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Anime Expo - Saturday - Kunihiko Ikuhara and Chiho
Saito
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The creative team behind the Revolutionary Girl Utena
series can't stay away from North America. Kunihiko Ikuhara (left), the
series' director, and Chiho Saito, who drew the Utena manga (soon to be
sold by Viz), made Anime Expo their third convention trip of 2000. "I was
so happy at the conventions and I had a lot of fun, so when I was invited
back I decided to come," saito said about the reason for the return trip. |
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One of the more unusual parts of Utena is the sequence
where the title character turns into a high-fendered automobile. "I remembered
Michael Jackson's Moonwalker video where he turned into a car," Ikuhara
joked. as to why that sequence got into the series, he said, more seriously,
that "I think it's because I'd like to have a car - just like the one in
the movie." Ikuhara also is serious about his singing; he will be singing
on a soundtrack album in Japan. |
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Will there be more to the Utena story? "That's a
secret," Ikuhara replied. What does the Utena saga really mean? "The people
who like it in Japan don't understand it - but the entire series is like
that, so it's okay." Saito added, "The Japanese people understand there
are some parts that no one understands. If they're seeing a different meaning,
that's good." |
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Ikuhara took the opinion that people can enjoy Utena's
pictures even if the plot gets away from them. "The overseas audience might
see it in a more visual way. When you don't understand the words you can
enjoy the visuals," he said. With all of the talk of the convergence of
American and Japanese animation, Ikuhara wonders if that will ever happen.
"For animation to succeed in the U.S. it has to be made in the U.S. There's
a cultural barrier. Japanese people want to spread their animation in the
U.S., but American companies just want to use Japanese talent." |
