Enthusiasm and flavour. A dense style of production Yomiuri

Enthusiasm and flavour. A dense style of production
Yomiuri Shimbun evening issue 2019.04.08

Kemurikusa, aired on TOKYO MX.., etc. and broadcasted its last episode on March 27th, was made with an ambition fits the time which is moving from Heisei to Reiwa. Although it didn't clearly showed everything, it let us feel that "there is something in it" with its 12 episodes.

Inside the ruins where humans are not anymore, three red-hair sisters are traveling on a modified railway carriage. Within the dense red fog are Red Bugs which assaults them. Leading the three sisters, Rin wields a green leaf called Kemurikusa as weapon and defeats Red Bugs with them, while they consume water as their energy. However, water is rare in this world. In order to secure water, many of the sisters have already died.

From that water, a male called Wakaba suddenly appeared. Although the sisters were cautious, somehow Rin got a blush on her face. What is this emotion...?

If you are used to ordinary midnight animes, the difference in this one might surprise you. They didn't explain the dark world much, hence it's hard to understand. On the other hand, the characters are lovely, the pace of the conversations are magnificent. Traveling in ruins alongside death. However, every section of that traveling is happy and sweet.

"The work itself is odd, our team is unusual, how the work ended up being made is rare too." said director Tatsuki. Originally, Kemurikusa was a work made by an independent Anime making team called irodori which includes Tatsuki, the drawing(Sakuga/作画) director Yoshihisa Isa and the art director Shiramizu Yuuko, who grouped together when they were students of art university. "If we explain it like a Manga, it's like a complete-in-one-issue becoming a series later."

Although the studio of the series this time is Yaoyorozu, the fact that the three young members of irodori being core members didn't change. The technique used is Cell style 3DCG. Tatsuki handled script, storyboard and directing by himself. While being a TV series, it's an unique work with the handmade flavour of independent production.

"The anime we're making is a dense one that does not lack of the enthusiasm or flavour of creator. We also studied hard to learn the techniques to do that. Although the making was really tiresome, but seeing that the customers are happy, we are relieved!"

Tatsuki became famous shortly in the Kemono Friends (2017) (The first season). A first-time-direction work which is described as "To make it interesting, we've done everything we could," along with the effect of a Media Mix work, raised up a phenomenon-level of boom. With the original work Kemurikusa being successful, Tatsuki's "flavor" has been proved correct.

"If business animes are restaurants in hotels, independent production animes are food stalls. For us, it's been like using techniques we learnt ourselves from a restaurant at a food stall, vice versa." They'll do everything to see the happy faces of the customers, who are saying "Delicious!"

"One surprising thing recently is that the customers are becoming picky. Didn't the customers in this country have lower standards?"