#kayoko ishikawa | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

toraonice · 7 years

Text

Yuri on Ice interview translation - Animage 2017/01 (p20-23)

I was going to post this last week but gave priority to the BD stuff. This will be the final interview from the booklet that came with January Animage! There’s still an interview with Kenji Miyamoto left untranslated, but it will be taken care of by @whiteboxgems whenever she has time! I’ll reblog it when it’s around.

This is actually 2 interviews, I’m posting them together because they were one after the other and (main reason) because the second one is very short. A few notes below to better understand the interviews.

The first one is with Yuuichirou Hayashi, the one who created the ending (ED = ending by the way) footage. I have the feeling someone previously posted translations of the captions under the ED screenshots, but I don’t remember where and I’m pretty sure it was just the captions and not the interview parts, so here you have it complete. This one is pretty interesting because he explains in detail how they created the ED, and has some extra information on cut scenes etc. Definitely a must read in my opinion!

The second one is a short interview with Kayoko Ishikawa, the one who did the costume designs. Here you might think: didn’t Chacott design the costumes? I’ll explain. It’s more or less like with Mitsurou Kubo and Tadashi Hiramatsu: Kubo created the original designs for the characters, from scratch, and Hiramatsu transformed them into designs specifically created for animation, therefore with simpler lines, detailed expression sheets and so on. Likewise, Chacott did the original designs for the costumes, from scratch, based on the indications by Yamamoto and Kubo, and then the anime’s costume designer simplified and modified them so that they would be suitable to be animated. (Before actually animating them there’s a further step: the anime’s color designer is going to decide the exact colors, shadows and highlights included, that will be used inside the anime. I translated an interview with the color designer Izumi Hirose some time ago)

I usually don’t add pictures but this time I felt that it would be better to add them as an immediate reference. However, they are just for reference and are not meant to be visually stunning, so please bear with the quality because I just took photos of the magazine with my phone and quickly edited them.

Translation under the cut! (kind of image-heavy)

***If you wish to share this translation please do it by reblogging or posting a link to it***  ***Re-translating into other languages is ok but please mention that this post is the source***

Yuuichirou Hayashi ED storyboard, direction, key animation “I paid attention to the sensuality”

The faint sensuality and physical beautiy created by fireworks & water.

—The ED of “Yuri on Ice” has been highly praised by the fans too. How did you feel when director Sayo Yamamoto offered you the job?

I was told by MAPPA at quite an early stage that they wanted to ask me to do the ED. Director Yamamoto is known for her stylish animation, and I was sure from the start that it would be a challenge. Before the meeting I was really anxious to know what kind of instructions I would receive. —What instructions did director Yamamoto give you?

She already had a concrete image in her head, and she told me that the concept would be to “show candid shots of the skaters”. Real figure skaters actually use Instagram and other SNS a lot, and often post pictures. She showed me the pictures they posted and we talked about how to make the ED. Director Yamamoto really knows a lot about figure skating, and she explained many things to me from a fan’s point of view (LOL). I could feel her love for figure skating very strongly. I also watch it on TV, but my knowledge is limited to knowing the names of the most famous athletes, therefore it was very interesting information for me. —The fireworks in the beginning are very striking.

First of all I created the storyboard and drew all the candid shots I could think of. Then I decided the order of appearance based on the song and did some adjustments like removing the shots that wouldn’t fit, but I was really torn about the first and last pictures… After all, I wanted it to start with a shot of Yuuri, Victor and Yurio having fun together. Real figure skaters too get along well outside of tournaments and post pictures together with other athletes on the SNS. Still, the time the three of them spent together in Japan is actually very short. Yurio returns to Russia around May, and fireworks are a bit weird for that time of the year, but you know… why not?, I thought (LOL). —Why did you choose fireworks?

When I was thinking about what would be nice to see them doing I thought that, since Hasetsu is on the sea, fireworks could be a good idea. Since the concept is SNS and candid shots the footage would be made by a slideshow of still pictures, therefore we could use the kind of pictures taken with the camera shutter left open to effectively show the traces of light drawn by the fireworks. I paid attention to sensuality, not just in this scene but in the whole ED. I thought that motifs of fireworks and water would be good to represent the beauty of colors and of the trained bodies of figure skaters. —The last shot is also with fireworks, but it only has Yuuri in it.

Actually, before thinking of the three of them playing with fireworks, the first image that popped into my mind was Yuuri dancing alone. The first storyboard also started with a picture of “Ice Castle Hasetsu” seen from the outside. However, there are episodes ending with Ice Castle Hasetsu too, so it would have been boring to have the ED start with that too, and that’s when I thought that it would be interesting to add Victor and Yurio to Yuuri’s solo scene that I had imagined first. Lots of love for the characters! Inside stories about how the candid shots were born.

—The SNS pictures of the skaters are also very realistic. It seems that the fans are curious about what is written in the captions too.

The production team recreated the social media screens very carefully, from the account name to the icons, and we made them slide fast on purpose so that it would be difficult to read the text. After all the ED is meant to show the names of the staff, and we thought that it wouldn’t be nice if some other text caught the viewers’ attention too much (LOL).

—It’s also realistic that the number of “likes” for every character is different. Some characters will enjoy writing long posts, while others like Seung-gil only write one word. I really think that the pictures are successful in representing each character’s personality. —How did you decide the order of appearance of the candid shots?

We didn’t follow this pattern for all of them, but since this show is set in various parts of the world, I decided to pay attention to the time difference. The shots in Europe are set around noon and the ones in Asia from evening to night. The director also said that “they come from different countries and live in different places, so there is a time difference”, therefore I tried to reflect this in the pictures. —What did you have a hard time with?

I was the only member of the staff working on this, so the schedule was quite tight (LOL). I thought about how to make it the most effective while still being something that I would be able to do alone. However, and this is not just regarding “Yuri on Ice”, it’s not like I had a hard time. I’m the type who tends to forget any hardship when it’s over (LOL). —Who is the character that caught your attention the most?

I like Victor. I like that, even though he always acts as he pleases, only thinking about himself and not really the others, he also has a playful side and you can’t hate him. Working on this series I could really feel the love that Mitsurou Kubo-san, director Yamamoto and the rest of the staff have for the characters.They really like everyone. That’s also why I naturally felt that I should express “love” in my work as well. —Are there any shots that you had to cut and never saw the light of day?

There was a shot with Yuuri and Victor eating soba. It’s a dish of Hasetsu and you eat it topped with various kinds of ingredients, but since Yuuri tends to gain weight easily he just ate soba without anything on it. While Victor looked all pleased with his soba full of toppings. Unfortunately, when putting the pictures in order we realized that there were too many and it would become chaotic, so we had to cut it. —Did the way you look at figure skating change after you worked for this series?

It feels much closer than before. I didn’t even know that skaters posted pictures on the SNS. It happened that I started checking them out as a reference, but they were so interesting that before I knew it I’d spent lots of time just doing that… —The show is getting closer to the climax.

I’m happy to see that the show is getting a huge response. I feel that Kubo-san and director Yamamoto’s overflowing love for figure skating and the characters is reaching the viewers. I still don’t know how it ends either, so I’m very curious to see whether Yuuri and Victor will be able to win this tournament. Please watch over their battle until the end!

**Captions**

Fireworks on the beach On Hasetsu’s beach. Yurio is covering his ears because he is not used to Japanese stick fireworks that you hold in your hand. In the beginning he’s cautious, but then he gets carried away and starts waving it around. Maybe he will try to shoot at Yuuri the type of fireworks that you place on the ground (LOL).

Wine is the protagonist? This is a picture uploaded on the SNS by a skater and it’s just the landscape. It’s set in France and it’s meant to show that he is just leisurely drinking wine. It would look a bit too crowded to only put pictures of people, so I added this to have a visual break.

Christophe Giacometti The figure skating season is from autumn to winter, and summer is a time for vacation. In this scene he relaxes at home playing with his cat. This is based on something director Yamamoto said in a meeting: “it would be nice if all the skaters had a pet”, and “Giacometti would have a cat”. When I asked her about Christophe’s image she said “anyway, sexy”, and I spent quite some time wondering how I could express sexiness in your everyday life (LOL).

Phichit Chulanont He’s buying some snacks to eat from Bangkok’s food stands. He likes SNS, and he’s probably looking for new stuff to post and uploading his selfies every day, therefore I thought it would be nice to use a really simple everyday life scene. I drew it so that it would look like it’s conveying “I’m having fun!” and “this is delicious!”.

Seung-gil Lee Together with his pet dog in his house in Korea. The dog is a Siberian husky. At the meeting I was told that Seung-gil isn’t really interested in fashion, so I made his casual clothes very plain and uninteresting. Originally I was planning to show him very loosely idling around at home in a sweat shirt, but I though maybe that was too much (LOL) and I changed it to this version.

Michele Crispino The siblings spending some free time together. They are taking a souvenir photo in front of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence. Michele looks like he’s having fun with his beloved sister.

Jean-Jacques Leroy JJ is spending his time off at a high-class hotel in Singapore where celebrities gather. I drew him as someone with a satisfactory real life, as if he’s saying “I’m going to a party” (LOL). He looks like he would always be surrounded by girls, but to be considered toward his fans he’s taking the picture so that you can’t see the girls’ faces. He’s the only one looking at the camera.

Otabek Altin A picture from when he goes back to his country Kazakhstan during his time off. It’s taken on a very long escalator in a station of the subway. I made some research about Kazakhstan sceneries, but I couldn’t find anything that gave me a good idea for a situation with Otabek. When I consulted with the director, she told me about this long escalator.

Guang-Hong Ji The picture is taken in front of a sports center and shows him going to practice with his new bicycle. This is also based on something I heard from the director. She said that one day, when she went to watch a figure skating tournament in a certain country, she spotted one of the skaters going to the arena with their bicycle. I thought it was amusing that it was like he’s just going to play in the neighborhood, and I created this situation.

Yuuri and Victor facing each other on a train Yuuri and Victor coming back from practice. I didn’t really mean it to be a parting picture, but the setting sun coming in from the window and the symmetrical layout give the scene a slightly melancholic and lonely feeling. I wanted to use a vehicle, and for this scene I used as a model a train that is actually running in Kyushu*. I carefully researched the interior too when drawing it. [*translator’s note: It should be the 305 Series train that runs on the Karatsu line, look it up on Wikipedia and you’ll see that the seats are like that]

Yuri Plisetsky A picture of him waiting for the train on his way back from practice, in St. Petersburg in Russia. Since he’s a punk he’s lying on the bench sideways checking his phone (LOL).

Yurio and the lion statue Together with the lion statue in front of a museum in St. Petersburg. Since in Hasetsu Yurio was attracted by an animal T-shirt, I was looking around to see if there was a good place that could be used to show his punkiness. With this lion & lion picture I obtained the effect I was looking for.

Victor Nikiforov This is Victor taking a selfie as he’s going on a drinking spree in Nakasu, a place in Kyushu (LOL). In the anime he was also shown going to eat Nagahama ramen while having Yuuri and Yurio practice “eros” and “agape”, so I wanted to draw a picture in the style “meanwhile, Victor… (LOL).

Sneak shot of Yuuri and Victor Victor arranging Yuuri’s hair when they are trying out costumes at Yuuri’s house. I created this picture aiming for an indirect, subtle sensuality. I guess the sneak shot was probably taken by the 3 skating otaku sisters (LOL).

By the sea 1 It’s after Yurio returned home, so it’s mainly Yuuri and Victor. I aimed for a retro feeling, as if the picture was taken with a camera from the 70s. I used this scene in a moment where the ED song changes to a slow pace. Instead of showing the characters up front, I chose a soft look to give importance to the atmosphere.

By the sea 2 They are getting the salt off their bodies after playing by the sea, the place is Niji no Matsubara in Kyushu. There are actually showers like this on the beach. They have this curious shape because they’re meant to be used by people facing each other. I was told that this scene was originally planned to be used in the show, but unfortunately that wasn’t possible in the end, so I decided to at least use it in the ED.

Yurio full of cats Taken at the training place in Russia. The scene shows Mila having fun covering Yurio in cat plushies. Since Yurio has a cat, it’s common for fans to throw cat plushies in the rink after his performances.

Yuuri and fireworks When I was creating the ED, the first image that came to my mind was Yuuri dancing alone on the beach. He’s already dancing on the ice in the show, so I wanted to make this scene different, more fluid, as if he’s dancing ballet.

Cool! Sexy! Cute! Costume designer Kayoko Ishikawa

What is interesting in designing costumes different than normal clothing

—How did you start working for the costume designs in “Yuri on Ice”?

The first instructions I received from (Sayo) Yamamoto-san concerning the design of skating costumes were to make arms and legs longer than in normal character design and to show muscles (especially on the butt and thighs). I then asked what image Chacott-san had in mind when they designed the costumes, with what image Yamamoto-san wanted to proceed, and I started working. —Could you tell us what was difficult and what was interesting about designing figure skating costumes?

The designs by Chacott-san were just full of interesting elements that you cannot find in normal clothes. While keeping the interesting parts and the overall image, I reconstructed them, simplifying them as much as possible to make them less difficult to animate and adding some extra things. At the beginning I found them hard to understand, but I gradually started having fun designing them. I aimed to make them cool! Cute! Sexy! —Do you have a favorite character?

I was shocked by the gap of Yurio and Otabek*. [*translator’s note: I believe she means the gap between their normal appearance and when they are on the ice] —What clothes would you like Yuuri, Victor and Yurio to wear except for the ones you designed this time?

Yuuri had lots of black and dark outfits, so I would like to see him wear something uselessly flashy, cool and over-the-top. Like bright red bondage…… —Bondage! (LOL) What about Victor and Yurio?

I want Victor to do the macho man costume skit Plushenko looked like he had a lot of fun doing years ago! I’m sure it would be amusing. And I would like Yurio to wear make-up and a black leather jacket like KISS (the band) over a cute coquettish ballerina costume like in the masked ball of the “Phantom of the Opera” (opera ver.). Only Yurio would be able to wear both at the same time. It would be such chaos. —Lastly, please tell us the highlights of the climax!

You will be showered with surprising developments (LOL). And the way it ends is very moving. I hope you will watch it until the end!

**Design point**

Yuuri Katsuki I wanted Yuuri’s costume to be sexy, so I designed it with underwear and bondage in mind.

Victor Nikiforov For Victor I used a stoic and prince-like image. I’m glad the gradation successfully looked nice in the show.

Yuri Plisetsky Yurio’s costume is midway between stoic and neat. It’s designed in the image of feathers and flames.

Phichit Chulanont Phichit’s is a mix of neatness and cool-cuteness.

Christophe Giacometti Chris’ SP was the hardest. Until it was colored I couldn’t understand what the final impression was going to be.

Jean-Jacques Leroy JJ is a crazy character, but his costume is quite conventional.

Otabek Altin I purposely incorporated a certain design in Otabek’s costume. Check it out when it airs in the show!

Leo De La Iglesia I like both the music and costume of Leo’s SP. His image reminds of Michael* and it’s both cool and cute. [*translator’s note: Michael Jackson]

Random note #1: Not sure whether I should be happy or sad that the shower scene was not featured in the anime, as I find it very beautiful how it’s shown in the ED. But I’m sad we couldn’t get to see the soba scene.

Random note #2: I’m sure no one couldn’t care less, but actually one of the pictures of the ED is set in my hometown, lol.

Random note #3: The costume designer seems such an amusing person. I mean, she wants to dress Yuuri in red bondage...! I’ve yet to see that even in fanart, lmao. Someone should draw that, AND Victor in the macho man costume AND Yurio with the ballerina dress + leather jacket and KISS make up (which by the way sounds like something he could’ve used in his exhibition performance considering the song...).

EDIT: Just a note because I’ve seen some extreme interpretation of Yuuri’s SP costume being inspired by underwear and bondage, but please remember that the costume was originally designed by Chacott, and the designer said "Since the song is performed from the point of view of a woman, I designed it with the concept of “a femme fatale who seduces men”.” (you can read the full interview here). In this interview the costume designer means that she took inspiration from how bondage and underwear look to edit the design, she doesn’t mean that within the anime the costume was created based on bondage.

#YOI #Yuri on ice #interview #translation #animage #You Only Live Once #costume design #animation #yuuichirou hayashi #kayoko ishikawa

1K notes · View notes