# EX - Behind the Scenes of The God of High School
Source: [Crunchyroll](https://www.crunchyroll.com/watch/GYNV45ZJR/behind-the-scenes-of-the-god-of-high-school)
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(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.