Ninja Slayer Imaishi Interview

http://animeanime.jp/article/2015/04/16/22893.html
 - First of all, please share your thoughts about the novel. What did you think after reading it for the first time?
Imaishi: the writing style turned out to be even more colorful than I expected. Since the novel is published on Twitter, which is restricted to 140 symbols per post, it's difficult to adapt to this unique rhythm, but when you do, reading becomes a breeze. This format is very close to me, as it is built on the will to share your world view directly with the reader, not to mention that the genre is one of my favorites, too.

 - And what do you think about this world view?
Imaishi: in the early 90s, the Tarantino movies were brought to Japan, and you could easily see the influence of old Japanese and Asian movies in them. You could say that they misinterpreted them, but the final product has its own charm, so there was something very interesting in this reverse import. Since I was a fan of Tarantino and Rodrigues, as well, it was easy for me to dive in Ninja Slayer's world that is similar to theirs.
Another factor is that the "Ninsatsu language" used in this world doesn't cease to impress after the first line or two, but keeps delivering from beginning to end. Usually writing loses this essence little by little as you go on, it's literally the beginning and the end. But every time I think "These guys are messed up in the head!", it's a compliment, haha. The translation team really is incredible.

 - And how did you decide to deliver this world view in the anime format?
Imaishi: me and director Amamiya decided, though we might be wrong, that the Ninsatsu language is the novel's most noteworthy aspect that instantly catches the reader's eye, and that we have to express it in the visual form somehow. You can't do that by simply showing the described events. So, just like the intentional break of the rules of Japanese language makes it more interesting, so did we try to break the rules of visual composition to reach similar results.

 - So there is something that has to be expressed no matter what?
Imaishi: I'm only speaking from the point of character design, so it might be that my idea of translating the novel to visual medium might scare the viewers a bit. Scare the same way as the first page of the novel scared me.

 - There are rumors that the difference between the OP and the episode is really apparent.
Imaishi: Yes, you could taste it from the very first frame. While we were drawing, we thought it would be nice to retain the novel's spirit "In some form", and I hope we succeeded.

http://animeanime.jp/article/2015/04/16/22893_2.html
 - Was it difficult to work on the character designs while keeping the world view in mind?
Imaishi: I don't really know: me and director Amamiya has known each other for a long time, so he has a good idea of what to expect from me. That's why this time my role came down to "Drawing cool stuff", so I didn't think of anything else. I spent some time researching the original designs, putting armor on the ninjas, and following Amamiya's directions so you could say from the first glance that these designs belong in anime.

 - Speaking of which, the ninja don't really look like ninja this time, they look more like robots.
Imaishi: even the novels had quite a few characters clad in armor from head to toes. They remind me of tokusatsu shows. I saw them, thought "There's some new horizons in this", and decided that these designs will serve better than blind faith to standard ninja designs.
The ninja are usually drawn in black or just dark clothes, so they can sneak around more easily, but these ninja swing around katanas and fight with karate, so they look just as exaggerated as their world is.

 - This time, there were a few other people responsible for the designs. How did you split the work between yourselves?
Imaishi: Most of the actual ninjas were drawn by me, while Fuyuko, Tochinoki and other secondary human designs were drawn by Yoshigaki Yuusuke-san. As for the main heroines, Nancy was done by Inato Serere-san, Yamoto by Saitom-san, and Yukano by Shin Jiro-san.
Amamiya said, "Let anyone but Imaishi draw the girls!", haha, and he had some candidates in mind. Since we're still anime series, we've decided that proper animation would show their charms better. Since I'm more known for the "Fight people" designs, they might've been afraid that I'd make the girls too blocky.

 - Not to mention that the enemies appear one after another, so the workload must be pretty heavy...
Imaishi: that's right, there's always something to draw, haha! Even when you think "I've drawn four characters this week", it turns out that they die in the episode's first half, while some of them only appear in two scenes.

 - Since director Amamiya asked you for "Something cool", tell us what about things you consider cool.
Imaishi: I guess it's the lack of shame. Actors and models are cool, too, but when they stand under the spotlight, they sometimes become too afraid to act to the fullest, and that's not very cool. Resolve is very important, that's what I always liked in kabuki theatre.
Same goes for drawing: for example, when you think that bold lines would make the picture look old-fashioned, but it turns out to look very cool, or when you make some body part stick out more than usual, or when you use some method you noticed somewhere before.

http://animeanime.jp/article/2015/04/23/22976.html
 - All characters look very different from each other. Which instructions from your colleagues did you receive to achieve this?
Imaishi: it's not like I can't remember any instructions, it's just that I didn't even get any written ones. The assignments usually have lines like "Color here" or "Don't draw it like this", but this time the assignments had nothing of the sort. I found it very interesting that my assignments consisted of just pictures, since no one would give you the pointers about the fine details that give the picture its impact. At least that's what I thought.

 - But what if your designs ended up very different from what everyone expected? It could easily come down to "Look at this ridiculous thing he did!".
Imaishi: indeed, we're talking about me, after all, and I don't really follow instructions, haha. Though the director of the first episode helped me with its designs, I saw the cell artists grin while they were working on it. The director does set the course in these things, but I think that their main goal is to have a critical approach to the final product.
This time, it came down to characters having their own silhouettes and weapons of choice, nothing more. That is why I consider the silhouette the most important aspect while working, and if no one can recognize the character from it, it's my fault... At least that's how I approach the assignments, haha.

 - Which characters do you like the most?
Imaishi: big gorilla-like characters always catch my attention first. Because of that, I really enjoyed drawing Earthquake. Laomoto ended up pretty big, as well. His image is basically "He's so intimidating, he appears huge!". Yeah, I like huge guys.

 - Do you have any favorite Ninsatsu language words?
Imaishi: these are very common, but I believe it's "Yeeart!" and "Gwah!" that everyone shouts out in fights. It's great that they always express the feelings that the characters have in a fight.

 - The voice actors do give the narrative a whole new dimension.
Imaishi: we are lucky to work with many veteran actors, and they not only instantly understand their roles, but are also always ready to put extra effort on something that's not even in the script, which is just amazing.
Sometimes the script changes and you have to re-record the voice lines, making us redraw the scene to fit them. Because the scene's length or the pauses in it change, you have to change the lines again, and by the end of it, the storyboards that were supposed to be ready before the dubbing only get finished by the in-between check. I wasn't at the dubbing sessions, but from what I've heard, they had a blast.

 - The anime version has a very interesting approach to color highlights. Whose idea was that?
Imaishi: the highlights are mostly the director's responsibility. I think he wanted to make it so the author's intent could be seen at first sight. If we used the dark colors to express the story of a dark hero, the picture would've been very different from what we planned, so the director struggled against that.

 - What would you call the selling points of "Ninja Slayer From Animation"?
Imaishi: watch it to see how the ninja expressively die one after another, haha. It combines the unique style of American comics, cyberpunk and retro, while still remaining a well-written web novel. This combination of different elements is the franchise's strongest point. The fact that a web novel got an anime adaptation that's being broadcast on the web feels natural, but it's actually a very fresh idea, as well. I feel like it should be watched from a standpoint that's different from the one one watches regular TV anime from.

 - Lastly, a few words for our readers.
Imaishi: even though the story comes down for a simple thirst for revenge of a man named Fujikido, I'd like the audience that's new to the franchise not to take it too seriously. The hardcore fans, on the other hand, can expect to see a few fine details that show our respect for the source material. I hope it will be a pleasant surprise for you.

 - Imaishi=san, thank you for this talk!