Netflix original animation series “Eden of the East” directed by Yasuhiro Irie such as “Fullmetal Alchemist of Steel”. Set in “Eden of the East”, a world rich in nature where only robots with the disappearance of humanity live, the story depicts the adventures and family ties of a girl who is the only human being who grew up under the parents of the robot. It is Marika Kouno who plays the voice of the main character Sarah Grace. The original plan is Mr. Justin Reach who is a producer. The character design is Toshihiro Kawamoto of “Cowboy Bebop”. The animation was produced by CGCG, a Taiwanese production company that produces the “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” and “DreamWorks Dragons” series. This work was produced by the international staff. We asked Director Irie about the production background and behind the scenes. The key is to “express emotions,” which is also the driving force of director Irie.
Feelings that I yearn for
Human and robot, a bond that transcends time is drawn. How did you feel about this story? When we received the project from Justin, the historical part of robots and humankind was widely covered. In making four of them in animation, I steered through the communication between Sarah and the robot and the story that was very close to the human side. On the whole, what kind of emotional flow Sarah has was greatly inflated. What is your impression when you read the draft? I read the text about what kind of story will be developed in the world view and the world of Eden of the East, and I felt that it is possible to do two things, new things and demonstrating what I have cultivated so far. There are some parts that I have dealt with so far and some that I haven’t, and I was interested in what to do here and what to do with it. What is the new challenge in that? The biggest thing is to make animation with 3DCG and to make it with overseas staff. Did you feel any difference from Japan when you tried with overseas staff? I had the impression that the staff was very enthusiastic people. There are many enthusiastic and talented staff in Japan. Similarly, I strongly felt that there are people overseas who have this much technology. The difference is that studio work is more thorough as a system than staff. In overseas studios, you have the impression that the production time per day is fixed and the working environment is solid. A company called CGCG in Taiwan also has a fixed time, and when the time comes, a siren sounds. At that time, I was in a meeting, but I was told that the staff will be returning with this chime. The working hours were pretty strict, and when we finished the meeting and went out, the studio lights were off and the staff had returned. In that respect, how about Japan? Is it? Since all the staff at CGCG are employees, it is also an obligation of employees to keep working hours. In Japan, there are many animators who work as freelancers who are only involved in the work or part, so the work time is left to each staff member. Flex is also allowed, so it’s a good point in Japan that you can work in a time when it’s easy to do, but I think it’s also a bad point that you get sloppy. It seems better to incorporate suitable products rather than incorporating them all into Japan. As a production company, I thought it would be easier to understand the processing time if the operating time was known. I feel that it will be easier to read how much performance the staff members have during working hours and how much they will go up if they decide on working hours. However, I think there are some difficulties even if we suddenly adopt it in Japan, which does not have such an environment. I think that it will be easier to change from what you can do, and if there are advantages, it will be easier to make employees or decide the working hours, and it will be possible only when it becomes widespread. I feel that it will be easier to read if you decide the working hours. However, I think there are some difficulties even if we suddenly adopt it in Japan, which does not have such an environment. I think that it will be easier to change from what you can do, and if there are advantages, it will be easier to make employees or decide the working hours, and it will be possible only when it becomes widespread. I feel that it will be easier to read if you decide the working hours. However, I think there are some difficulties even if we suddenly adopt it in Japan, which does not have such an environment. I think that it will be easier to change from what you can do, and if there are advantages, it will be easier to make employees or decide the working hours, and it will be possible only when it becomes widespread.
-This work depicts the growth of Sarah, a girl raised by a robot. What was the most important thing in building the character, Sarah? As a human being, I was conscious of how to communicate with robots. It is a character who plays a role in facial expressions and emotions. Since the robots can’t describe facial expressions and emotions, Sarah plays such a role by herself, so I felt that I had to make the screen rich in variety so that I wouldn’t be very lonely. It was. If Sarah is quiet and has little change in facial expression, the whole thing will be too quiet, so Sarah thinks that it is better to have an aggressive character who comes forward from herself, and thinks about how to make that aggressiveness. I did. You have to bring it into a form that is not intrusive, is fun to watch, and has sympathy. I felt that kind of thing at the beginning. Sara has some innocence that she doesn’t think so even in a crisis situation. When I interviewed Mr. Takano, who played the voice, it was also because he had not learned what he should learn from humans. You mentioned earlier that you are comparing emotions with robots, but how do you perceive that? Since there are no people around me, I grew up without knowing what to do. Jump from high places and do crazy things. For that reason, I think that I felt that way from the way I didn’t see danger as danger. Sarah is a character who has been with no guns since she was small, so let’s do it before we think about it, and take a step forward. As the story progresses, even if I encounter a dangerous thing or a pinch, I thought that if I acted to take a step forward with that gutlessness, the character would grow up. How about the character design? Mr. Kawamoto gave us various ideas. I wonder if there was a plan from A to J. Terrible I asked him to come up with a variation of Mr., and decided which direction to go from, and narrowed down the appearance of the character, such as hair and clothes. From the active part and the behavioral part of Sarah, I chose various designs that made me feel that I would like this kind of clothes. I think there were various things like Sarah’s own commitment to the design, but what was the final deciding factor? There is a place where I chose from the point of what kind of hairstyle and clothes Sarah had chosen, which she had never encountered. Is the hairstyle long hair or is it really set? When choosing it, Sarah’s personality would probably make her bangs shorter because she wouldn’t want to see her in her eyes. It’s easy to work with your arms and legs out, and you’ll probably choose simple clothes, taking into account that your clothes won’t get caught. As a result of choosing from Sarah’s personality, it became like that
Marika Kouno carrying Sarah
What is the reason for using Mr. Takano for that Sarah’s voice cast? He played the character Hanabi in the work “Scorching Ping Pong Girl”. I felt that the feeling of the voice at that time, the tension of the person, and the impression of the play were perfect for Sarah, so I made an offer and received it. As expected, he performed the voice and play as intended, and I feel that he incorporated the emotions that he did not have when he was a “table tennis girl” and described them as needed. You said that you studied how children talk but did you see the handwriting? I didn’t have a baby or 10 years old when I was a “table tennis girl”, so it was my first time listening to it. I feel that Mr. Takano had some ingenuity and trial and error in that part. “Table tennis girl” is set in the present age and is a story of club activities, so it is not something that has something big or something that is life-threatening, but the individual feelings of each character. It was important. As in “Eden of the East of the East”, what kind of pressure is applied to the character when carrying a bigger one and how to play it will be applied to the character Sarah as the number of stories increases. Mr. Takano played it, including the part that Sarah can think of. I felt a change in the part that Mr. Takano also accumulated and inflated the plays along with the development of the story and the flow of Sarah’s emotions.
The driving force to describe emotions
What is the most conscious thing that Director Irie is aware of when making anime? I strongly feel that it would be possible to convey what the character is thinking and how it feels in the animation itself, including the dialogue. When a character takes some action, fights an opponent, or fights, is he fighting with anger, sadness, or happiness to fight? I think there are many possible interpretations of the same act of fighting. I make cuts, actions, and animations that convey that, wondering what they mean. It seems that the director wanted to work as an anime after seeing “Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind” when he was in the first year of junior high school. What is the driving force now? I feel happy when I achieve the goal of making animation and moving the picture as animation like this. I’m happy when the images, actions, and emotional flows that I envision in my head are conveyed, so my driving force is to aim for that. As with Sarah in “Eden of the East,” Director Irie faces emotions and how to express those emotions as a picture. I agree. That’s the part I like in various works, and by expressing it, I feel that it’s the part that can be conveyed to the viewers the most. Is that even more coming out this time? I feel that it has been achieved by the hands of CGCG’s talented animators. Of course, I also feel that it was further amplified by the play that added the emotions of the voice actors.
