The original animation “Saga Idol is Legend”, which tells the story of the “legend” girl of different eras, becomes a zombie resurrection and revitalizes Saga. MEGAMI Magazine interviewed the founder of this game, Cygames producer Takenaka, and listened to the behind-the-scenes stories that he finally said after the animation ended

The combination of the two keywords “Idol” and “Zombie” is undoubtedly the biggest topic of animation. Takenaka said that the project was based on the fact that many companies wanted to do original idol projects with Cygames, and sent him various projects, but none of them made him shine. Coincidentally, at that time, during the production of the TV anime “Bahrain GENESIS”, he saw the animated character Rita, and he thought: “This can be.”

“Rita in GENESIS” is a zombie, but very cute. Bamboo Center thinks, is it a combination of zombie girls and idols with the theme of “life”? So he and the MAPPA producers learned their ideas. Da Yu listened and said: “Interesting, I plan this next time.”

At that time, I couldn’t figure out how big the answer was. However, Daxie really conceived this plan with him

The original idea of Takenaka is like the touching works of Lily, the eighth episode of the film, but it is conceived by the nonsense of zombie movies. At the beginning, the two had some deviations from the positioning of the film. However, Zhu Zhong did not want to make a dark film, so combined with the ideas of the two, the current “Saga Idol is a legend.”

Next, the two spent a year perfecting the plan and made an outline that made it feel interesting. However, even if you write “Zombies as idols” on paper, it is difficult to convey the kind of fun they have conceived, so it has not been able to make the company nod

At this time, the president of Cygames, Watanabe, went to the bamboo and asked, “Can you make an animation with Saga as the stage?” President Watanabe is a native of Saga and has been working to revitalize his hometown. In the Saga, the Debug Center of Cygames was established. The company and Saga are also closely connected. The president wants to do something about Saga

Take a look at the machine, and then combine a plan to let the zombie be a local icon of Saga. I want to pull up the president and force it to be approved. Next, he and the president of Watanabe, as well as Otsuka, went to Saga to determine the content. This is about 3 years ago

Was asked about the first impression of Saga, and the answer was: “It may be similar to everyone’s imagination.” His first framing was by plane, and there was nothing near the Kyushu Saga International Airport. No, it feels like an airport is emerging in the middle of a farmland. He saw Saga’s various landscapes with his own eyes, and gradually established his understanding of Saga in his heart. The theme of the work “Save Saga” was also made clear after I went to Saga in person

However, it took too long from the time of planning to the opening of the animation. When the “Saga Idol is Legendary” was aired, the Shoutong Shopping Street (the second episode of the anime) that they had interviewed had become A piece of open space. They were still sitting in the coffee shop in the shopping street, drinking coffee and discussing: “If the animation is broadcast, it is better to have more guests here.” But this sentence is impossible to cash in, so the bamboo is very regret

President Watanabe made almost no request for the script of the animation. He only said that he hoped that “Drive In Chicken” and “Mu Udon Noodles” would appear. Although they also want to make Saga a holy place, they basically take the story first and skillfully put the conceived story on the stage of Saga

The title of “Saga Idol is Legend” contains subtitles of “Planning Assistance: Saga Prefecture”. The planning team made an appointment in advance when they went to the framing, and sent the county government a plan to help them find a place where they could become the stage. The county government publicity department, who received them, was also very kind, and introduced them to many places, such as the old Mitsubishi joint venture company, the Tangjin fulcrum main building (the prototype of the villa where Yutaro and others lived in the animation), and gave them a lot of help

The near-field leader also participated in the dubbing in the fifth episode of the animation. Takenaka explained that this is because the fifth episode of the animation, please go to the “Drive In Chicken” president, Pu Ding, the real name debut, I personally dubbed. On the same day, the head of the near field went to the dubbing scene in order to interview the media with him after the recording of the president. They said at the scene, “Who is the voice of Cock Jun?”, just as the captain of the near field is also there, the opportunity is rare, and he pulls him in and reveals a blindfold

Takenaka believes that because of this episode 5, Saga’s “local feeling” in the animation comes out at once

About the cartoon name “Saga Idol is a legend”, Zhu Zhong explained that when the project was advanced, the topic of “Idol Zombies” was used. But when they are doing it, they start to think that it is better not to emphasize “idol” too much. The addition of the word “idol” to the title may limit the audience. They still hope to make this work available to people of all ages and genders. The current title, “Zombie Land Saga,” was born out of the big drop-off producer. Although the name itself has no meaning, the pronunciation is very interesting, and it emphasizes Saga, which he thinks is a good title

Before the animation was broadcast, no one thought that this would be an idol film. The intention to hide the “idol” element when propagating in advance is also for the above reasons. Fortunately, the official Twitter account of the animation at the beginning was completely unrecognized. They were screaming every week when they met: “Is it necessary to emphasize idols?” But after the first episode was broadcast, the response was very Well, the number of fans has also risen a bit. Bamboo has let go of his heart: his judgment is not wrong

Looking back at the “Saga Idol is Legend” all 12 episodes, the theme of “Sakura’s Growth Story” has always been the foundation of the story. Zhu Zhong said that he did not want to push the idol in this work, but wanted to show the audience a steady and steady story. Therefore, he said to Daxie from the beginning that he did not intend to force each role in 12 episodes. Image, but want to fix a clear core

And when deciding to make zombies an idol, they had an idea that it might be interesting to set every resurrected zombie girl to “the legendary ●●”. The protagonist Sakura, in contrast to other characters, became an ordinary girl

This “ordinary girl” is not ordinary at all. When Episode 1 came up, she was killed by a car, and C was the first topic of “Saga Idol is Legend”

Takenaka explained that the reason why I want to design this way is that I really want to place such a burst point, but more importantly, I don’t want to kill Sakura early, and let her die after the audience has feelings for her. I can’t stand it. Therefore, the production team let her start the animation at the beginning of the tomb. After all, the theme of the work is that these girls, even if they become zombies, want to “live” and show their existence to the world

Idols other than Sakura are mostly from the entertainment industry of all ages. But the title of 咲 is “the legendary special commander.” When asked about the intention, Takenaka answered, he just thought that the pronunciation was very interesting (laughs)

And another idol Lily was set up as a pseudonym. This reason is long

Takenaka said that since several idols are zombies, he must consider the cause of death of all people, and the story needs to be described. But to mention the death of a person, no matter how to write, it is not easy to accept. Even if Sakura can be killed at the beginning, but the deaths of other members must appear in the middle of the story, they feel uneasy about it, fearing that the plot will become heavy outside the theme they really want to describe

So, in order to make “Saga Idol is Legend” can be easily viewed as an entertainment animation, Bamboo wants to write the character’s cause of death as funny as possible, so much to ease the impact of the audience. So, he came up with the setting that the child star has been a red-haired girl but has grown a beard and is therefore scared of a heart attack. Lily was born like this

The impact of death was alleviated, but Lily’s true gender has shocked many viewers. For this, Zhuzhong feels that he is innocent: they have buried a lot of foreshadowing. For example, there is a saying in the story introduction of the official website of the animation, saying “cross-age age, gender and age.” This “gender” is what he secretly stuffed. He thought, this sentence can also be understood as “hope that no matter what gender of the audience can enjoy it”, so it should not be exposed

In addition, in the official character introduction, only Lily has not written a cup number in the 3D setting, the swimsuit setting is a shorts type, and the hobby is also reading a large mechanical magazine… The official has hidden so many tips, so much so that Zhu Zhong heard that many viewers have already guessed in advance that “Is this cargo actually a man?”, still panic

And in these zombie idols, only one person who benefits more than one has not recovered consciousness until the end. Takenaka explained that in the second episode, the members wake up and start the idol activities; but he feels that if everyone is regained consciousness, the “zombie” element will be forgotten by the audience, so the role of more than Hui is arranged. Although they also conceived the settings before the multi-life, but felt that there is no need to show up in the animation, so let her carry the zombies to the end

This role requires a performance other than a line, such as the fifth episode of a chicken call. When the production team was in the casting, they felt that this role was not qualified for senior seiyuu. I don’t know who to ask for. Among the candidate lists given by Jing Zongjiu Supervisor, there are three stone Qin Nai. They felt that the character did not even have a line, and did not hope to entrust Sanshi, but she was happy to take it down, causing the production team to fall into the ground

7 Zombie Idols are set up, basically handed over to Shenchuan for pure freedom to play. However, Fukcheon does not seem to like the style of the so-called “Meng Animation”. At the beginning, it was the design of the Sailor Moon that was very tall. They asked Shenchuan to change into the current style

Shenchuan himself seems to have all kinds of ideas. Even if the producer has already expressed the OK role, she will take the initiative to make adjustments before the official start of painting, and finally have such a cute character

Not only when playing as an idol, the characters’ usual “zombie form” design is also very cute. Takenaka said that because of his personality, he thought he would receive a very heavy zombie design and be mentally prepared; the result of the design was much more lovely than he thought, and he was taken aback (laugh)

When the character debuts in “zombie form”, the animated performance will be spoofed with the horror film performance technique. The production team believes that because the original people have very strong features, even if they use a more daring performance technique, they should not let the audience know who is who. Like Episode 4, which scared the head of the pharmaceutical company, it was very close to the average zombie film

At the beginning, the story of the production team was only idol. But thinking that they must have a producer to force the story, they designed the role of Kotaro. In the case of general idol animation, male producers are often a character that does not interfere with idols and is not annoying. But since they want to do a film that is different from the existing idol animation, it is intentionally set the producer to be a character who does not follow the common sense. Of course, the big premise is that I have to give my idol a long face

When writing the script, they felt that Kotaro was difficult to play. At the casting meeting, the audio production Okada Taro proposed: “How about Mr. Miyano (Mr. Masaaki)?” Everyone also feels that, indeed, if it is Miyano, it is worthy of this role. Despite this, Zhu Zhong remained uneasy until the actual recording began. However, when he heard the first sound of Miyano, the uneasiness disappeared without a trace, and he was sure that “this film will be very interesting.”

Ben Du Feng, who is the voice of Sakura, is equally skilled. The dialogue between Ben and Miyano will not be annoying no matter how many times you look at it

“Saga Idol is Legend” uses a variety of musical styles. Takenaka said that the idol groups they had interviewed with the masked woman (Anitama had interviewed) not only sang that fancy idol song, but also published many songs that were quite burning. Therefore, they also want to be comfortable with the fixed concept and make a music that reflects the attitude of the seven members of Fran Chou

They handed the script to the music producer Sato Hiroshi and asked him to think about the appropriate style of the music based on the plot. And about OP, “Fanhuaネクロマンシー” should be made into a style of songs, they have been upset for a long time

Because the episodes are made by paying attention to the plot, they want to make the OP a song that has nothing to do with the feature film. As a result, everyone who participated in the music meeting made their own opinions as they wished, and they could not reach a conclusion. In the end, they decided to pay attention to the momentum, but also chose to deviate from the style of the standard way of the idol film, there is today’s OP. Because the music that was handed in was too flamboyant, they simply made the OP animation the same style as the team.The

Episode 12 episodes seems to be suggesting that the animation will follow. However, Takenaka admitted that because the company did not expect much from the animation before the launch of “Saga Idol is Legend”, they did not have the time to conceive any sequels. But now, because of the enthusiastic support of everyone, they can also make various ideas for the future. Miyano and other seiyuu have repeatedly asked “Is there any follow-up?”, so that Zhuzhong felt the seiyuu’s deep feelings for this work. He believes that the continuation of this work has become his future obligation

There are also news reports that after the “Saga Idol is Legend” broadcast, there are more people going to the Saga Prefecture Holy Land. The creative team wanted to bring vitality to Saga during the production. In this regard, they felt that they had achieved great success. Saga is able to receive attention from the world and gather many tourists to make them happy

The Saga Prefecture Government also personally felt the popularity of this work, and recently began to actively propose various cooperation proposals to the animation team. In the future, they hope to work with the county government to take various measures

As far as Zhuzhong himself is concerned, since he started planning “Saga Idol is Legendary”, he has a goal to pack Saga’s Tosu Stadium and hold a separate concert by Fran Chou. The Tosu Stadium is the venue for the Japanese Professional Baseball League competition and can accommodate approximately 24,000 people. To fill this venue, you must mobilize tens of thousands of foreign audiences to expedite Saga from all over the country. Takenaka believes that if this dream can be realized, it can be said that this work has achieved the goal of “save Saga”. But at this stage, this is just a dream

Finally, Takenaka’s message to everyone’s “Saga Idol is Legend”: Before he aired, he was full of anxiety. It was everyone’s response that encouraged the production team to allow them to stick to the final episode. He sincerely thanked everyone for watching the complete 12 episodes of animation. Unfortunately, he still can’t make any promises for the future, but he is confident that the members of the production team are very fond of Fran Chou. I hope that you will not forget Fran Chou and continue to support them in the future. With everyone’s support, Fran Chou and Saga will surely usher in a glorious future!

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MEGAMI Magazine February 2019