Yuasa on Hara - from Yasuki Hamano's Keiichi Hara book

 “I Want to Learn Emotional Direction”
Interview with Masaaki Yuasa by Yasuki Hamano
March 2005
from the book "Animation Director: Keiichi Hara" edited by Yasuki Hamano

[Machine translated using Google Translate, DeepL as well as some rudimentary Japanese knowledge and additional research. May not be 100% accurate although I'm confident the gist is generally correct.]

Working with Director Hara

My first time working with Hara was on the TV anime “Esper Mami.” It was produced at Ajia-do, where I worked, and Hara was the Chief Director. Mitsuru Hongo was an episodic director on it. I was on a different crew working on “Kiteretsu Daihyakka” but once in a while we helped the Mami team. I did key animation on Mami which was my first indirect connection with Hara.

I had just started my career, and I was busy with my own work, so I didn't have any particular impression of Hara. I remember being told the Chief Director was very impressed with something I had drawn, but I had never met him (laughs).

I think the first time I became aware of Hara's direction was probably on “Dorami-chan: Wow, the Kid Gang of Bandits!” (1991). At the time, I was only thinking about the animation, but I noticed the number of drawings used for different actions always felt right. It was a bit of an aha moment for me. The amount of frames varied a lot, but with a sense of intention. “Let's use a lot of frames for this action, and fewer for this other one.” I wondered if this was the work of the director. The beauty of the animation stood out to me.

After that, I became a freelancer and joined joined Hongo at Shin-Ei to work on an “Emon” film he was directing, that was shown alongside “Doraemon.” [“21-Emon: To Space! The Barefoot Princess”, 1992] Then the “Crayon Shin-chan” TV series was about to start, and I stuck around to do key animation on that too. I had the opportunity to animate on episodes directed by Hara. I didn't work with him that much though, maybe just a couple of episodes. [7B "I Found a Puppy" and 27A "Gargling Prevents Colds"]

There was a very skilled animator named Masami Otsuka, and I think Hara worked with him a lot. If you see his work you know it, he has a very unique style. When I started working with Hara, my impression of him was that he was really strict. At the time I had bronchitis, I was coughing all day and had no energy, so I tried to get away with drawing in a sort of lazy stylized way, but he said “I don't want it to look like that” and asked for a retake. I resented that he would give a retake note to someone who was visibly in so much pain, but I guess it's fairly normal for a director.

I started working on the Crayon Shin-chan movies with Mitsuru Hongo's first film, “Action Kamen vs. Leotard Devil” (1993). Along with animation, I had the role of “Set Designer,” which involved drawing ideas for environments and props once the rough story outline had been created. For example, if I was told the story would have a secret base or a huge spaceship, I would take that as my assignment and try to draw something that fit, and ask “how about this?” If they said “that's good,” I would draw a more fleshed-out layout. However the scope of my job wasn't clearly defined, so my role was basically to design whatever the director requested.

In the first film, Hara directed a fairly subdued section and Hongo handled the flashy parts, but I think from the second film on, Hara also started handling some of the action. It's often left to the animators to figure out the action, but I was impressed by Hara's detailed storyboards, with meticulous instructions on martial arts techniques like joint locks.

Once I started doing action, I didn't want to do gags. I got so caught up in it I thought “why do I have to draw Shin-chan?” I mean “Crayon Shin-chan” was a very enjoyable job, but if you keep doing the same thing over and over, you fall into a rut as an artist. So I took a break after the first movie, did some other work, and then came back to “Shin-chan” when there was another movie. After Hara took over as the director, I worked as a set designer on “Balls of Darkness” and “Pig's Hoof's Secret Mission” and a character designer on “The Storm Called The Jungle.”

The setting of “Balls of Darkness” is quite realistic, so it took me a lot of time to do my research, and it was a hard one for me. Hara said “you don't need to do that many designs.” Well sure, I guess maybe it's not strictly necessary, but as the designer, I want to flesh things out to a point where it makes sense to me. Even though I was expected to keep doing key animation, I was finding less opportunities to get involved in set design and such, so I decided to step away from “Shin-chan” for a while.

What I like about Shin-Ei Animation, which I've been involved with for a long time, is that they do hit films with simple iconic designs. “Crayon Shin-chan” is a big hit seen by many people, and they do a movie every year, so there's a certain freedom within that. The simple designs mean there are no restrictions on the number of drawings, so it's a place where you can do interesting work. I had the chance to direct the film “Mind Game” (2004) and it made me realize how hard it is to get an audience to come see a film.

“Crayon Shin-chan” is a popular series that attracts a big audience, and if you do good work on it, you get a lot of positive feedback. Although the downside is it's been so mass-produced, maybe they're not quite as adventurous as they used to be.

As an animator, you're really lucky to be involved in a hit project. Your individual work will be seen by a lot of people. I'm not the most skilled animator, but I have been blessed with good directors and projects, and I've been surprisingly successful. Even if someone is very skilled and does high-level work, if they're working on obscure projects that nobody sees, they won't be even known within the industry.

Director Hara's Personality

I don't think Hara is the kind of person who raises his voice and gets angry often, but he does have strong beliefs. He gets annoyed if you mention that bonfires emit dioxins, or that eating carbs will make you fat. “Don't make bonfires and carbohydrates the bad guys!” (laughs)

Apparently Hara is fond of Hideji Otaki's character from “Kita no Kuni Kara” (1981). Maybe he feels “we must not forget the hardships of our ancestors.” One time I said to him “using a peeler is so convenient,” and Hara responded “that's no way to live” (laughs). The peeler is a convenient tool for peeling vegetables and stuff, and I'm pretty sure even professionals use it, but according to Hara, the only proper way is to peel everything with a knife, which I thought was extremely Hara-like (laughs).

I'm the kind of person who likes to do a sketch or two if I have a free moment, so I pretty much just stayed at my desk all the time. I never got to chat with Hara much while I was at Shin-Ei, but then after I left, I would ask him for advice sometimes and he would always be willing to listen, so we started going out for drinks now and then.

When I was panicking about directing a movie for the first time, Hara gave me some harsh but reasonable advice, saying “it's too late to panic now” and “if it fails, you'll just be back where you are now.” [Not sure about that second quote, the phrase is「今持っている物が出るだけだ」]. He helped me with promoting the movie, and when we had a drinking party after “Mind Game” won an award, he handed me a celebratory glass of champagne. I just remember thinking he seemed like such a mature adult. I can never be smart like that!

Hara's Works

After I started doing storyboards, I studied Hara's storyboards for the “Crayon Shin-chan” TV series. At first glance the drawings look simple, but they're actually very precise and fully-realized. He finds ways to portray Hiroshi's worn-out ennui or other complex adult feelings that have nothing to do with the comedy. However these are not easy things to convey in a drawing, so I found it hard to express them, and sometimes I felt the finished product didn't reach the level of his storyboards. Hara would never explicitly force me to draw this level of nuance, in fact he would even say “don't worry about that.” But I felt it was my job as an animator to reflect what was in his boards. Well, maybe it's overstating it to say he actively discouraged me, but I think he was just confident the emotions would come across through his direction, rather than relying on the power of the animated acting. But I still think you have to try to convey it through the animation too.

I consider myself a Hara fan, but I always thought “Balls of Darkness” was his most interesting film rather than “The Adult Empire Strikes Back” or “Warring States,” which were particularly well-received by the public. The story is said to be weak, but I thought his direction was very sophisticated, with great shot flow. However, the story in “Adult Empire” blew me away. “Nostalgia is the enemy” was a timely message in the middle of the big retro boom, and it was really impactful. Even just from seeing the trailer, I was glad because I could tell Hara was finally reflecting himself and his own values in his work. “Pig's Hoof's Secret Mission” and “Storm Called The Jungle” were well-crafted entertainment, but I wondered if his heart was really in them.

I would sum up Hara's direction as “emotional and very Japanese.” In “Crayon Shin-chan: Glorious Yakiniku Road,” which Hara co-storyboarded, there is a funny scene where Hiroshi throws Tama-chan, a seal he comes across, into the river saying “go back to the sea!” It was a very funny scene, but it had extra weight because he tapped into what everyone was thinking about at the time. I really think Hara is more emotionally heavy than anyone else, even in his comedy. And that's an area where I struggle myself, so I want to learn from him.

I think the Japanese feeling is partly just because the film is set in Japan, but somehow when I read the storyboards for his latest film, I felt that I was watching a “Japanese film” - like a classic, quintessential Japanese film. I don't know why exactly, but I think Hara is very conscious of it.

What I Learn From Hara

I'm trying to figure out how to be a director and pay attention to what others are doing, and I feel Hara has something I really lack - a very clear-cut, straightforward, dignified directing style. I'd like to learn that confidence, even though I couldn't just imitate him. He says it's because he doesn't have room to get fancy, but I don't think that's it. I think he just knows precisely what he wants when he's drawing. Hongo had his own voice, but he would invite other people to collaborate and add their own colours on the canvas to balance it out. On the other hand, Hara has a very clear image in his mind of he wants to create, and just uses other people to execute that. It feels like there's no room for the rest of us to get involved.

His approach to his career is that he works when he needs to, and also takes a break when he needs to rest. It's also cool how he goes abroad to relax. Directing is hard, but I'm planning to do it for a while, so I hope I can learn what it means to be a director.

(Masaaki Yuasa is an animation director. After working on “Chibi Maruko-chan” and other projects at Ajia-Do, he went freelance. He has worked in a wide range of anime roles, including key animator, animation director and set designer. For “Cat Soup” he was involved in everything from the script to storyboards and direction. In 2004, he made his feature-length directorial debut with “Mind Game,” which attracted a lot of attention.)