EX - Behind the Scenes of The God of High School
Source: Crunchyroll
Translator:
Editor:
Timer:
QC:
(Please feel free to edit the speaker names if incomplete or inaccurate. Names are handled on a best-effort basis depending on the info on the source file. Dialogue is left as is.)
[00:00] ---
I mean, some of it's because I've
known him a long time, but...
[00:02] ---
Somehow he really understands what
I want to do, that kind of thing...
[00:06] ---
And... when I start asking for crazy
things, impossible things, he listens.
[00:12] ---
He says stuff like, "The money...
I'll make the money work somehow."
[00:15] ---
And as someone on the creative side,
as a creator, that's really...
[00:19] ---
It's something I'm really grateful for.
[00:34] ---
Hi everyone. I'm Yongje Park and I've been publishing
The God of High School on NAVER WEBTOON for 10 years now.
[00:42] ---
NAVER WEBTOON said that there had been
talks about adapting my series into an anime.
[00:48] ---
They asked if I was interested.
[00:51] ---
A dream come true? It felt like I achieved my
ultimate dream and that I had received an enormous gift.
[01:00] ---
At the time, it felt like "I'm going to give you the thing
I wanted the most, my final dream, now."
[01:08] ---
So I was touched, thankful, glad,
and overwhelmed with joy.
[01:13] ---
My name is Joseph Chou,
I'm a producer in God of High School.
[01:17] ---
This really needs a studio that can
really handle this type of action
[01:21] ---
and this type of wonderful look,
[01:23] ---
that we need to preserve
and enhance in an animated form.
[01:27] ---
Right away, MAPPA had to be it, and so...
[01:29] ---
You know, I was hoping they would be
interested and would take it up.
[01:32] ---
So I called Ohtsuka, who's the head of...
[01:36] ---
Ohtsuka-san is the head of MAPPA
and a friend of mine, so I asked him...
[01:41] ---
"Well, we've talked about working
together for a long time... "
[01:43] ---
"But here's a title that
Crunchyroll and WEBTOON
[01:46] ---
are very, very interested in
turning into an anime series,
[01:48] ---
and I think it'll be fantastic."
[01:50] ---
Yeah, I mean, he just kinda called me up,
and then came to me and said:
[01:54] ---
"You know, I just happen to have
an ace director who's Korean."
[01:58] ---
I was like, "wow!"
[02:01] ---
What are the chances, you know?
[02:03] ---
My name is Park Seong Ho,
[02:07] ---
and I'm the director of God of High School.
[02:12] ---
When I heard that Park-san will work on the adaptation,
Park-san and MAPPA's track record made me confident
[02:20] ---
that they were the best experts who could
make my original comic really shine.
[02:30] ---
Well, it comes from a source work, so...
[02:32] ---
and in the source material,
God of High School is about
[02:37] ---
deciding who the strongest of all high
school students is, that's the main plot...
[02:43] ---
deciding who the strongest of all high
school students is, that's the main plot...
[02:45] ---
and... it quickly becomes a kind of
tournament to win your way through.
[02:50] ---
And whoever reaches the top in this contest
gets a wish granted. That's the basic story.
[02:56] ---
And amidst all that, it's... How do I put it...
[03:00] ---
The characters' friendships and betrayals...
[03:03] ---
It's got a lot of different stories in it.
[03:06] ---
Right now, at this stage, the storyboards...
[03:09] ---
I've done about nine... nine or ten
episodes worth of storyboards myself...
[03:15] ---
And I took about four of those all the way
through to actually directing the episodes.
[03:24] ---
And on top of that, key animation, as an
animator I work on a lot of the key animation...
[03:31] ---
Also, design and things...
I'm pretty much everywhere.
[03:36] ---
I'm Kawagoe Wataru.
[03:37] ---
And I'm in charge of
development as the producer.
[03:43] ---
I oversee and supervise the entire
project up until it's delivered.
[03:48] ---
Giving direction is probably
the biggest part of the job.
[03:52] ---
Managing the budget and the schedule...
[03:55] ---
Also... connecting with the
staff, things like that...
[04:00] ---
Helping new people settle in...
[04:02] ---
Those kinds of things... usually, I'm
the one that handles things like that.
[04:07] ---
We listen to the director's,
Park-san's, requests and
[04:11] ---
I, we, the production team go looking.
[04:13] ---
I, we, the production team go looking.
[04:15] ---
This company looks like
they could do it for us.
[04:17] ---
There's also scheduling to consider,
and also money does come up, but
[04:20] ---
we negotiate on those points, and if we
get an okay, we'll ask for their help.
[04:24] ---
When Park-san says he really
wants to do something specific,
[04:29] ---
something even more amazing, then...
[04:31] ---
If there's a specific request, we'll go
ask a particular designer, for example...
[04:37] ---
So... while Park-san does make requests...
[04:41] ---
the rest is people we know
who are really good, or...
[04:44] ---
we go look for people who we
think could do what we need.
[04:50] ---
There's a lot to cover for the first season.
[04:54] ---
But we had to condense it into 13, and...
[04:58] ---
Cover all the characters,
cover all the main drama...
[05:04] ---
Not lose what the original was going for,
but at the same time give it a...
[05:09] ---
You know, because how you create drama
or how you create tension,
[05:12] ---
or how you create people's relationships
and make sure that people remember them...
[05:17] ---
It's very different how you do it in
anime versus how you do it in manga.
[05:20] ---
You know in manga, you can have a panel
with characters, with names on it.
[05:23] ---
You can't quite do that
all the time in anime.
[05:26] ---
So how do we do that?
[05:27] ---
How do we make it so that
when people come into it,
[05:30] ---
they won't get confused
and that it would not be too fast?
[05:34] ---
And how do we not lose certain aspects
of the story that really matter?
[05:39] ---
I'm satisfied with the adaptation overall.
My favorite part is the speedy pacing of the story.
[05:46] ---
There's an episode where Han Daewi, Yoo Mira,
and Jin Mori go searching for Yoo Mira's lost sword.
[05:52] ---
This story arc is where the three
begin to build camaraderie.
[05:58] ---
The arc took an entire episode in the comic.
[06:05] ---
The journey to find the sword and the growing
camaraderie is distilled into 5-10 minutes in the anime.
[06:14] ---
I loved this part for its short but strong impact.
[06:23] ---
In general, in this project,
each episode is...
[06:30] ---
two or three? Three or four
chapters of the original...
[06:35] ---
all integrated into one episode.
[06:38] ---
There are some episodes with
slightly more than that, too...
[06:41] ---
To make that work, the scriptwriters,
the people writing the screenplays
[06:47] ---
from the beginning they think
about how to adjust everything.
[06:49] ---
They discuss things with the director...
[06:52] ---
and the director makes a lot of requests, too.
[06:54] ---
So, to start with, the original work might
[06:56] ---
have a story at the beginning,
that we don't do, and
[06:59] ---
we just start in the middle of
a fight... that kind of thing...
[07:02] ---
Each episode gets adjusted,
revised and written.
[07:06] ---
The director and scriptwriter make decisions
[07:10] ---
and they make it all work.
[07:13] ---
I don't have any particular
way I do it, but...
[07:15] ---
First, when we're having script meetings,
[07:18] ---
I'll start thinking about what we
need to show, what we want to show.
[07:24] ---
Then we decide what we want
to do with each episode.
[07:30] ---
Then it's just...
All that's left is to draw it.
[07:38] ---
So, first, I'm the type that thinks about
what to do from the script planning stage...
[07:44] ---
and for me... I think
that's an important point.
[07:48] ---
After that, once we get to storyboarding,
I'll just quickly put down
[07:52] ---
what I have in my head, or...
[07:56] ---
sometimes I watch different movies...
[08:00] ---
That's just how I do it.
[08:03] ---
The hardest part is probably the
character—the characters' performances.
[08:11] ---
What flow leads to the
camera moving like this...
[08:14] ---
You really have to think about these things.
[08:16] ---
And that's when camera work and
things you've used before...
[08:20] ---
you sort of ram into it.
[08:22] ---
An, "Oh, I've used this
before," kind of thing.
[08:24] ---
Then... for me, it kind of stops me.
[08:28] ---
So, I'll close down my work for a while...
[08:33] ---
and... Well, I'll go out and look
at lots of different things...
[08:38] ---
That's the kind of thing I do...
[08:40] ---
Thinking about the acting, the performance,
is the most difficult thing, but
[08:46] ---
it's also the most interesting and fun.
[08:50] ---
What we found most attractive about this project from the get-go was the characters.
[08:54] ---
You need to care for them, right?
[08:55] ---
We really hope the audience will find these
characters lovable, interesting, fun...
[08:59] ---
Something they can identify with,
situations that they can identify with,
[09:04] ---
relationships they can identify with...
[09:06] ---
Struggles that these characters face,
that they can identify with.
[09:09] ---
All of that wrapped into, you know,
amazing action and wonderful animation
[09:13] ---
that's very cathartic
and inspiring at the same time.
[09:17] ---
We hope the audience finds
that, first and foremost,
[09:20] ---
and then see what a wonderful
animation that came out of it.
[09:26] ---
You know, because that's a whole package.
[09:28] ---
The lead is... the character,
Jin Mo-Ri, is really...
[09:33] ---
I think he's a character
that anyone would love.
[09:38] ---
I mean, when the person...
[09:39] ---
When he's up against
[09:41] ---
someone who's not strong,
he's really, really weak.
[09:44] ---
And when the person's good at
fighting, he fights back stronger.
[09:47] ---
In that way, he's a really traditional
kind of character, but...
[09:51] ---
it's exactly because he's that kind
of character that—what is it—
[09:54] ---
it makes you want to be friends with
Jin Mo-Ri... Something like that...
[10:00] ---
He really loves his friends... and
he's a very simple, fun character.
[10:02] ---
He really loves his friends... and
he's a very simple, fun character.
[10:06] ---
He really loves his friends... and
he's a very simple, fun character.
[10:07] ---
God of High School* was originally
an action manga, so...
[10:12] ---
if you chip away at that, the
original flavor would be lost.
[10:17] ---
So... It's a TV series, but there aren't
that many series with this much action in them.
[10:24] ---
It's a lot of work,
it's really hard, but
[10:28] ---
for this story, the action is the
best part, what drives it, so
[10:32] ---
I felt there wasn't anything to do, but go
for it, do it for real. I made that choice.
[10:36] ---
And that's why he dies every day.
[10:39] ---
That's probably, looking at the work
as a whole, the most difficult thing.
[10:54] ---
Well... When you're doing
an action episode like this,
[10:58] ---
if you make it all action, it
doesn't come together as a story.
[11:05] ---
It's just people moving around.
[11:07] ---
So, to make sure that doesn't happen,
[11:10] ---
I think it's important to look at
why the characters are fighting...
[11:15] ---
What their goals and motivations are...
[11:18] ---
You have to make sure those
things are clearly included...
[11:22] ---
It's sort of... If you aren't careful
to do that with each situation,
[11:26] ---
the balance of the story
starts to fall apart.
[11:29] ---
That's why you have take the characters'
hearts and emotions, and...
[11:35] ---
the action, the reason they're
fighting, comes from that.
[11:39] ---
Then, the viewers will understand, they'll
accept it... at least, that's how I feel.
[11:52] ---
There's a directer who
really influenced me a lot,
[11:54] ---
and that director's storyboards
influenced me a lot, too.
[11:57] ---
The storyboards were really super detail-
For action scenes, they were really detailed,
[12:01] ---
like, this happens then this and
this, broken up into frames...
[12:05] ---
And they were, for me, they were really easy
to work with, or rather easy to understand...
[12:10] ---
It was super easy to understand
what needed to be done.
[12:14] ---
It really affected me,
so when I do storyboards,
[12:16] ---
I'll have a page and the action,
the character's movements,
[12:21] ---
I'll draw out each and every one.
[12:23] ---
And if I run out of space, I'll
draw rectangles on the side
[12:28] ---
and use those to keep drawing.
[12:30] ---
It's really... It's a lot of work, but...
[12:34] ---
I think it's also the period
that's the most fun.
[12:39] ---
In the latter half of the episodes...
[12:41] ---
he said he wanted to do live action filming.
[12:43] ---
He said he wanted to do motion capture.
[12:47] ---
We finally got the schedules worked
out, so we're doing it next week...
[12:52] ---
The action scenes... done by action—
[12:58] ---
When he did a series called Garo*...
[13:00] ---
Garo* was originally a Japanese
live action tokusatsu drama.
[13:05] ---
So there's a stunt team.
The one that worked on it.
[13:08] ---
And... there was one time they helped us out.
[13:13] ---
So, he wanted to ask them again...
[13:15] ---
if they'd actually do the action
scene, and then we'd film it...
[13:22] ---
and turn that into anime...
[13:23] ---
That's the request he made.
[13:26] ---
For this, as someone who creates animation,
[13:29] ---
I think about what should be expressed visually.
That's the thing I think is most important.
[13:34] ---
So... Right now, anime, hand-drawn anime,
I know how it's usually drawn, but
[13:41] ---
that versus filming martial arts
experts, the reality that brings...
[13:47] ---
I really wanted to express all of that.
[13:50] ---
So the timing of 2D the
way it's always drawn, and
[13:55] ---
the reality of the martial artists' action,
[13:58] ---
if you mixed those together, what
kind of thing would it turn into?
[14:01] ---
For me, it was a challenge
I wanted to undertake.
[14:05] ---
That's why I sort of asked for a
crazy... I did ask for the impossible.
[14:10] ---
There's a motion capture set-up
at the Sola studio, so...
[14:14] ---
we've asked if we can use it.
[14:16] ---
And in that episode... was it
episode 10? In episode 10...
[14:22] ---
the taekkyon, the Korean martial art, taekkyon,
and the main character, Jin Mo-Ri's, tae kwon do
[14:28] ---
in that scene, those martial
arts really important.
[14:33] ---
So, to get real...
[14:35] ---
the movement of taekkyon and
the action of tae kwon do,
[14:38] ---
I really wanted to render that well.
[14:41] ---
And that's one of the reasons I really wanted
to... One of the biggest reasons I wanted to do it.
[14:59] ---
Well, I love action movies.
[15:01] ---
Like... when I was a kid, it was
Hong Kong, Hong Kong action movies,
[15:07] ---
I love that kind of thing.
[15:08] ---
More recently, it would be things like
Marvel. I really love that kind of thing.
[15:11] ---
So, the reason for... I've always
loved action movies and things, so...
[15:16] ---
and also the anime coming
from Japan in the 80s and 90s
[15:22] ---
of course, Kawajiri's action,
the action Kawajiri-san created,
[15:27] ---
it was amazing. I really admired it.
[15:29] ---
Then, when I became an animator
and began drawing it,
[15:33] ---
It moves—I mean, you draw
it, and then it moves, right?
[15:38] ---
Seeing it move, how well it
moved, it was just so much fun.
[15:41] ---
Then, gradually, over time, I got
more and more particular about it.
[15:45] ---
That's how it happened.
[15:47] ---
That's really what the director
is most passionate about, so
[15:50] ---
we're all working hard to keep up with him.
[15:53] ---
Oh, yes. Of course, the original work
has a lot of that in it already.
[15:58] ---
So, thinking about how best to
express all of that in video form...
[16:05] ---
and more than video, really, anime is a form
where everything is shown through images, so...
[16:11] ---
we're taking all those different
mythologies, the stories of the different gods,
[16:16] ---
and figuring out how to show them at
their most amazing, their most awesome,
[16:21] ---
then showing those images during
action scenes, things like that.
[16:24] ---
There are lots of places
we've found to add it in.
[16:29] ---
Definitely, the director wanted to
stay as faithful as possible
[16:32] ---
without really violating the spirit
of the original, but at the same time
[16:36] ---
the author was like "No no, go,
push it, push it!" you know?
[16:38] ---
You know, so... It's a little rare, because...
[16:42] ---
I would say like 8 to 2,
or 9 to 1 of original authors
[16:46] ---
are pretty protective of,
you know, what's on the page...
[16:51] ---
But I think the director was
given quite a bit of liberty.
[16:56] ---
I drew that episode 10 years ago. As the readers
of the comic may already have guessed,
[17:04] ---
Barack Obama was the President of the
United States back then.
[17:10] ---
President Obama won't be appearing, but...
[17:13] ---
And, actually, when we did the voice...
[17:15] ---
And, actually, when we did the voice...
[17:16] ---
The voice is...
[17:17] ---
The person who specializes in
doing Iron Man in Japan...
[17:22] ---
did the voice for him, too.
[17:24] ---
It sort of...ended up just
being Robert Downey Jr...
[17:27] ---
I was super happy.
[17:30] ---
In the anime, Oba Mashariff is
reminiscent of Robert Downey Jr.
[17:37] ---
I really like this choice.
[17:40] ---
It feels like the creators in this project
are really being put first, so...
[17:44] ---
For example, in this situation, it's
Park-san's opinions and ideas...
[17:48] ---
the original authors ideas and opinions...
Those things are really being taken very seriously.
[17:54] ---
So it makes it really...
[17:55] ---
I think it helps everyone in the workplace
be very excited about what they're doing.
[18:01] ---
It's why when Park-san starts saying,
[18:03] ---
"I want to do it like this!" Those things
make it through more than you'd think.
[18:06] ---
Though that makes the workplace
difficult in a different way.
[18:16] ---
Let's see...
[18:17] ---
This is the first time I've
worked with Crunchyroll.
[18:21] ---
And Webtoon... I know Webtoon
from seeing it a lot, so it's...
[18:26] ---
Right now, just like the author Park
Yong-Je-san, they're leaving everything to me...
[18:34] ---
They make what the creator wants
to create the priority, so...
[18:38] ---
for me, it makes it very easy to work.
[18:41] ---
And I'm very grateful.
[18:43] ---
But it increases the
pressure in equal measure.
[18:46] ---
In exchange for that trust, I want to make
something good... really good video...
[18:51] ---
and I want the fans to
be able to get behind it.
[18:54] ---
I really feel that pressure.
[18:57] ---
At the end, when I see it coming together,
that's when I feel all kinds of things...
[19:02] ---
It gets sort of really exciting...
[19:06] ---
In the beginning, it's really,
how can I say this...
[19:09] ---
It's not a good way to put it, but...
[19:11] ---
These super fast-drawn
stick-figure type things
[19:15] ---
turned into a film where they're
moving around like crazy...
[19:18] ---
Seeing that at the end, that's a moment
when I'm really glad I did the work.
[19:26] ---
And for Park-san, too, I think...
[19:29] ---
For him as a korean director
to really make it out here,
[19:34] ---
and for his second title,
I mean, his third title...
[19:38] ---
His upcoming follow-up title
is also gonna be huge.
[19:41] ---
It's based on a huge japanese IP.
[19:43] ---
Just to have it, you know,
their sophomore effort
[19:45] ---
being a global project better
supported by Crunchyroll,
[19:49] ---
that just can be exposed
to a massive audience.
[19:51] ---
And for him to be able to
really kinda get it all out there,
[19:54] ---
what he wanted to do, you know,
just to express himself.
[19:57] ---
You know, we're quite proud of that
and we're very happy for him.
[20:00] ---
So yeah, there are a lot
of firsts on this one.
[20:03] ---
And so... Yeah, I mean,
it's a very special project for me.
[20:07] ---
This is really just me,
my personal opinion, but...
[20:10] ---
when the thing I want to express
most gets realized to some extent...
[20:16] ---
Like... when the image I have
in my head is there moving...
[20:21] ---
same with the music...
[20:22] ---
the voices...
[20:23] ---
When everything matches that image.
[20:26] ---
Those parts, I think it's those
parts that make it a good work...
[20:33] ---
That's just my opinion on a personal level.
[20:35] ---
And also, of course, the team. Everyone
on the team is working really hard.
[20:39] ---
When everyone pulls together to create a
project, for me, that's really the best.
[20:46] ---
It's exciting.
[20:47] ---
Um, it's a handful... it's very busy.
[20:51] ---
But I think it's very rewarding.
[20:52] ---
And I do hope that a lot
of folks around the world
[20:56] ---
who would want to come
to Japan to get involved,
[20:59] ---
I mean, to really kinda think about that
[21:01] ---
because you know, hopefully
that's what they want to do.
[21:04] ---
There are opportunities.
[21:06] ---
To get in an industry that also
welcomes international talents,
[21:11] ---
and people who can contribute.
[21:13] ---
I'm here to contribute,
and I think there's room for more.
[21:16] ---
The director is putting everything
he's got into the action scenes, and
[21:20] ---
everyone's working really hard on it.
[21:22] ---
It's something you really
don't see these days.
[21:25] ---
The amount of passion put into
the action scenes in this title
[21:28] ---
is something you don't see in recent anime.
[21:30] ---
If you like that kind of thing,
I hope you'll watch and enjoy.
[21:34] ---
Thank you.
[21:36] ---
The anime turned out so much better than I imagined,
so I can only say that it exceeds all expectations.
[21:46] ---
Probably because I created the original comic,
I had goosebumps the entire time watching the anime.
[21:52] ---
I confidently look forward to The God of High School
readers experiencing the same emotions I did.
[22:02] ---
You can definitely look forward to it.
It's truly amazing.
[22:08] ---
Let's see. This project,
God of High School*, is really...
[22:13] ---
I think it's something everyone can enjoy.
[22:16] ---
And the whole thing is...
[22:17] ---
I mean, the scripts are great, and
everything from the scripts to the action...
[22:21] ---
And this time, the music in
particular is really cool, so...
[22:25] ---
All of it matches together so well...
[22:28] ---
I think when people see it, they'll be
able to enjoy it as a really cool series.
[22:33] ---
I hope they all watch and enjoy...
[22:36] ---
and cry...
[22:39] ---
and I hope they enjoy it all
the way to the last episode.
No comments to display
No comments to display