Original interview from Shinbogatari (2012), check it out on the SoreMachi fansite too!

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«While I was watching the anime, I was reminded of the feelings I had during the original serialization»

— First of all, congratulations for concluding the anime series “Soredemo Machi ha Mawatte Iru”.

Ishiguro: I watched the anime every week, not by recording of the episodes, but in real time right when they were airing. Though, the airing time for SoreMachi got changed and it broadcasted too late in my opinion (laughs). Due to sports programs, it slowly got delayed further and further and at times it even aired after 3 AM… It was tough…

Everyone laughs.

— I’ve already asked this before, but what’s the most dear thing to Director Shinbo about SoreMachi? 

Shinbo: Getting involved with it. This time I did a lot of unusual things, I wanted to create a film filled with the ideas and feelings of the whole staff, one that would have made everyone delighted once it was completed. That’s the basic idea behind SoreMachi.

Ishiguro: Watching the SoreMachi anime, I was reminded of what I thought I wanted to do in the beginning. In fact, as the series goes on, different elements like school-life and SF are presented, and the story explores various directions. But, the anime mainly focuses on the initial chapters, so while I was watching it, I was reminded of my feelings at the beginning of the manga. At first, in SoreMachi I drew a lot of the Made Cafè in the Shopping District. At the very beginning, before the serialization even started, I planned of having Hotori not wearing maid clothes that often, I wanted her to wear them only in the most critical moments. Like the Battle Protector in Future Police Urashiman. The Battle Protector gets used only once in the 10th episode, right? (laughs). That’s about what I felt I wanted to do. But well, due to the editor’s demands, that ended up not being the case.  

Shinbo: I heard that Naoyuki Tatsuwa-san, the series director, worked so excessively hard that he almost got some bald spots in his hair.

Ishiguro: Tatsuwa-san also put on some weight, didn’t he. He was so thin when I first met him. As far as I know, his whole body got bigger. 

Shinbo: Also, Yasutoshi Iwasaki-kun, the chief animation director, did his absolute best. He actively participated and made great efforts with the parts we struggled to picture. For example, he helped out with dubbing synchronization and other small and fine details. He was like an all-rounder. I’m really grateful. 

Ishiguro: The animators’ drawings thrilled me a lot. They animated characters walking around while wearing a purse, or singing while playing the bass, I think it’s impressive how they were able to pull that off. I too, when I was still in school studying under Toshiyuki Sato-san, have drawn some animation, but I couldn’t really make such sakuga. 

Shinbo: Ishiguro-san, are you still interested in working as an animator?

Ishiguro: It’s not like I’m not interested, but I’m a mangaka, so… I think it’s better to leave anime to the people who are competent in the field. Hotori and the others are more cute in the anime (laughs). I think my contribution would be superfluous. 

Shinbo: Which parts do you think were cuter?

Ishiguro: I thought “oh, I lost” in Part A of the first episode, when Tattsun turns this way while puffing out her nose. It was so cute I hurried up and took a screen capture and saved it.

Shinbo: Up until now, I used to make products that relied on the right tempo and ratio between cuts to create animation, without actually using movement. But with SoreMachi, I tried a different approach focusing on the character acting, with more dynamic facial expressions and gestures. Also, I thought it would be a good thing to convey a somewhat detective-like ambience so, in order to convey a slightly mysterious feeling, I used reflections on door knobs or glass and lower camera angles. For the DVD/BD version, I wanted to redo the photography all over again, and applied new filters to the compositing. Back in the days, there was an actual gap between the cels and the lens of photography machine, so the ambience was naturally put into it. But now, unless you put on filter during compositing, you can’t quite convey the right atmosphere.  

Ishiguro: Since when anime became digital, drawings are made with clicks and some aspects of it have lost their appeal, haven’t they. Personally I like anime from the hand-made cel times better. 

Shinbo: Now it’s more difficult to understand how good the film sensitivity is. Now, watching TV programs, I too am unfortunately getting used to see digital drawings, to the extent some times I even do want to watch those made-with-clicks drawings. It’s really sad. 

«It might have become the most mysterious story of SoreMachi» 

— Well, then. Today I would like to hear about the point of contact between the anime SoreMachi and the original manga. One example is the 9th episode in the anime and manga chapter 71. 

Shinbo: The “Bechiko Yaki” from episode 9, right? 

Ishiguro: That was an idea that Director Shinbo told me about a long ago. Eventually, other people were about to use that same idea, so I wanted to do it first. 

Shinbo: It was about having the manga version by Ishiguro-san being published in the Young King OURs magazine, and the anime version broadcasting immediately the next day. I’ve always sat on the idea of releasing the anime and manga in the same season while working on an anime adaptation. But I didn’t think there would have been a busy mangaka down to help me realize it. It was a really difficult thing, but Ishiguro-san said he definitely wanted to do it. I believe people who were up to date with the Young King OURs manga magazine and then watched the anime version right after were surprised. Because we wanted to see those astonished expressions (laughs) we both worked hard. 

Ishiguro: I came up with the “Bechiko Yaki” story after this whole thing was planned. I wrote it already knowing it was going to be adapted into anime, so it took me quite some time to finish writing the draft. I dragged it for so long it was almost too late when I presented the work to the anime staff. 

Shinbo: Based off the draft Ishiguro-san gave us, Takayama Katsukiho-san (the series’ scriptwriter) wrote the actual script and from that we completed the storyboards. It was an original episode, so later while Ishiguro-san was checking the manuscript, adjusting things to make it more coherent and consistent.

Ishiguro: Half a year before I finished with the draft, then I wrote the manga manuscript in October 2010. I wanted to make a self-contained story completely detached from everything else. And I also wanted the characters not to have a proper introduction. That’s why I chose Kameidou, who has very few appearances, as the main character. 

Shinbo: This episode was an original, so new characters models were necessary. The character design drafts Ishiguro-san gave us were already colored in anime-style. 

Ishiguro: I thought it would have had a certain appeal to the anime industry (laughs), I put lots of effort drawing them.

Shinbo: That story might have become the most mysterious story of SoreMachi.

Ishiguro: You’re right. It might also have surpassed “Hole” (episode 10 Part A) (laughs).

Shinbo: The anime staff was bewildered, wondering what Bechiko Yaki were (laughs). 

Ishiguro: They’re mythical sweets (laughs).

Shinbo: During production, we were lost about what color they actually were, physically speaking.

Ishiguro: After completing the draft, I worked at the manga as usual but… I thought of them with the assumption that they would be colored, so Bechiko Yaki’s real color was truly a big trouble (laughs). After all, manga is in the black and white world. 

Shinbo: I would definitely like to compare the manga and anime versions. 

Ishiguro: Personally I’m curious about the anime staff’s reactions. Takayama-san’s reaction was merely just “It’s white, it’s white”, I want to know about other people’s reactions as well. 

— Anyways, the subtitles for the SoreMachi anime are a bit odd, aren’t they? Like “The Most Popular Sexual Harassment Trial” or “The Cat Boy”.

Ishiguro: Those are Director Shinbo’s conspiracies (laughs). For the anime subtitles, there was a rule that the original subtitle for Part A and the original subtitle for Part B must be combined into one.

Shinbo: When I was thinking about what to do with the subtitles, accidentally I realized how good combining the two subtitles “Hole” and “Grandpa Tsukkomi” into “Grandpa Tsukkomi Hole” sounded.

Ishiguro: And so, to follow the scheme of this “Grandpa Tsukkomi Hole” subtitle, Director Shinbo stick with the rule of combining the two of them into one (laughs). For example, episode 7 “Lovers Night Escape” comes from “Romantic Runaway” and “Night Walker”, and episode 8 “Automatic Orchestra” is the combination of “Automatic World” and “Labyrinth Orchestra”. The audience too began to realize the patter, but for episode 9 they couldn’t put it together (laughs). 

Shinbo: Episode 9 “Duel! Adults Buying Plan” was the latest chapter in the manga that wasn’t yet included in the tankobon (laughs). 

Ishiguro: Episode 11 “Kon’s Summer Crying” come from “Summer of Josephine” and “Kon-Senpai’s Silent Rage” but at first the original subtitle idea was “Josephine’s Summer Crying”. That one was pretty fun.

Shinbo: The last episode’s subtitle “SoreMachi” was nicely put together as well! Ideas like this always come while eating dinner together after reading a book.  

«I believe Omigawa-san’s voice was a stroke of luck»

— Speaking of dinners, Ishiguro-san and Director Shinbo, I heard you meet often and had dinner together.

Shinbo: We do meet a lot. We used to met with the excuse of gathering material, and after that we went out for dinner. 

Ishiguro: Even when Director Shinbo was collecting materials on his own, I rushed over (laughs). When we meet, we discuss our impressions upon watching the SoreMachi anime and chat a lot. At times I want to send him emails, but then I think Director Shinbo is a very busy man and end up not sending it. 

Shinbo: It’s fine at anytime. Please, send me emails. 

Ishiguro: Well then, I’ll send very brief, concise and simple mails.

Shinbo: No no, long texts are fine too (laughs). Recently though, when me and Ishiguro-san go out to eat together, the rest of the staff won’t come with us. However, it’s not like just anyone is fine, after all it’s better to be with someone who can praise you (laughs). If you don’t get to be praised, then it’s fine even if no one comes at all (laughs). 

Everyone: Uh?? (laughs)

Shinbo: When I was young, when someone praised me I used to think it might have been a lie, but lately I grown to accept compliments more honestly (laughs).

Ishiguro: I too am concerned about the reception of my work. At first, I looked up for opinions on the internet and read them. But my master Shinji Ohara-san says that if you worry about your recognition too much, the gap between what your fans want you to draw and what you want to draw gets bigger, and you end up not being able to draw manga anymore. So I haven’t looked for opinions on the web for 5 years now. But since the anime adaptation., I’m reading a lot of impressions and comments about it online (laughs).

Shinbo: Why is that?

Ishiguro: Well, when it comes to anime, a lot more people are involved and your personal responsibility is lower; I think that’s the reason. Probably, because of that I feel more at ease (laughs).

Shinbo: I read opinions on the internet from time to time, but not so many about SoreMachi. I stealthily look for them too some times, but it’s not really a good thing for your mental health. 

Ishiguro: SoreMachi’s reception is pretty good. I believe its reputation got better with time. From the second half of the show, the appreciation for the voice actors got incredibly high. 

Shinbo: I personally agree with the characters and characters being popular. 

Ishiguro: Speaking of voice actors, I recently listened to the character song album from “Natsu no Arashi!” the Director gave me. A song I thought was super cute was sung by Chiaki Omigawa-san (Hatori’s VA). Then I listened to another song and I found that one super cute as well, and it too was by Chiaki Omigawa-san… Perhaps I really like Chiaki Omigawa-san’s voice (laughs). 

—  In Ishiguro-san’s mind, Hatori’s voice was a strong one, right?

Ishiguro: That’s right. Years ago, when I was watching Variety Bangumi at midnight, I noticed the narrator had the perfect voice for Hotori. So, I hurriedly made a recording and said to the editor in charge at the time that was about my idea for Hatori’s voice. Then, when I was attending the voice actors auditions for this anime adaptation, there was a person whose voce was identical to the one I heard. That person was Chiaki Omigawa-san. I believe it was a stroke of luck.

Shinbo: I think Chiaki Omigawa-san fits Hotori perfectly. Speaking of V.A. from the “Natsu no Arashi!”’s character song album, Ryoko Shiraishi-san was a good fit too. 

— In SoreMachi, Ryoko Shiraishi-san has voiced Harue Haribara, right? 

Ishiguro: My wife got mad at me because of that, she said “What role are you making Ryoko Shiraishi-san play?!”.

Shinbo: Harue Haribara has a great personality, you know. 

Ishoguro: At the first recording session, Shiraishi-san played Harue’s role being aware of her bucktooth (laughs). Like, she talked al the time exposing her teeth. 

Shinbo: She didn’t need to be that worried about the teeth (laughs).

Ishiguro: To you, Harue Haribara is just a normal high-school girl, so you said there was no need to act her role in a different way, didn’t you. I went to attend every recording session I could, Tattsun’s voice actress Ali Yuki-san’s butt was really impressive. 

Shinbo: Her butt?

Ishiguro: At the recording session, we were in the booth with the sound mixing console, separate from the recording room. From there, you could see the voice actresses only from behind, or am I wrong? Yuki-san’s stature is pretty small, so when she stood tall facing the mike, she looked like she sticked her butt out in front of us, that’s why. 

Shinbo: Voice actors for the characters in the shopping district were good too. The one for the guy at the laundry had the same eyes as the character (laughs).

Ishiguro: At the recording sessions, Tatsuka-san told me that the guy from the laundry was there in the studio, and he really was, the voice actor I mean (laughs). 

Shinbo: There aren’t many products that can use such harsh male voices, so it sounds really fresh. Nowadays, voice actors  like that are almost only used to dub foreign movies. 

Ishiguro: Yeah, you’re probably right.

Shinbo: Uki’s voice actor, Takahiro Sakurai-san was great too. So much so that from now on I would like to think that old ladies should always be played by men. Yukio Aoshima-san played a role in “Ijiwaru Baasan” didn’t he? Ken Shimura-san played a lot of old lady roles too. Instead of having actual women playing that kind of role, I think male actors can play it in a more “vigorous” way. However, Sakurai-san’s got so hooked and absorbed acting towards Uki’s husband Zenji it became a strange situation. I totally couldn’t tell Sakurai-san was acting in that moment.

Ishiguro: It wasn’t Sakurai-san, I got the impression it was Uki herself. 

Shinbo: Sakura-san’s physique looks like Uki’s. That may be the reason why. 

Ishiguro: His hair was gray as well, and his boy is thin too. Their body shape is really identical.

Shinbo: After all, the voice comes out of one’s body and skull, right? That’s why if the physique is similar, the voice is as well. It was a satisfying discovery. 

Ishiguro: For people like me who always look at voice actors from behind and aren’t really knowledgeable about them, it was pretty confusing. When I attended the auditions, a lot of famous voice actors were present there, but ultimately I didn’t understand at all who played which role. Why at the recording studio you can watch only from behind? 

Shinbo: There are so studios where you can look from the side too. But I don’t think there’s one where you can see the voice actors from the front. After all, if the actors and the studio staff look at each other in the eyes, it may be an awkward situation. Also, voice actors must look at the images while they’re performing. At times, narrators happen to look forward. 

Ishiguro: When I was in the recording studio, I was there basically just to watch. When DoA Toshiki Kameyama spotted someone misreading a kanji he boastfully reported the mistake (laughs).

Shinbo: Members of the cast said that Ishiguro-san in person is different from the photo in the tankobons.

Ishiguro: That’s Jeremy Brett, not me! My face doesn’t look like that! 

«There still are episodes I want to adapt into anime »

Shinbo: After the recordings, we used to go to launch or inner meetings a lot. After the recordings for the last episode, many members of the cast and staff joined as well. Productions like this one that brought so many people together are rare nowadays. This too must have been because we were working on SoreMachi. 

Ishiguro: Thank you so much. 

Shinbo: I would love to make a second season for SoreMachi. The more into the second half I were, the more I wanted a season two. 

Ishiguro: That’s true (laughs). Lately, I already start to feel lonely. It’s more desolate everyday. Now that the script meeting are over, I won’t see Takayama-san and the other scriptwriters anymore… The recording sessions are over too and I won’t see the voice actors and Director Toshiki Kameyama either… There a lot of people I won’t meet anymore. Normally, when I work on manga, I’m alone, and getting used to work with so many people around makes me feel even lonelier. Well, that’s why I still meet with Director Shinbo so often (laughs). 

Shinbo: Working on the same project like this certainly builds up a sense of solidarity. Like a particular atmosphere that creates only in that occasion.  Especially with SoreMachi the atmosphere was great, the mood with the whole staff was good. I would love to have fun for some more time. 

Ishiguro: Precisely, I feel the same way. 

Shinbo: When I was still a student, the professor’s house was a temple, and one year during summer break I stayed there overnight with classmates. The next day, when everyone had to go back home, it was so sad I still remember it to this day. When I finish working on a project, I always feel somewhat the same way as that day. 

Ishiguro: That feeling, I totally understand it. I get reminded of my third year of high school. Since the instant I became a third year student at high school, I felt sad and lonely (laughs). I kept feeling lonely day after day and everyone was taken aback by it. But after we graduated, I received calls from friends telling me they finally understood how I felt, and that they wanted to meet up. 

Shinbo: I too want to have more fun. There still are episodes from SoreMachi I want to adapt into anime, and there are things left undone in these 12 episodes too. I definitely would like to complete it. I surely hope there will be a second season.

Ishiguro: Thank you!