Rebellion Material Book: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 04:52, 19 April 2014

A booklet is included with the Puella Magi Madoka☆Magica The Rebellion Story Limited Edition Blu-Ray. The full contents of the BD are listed on the Products Page.

Akiyuki Shinbo (Chief Director)

I WANTED TO SEE THE CHARACTERS IN ACTION AGAIN

In your opinion, why didn't Rebellion get a so-called straightforward happy ending?

SHINBO: Well, I think one reason is because that's not how the story was leaning. There's also the fact that it wasn't easy to open new doors after the TV series had already ended once. With that being the case, we decided to go for that kind of ending.

So does that mean that you had the desire to make something new from Madoka Magica, despite the difficulty in doing so?

SHINBO: It wasn't so much that I wanted to continue building on the story, but rather that I had a strong desire to see those characters in action again, and that's probably why I made this film. The fans had embraces the characters, and everybody on the production team had a really great time, and I wanted to experience that again - that was my starting-off point. The one thing is that the distortion of those feelings must have seeped into the story. That it was as if we'd balanced everything out with this installment.

You're saying that you've balanced out the happy world of the first half with the second half, when it's revealed that it was much like a dream.

SHINBO: Part of me felt that our viewers probably wanted to see that kind of world, from the first half. But some people have said that it was precisely the upbeat first half that creeped them out. That wasn't my intention; I just thought that it was nice to see that kind of world, too. But for Madoka Magica fans, that kind of world might be "somehow off or contrived." That was an unexpected effect, but I think that may be why it turned out to be such an unexpected title.

Since it's so popular, you could say that what people seek in Madoka Magica as a title varies from person to person.

SHINBO: But I think that might be the impression of someone after they've seen it once. If you watch a second time, knowing the structure of the story, I think you can enjoy the first half. There's a difference between watching it without knowing the story, and watching it with full knowledge. If you watch it without knowing, then yes, the first half might really come off as everyone putting in a contrived performance to make it seem like this happy world. But if you know everything when you're watching, you can say to yourself, "Oh, I see, so that's what's going on," so that sense of falseness might actually start to wear off.

Either way, it's not as if you deliberately set out to create that sense of falseness, right?

SHINBO: That's right. because I wanted to see that scene where everyone's working together in battle. But that's not how the fans saw it; I think there was an unexpected synergistic effect. And that was probably a good thing. I don't think it would've been right for there to be only one way of interpreting the story. And that might be why, when you watch the ending, you get a different impression every time you re-watch it.

About the ending, on one hand it seems as if the story is starting right there; on the other, with the god and demon being born, it can also seem as if the "myth of creation" type of story has ended.

SHINBO: Although that doesn't mean that there's another story coming; that ending on its own should just be seen as the conclusion to this story. It does seem as if the story has come to an end after achieving a mysterious kind of balance. Considering the fact that it's the sequel to the TV series, it's really not that far-fetched to say that we planned to end that way from the start.

Kyubey, who you could say was the mastermind of the story since the TV series, has been reduced to a complete wreck.

SHINBO: Well, it does seem as if he's been defeated by Homura, but personally, I hope he doesn't surrender! After all, even if Kyubey dies, there's plenty more of him.

Did you propose anything specifically in terms of how you wanted Rebellion to turn out?

SHINBO: Yes, as I mentioned earlier, I said that I wanted them to create a situation where they'd all be battling side by side as friends. And not just the battle; I told them that I wanted to see them going to school, doing ordinary things like that. That's what I wanted to see myself. So in terms of creating the film, I was more motivated to put the characters in those kind of situations and set them in motion again, rather than focusing on the story. Without that, I don't think there would've been any point in making a new film. That's why this time around; we created a situation where Sayaka was fighting by Kyoko's side.

So it wasn't all about the story - what you wanted to do first was to depict the characters?

SHINBO: I've mentioned this in other interviews as well, but if our viewers have no interest in the characters, then no matter how engrossing the story is, no matter what kind of secrets there may be in the world, they'll just brush it off with an "Oh, I see. Hmmm..." It's because they have an emotional investment in the characters living in that world that they start wondering where the story will lead them, or what kind of world it is that they're observing.

In the case of Madoka Magica, would you say that those characters were developed well?

SHINBO: That's part of it, but to put it another way, I believe that Madoka Magica is a title whose characters were partially "raised" by its viewers. This brought on a synergistic effect, and so I wanted to set these characters that they'd raised in motion.

AN EMPHASIS ON KEEPING IT MADOKA MAGICA-ESQUE

Once you knew you were going to make the movie versions, was there anything that you personally made a point of doing that was different from how you made the TV series?

SHINBO: No, there wasn't. The concepts I came up with were like, "It's Madoka Magica, so why don't we include an OP theme?" If I were making it as a movie, I don't think I would've out in that TV series-like OP theme. As for the number of shots, I probably would've reduced them, and made it more movie-like. But the reason I went out of my way not to do that was because I was more intent on showing people Madoka Magica. I wanted it to be something that wouldn't make our fans feel uncomfortable with.

So do you think the staff wasn't really that self-conscious either? Of the fact that it was a movie this time?

SHINBO: No, I think the other staff members were conscious of it being a theatrical release. They all made adjustments, knowing that the visuals would be displayed on a huge screen. In that sense, even if we were working on the same film, I'm sure that the animators and directors approached it quite differently.

As far as the visuals were concerned, did you instruct them in any way?

SHINBO: I might have said something during the first meeting, but I don't really remember (laugh)! But I never did any micro-managing. It was Mr. Sasaki who expanded the gunfight scene between Homura and Mami. In the first draft of the script, they were supposed to battle it out in a parking structure, but I told them that they didn't have to do that, that it was totally okay to play with different ideas. But other than that, I didn't say anything specific. So when Homura points her gun at herself and shoots... that idea was developed out of Mr. Sasaki's storyboards. Actually, I did agonize over whether or not I should approve that!

Because the viewers might find that disturbing?

SHINBO: Yes. Like, what would we do if people see that scene and think she's really going to kill herself? Of course, I'm sure that they'd realize that she wasn't doing that at all, that it was all fake, but what if it just didn't come across as fake to some people? That's the kind of worrying that I did. Because if they misunderstood, and they saw it as Homura committing suicide, that would've been tough to take. But in that sense, Mr. Sasaki's storyboards were really intriguing.

Other than that, what were you cautious of, while making this film?

SHINBO: Production was mainly handled by the same staff that had worked on Madoka Magica since the TV series, so even if I didn't say much, "If these people are around, and we have storyboards like these, then this is how it will probably turn out..." I was able to get that kind of a read on it. Other than that, what I personally tried to be careful about was not to let it become too much of a burden for everybody, not to let it go on endlessly. So rather than me being the one to say, "More! More!" and keep adding things, I'd be like, "Will we be okay if we do this?" or "Won't it be risky in more ways than one if we do this?" That's how I operated.

Is that the job of a chief director?

SHINBO: I'm sure there are a lot of different ways to do it, but for this title, it was for me. Because the staff couldn't foresee how much work it would take to complete a movie. On top of that, they were making something that was nearly two hours long, so there was that added burden - you couldn't say it was merely 5 TV episodes' worth of work. Taking that into account, I tended not to say things like, "Let's do this, let's do that." Actually, Mr. Miyamoto and his team are fine with, "Let's do it, let's do it!" But I was acutely aware that if I added to that workload, we'd never be finished.

You incorporated a lot of Inu Curry's sequences in this film. I'm guessing that once you start working on those parts, it can be really time-consuming.

SHINBO: Yes, that's right. That did cause me some anxiety. So I think that even as I said such things as "This is too much, shouldn't we trim it down?" I was still pressuring them. And even as I told them to cut stuff out, they were thinking, "If we really cut that out, this guy is gonna be mad!" I'll bet that Mr. Miyamoto and the others were aware of that (laugh)!

I hear that in the end, Inu Curry's scenes weren't cut that drastically.

SHINBO: No, because I knew it was going to end up that way anyway, I deliberately told them to cut them out. I think that's a kind of teamwork.

I hear that you divided the overall film into 5 parts, A through E.

SHINBO: The reason why I divided them into parts was also because I basically wanted the story to conclude properly, as if it were a TV show. I did have the intention of concluding the story as an extension to the TV series. Like I was extinguishing the strange sense of it being some kind of epic by doing that. I do feel that it may have been necessary to do so. And I did want to see how far we could take it under those circumstances; I wanted to draw out that power.

I WANTED TO MAKE SOMETHING DIFFERENT THAN THE OTHER TITLES

After watching this film, I was struck by the fact that there were so many scenes with music and dancing. At what point did you get the idea to do that?

SHINBO: You'd have to say that in terms of the images, Inu Curry's skills played a huge role. As for the transformation scenes, I think we got the idea itself - of making them dance - from Mr. Sasaki's storyboards, but I believe that Inu Curry gave it a darker look and feel. All we really did was request them to come up with "a transformation scene like no other in any existing magical girl show." To think that they came up with something like that... it's incredible.

Personally, did you want to avoid transformation scenes that screamed "magical girl show?"

SHINBO: Well, I've already done the "girls get naked and transform with a boom while twirling around" thing in other titles. I probably don't have to do that with Madoka Magica. For the TV series, too, I asked them to come up with "transformation scenes that couldn't be less typical of magical girl shows," and I had each animator draw transformation scenes however they liked. That's why they're all different according to each character, and there's no uniformity. That's what I liked about them, but for this film, we showed everyone transforming one after the other, and because of that, it had a uniform look. And I do think that's a good look, as well.

Would you say Madoka Magica is the kind of title that makes you want to keep incorporating elements that you wouldn't find in any other existing title?

SHINBO: For all my titles, I've always preferred to go with whatever's different from anything else. Not just the visuals, but also the acting and everything else - I wanted them to be as different as possible. What I found particularly different about this film was the fact that, since the story was set inside a witch's barrier, Inu Curry's scenes were in the foreground.

Because they've merged, or rather, they were in the barrier from the start.

SHINBO: Right. That's another way that it's different from the TV series, Madoka Magica - this time, you can catch glimpses, little by little, of these foreign-looking aspects even in the scenes of their daily lives. The way the Nightmares are exterminated was also Inu Curry's idea. But since they thought it out to the last detail, I do think ti went to waste. I think we could probably get 13 episodes worth out of those (laugh). I mean, it makes me want to try making at least one season, using just that.

In that sense, you also made lavish use of the world we see at the end of the TV series, where they're battling the wraiths. Because that world was hardly depicted at all during the episodes.

SHINBO: Yes. That's why I'd like to depict the story of what got them to that point. Why Homura was defeated, and why her Soul Gem became corrupted... the story leading up to the movie. Because normally, Homura wouldn't be defeated so easily. I'm sure that there's a reason why she ended up that way.

A MOVIE MADE BECAUSE THE FANS NURTURED IT

When you'd finished the film, the first thing you said was, "I want to make a film in which these characters take action." Do you feel that you were able to carry that out to the fullest?

SHINBO: Of course, I'm glad that I got it done, but I don't really feel as if I'd carried anything out. I've still got a long way to go. Story-wise, I can still go on making Rebellions if I want to, and I think Madoka could use a bit more action.

That was true of the TV series as well, but even though Madoka is the central figure of the story, it's hard to get a sense that she's active.

SHINBO: Or maybe it's just that she can't play an active role because the story centers on her so much. Regarding the story structure of this film, Madoka is there all right, but if she stood out too much from the start, it would be hard to make the story work. As a story based on the TV series, nothing should feel more out of place to the audience than Madoka's very existence, and that's why she's not very conspicuous. That's why in the first draft of the script written by Mr. (Gen) Urobuchi, Madoka has even less screen time. I asked him to give her a little more, and that's what we got.

I see. Due to the narrative flow, there were scenes that you weren't able to depict again.

SHINBO: Yes, although that can't be helped. I did want to do more with Kyoko and Sayaka's conversation. And since we'd gotten this new character, Nagisa, I wished that I could've done more with her.

Would you say that it's because the characters are so well-developed that you can get into that "We can do more!" mode?

SHINBO: The fact that the fans nurtured these characters played a major role in that. We threw something over to them, and the fans threw it back to us. These characters were raised through our game of catch with the fans. It's not that the characters got developed because we created them; they were developed depending on what the fans' reactions to them was. They don't seem like ready-made characters. Being able to do that is one of the virtues of an original title. Without that, we never wouldn't been able to make a sequel film out of nowhere.

And it doesn't have that "We just made this into a movie because the series was so popular" feel, either.

SHINBO: Yes. That's why I think a case could be made that the world of the first half of the story might have been created by the fans. Sayaka and Kyoko battling side by side was also something that the fans wanted to see. We were able to do it because the fans watched the TV series and nurtured these characters. I think Mr. Urobuchi was watching the fans' reactions pretty closely himself. I do believe that it must be reflected in the story. And when you think of it in that way, then the fact that Ms. Aoki was the original character designer was hugely significant, don't you think? The reason those characters are so consistent must be because Ms. Aoki's artwork already existed, like a ship's anchor.

So because of the power of Ms. Aoki's artwork, you didn't have all these different versions of the character images proliferating, and so you were able to play catch with the fans..

SHINBO: Yes. I think that with this film, we were able to achieve a perfect balance. And this was also a first-time experience for me. It really was a a once-in-a-lifetime title for me.

Yukihiro Miyamoto (Director) and Shinsaku Sasaki (Storyboards)

-Directing "Rebellion"-

THIS MOVIE IS A STORY WITH UNEXPECTED TWISTS

MIYAMOTO: This time around, I thought of myself as a member of the directing team. I'm not saying that in a bad way; it's just that I kept things neutral doing it that way.

SASAKI: No, no, you were definitely the director.

MIYAMOTO: The storyboards are done first. Then I send them over to Inu Curry, then to Mr. Shinbo, then to the animators. That was my workflow.

SASAKI: I'm sure it wasn't as cut-and-dried as that (laugh). During the storyboarding process, I think I asked you the most questions. Of course, I'm sure that I must have gone to Mr. Shinbo whenever I had questions for him, but as far as the finer details were concerned, I initially went to you more than anyone else. I'd go to Mr. Shinbo when I wanted to know his thoughts on theme-related matters.

MIYAMOTO: The first thing Mr. Shinbo told me was not to turn it into a film that asked the question, "Is this all worthwhile?" I remember that he gave me such an instruction as this in general in the beginning.

SASAKI: That's understandable. It's not like Mr. Shinbo told us right to the last detail what his take on things were, but it was more like he was asking us to just toss the ball over to him. Not only that, but I also think Mr. Shinbo wouldn't have rejected anything we threw out there. Of course, I'm sure that we wouldn't have gotten away with tossing over half-baked ideas, but I got the sense that he was waiting with his mitt wide open for some kind of eye-opening pitch. I thought that that was what he was seeking from us.

MIYAMOTO: Well, in other words, we'd be fine as long as you let your imagination run free with the storyboards (laugh)!

SASAKI: Although it was pretty difficult. When we were working on the (Madoka) TV series, I thought I had a sure grasp of those things somehow. But as far as Rebellion was concerned, the story itself wasn't something I could wrap my head around that easily. Of course, I know that I was supposed to interpret it in my own way, but it's not like I could be confident that my take was right during the storyboarding phase. What I wanted to ask you, Mr. Miyamoto, was whether it was different to write the script for the film as opposed to writing it for the TV series. Would you mind telling me? Was it this kind of script from the beginning?

MIYAMOTO: I believe that Mr. Shinbo and Mr. Urobuchi gave it a lot of thought before ultimately deciding on this outcome. Although it has undergone some drastic changes since the very first draft, when I first read the script, I thought, "Oh, I see, so that's what happens." After all, this film was a sequel, and it was set in a world where witches no longer existed, so I thought that it was probably going to be about a battle between the surviving magical girls and the wraiths. But I was wrong.

STORYBOARDS DRAWN FROM HOMURA'S POV

SASAKI: I should probably also lay the blame for this on my way of drawing storyboards, but I always run out of visuals. For this film, I did a lot of layering during the scenes with heavy dialogue, which led to an increased number of shots, and I really felt bad about that. But I'd decided early on that we'd be doing it that way - rather than fit the lengthy line inside a single shot, we'd pile on the visuals. But since we kept running out of material that we could use for one scene, we asked Inu Curry to create lots of image boards for us.

MIYAMOTO: So that explains why there was more artwork by Inu Curry.

SASAKI: During the scripting phrase, there are notes such as "The town of Mitakihara," but once I started drawing the storyboards, I started thinking, "But this is a dream-like world seen from the eyes of Homura, right?" And so it's just not satisfying enough to draw ordinary sketches of the town; it even starts to feel wrong. If it's a world inside your mind or in your dreams, then we're going to need different visuals - and so we asked Inu Curry for additional image boards. Actually, I realized that I couldn't go on drawing without them. Initially, I was drawing them myself, but along the way I realized that it wouldn't be enough, so we had Inu Curry take on a substantial amount of the work. That really helped a lot.

MIYAMOTO: Once the storyboards were finalized, Mr. Shinbo asked me to trim as much of Inu Curry's work as I could. But in the end, the film didn't change that much after I did make some cuts. I'd say there was about 20% more before I trimmed than in the final film.

SASAKI: Of all the images that Inu Curry gave us, the easiest to describe is the scene near the beginning, with Hitomi's Nightmare. We'd already come up with the scene of Sayaka planting a kick on Bebe's stomach, then having Bebe spit out something that looked like a soul. What we asked them to add was the part right after, where Sayaka's comforting Hitomi. We wanted to show Hitomi and Sayaka's relationship in a good light there; we wanted to bring those two together. So that's what we requested.

MIYAMOTO: Workload-wise, the further we got in the second-half, the more grueling it got. Our work didn't end on a close-up shot - we still had to incorporate with Inu Curry's visuals right after. After shooting, the characters still just seemed to be kind of moving around; we'd hand that off to Inu Curry, and they'd add the Nightmare sequences. After that, we'd hand it back to the composite team, and it would all be rendered.

SASAKI: Since the film was made that way, I'm sure that some of our viewers thought that it was a deliberate choice from the beginning - having the so-called Inu Curry space co-exist with the normal space - but it's not as if we were really planning it that way during the storyboarding phrase.

MIYAMOTO: You'd see Inu Curry's artwork jumbled in with scenes of their ordinary lives, with that look of something somewhat out of place; as foreign objects. Later on, it's depicted more clearly. For instance, Bebe's outline is bolder.

SASAKI: In terms of what kind of visuals we were aiming for, I wanted to go with Homura's P.O.V. this time. Since that's a method I happen to use quite a lot, I'm not sure if it's a good fit for Mr. Shinbo's way, but personally, once it's decided who the main character of the story is, I prefer not to change the P.O.V. if it can be avoided. That's why for this movie, I felt strongly about wanting to go with Homura's P.O.V. And so I started by imagining just what everything - objects and the scenery - looked like to Homura in each scene.

MIYAMOTO: It was after they'd defeated Hitomi's Nightmare that Homura sensed that there was something off about their world, during the scene where the other students' faces appeared strange to her, wasn't it? That's when she realizes, "Something's not right with this space."

SASAKI: There's a description in the scripts as well. It said something about them not having faces, or being "doll-like people." That scene, too, is from Homura's P.O.V., so we had Homura move a bit, looking at them. But the way I planned it, she actually began to sense it after the battle with Hitomi's Nightmare, in the scene where she's watching the sun come up. Just like the line in the movie, at a glance, it should have been an enjoyable scene, but I wanted it to be somehow unusual as well.

MIYAMOTO: Overall, I did see in the storyboards that it was Homura's P.O.V. And I thought it was brilliant, I thought, "Right, that's the answer!"

SASAKI: Of course, since there are dancing scenes and singing scenes, it wasn't all drawn from Homura's P.O.V.

MIYAMOTO: Right, those theater-like parts that Inu Curry worked so hard on counted for a lot, too.

SASAKI: Telling a story from someone's P.O.V. might be a departure as far as Mr. Shinbo's previous works are concerned. But for Madoka Magica, I was sure that even if I told it that way, Mr. Shinbo would find a way to make it his own. I have no idea if this was the right way to do it, but I made up my mind to just turn out storyboards that he could at least use as a foundation. To draw them in such a way that people would just know - "This is what was doing through Homura's mind at this time." Of course, it wouldn't be Madoka Magica anymore if we did that exclusively, so we did include some objective scenes. Although I'm sure that you and Mr. Shinbo did some tweaking.

MIYAMOTO: Sure, I do that thoroughly when it's an "Oh, so that's what this is supposed to mean" kind of scene. When we're trying to convey that "This is their daily life before Homura makes that realization," then I totally depict daily life. Or if it's a battle scene, I draw a serious battle scene. So you see, I draw everything differently according to each scene. In particular, when it's a magical girl vs. magical girl battle, since there's no such things as witches, there are no visuals by Inu Curry, so we have the animation team finish those scenes. I do recall thinking, "Since it's a cool battle scene, let's make it look cooler!" as if it were a grade schooler's essay or something!

THE CHARACTERS DISPLAYING NATURAL CHANGES IN THE FILM VERSION

SASAKI: For the scene in the beginning where Madoka's washing her face, Mr. Shinbo initially asked me, "Can't we just recycle the storyboards from the TV series?" While I did think it was possible, I did say something along the lines of "Do you think we might be able to show that in a way that's unique to the movie?" But when I decided to put pen to paper, I wasn't really able to come up with anything (laugh). After that, I thought it wouldn't do any good to put pressure on myself, and I should really leave those things alone.

MIYAMOTO: I thought about it too - doing something that could only be done with a film. But it might not have been about how to draw such scenes, or about the theme of the film. You know how there are all these commercials on TV for anime films? When I see them, I think, "Hey, it's a movie." Even when it's being aired on TV, after just seeing the first five minutes, I can tell: "Hey, it's a movie." But when it's a TV anime, I think, "Oh, it's a TV show." No matter what, TV anime only looks like TV anime. I've been wondering for the longest time why it's so easy to tell the difference, even though I'm seeing it on the same 16:9 screen. I'd always thought it was because there must be some kind of quality gap between theatrical releases and TV shows. So the whole time I was working on this film, I wanted to make sure it was "theatrical release quality."

SASAKI: I see. I think what you said was a very important point. And when I saw the final film for the first time, I thought, "This is amazing as a theatrical feature!"

MIYAMOTO: I'm glad to hear that. All the key animators' hard work has paid off.

SASAKI: I really wanted to do that scene in the beginning where Kyubey's in the bucket. As I was drawing, I thought, if Junko's left and there's nobody here but Madoka, then why not make Kyubey visible in the scene? But it ended up looking just like the storyboards for the TV Show, and I wasn't able to make Kyubey move. That's what I told Mr. Shinbo. "I did say that I wanted to do something that we could only do with a film, but it went a lot smoother when I thought of it as an extension of the TV series. Sorry!" Well, I did want to create something epic because it was the movie version, but in terms of how to go about it, it definitely was an extension, I thought.

MIYAMOTO: I wondered how to make people think, "Hey, it's a movie," just from catching a glimpse of the commercial. But I never found the answer (laugh). Although I did rack my brain - should the visuals be shot long, should we stuff as much information as possible into the visuals?

SASAKI: My impression was that the people on set really expanded on what I'd depicted in the storyboards. As for what had changed from the TV show, the characters were each a little different compared to how they'd been on the show. For example, Kyoko no longer had that lone wolf mentality; she was chummy with Sayaka.

MIYAMOTO: Well, Kyoko is the first one Homura counsels, after all. Saying things at the cafe over the water, "You're the oddest of all," and "Were you like this before?" (laugh)

SASAKI: She did say that (laugh)! The thing is, though, I didn't really sense that something was off there. I did recognize that they'd changed since the TV series, but I guess it was easy for me to accept it. I'm sure those kinds of things were incorporated because Mr. Shinbo wanted them in there, but I thought, "I guess we don't have to depict that cool-headed Kyoko from the TV Series," It's not as if I was conscious of that as I was drawing her, but I did start drawing her that way pretty naturally.

MIYAMOTO: I thought we could do something like that as far as the characters' personalities didn't change.

SASAKI: Right. I didn't give that a lot of thought. In that sense, it might have been pretty much according to the script. Well, of course there'd be no storyboards without the script. Maybe all the more because of that, I was able to go about my work without being conscious of all that. But on the other hand, it's not like I was thinking, "Let's thrill the audience!" when I drew Sayaka and Kyoko fighting side-by-side. Overall, I can say that personally, it was definitely an organic process for me.

BRUSHING UP OVER HALF OF THE SHOTS

MIYAMOTO: As far as our workflow on set, I don't think there were any stumbles like that. Whatever we received, there was no need to make any major revisions, and we'd just go right into the next process. Although I think there were times when we applies some minor tweaks in the next process.

SASAKI: To be honest, you gave us quite a lot of time to finish the storyboards. Although we were given more time than it would normally take, in the end it still wasn't enough for us. I really feel bad about that.

MIYAMOTO: Once the storyboards are done, Inu Curry takes a look, then Mr. Shinbo, and after that it comes to us on set. So we constantly had Inu Curry checking the artwork, so it would all be in place by the time it got to Mr. Shinbo.

SASAKI: I had mixed feelings - I was grateful to Inu Curry for giving us all these image boards; it may have been better to ask them to do even more; should I increase their workload even more? It was such a hard call to make. Like the cafe you just mentioned.

MIYAMOTO: Right, right.

SASAKI: In the script, it was just a normal cafe, but with Inu Curry's boards, it became a cafe on the water. Not only that, but it was also rotating! I was worried that if the cafe were rotating, it would make the animation team's lives pretty hard (laugh). I did add these notes in the storyboards because I was afraid it would be a lot of work, but when I saw it finished onscreen, I saw that the team had managed to streamline it nicely, which was a relief. But at the storyboard phase, I still felt that it was lacking something in terms of visuals. Glancing through the storyboards, I found a blimp, so I was graceful to use it in this scene. Initially, I think it was a blimp scattering flyers to commemorate the birth of a new magical girl.

MIYAMOTO: So even though we did struggle in carious ways, the film was received well by the audience - thank goodness! Although when I re-watch it, I think, "Information overload!" (laugh) I get the sense that you'd have to keep coming back to the theater to grasp what's going on - wow!

SASAKI: When I heard that it was considered a hit, I was just relieved. Because I couldn't tell myself what was going to happen. Since it's something I'm creating myself, I just can't feel calm about it when I watch it for the first time. On top of that, it wasn't made according to my own storyboards. Other people added their own "ingredients" to what I'd drawn. That's why I can't help staring at each scene - "How was this part interpreted, and what was added?" That's precisely why I can't get a full grasp on what kind of film it is. But the fact that it's a hit probably means that it was well-received by a good number of viewers, so I was just relieved by that.

MIYAMOTO: Also, for the Blu-ray version, we brushed up a lot of the theatrical version. It was quite a lot of tweaking. In all, there were about 2,300 shots, but we tweaked over half of them. It's not as if we turned it into a totally different product, with a different look, but I'm sure that it's been improved. But I'd like our viewers to not pause the film while watching. I hope they don't keep stopping it at each frame, saying, "This animation," or "These lines..." In other words, please don't watch it too closely (laugh)! Since the visuals come so thick and fast, I'd like everyone to go with the flow when they're watching it.

SASAKI: I actually made it, but instead of having me discuss it, I guess the fans do a better job of spreading the word about the film, and it enjoying it more thoroughly. It impresses me to see them, and it's very educational. That's why I hope everyone enjoys it that way. Whether or not there's a sequel in the works for this film might hinge on how much the fans enjoy it, and how the creators can surpass their expectations.

MIYAMOTO: Ah, I see. Pretty smooth way of putting it (laugh)!

Witches Artwork

CLARA DOLLS

1. Ibari

The first one to come was Pride. Stepping over Good-for-Nothing's head that tumbled across the bare earth, she boldly spoke for all of them. “How arrogant. You think I'd forgive you? This feeling is ours alone.”

2. Nekura

The second one to come was Gloominess. Walking out with a tapping sound, she sneered at Good-for-Nothing. “This is Good-for-Nothing! How very unbecoming.” These dolls are only disciples of Freedom, and are devoted to their lust for it.

3. Usotsuki

The third one to come was Liar. She offered false tears to Good-for-Nothing's soul. “Alas, Mistress Good-for-Nothing. We are proud of your foolish soul.” These dolls will sneer at the foolish and become their ally.

4. Reiketsu

From behind comes the fourth one, Coldheartedness. She stumbled over Good-for-Nothing's head and pouted a little. “Why don't we just cut Mistress Good-for-Nothing into tiny pieces to make her easier to carry?” When the Devil appears, these dolls will obediently follow.

5. Wagamama

Further comes the fifth, Selfishness, walking angrily. “Is this funeral procession still going? We practiced so we could cry quickly, didn't we? I won't wait even a little bit longer!” she huffed. These dolls are someone and no-one at all.

6. Warukuchi

Coming out carefully is the sixth one, Slander. As usual, she says hurtful things. “Mistress Good-for-Nothing, you've been made into a clown.” These dolls play house with causality decided by entanglement.

7. Noroma

At last arrives the seventh, Blockhead. This reticent doll laughs at the witch with her eyes. These dolls comply fairly well with the wishes of the witch, who is unlike a too-serious soldier.

8. Yakimochi

The eighth to appear is Jealousy. Spellbound, she looks up towards the heavens. “Let's prepare a box. I want to lock away that radiance forever.” These dolls are a meeting of colors. They are not empty.

9. Namake

The ninth one, Laziness, chats while yawning. “Do I really have to participate in this game? Knitting is such a troublesome bother.” She kicked Good-for-Nothing's tumbling head, which was in her way. Since the funeral procession hasn't started yet, these dolls take a leave of absence and wander about the city for a while.

10. Mie

The tenth to come running is Vanity. She exaggeratedly avoids Good-for-Nothing's head and says a few words. “I wouldn't be able to bear dirtying my cape with that sticky blood!” These dolls make fun of the witch's self-mutilation.

11. Okubyou

The eleventh, trembling one is Cowardice. “If I am taken into the sky, I won't be able to eliminate the rabbits.” These dolls have a power like magic to implement a perfect recurrence.

12. Manuke

Walking unsteadily comes the twelfth one, Stupidity. She goes out of her way to go around to everyone and tells them a story she heard from a bird some time ago. “I heard this story from the Goddess. She's a beautiful and radiant goddess. I'm sure she'll love us too.” These dolls only want things within reach.

13. Higami

The thirteenth's footsteps are Envy's. “Let's have a wonderful funeral procession like the ones I heard in a story once. Let's bury lots of beautiful girls and cute animals together with her too.” These dolls have power that is not inferior to those of magical girls.

14. Ganko

Next is the fourteenth, Stubbornness. Pointing to the ground, she rejects the sky. “The abyss of this mortal world is our stage.” So, the mourners have gathered. They were pretty slow, but it's alright. All that's left to do now is to wait for the funeral procession.

15. Ai

The fifteenth and last one to come is Love. Nobody has seen this Devil yet. The night is not yet over. She will not end the night again. We are the mourners, the theater troupe of this mortal world.

LOTTE

The Nutcracker Witch's minion. Her duty is to carry out punishment. They are the tin army who conduct the funeral procession of the witch being taken to the guillotine-stage. They detest fools and convict them. So that these stern minds with seriousness cannot understand leniency, they never lend an ear to the witch. Apart from the human-sized ones, there are Brocken-class ones. They hate white mice.

LUISELOTTE

The Nutcracker Witch's minion. Her duty is to exterminate mice. They are a cavalry of decaying teeth that flush out the white mice. They also assist the tin army and eliminate the rude ones who obstruct the progress of the funeral procession.