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 and American visual effects studio Legacy Effects held a joint press conference at the Tokyo American Club in Minato, Tokyo on Jan. 21, 2014.)
Ookaze no Okorusama Inc. (whose logo features three of the character for “wind”) and American visual effects studio Legacy Effects held a joint press conference at the Tokyo American Club in Minato, Tokyo on Jan. 21, 2014. The two companies have formed an agreement to produce visual media that brings together creativity from both Japan and America and release it globally.
It was announced that the first of these collaborations will be new productions of some of the anime masterpieces of director Yoshiyuki Tomino such as the Mobile Suit Gundam series and Space Runaway Ideon. Though no titles were revealed, it’s expected that many big names will be involved in the productions. Through this joint Japan-America project, the Japanese anime director will take on a global audience.
Taking the stage at the press conference were the head of Ookaze no Okorusama, Kaori Koba, as well as the four founding members of Legacy Effects: John Robert Rosengrant, Shane Mahan, Lindsay McGowan, and J. Alan Scott. Director Tomino also made an appearance.
Tomino explained that his reason for joining the project was that it would allow him to try to realize something unthinkable up until now. Having felt cheated by the younger generation, he apparently found this never-before-seen approach appealing. He also showed a great enthusiasm for the project, saying that he wanted a new place to produce and to make Tokyo and Hollywood the foundation for globally viable productions.
Since the rights had not yet been secured, they couldn’t touch upon the titles and other content of the much-anticipated new anime. However, one member remarked that though suddenly creating a new version was risky and that no remake had been successful up until this point, he would be able to take a different approach.
He added that major French director Alain Resnais still made films up until the age of 87. There were also comments that Ookaze no Okorusama and Legacy Effects were moving faster than expected, that doing a 2-D animated film first would be safe, and that it would be fine to produce anime in Tokyo. There were apparently many possibilities on everyone’s minds. There was enthusiasm as well, as one person mentioned that they’d like to take down Avatar.
Ookaze no Okorusama was founded by producers from various fields with the idea of delivering original content such as Japanese manga and anime to the wider world. By joining with Legacy Effects, who has played an important role in the visual effects for a number of major Hollywood films, they will be able to achieve this goal.
Koba explained that they could “yield new value by collaborating.” Many Japanese productions have already been remade in Hollywood, but none have included the Japanese creator. One person expressed doubt that Japanese fans actually enjoyed these films. The aim of the project is to enter the global market by producing films jointly between Japan and the U.S.
John Robert Rosengrant explained that the concept was to respect and deliver the vision of the author and director, and to bridge the gap between live action and animation. There were frequent references to the fusion of live action and animation and this seems to be a key phrase in the project.
Titles not by director Tomino have also already been added to the schedule. They have planned a live action version of a children’s book published by Iwanami Shoten. Though they did not reveal the name of the book, they explained that this choice was due to the quality of Shoten’s selection of children’s literature.
Children’s author Atsuo Saito, known for the book The Adventurers - Gamba and His 15 Companions, appeared at the press conference and expressed his high expectations for the project.
Source: animeanime
