【Interview】 Chainsaw Man Animation Director Ryu Nakayama

The animeChainsaw Man is currently receiving enthusiastic support and attention from anime fans. Why is it so interesting? To find the answer to that simple yet important question, I spoke to someone on the inside!

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Interview with Ryu Nakayama and Keisuke Seshita

Citation.

［Left] Director Ryu Nakayama [Right] Producer Keisuke Seshita

What do you focus on in the production of your animations?

Nakayama: I would like to express a live-action style screen using the common ground with Mr. Fujimoto Tatsuki sensei, who is a movie buff, as a stepping stone, on the premise that I should work with respect so as not to destroy the atmosphere of the original manga. We have reduced deformation, and have placed emphasis on how we want the viewer to see the anime as a visual image rather than easily giving it an anime-like appearance.

Is there a way to depict the action that is typical of Chainsaw Man?

Nakayama: As for the battle scenes, Mr. Tatsuya Yoshihara supervises them as action director, and I myself have been involved in action drawing for a many time, so it is an area where I am naturally particular.

Seshita: When we think of action scenes in animation, we usually imagine fighting scenes or flashy scenes, but I think action includes running, turning around, hair fluttering, and other such things. Chainsaw Man is a work in which the director’s vision for this aspect is clearly expressed. Speaking in that sense, how does the director himself think of action?

Ryu Nakayama & Keisuke Seshi’s impression of the situation at the animation production site

Nakayama: That is exactly right (laugh). What I am thinking about is how the world would look moving if someone were peering into it at that moment, including the way they speak and the tone of their voice. Denji and his team are simply living in this world, and if we reflect the animator’s strong intention of how they want their work to look, the realism will be filtered too much. It can be said that the characteristics of each creator are expressed in this area, so there is no need to eliminate them. If we compare it to cooking, we want to use only the tasty parts of a dish by straining out the umami and other elements such as miscellaneous tastes.

Creators are encouraged to exchange opinions and improve each other’s skills at the production site. 【Ryu Nakayama ＆ Keisuke Seshi】

Seshita: Our animation creators are all very particular about the accuracy of their drawings, and there is a lot of clashing of opinions. That is really a good thing. To use an analogy, we are like a strong school where everyone has the will to win the national championship.

Nakayama: Within that group, Some of them want to hit home runs, some want to steal bases, and by making use of their charms in the right places, great power is generated as a whole.

The ending theme of each episode changes to match the main story of the anime. It’s a great trick.

Nakayama: At first, I was casually talking with Mr. Seshita about how we wanted to create a special ending for this episode. As we continued to explore this idea, before we knew it, all the Chainsaw Man episodes had separate endings (laugh).

Seshita: Since each episode has different characteristics depending on the direction, an ending that ties in with the development of the story is ideal.

Nakayama: So when we ordered the music, we asked the artists to use a certain tone and taste for this episode, because we wanted the ending to have a certain aftertaste. The artists were very cooperative in composing the music for the anime production, and we were able to create a wonderful lingering effect in the ending theme.

Seshita: The composition of the anime is unusual and a very interesting highlight.

Ryu Nakayama Profile

Ryu Nakayama, a freelance animator, recently storyboarded and directed the animation Jujutsu Kaisen and did the original drawings for Jujutsu Kaisen 0. He made his directorial debut with Chainsaw Man after receiving an enthusiastic offer from producer Seshita. He did all direction” for all episodes, including storyboarding and directing.

Animation video of Ryu Nakayama’s drawings 　Click on the image to go to youtube video ↓

Producer Keisuke Seshimo

Keisuke Seshita is a producer at the animation studio MAPPA. Works include the animations Jujutsu Kaisen (2020-21) and Jujutsu Kaisen 0 (2021). After seeing Nakayama demonstrate his talent as an animator in the “Jujutsu Kaisen” series, we decided that we would like to work with him in the near future and asked him to direct this anime.

Thank you for watching. See you soon.

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