Translation for Posterity Interviewer (INT): We've kept you waiting, now it is time to introduce you Ikeda Riyoko the author of “Oniisama E” and the Director of its anime adaptation, Dezaki Osamu! INT: First, I'd like to ask Ikeda san - it’s been 11 years since the “Rose of Versaille” got its anime adaptation; how did you feel watching the anime adaptation of “Oniisama E”? Ikeda (IKD): It's kind of just dawned on me that 11 years has passed, but the “Rose of Versailles” and excuse me for talking of other TV stations, but it's been played and rerun in many places that it really doesn't feel too long ago that it was aired. But yes, let’s see, this anime has art that’s far more intricate and superb than mine, so I was very moved. INT: Next, I’d like to ask Dezaki-san - of course, our viewers will be watching for the first time after this, but what sort of challenges did you face when making the anime? I imagine it must be a challenge to depict emotions of women in a largely a girl anime. Dezaki (DZK): I’ve worked with Shoujo Manga Material before, but I must say, the source material is always very intriguing. However, I'm a man so some of the intricacies of the women in these stories is a mystery to me. I tried my best to understand the other half, the alien half, of the population ha-ha. INT: It's interesting isn't it? DZK: Yes, it is haha. INT: I’d like to ask more questions today, so let’s move on! Incidentally today is 7/14, Oscar François de Jarjayes's death date! IKD: Yes, yes it is - I thought the start date was done on purpose, but it was by coincidence. Usually on 7/14, members of the Oscar and Rose of Versailles fan club people would meet up and congregate on this day, every year - so perhaps today they'll be keen to watch "Onisiama E" INT: I know it’s by coincidence, personally I'm interested in the relation or connection between “Rose of Versailles” and “Oniisama E” - I know that there is a massive difference in the setting, but did you make conscious connections of when writing? IKD: I started writing “Oniisama E” right after “Rose of Versailles” ended, so I knew how popular and impactful Oscar was, in addition I received many requests to add in a handsome figure who cross dresses as a man by my readers, so I was conscious about that aspect. INT: So Ikeda san, you're very tall and handsome yourself, so I'd imagined you'd be popular among the girls at school? Was that the case? IKD: Well, you might not imagine it now, but back then my hair was very black and short, I was class president, and studying often... but how would you say, I recieved numerous letters from the younger students asking if I would be their "older sister" - I was far more popular among the girls than with the boys! INT: Oh really? I'm more of the kind of person who had a senpai to look up to haha IKD: I'd imagine so; I bet you were asked to be a "little sister" by the older students right? INT: Yes! Haha. I'd like to ask some more questions. So with “Oniisama E”, the main character is Nanako - is there a real person you modelled this character on? IKD: Well it’s not so much a model, but when I was in middle school, and mind you I was the eldest sister, so I had always had a strong desire for an older brother, but anyways, when I was in middle school I went to cram school, and there was this older boy there who taught there, who was a student at Tokyo University, and we were exchanging letters for sometime. I had always referred to him as “Oniisama” in the letters. So this experience of mine kind of served as the foundation of the story. In addition, the face of characters, protagonists like Nanako, I don't know why, they always end up looking like my little sister's face, so there’s that. INT: So the stories must have a lot based on your lived experiences! IKD: Naturally, yes! Perhaps if you look at Kouda Kumiko-san's works, you can tell what sort of life she has lived, right? So it's really the same - the environment of the household and such things really seep into these narratives. INT: Thank you so much! Next, I'd like to ask Dezaki-san some questions - unlike a movie director, I think most people don't have a tangible understanding of what an anime director does as a job. Please tell us what it is you do generally. DZK: With animations, you need animators, background artists, and unlike film, you can't just point and shoot, you need to draw - which means we can't exactly shoot extra shots easily. Say to make 20-minute episodes, the most we can draw is about 22 to 23 minutes of content. Thus, my job is to come up with the story boards of the final cut and build scenes and the animations from there. And in there we'd add drama and such things. So, it’s really a matter of how close we can bring the art to the imagined scenes. INT: Well it seems like making anime is very hard. DZK: Well, I love doing it so I wouldn’t know if it is. INT: So while making the anime, I'm sure that you've changed or arranged some points of the manga, to make it relevant to this day and age - such as costumes- DZK: Sure, sure we've changed some surface level things like costumes, it’s only natural that the characters change into different clothes in different scenes, so we've definitely added things in that aspect, and to turn the scenes from manga to film, you need new scenes. We also need to colour these scenes, and music is added. So, we definitely arranged it such that the anime fits the worldview of the story, so it's not really changing the story but... how should we say, I suppose expanding the universe? INT: Thank you so much - after this interview, we'll be airing the first episode, can I ask the both of you if you have any parts that you'd really like the viewers to pay particular attention to or any messages for the viewers? From Ikeda-san please! IKD: Hmmm, for me this story is really a pure depiction of a girl in her teenage years and I really think this is a wonderful story depicting this - it covers issues that we all have to face at some point in life, like love and life, and really these themes are portrayed in an interesting way, so I hope you can appreciate that. INT: Thank you, next from Dezaki-san DZK: We meet a lot of characters through the eyes of Nanako the protagonist, but I'd like to stress that every character has such distinct personality. So I think that every character is a protagonist, or at least I tried to keep that in my mind while depicting the drama in the anime INT: Well we're all excited aren't we - we'd love to ask more questions, but that’s all the time we have tonight, so thank you so much for coming to talk with your busy schedules.
