Interview with Akihiro Kanayama

Yoroiden Samurai Troopers Story 2 - Interview with Akihiro Kanayama, Design Cooperation Animation Director Animator (Yoroiden Samurai Troopers, 30th Anniversary Book, Tatsumi Publication. Translation provided by The URWWS.)

## Introduction

Akihiro Kanayama talks about his ally, Norio Shioyama

Interviewer Yoshie Kawahara

## Interview

In the 1980s, the animation production company "Sunrise Japan" (as it was then called) was often perceived as a "robot animation" company. 1972 saw the start of Sunrise as an animation production studio, and two years later, the company began to produce so-called "super robot" animations, which were popular among children at the time. Two years later, Sunrise began producing so-called "super robot" animations, which were popular among children at the time, and with this popularity as a foothold, the company began to focus its production efforts on robot animation, with "Mobile Suit Gundam" becoming synonymous with Sunrise.

Samurai Trooper" is one of the works created by the staff who have been supporting such robot animation works for a long time.

When we think of "robot animation," we tend to focus on the appeal of the robots and the mechanical world. However, it was the popularity of the characters that supported the popularity.

The popularity of "Samurai Troopers," which is not a "robot anime," is mostly due to the popularity of the characters. The designs were created by the late Norio Shioyama and Akihiro Kanayama.

Double casting of character designs is not a new phenomenon. However, the one in Samurai Troopers is a bit special in that two different personalities live together in one character.

Kanayama: Mr. Shioyama's drawings do not show emotion. He's good at drawing everything, but he's so cool that his face doesn't show any emotion. Also, I'm not good at drawing women.

That was the first thing Mr. Kanayama, whom I hadn't seen in a while, had to say about his memories of "Samurai Troopers.

Kanayama: Mr. Shioyama has been an original artist since he became an animator. I didn't do any animation. Anyway, Mr. Shioyama's drawings are difficult to animate. The lines are very strong and weak. It can't be made into animation.

But Mr. Yasuhiko has been saying since "Yuusha Raideen" that "Mr. Shioyama is great. He said that Shioyama-san was very good at drawing.

Mr. Kanayama and Mr. Shioyama are both allies and rivals in Sunrise.

Mr. Kanayama used to be a manga artist, but in order to have a stable income, he started working as an animator at the former Mushi-Pro through his older brother, who belonged to Toei Doga. After that, he started working on Sunrise films with the help of the founders of Sunrise, which became independent from MushiPro. Mr. Shioyama, on the other hand, started his career at Tatsunoko Pro, and after a few years, he and his colleagues became independent and started working on Sunrise films.

Although they came from different sources and had different backgrounds, they started their careers as animators at about the same time. Since "Super Electromagnetic Robo Con Battler V" was produced in 1976, they have been working together as original artists for the same work, and have also been active as animation directors.

I would like to express my gratitude to Mr. Kanayama-Shioyama. I am very grateful to Mr. Kanayama Shioyama.

In "Samurai Troopers," Akihiro Kanayama is credited with "design assistance," but he did not play a major role in the creation of the character. Here, even though he is an ally, he does not play a major role in the creation of the character.

In this interview, we asked him about his memories of "Samurai Troopers", and also about the late Norio Shioyama, who is not known to have played a major role in the development of the character.

In "Super Electromagnetic Robo Con Battler V", he was the original artist and animation director many times, and he was wonderful. When Mr. Shioyama did the drawings, the work became much better. It becomes a "Shioyama Theater.

However, the characters don't resemble each other at all (laughs). He can't draw other people's pictures, but he has his own pictures.

It's true that Shioyama-san's drawings are instantly recognizable no matter what kind of work you see. His strong lines, round and big eyes, and even the smartest character becomes a person with a solid backbone and feet on the ground.

Kanayama: Even so, he himself is quite feminine. He says, "I'm a Kyushu boy! I'm a Kyushu boy! He is also very persistent. Whenever he doesn't like something, he remembers it (laughs).

Mr. Kanayama laughs as he talks about Mr. Shioyama's work and personality. The two have deepened their relationship through work, drinking together, playing together, and even going on trips.

Kanayama: One time, we went swimming in the ocean together. On the way back, I took a wrong turn and walked in the opposite direction from the station. He got very angry. I made a mistake and walked in the wrong direction. But Mr. Shioyama was very angry. But I love Mr. Shioyama like that.

It is because of this relationship between the two of us that we were able to collaborate on the creation of the characters for Troopers.

Brilliant and proud character creation is based on stage plays and personal experience

Why did we ask Mr. Kanayama to participate in the creation of the characters in the first place? Samurai Troopers" was a project that had to be completed in a tight time frame. It was decided that the story would be about characters wearing Japanese armor-like protectors and fighting with swords.

I thought, "If you're talking about chanbara with armor, you must be Shioyama.

Mr. Shioyama was the perfect person to portray the rugged strength of Japanese armor and the action. There was no need to say anything else.

However, I had one concern.

Mr. Shioyama's designs are a little plain for children.

At the time, "Saint Seiya" was a huge hit, and sponsors and TV stations were paying attention to it. At the time, sponsors and TV stations were paying attention to the huge hit "Saint Seiya. I wanted the character to be glamorous. So, how can we combine Mr. Shioyama and glamour? That's when Mr. Kanayama came to mind.

Starting with the aforementioned work as an animation supervisor for "Con Battler V", he later worked on "Voltes V" and then on "Tousho Deimos" as an enemy character.

In addition to the aforementioned

Mr. Kanayama was a key player in solidifying the existence of "Sunrise's beautiful villains" by drawing them in a bold yet gorgeous manner.

Mr. Shioyama and Mr. Kanayama are old acquaintances. Mr. Shioyama and Mr. Kanayama are old acquaintances, and if it is Mr. Kanayama, Mr. Shioyama will not say no, and I am sure Mr. Kanayama will do the same. The idea was a great success, and the character design was completed by sending Mr. Kanayama a rough sketch of the character he had freely conceived, especially the head (face), to Mr. Shioyama for him to use as a base.

The character designs were created by sending rough sketches of the characters, especially the head (face), to Mr. Shioyama for him to use as a basis. The character designs for Samurai Troopers definitely include Kanayama-san's designs.

Kanayama: Oh, that's definitely me, isn't it? (Looking at the materials) I'm a lazy person. I don't think about things too much when I draw.

Anyway, I don't think about anything, so I quickly forget what I've done. If I make too many assumptions, it won't work out. That's why I immediately forget what I've drawn and don't leave any documents behind. I don't even have any pictures in my room. I create what I feel on the spot.

Were you aware of the characters of "Saint Seiya" by Shingo Araki, with whom you used to work?

I'm not a gold mine. It's just a hunch. A hunch (laughs).

(laughs) So you're also hunching about Rajoura's eye and the scar on the bad guy Yamori's face?

Kanayama: That's right. It was a spur-of-the-moment idea.

That wakame-like long hair, too... it's probably not a design you'd get from Shioyama. When I asked you for "Samurai Troopers", you were working on "Kamen no Ninja Akakage", did "Akakage" have any influence on you?

KanayamaYes, I was working on "Akakage". But I wasn't conscious of it at all. It's a bit sexy, cool but raw... I paid attention to that.

Your characters are gorgeous, aren't they? I don't think it's your intention, but it's "Takarazuka" style.

Kanayama: I like stage plays, so I might have that in my mind.

Haha. So that's how it is.

Kanayama: I went to see Takarazuka as well. I went to see Takarazuka, too. Experiences are always good for pictures. My family suddenly went from rich to poor. But my mother always told me, "No matter how poor you become, never lose your pride.

This story made a lot of sense to me.

Even as a villain, Kanayama's character is never a lowlife. The villains that Kanayama portrays are beautiful because he is able to portray their inner strength and proud expressions.

This mindset was also utilized in the characters of "Samurai Troopers".

Kanayama: I always try to do something different from others. I'm not a straightforward person. I don't listen to what people say. Because of this, I could not study at all when I was a child. I didn't listen to my teachers at all (laughs).

It is true that people in the animation industry are often very individualistic. A generation ago, there were many people who had extraordinary "sagas. There was even a saying in the studio that "drawing is all about strength", and there was usually an iron array under the desk of the artist, and Mr. Kanayama would hold a pencil in his right hand while raising and lowering the array with his left.

But everyone was gentlemanly and very kind to the fans (laughs).

The girls who were fans of Kanayama were really supportive of me. I'm grateful for that. Japanese anime has been supported by its fans. When I went to a fan event in the south of France, there was a "Samurai Troopers" fan club. I asked them who they liked, and they said Karyura.

So, I sometimes draw illustrations of Karyura. Karyura is a Shioyama-san character from the beginning. I did the drawings for episode 28, but Mr. Shioyama fixed everything (lol).

Mr. Kanayama continued, "Today's anime is mostly three-part animation, but I'd like to see two-part animation continue as well. I think the charm of the movements in anime lies in the fact that they are different from real movements.

I occasionally watch the current late night cartoons, and the technology is great. But I don't get the feeling that they are having fun making it. I don't think they have enough time. We just cut corners and made the work easier. Otherwise, we wouldn't be able to continue and enjoy our work. It must be very difficult in the animation production field right now. The other day, someone contacted me and asked me to do a semi-part time job, but I can't do it anymore. I'll be 80 years old next year.

But now I'm thinking of making a manga about my past. I'm originally a manga artist, and you are an artist. Samurai Troopers" is a collaboration between a manga artist, a painter, and an animator (laughs).

(laughs) I realized this when Kanayama-san told me. (laughs) I realized that when Kanayama-san told me about it. The artist took the manga artist's ideas and made them into drawings, and the animator made them into action. That was "Samurai Troopers"!

Not just a bunch of energetic boys, not just a bunch of handsome men, but a full-blooded presence of Samurai Troopers was born from that very idea. Mr. Kanayama is still in good health. I hope that he will be as active as his ally, Shioyama-san, because the two of them make up the "Samurai Troopers. I'm also looking forward to the autobiography manga that he plans to draw for two years starting next year.

1. ↑ Character designer of "Mobile Suit Gundam

Yoshikazu Yasuhiko. He is from the former Mushi Productions. He is one of the leading creators in Japan, and has worked as a character designer, original artist, animation director, and general director for a number of animations including Mobile Suit Gundam.
2. ↑ Yūsha Raideen, broadcasted by TV (now TV Asahi)

A super robot animation produced by Tohoku Shinsha and broadcast on NE IT in 1955. Sunrise Studio, the predecessor of Sunrise, an animation production studio of Soeisha, a subsidiary of Tohoku Shinsha, was in charge of the actual production.
3. ↑ Super Electromagnetic Machine Five. In 1977, Akihiro Kanayama was the animation director for the entire Toei-produced robot animation series, which was also produced by Sunrise Studio.
4. ↑ An animator from the former Mushi Productions, worked as an animation director for "Ashita no Joe" with Kanayama and Akio Sugino in 1997.
5. ↑ Masked Ninja Akakage

An animation based on the Mitsuteru Yokoyama manga series that aired on Nippon Television Network Corporation from 1987 to 1988.
6. ↑ Half-part

In TV broadcasting, the first half of the program from the opening to the commercial is called the "m-part" and the second half from the commercial to the ending is called the "day-part" (depending on the program). In the case of a half-part, either one or two paranoids are used.