In the new issue of Megami, A-1 Pictures producer Atsushi Kaneko has a conversation with Aniplex producer Masami Niwa. The two producers talked about some behind the scenes of the production of the TV anime Sword Art Online: Alicization (Alicization for short).
In the Season 2 of Sword Art Online (SAO for short), the staff was unwittingly planning to produce Sword Art Online: Alicization. Because it was more important for them to complete the movie Sword Art Online The Movie: Ordinal Scale. So They will produce Alicization only after the movie.
Alicization was not easy to animate. Considering the anime team may be very difficult, the original creator Reki Kawahara was not very active in the anime project. On the contrary, there is no “do it or not” option from the beginning for the production team.
The original novel Sword Art Online: Alicization is a long story. It’s necessary for the anime team to make it into 4 phases. As A-1 Pictures’ producer Atsushi Kaneko also mentioned before. Though not determine how long to do, but in the company, it’s common sense to produce 4-season Sword Art Online: Alicization.
New Sword Art Online Team
New Producer
There is no doubt that making 4 phases was a very big trial for the production team, especially maintaining high level of production in the long-term. The anime of SAO has been quite difficult since the beginning of Season 1. As Kaneko said, the feeling of “done very well” has become more intense when completing.
In Season 1 of the anime, Kaneko participated in the team as a production assistant. Kaneko has done a lot of projects so far. But SAO is one of the few works that makes him think he works really hard. And now recalling the joy of complete of the production was still vivid.
During Season 1 of the anime, Kaneko said, he was just the production assistant. And he became the Production Manager in Season 2. Finally, he was the producer himself in the movie Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale. For Kaneko, because of SAO anime, he can be promoted to the status of today. So in his mind, SAO has become a work that can’t be measured by easy words such as “like” or “hate”.
New Director
And this time director Manabu Ono take over Tomohiko Ito. The main reason is that Ito has said that he would only join till the movie. And the production team has also ushered in many personnel changes.
For new entrants like director Ono, Kaneko felt that his description of the Kirito and the new characters Eugeo and Alice, who lived in the underworld, was so impressive. And he felt like he’s ready to restart from LV1. In addition, Ono also join the new SAO team, which also made him think that Alicization is completely new SAO.
New Stage: UNDERWORLD
Alicization will expand in the future story development. Niwa said that to handle such a grand story, it’s required tohave the vision to look forward to all things, mental preparation like “in a scene, the vision of this person is doing his kind of thing”.
The director Ono have this ability. Niwa said his had taken over a lot of works containing a large number of characters. And in these works, Ono can bring the audience a simple but refined story while ensuring the charm of the character. And Ono would not bring in his individual feelings. On the basis of a deep understanding of the original work, he would make the anime form the audience’s audio-visual experience to the highest priority.
The First Episode
This time, Kirito has entered the new imaginary world UNDER WORLD. So the story must be explained to other debut characters. In addition, there are also many things that must be explained to the audience about Alicization’s settings. Therefore, it was decided in the first words of the anime, Kirito needs to explain questions like “what this imaginary world is?” “what is SAO”, etc. But just simple explanations would make the audience feel monotonous. So after several considerations and discussion, Kaneko decided to add the creating GGO section to explain the transition.
Kaneko said, the first episode came up with more than 700 cuts. The characters were redrawn, and the “GGO” costumes of Asuna and others were also required. This workload was actually very serious for the production team. But because of their efforts, the first episode launched a great impression, especially the last part of Johnny Block told Kirito “No, no swords”. This sentence is even expected to compete for this year’s buzzword award.
Ordinal Scale And Alicization
Kaneko and Niwa said the movie “Ordinal Scale” was an original story. In order to keep consistent, they discussed with Kawahara several times during the script meeting of Alicization. Finally, the original story adopt lots of changes. As a result, Alicization will not conflict with the content of the movie.
For example, in the original novel, Kirito said that he had never been to Asuna’s house. However, in the movie Kirito has already been to Asuna’s house. And he met her parents at the end. So he have to make appropriate changes like this place to cooperate with the movie. Then he added the elements of “AUGUMA” and the movie actress “Yuna” on this basis. And even if these elements will not play active part in the anime, it can make the whole SAO series closely linked together.
New Story: Future Human
Different from VRMMOR game like “ALO” “GGO”, which may come true in the near future, Alicization is more like another new way to describe the imaginary world. And Alicization’s theme is even heavier than the past. Alicization raise a topic about future human, which is also an active study now. Kaneko hopes the audience could think about how to live with Eugeo and Alice if they were Kirito when describing the underground world. He believes that if you look at this work from this point of view, you may have new discoveries.
At the same time, Kaneko also revealed that there will be a down-to-earth fighting scene. For action scene, he would remind the staff not to make the character superman. So the performance will be slightly different from the previous one. And the audience would observe it.
Characters
As to the characters, Kaneko said in the first and second Season, Asuna was more like Kirito’s “girlfriend”. But in the movie and Alicization, she plays the role as a “wife”. So even if Kirito is not around now, Asuna will wait for him. Because Asuna’s spirit is stronger than before.
As for new role Alice, Niwa said that she has the attributes not available in other characters of SAO so far. Although she is still missing, she will re-debut in the future. And Alice’s charm is comparable to Asuna’s.
Prospects
Finally, both two said that A-1 Pictures ushered in a new director Ono this time. Also, the assistant director Takashi Sakuma become one of the backbones. Moreover, the character design is still Shingo Adachi, on this basis as well as the newly added Gou Suzuki and Tomoya Nishiguchi. No matter the staging or the anime, they are doing their best to make it.
The anime will be as long as four phases. It will be a long-term battle for both the production team and the audience. Nevertheless, the production team have the confidence to bring the expected “happiness” to the audience every week, so hope everyone can always stick to see the end!
Source: Megami 2018 December, 2007