The Time We Spoke Endlessly About the Things We Loved
Translation by Harley Acres
Note: The Time We Spoke Endlessly About the Things We Loved (語り尽せ熱愛時代/Kataretsuse netsuai jidai) is 173 page interview between Kazumasa Hirai and Rumiko Takahashi published as a book. In the book Takahashi and Hirai speak about their lives, works, and a number of other topics. The book is far too lengthy to easily translate, but it has many important discussions within. We plan to publish excerpts here.Pages 166-171
Hirai: A long time ago, Shotaro Ishinomori was furious with me for "writing bad things about him all the time" (laughs). He was angry because he said, "If it's for the fan club, why don't you write something exciting about me?" [1]Takahashi: There are many things, and among the postcards we receive, there are quite a few children who complain about various things. However, that being said, I think that the great thing about those who send fan mail are the ones that are good and cute, and each group has its own individuality. It's like a combination of the anime fans and the fans of the original manga, but I think it's okay. This isn't a very good thing, but it's not so bad that it's an insult, but it's something that characters are inevitably subjected to, and they are treated as if they were sensuous or something. So sometimes I would receive letters saying, "This is absolutely unacceptable," then on the other hand, I would receive a magazine containing the sensual images of the characters, and when I looked at it, the characters from Urusei Yatsura were like Turkish harem girls, and their various characteristics were described (laughs). But when I read them, I found that they had a good grasp of the characters. I think that they must have their own assumptions, and as long as they don't treat the characters in a too dirty way, I can forgive them for their devotions. People who started from the anime cannot separate the anime from the original work, so they say that the original work does not treat the characters in this way, but the anime does, and that takes precedence. I have nothing to do with that part of the story, so it is as if the story is progressing in a world I do not know. It is true that the number of customers has increased thanks to the animation, but if you ask me which I am more interested in, I would prefer to read the letters of praise (for the manga) (laughs).
Hirai: That is true.
Takahashi: It seems that people have strong attachments to things that they have worked hard on.
Hirai: I have a strong attachment.
Takahashi: I do watch the anime, but I'm happier when it's based on the original work.
Hirai: If it is adapted into animation, it is inevitably different. The story is the property of the person who drew the storyboards.
Takahashi: Even in the most subtle scenes, there is a lot of thought that goes into what this girl would or wouldn't not say in such a situation, so the slightest word can set things off (laughs).
Hirai: I made two Wolf Guy films, one of which was a Toei film, Wolf Guy: Enraged Lycanthrope (ウルフガイ 燃えろ狼男/Wolf Guy Moero Okamiotoko) starring Sonny Chiba, and the director would do things that I had asked him not to do. When I asked him not to do it, suddenly the scene had already been completed and the film had already been shot. I was furious. If the director had at least some affection for the world of Wolf Guy, I would have been able to forgive him even if he did something that went against my wishes. But when the director has no understanding of the world of Wolf Guy and just messes things up then I get angry.
I know that the person directing the work has a different sensibility, different principles, and different methodologies, and that he will never be able to create the work in the way I would create it. So, in my case, it depends on how much affection they have for Wolf Guy.
Takahashi: There was once an anime episode called "Miss Tomobiki Contest" in Urusei Yatsura. I was like, "Gah!" at that one...
Hirai: They really messed things up, huh? (laughs)
Takahashi: That was a real eye-opener. What was also a bit of a shocking detail was that they had the characters walk across a fumi-e. [2] I don't understand the nerve of that. If the film was good, I would be proud of it, and if it was bad, I would be angry. I don't think of it as the work of a single director. However, if possible, I would like you to take care of the characters.
Hirai: There is an aspect that we can't help it because it is done by someone else. If you push too hard, you will reach a point where you have no choice but to do it yourself.
Takahashi: Yes, that's right. However, I can't do movies and animations by myself. It is always someone else's hand (laughs). I can't do anything even if I had a megaphone.
Hirai: Even when I made the anime version of Genma Taisen, I knew what I was doing from the beginning. I knew that it would go in a direction different from what I wanted, but if I said even one word about it, they would say, "Well then, Mr. Hirai, please write the scenario." I was holding back what I wanted to say. If I made a comment, it would be endless, and I would wind up saying with the force of a furious tiger, "Then I'll write it myself!" If that happens, it's the end. I wonder what will happen to the Urusei Yatsura movie after that.
Takahashi: In the end, I would leave it in the hands of a talented person. I was told later that I should write a screenplay, but in my case, I don't seem to have any particular talent for it. In the beginning, I was told to at least make a plot for the first film, but it quickly fell apart, and at that point I knew it was over for me. If there is a scriptwriter who really likes and understands it, I want to leave it to them. [3]
Hirai: Once you get to the point of scenario or storyboarding, you have to sacrifice your magazine work, and the problem grows.
Takahashi: That's excruciating, but if I don't write the script myself, I wonder what I'm doing.. (laughs)..
Hirai: That's what happens when you go to extremes, and since there is no way I can make it on my own, I have to think about it in a detached way. If it is good, I am honestly pleased, and if it is bad, I call it "stupid" (laughs). That's all there is to it.
Takahashi: If it was bad, I would deny the relationship.
Hirai: Which one is Beautiful Dreamer would you say?
Takahashi: That's Mamoru Oshii's Urusei Yatsura, not mine. [4]
Hirai: I see.
Takahashi: I clapped my hands when I saw Only You, but it was a little difficult to see Beautiful Dreamer after that. I like animation for children, so I fully recognize the talent of Mr. Oshii, but I have a feeling that this is not his audience.
Hirai: It's unavoidable, isn't it?
Takahashi: So he must have put a lot of thought into it.
Hirai: It seems that you have no other choice but to let it go when it comes to the film version.
Takahashi: But I would be happy if it was successful. Anyway.
Hirai: I am happy if the film does well, but if it doesn't, I will deny having anything to do with it.
(laughs) However, this busy schedule of yours will continue for the time being, eh?
Takahashi: Yes, it will. Until September or so.
Hirai: No, no, for the past few years.
Takahashi: I would be happy if it continues for a few years.
Hirai: The work you are doing now will not be finished for a while, right?
Takahashi: I don't want to finish yet.
Hirai: There are always milestones in life, and it is important to be able to change at them. If Maison Ikkoku is to end in a few years, how will the next work come out and overlap with it? It is doubtful that human beings will be able to hold on to their power as if they were squeezing out a tube of polish. A period of recharging is inevitably required. It's like riding a bicycle, isn't it?
Takahashi: Around the end of last year, all of the assistants felt as if we had lost our nerve. We were all really tired. There were three of us at the time, and one of us just said, "I'm tired," and then we decided to do something about it. [5] We decided that something had to be done, so we put the manuscript aside and talked for about an hour. We finally decided to take an eight-day vacation in May and went to Wajima. The trip was intended as a stopgap measure to somehow cheer everyone up.
Footnotes
- [1] Shotaro Ishinomori (石ノ森章太郎) and Kazumasa Hirai (平井和正) worked together on Genma Taisen (幻魔大戦). In the west this series is perhaps best known for its anime adaptation which was called Harmagedon (1983). The film was directed by Rintaro (りんたろう) with character designs by Katsuhiro Otomo (大友克洋) and music by Keith Emerson and Nozomi Aoki (青木望).
- [2] There is a scene of Megane printing out images of Ryunosuke and having her female admirers forlornly walk across them. Megane has created a "fumi-e" (踏み絵). Historically a fumi-e is an image of Jesus Christ that Edo period officials forced suspected Christians to step on to prove they were not followers of Christ.
- [3] Tomoko Konparu (金春智子) wound up writing the script for Only You. She would later write Remember My Love and The Final Chapter. She and Takahashi became friends and Takahashi illustrated three of Konparu's light novels The Young Lady Novelist - Haruna's Casefiles (お嬢さま作家・春菜の事件簿/Ojousama sakka - Haruna no jikenbo) as well as the Mermaid Saga novelization and the Inuyasha novelization.
- [4] This is one of the comments that has lead to the belief that Rumiko Takahashi and Mamoru Oshii did not get along. It is important to take this comment in context alongside her later comments such as the ones made here.
- [5] The three people she is referencing are herself and likely Makiko Nakano (中野真紀子) and Kuniko Saito (斎藤邦子) who were her two earliest assistants. They appear as characters in her manga The Diary of Kemo Kobiru.
語り尽せ熱愛時代
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