Talk:Tokyo Ghoul (anime)/@comment-24494906-20150828172450/@comment-24494906-20150828213733

Second interview by Anime2You: http://www.anime2you.de/news/42817/tokyo-ghoul-regisseur-shuhei-morita-im-interview-animagic-2015/

'Anime2You'': Did you read the Tokyo Ghoul manga? What were your thoughts with respect to the differences between the second season and the manga?'''

Morita: Of course I've read the manga. Let me elaborate a bit on the second season. In Japan, there was a three-month break between the seasons. These three months meant that viewers would lose touch with the anime and forget parts of the story. For this reason, starting where the last season left off wouldn't have been a good thing. That's why we thought of another approach. In order to regain the attention of the audience, we consulted with Ishida, and that led to the decision to use an original story for the second season. [TL Note: That explanation is nonsense. If he really tried to make it easier for the viewers, then he failed at it completely.]

Anime2You: How much influence did Ishida have on the anime?

Morita: Ishida made the rough storyboard for the second season. [TL Note: That you didn't use.] Of course he had a big influence on both seasons. He made many suggestions and explained the relations between characters that didn't appear in the manga yet. All that as incorporated into the anime. Ishida created a storyboard of about 200-300 pages which was used as the basis for the anime production.

Anime2You: Which part of your work on Tokyo Ghoul was the most difficult?

Morita: The portrayal of feelings was the most difficult part. They are layered and complex, for example in Touka's and Kaneki's case. They are furious, but also sad, and it was difficult to portray these feelings in image and speech. The cast had to capture the emotions of the characters to the best of their abilities.

'Anime2You'': The end of the second season left many questions unanswered. Many fans hope for an animation of the sequel Tokyo Ghoul:re. Would you look forward to directing a potential third season of the anime?'''

Morita: We cannot comment on a third season, because it hasn't been decided yet if there will be one. We didn't want a typical ending for the second season. A hero doesn't arrive there who rescues everyone, it was meant to be open and should portray the life of Kaneki and the situation he's in. The ending was meant to encourage the viewer to think.

Anime2You: What do you think of the censoring that was required in order to broadcast the anime in Japan?

Morita: In television, you can't show everything, and I respect that, but I also have no problem with some of these graphic elements. Tokyo Ghoul isn't primarily about violence and splatter, it's about emotions, but as long as this aspect isn't neglected, violence is no problem.

'Anime2You'': During the preparation of this interview, we found out that you finished Tsukumo in just five months. Was it difficult to finish it on time?'''

Morita: In Tokyo Ghoul's case, the schedule was even tighter, so in retrospect, the production of Tsukumo was much easier.

'Anime2You'': Recently, the anime Shirobako was broadcasted in Japan, in which the viewers were allowed to take a glance at the everyday life at animation studios. In this anime, it was often the case that the finished episodes were transmitted to the station right before the broadcast. Did this happen in your production, too?'''

Morita: In reality, the schedule was often even tighter. That is no good, but that's how it is. The creators want to put in their two cents and the producers have to kick everyone's asses then so that we still finish it on time. It's like a game and it goes back and forth. For Tokyo Ghoul's production, we almost had no time for preparation, but our teamwork was good. We tried a lot and met new challenges despite having almost no time. For example, our composer improvised on the piano for the last episode of the first season while watching the material and recorded it all in one take. It's unusual to record the music like that, but we planned to capture the intensity and tension you could feel through the improvisation. Thereby we got exactly the result we had intended. We chose these kinds of new and unconventional ways despite the tight schedule and I'm glad that we did so.

Hotta: In our studio, there aren't that many cute girls at the studio as in Shirobako. Most people are men, and everyone is working so hard that the whole studio smells of sweat. The one not sweating enough is the scapegoat, as he didn't work hard enough. That's called workplace drama. It even happens that some people have to spend the whole month at the studio. In Shirobako, it is still quite close to the ideal in comparison.

Morita: Nobody wants to know that!

I left out the passages about Tsukumo that didn't relate to TG at all, and did not translate answers to questions Morita was already asked in the other interview.