How does the anime director balance his vision with that of the manga creators?
Aoki: Basically, the anime follows the original story by Rumiko Takahashi. The production team prepares frames and plans the flow of the frames. They then add on feelings and moods, as well as set the tempo and speed to the action. In essence, we interpret between the lines of Takahashis story, follow it closely, and then adapt that into animation. How have the manga and anime industries changed over the years? Suwa: I have been in the anime industry for the last 25 years. When I first started out as a 20-something young adult, I, like many others, was reading manga while commuting to work on the train. However, back then Japanese society actually wrote to newspapers forums to complain, saying: Whats going to happen to Japans future, now that the younger generation is just reading manga? At that time, manga was regarded as lacking in cultural sophistication, and there was prejudice against the genre. However, if one looks beyond the form that manga takes, what is important is actually
