One of the most striking moments of the Revolutionary Girl Utena
movie came when a major character changed into an automobile. Hiroshi Nagahama,
who designed that car for Utena director Kunihiko Ikuhara, had an unique
explanation for the racy look of that car when he appeared at Sakura Con.
When he created the car, Nagahama had in mind the Cinderella story and the
elaborate designs that some artists have given to the coach that she rides
to the prince's ball. In this case, it's safe to say that Utena is the prince
and Anthy Himemeya is Cinderella. "If you think about a carriage, it's pulled
by horses - and to ride in a carriage means you're being pulled by another
force," Nagahama said. "You could view that as saying that Anthy won't come
out of her shell under her own forces because she's being pulled by other
forces. At one point, the Utena car becomes a kind of rocket, and that scene
shows that Anthy's feelings are changing - and the changes of the car show
those changes in her."
Nagahama also is part of the production team for Fruits Basket, the story that mixes cute character designs with lonely personalities. He created the opening animation for Fruits Basket,
a difficult job for a series that shows its characters and the strong emotions
they feel. "I tried to show that loneliness and fear in the opening, and
I tried to think of things that made me feel lonely." The opening animation
for Fruits Basket shows the lead characters staring out classroom
windows, agonizingly distant from their fun-loving classmates. "The characters
are so alienated that they can't reach others - they don't try to join in.
The same as Utena, those emotional threads are things I try to manage
by comparing that to the emotions I feel on an everyday basis." Making the
90 seconds of a series' opening animation is harder than creating the rest
of the series, Nagahama said, because that sequence has to tell the basic
story of the series, while not boring those who watch the opening over and
over again for each episode.
Before you think that Nagahama might make only moody melodramas, recall that he was part of the production team for the Jubei-Chan Lovely Eyepatch
series, a parody of ninja and schoolgirl series. "It was fun making it, just
as much fun as it was watching it." Nagahama credits director Akitaroh Daichi
(who was scheduled to appear at Sakura Con but canceled his appearance) with
keeping Jubei-Chan fun. "Mr. Daichi never loses sight of what's important,
even during the process of making an anime. What's important is to never
stop having fun when you're doing this. The things you don't have to worry
about is being too serious about this."
One of the most striking moments of the Revolutionary Girl Utena
movie came when a major character changed into an automobile. Hiroshi Nagahama,
who designed that car for Utena director Kunihiko Ikuhara, had an unique
explanation for the racy look of that car when he appeared at Sakura Con.
When he created the car, Nagahama had in mind the Cinderella story and the
elaborate designs that some artists have given to the coach that she rides
to the prince's ball. In this case, it's safe to say that Utena is the prince
and Anthy Himemeya is Cinderella. "If you think about a carriage, it's pulled
by horses - and to ride in a carriage means you're being pulled by another
force," Nagahama said. "You could view that as saying that Anthy won't come
out of her shell under her own forces because she's being pulled by other
forces. At one point, the Utena car becomes a kind of rocket, and that scene
shows that Anthy's feelings are changing - and the changes of the car show
those changes in her."
Nagahama also is part of the production team for Fruits Basket, the story that mixes cute character designs with lonely personalities. He created the opening animation for Fruits Basket,
a difficult job for a series that shows its characters and the strong emotions
they feel. "I tried to show that loneliness and fear in the opening, and
I tried to think of things that made me feel lonely." The opening animation
for Fruits Basket shows the lead characters staring out classroom
windows, agonizingly distant from their fun-loving classmates. "The characters
are so alienated that they can't reach others - they don't try to join in.
The same as Utena, those emotional threads are things I try to manage
by comparing that to the emotions I feel on an everyday basis." Making the
90 seconds of a series' opening animation is harder than creating the rest
of the series, Nagahama said, because that sequence has to tell the basic
story of the series, while not boring those who watch the opening over and
over again for each episode.
Before you think that Nagahama might make only moody melodramas, recall that he was part of the production team for the Jubei-Chan Lovely Eyepatch
series, a parody of ninja and schoolgirl series. "It was fun making it, just
as much fun as it was watching it." Nagahama credits director Akitaroh Daichi
(who was scheduled to appear at Sakura Con but canceled his appearance) with
keeping Jubei-Chan fun. "Mr. Daichi never loses sight of what's important,
even during the process of making an anime. What's important is to never
stop having fun when you're doing this. The things you don't have to worry
about is being too serious about this."
