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Studio 4°C is an anime production company that, ever since its birth, has set “challenging,” “high quality,” and “edgy” as its guidelines. The studio’s name, along with the masterpieces born under it, is receiving favorable critics both in Japan and worldwide. Their latest work, the trilogy Berserk Golden Age Arc is now complete, and the last, third part, Descent, was released on Blu-ray and DVD on June 19. To commemorate that, an all-night screening event of Studio 4°C’s works was held on June 21 at Shinjuku Wald 9. The lineup consisted of the following four works: Berserk Golden Age Arc III: Descent (R-18 version), Tekkonkinkreet, Mind Game, and Memories.
With Toshiyuki Kubooka, director of Berserk Golden Age Arc, Michael Arias, director of Tekkonkinkreet, manga artist and columnist J-Taro Sugisaku, and producer Eiko Tanaka, appearing as guests of the event representing Studio 4°C, a deep talk led by Hisanori Yoshida as MC regarding the purposeful works of Studio 4°C unfolded.
According to producer Tanaka,
>Studio 4°C is a group of creators with a strong intention to distribute the works we expressed with the technique of animation to the whole world. However, we wanted to depict Japan’s uniqueness with an expression we know, rather than trying to imitate foreign works.
She went on to add,
>Japan was pretty liberal about expression. When we took Memories, our first work at Studio 4°C, abroad, the reaction was, “You managed to create such a radical expression with animation.” I think it also has a reputation for its violence.
Berserk Golden Age Arc is yet another work that, regardless of its radical way of expression, gained good assessment abroad. What shows this best is that the second part was selected as the only Japanese work to participate in the competition category at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival 2013. Director Kubooka said, “Studio 4°C’s works are a little different from the mainstream. Even looking at it as a person from the anime industry, our studio has the image of a company that produces sharp works.” He also revealed that during the production of the third part of Berserk Golden Age Arc, “Starting with Tanaka, the whole staff was very persistent, to the point that it was hard for me to keep up.”
Tekkonkinkreet, directed by Michael Arias, is also one of the works that color the palette of Studio 4°C. When it was announced, it became a hot topic as a Japanese anime being directed by an American, one can guess the studio’s provocative approach from such things. Director Arias talked about his impressions during production, saying, “Everyone in the staff of Studio 4°C is very enthusiastic; they are trying to create enjoyable works through experimentation and challenging new trials. The scene was always hot.” From Koji Morimoto, a representative creator of the studio and also the director of Memories, there was a message delivered and read out aloud:
>Although right now I’m not working with Studio 4°C, it is the best studio ever. I shared the joys and sorrows of 30 years with my colleagues there. After leaving Studio 4°C, I really thought that among the people of Studio 4°C, there were a lot of artists and creators with wonderful abilities. Now I can actually feel that again.
Tanaka was deeply moved by the message from her old battle buddy, and she encouragingly explained,
>Studio 4°C is a company we started up with the three of us––Koji Morimoto, Yoshiharu Sato, and myself. I think that the wonderful talents who gathered there are pursuing Koji Morimoto, and they are aiming for what he aimed for.
