularly large number of characters. (Laughs) When I work on drawing anime, I put a character list in a folder, and usually when I open the folder, they appear right away, but it’s a pain to scroll endlessly to find the character I want. That means it’s a terrifying work with so many characters. And each character has a background. The characters who appear in Chapter 1 are intricately intertwined, so I hope you’ll enjoy that and enjoy the work.
Interviewer: It’s an ensemble drama with a lot of characters, but how was the recording done? Was it spread out?
Fukui: It was spread out. It’s not because of Covid or anything, it’s just easier to gather people that way. Personally, I don’t think it’s a good idea, but the studio worked hard to make adjustments, and they’ve arranged it so that people who are in the same space for each scene are in the same block as much as possible to record.
Interviewer: Finally, please give a message to our readers.
Fukui: There are movies that are fun to watch, that make you forget about reality for a moment, and there are movies that help you understand where you are now by watching them. It’s like coming into contact with a work that depicts the society you live in from the outside, and it makes you look at yourself again. REBEL 3199 is the latter type of work.
But it’s not a hardcore social work, and because it has many highlights, I think it would work even if it included a hard-hitting message. It’s rare to be able to experience both of those things, and I think being able to portray them is a characteristic of animation, so I hope you can watch it with an open mind.
Yamato: I think that in the future, works like Yamato will not be made as often. There are people of different generations who are retiring, and although I’ve received help from my seniors, it’s difficult to pass on their techniques to future generations. In that sense, I think this kind of a miracle, so I hope you’ll cherish and appreciate it.