Shopping Guide
**Importing Futuristic VR Technology and Focusing on a Theatrical Movie**
— I want to ask a little bit more about the movie, series like Idolmaster and Love Live! are already very popular in Japan, how is CHIKA*CHIKA IDOL different from the existing idol anime franchises?
H: It was me who suggested we use idols as a theme. Right now, idol shows are both popular and respected; I’ve seen and enjoyed almost all of them myself. Simply put, If I could I’d love to make an idol anime - that was my hope. Another thing that’s good about idol anime is that you can easily enjoy the music too.
— You can enjoy the songs and the melody.
H: The music industry also reached a turning point a long time ago. Anime and music are connected through the strong sales of anisong and sold-out live shows. Because of those various kinds of synergy, I became interested in creating an idol anime as it would be easy. Yes, there have been a lot of idol anime franchises before now, but the idol anime that we’re trying to make doesn’t emphasise the genre’s characteristic “become a star” storyline. Rather, we’re thinking about telling the story of the idol girls’ everyday lives. That is to say, it’s not the grown-up idol “industry” and the “product” but, for example, we want to tell the story of the young people who’ve just started a band. It’s not because the grown-ups say this or for money or status - the girls doing what they want to do, having fun playing live shows every day - those sorts of simple impulses, we want to convey those sorts of feelings to the viewers.
— It’s not the kind of “aim for the top!” story, you’re aiming at enjoying everyday life.
H: I was thinking that I want it to continue for a long time like Mito Komon 2 . And one more thing: we wanted to use 3DCG to put in live scenes every time.
— It must be hard to create a live concert scene with all the movement involved.
H: It’s expensive, and you need performers and music. Whichever idol anime you’re talking about, every time it’s difficult. However, in the case of CHIKA*CHIKA IDOL, we were thinking that we wanted someone to have a new live performance scene every episode.
N: We want people to see singing and dancing, including staged performances, as entertainment with the musical sequences put together with the everyday scenes. One way to do that is to use 3DCG. In the future we’ll also be looking to put in even more immersive VR content.
H: The everyday part will be very easy-going and realistic. Using the latest technology for the live show parts, we’ll also develop fantastic video for the daily life scenes too as we want to please all of our viewers. Through bridging the gap between these two parts I think we can give the show some scope. Our root values really come down to those two things. Singing great songs together feels good, that’s one thing. Another is the feeling of wanting to support your idols. Along with taking in the technical advances, I don’t want to lose sight of these two values.
N: When it’s completed as a finished product, with VR content and Hatsune-Miku-style real-world live concerts, we’ll link up with various other technologies and media too.
— Allying yourself with the fans through crowdfunding, diversifying the media you’re developing for, deepening that connection - I’m looking forward to seeing that spread out.
H: One of the good things about crowdfunding is that you can listen directly to the voices of your customers. If we’ve put out a plan that’s no good, people won’t invest in it; if you put it out it will expand. When many projects and manufacturers get funding, their freedom of production becomes less effective and their quality control often becomes sloppy. By making tight quality control of our product the main focus, we want to offer the best version we can to the world.
— Since the internet came about, the distance between anime fans and creators has never been closer, has it?
H: The relationship between the fans and the show is changing. Through things like fan voting and crowdfunding, you can proceed with production whilst communicating with the fans. However, on the other hand, you can make a faux-pas or mistake on the internet and be criticised for it. There are a lot of people who are afraid of doing that. However, we think you just have to proceed whilst being aware of the risks and knowing that you might get burned to a crisp in a “Honjo” 3. As I’m prepared to get flamed, I want everyone to enjoy that aspect of it too. (laughs).
— On the one hand, there’s the possibility of creating something which has never existed before, but aren’t you nervous too?
H: Yes, one thing that everyone’s concerned about is the low wage and remuneration problem for the creators and animators. The Japanese anime industry is dependent upon a wavering revenue structure of Blu-ray disc and DVD sales. Everyone is thinking that something must be done, but it feels like everyone is waiting for their opportunity and not doing anything. Therefore, we’re taking the first step; we’re trying to make an anime with a completely new business model. If we fail then that’s too bad, but if we can make something good then it’ll make its mark on the world. If someone says to us, “There’s really no money?”, well that’s not quite true (laughs). The two of us used our own money to make the PV for the crowdfunding and manga. Therefore knowing how we feel about it, the people who are eagerly anticipating CHIKA*CHIKA IDOL and are supporting us as far as they can make us very happy. As we’re working so hard on bringing you the anime you want to see, we want to build up a relationship of trust from now on.
— Nishikiori, what frustrates you about this project?
N: The same as working hard on the relationship with the fans, it’s “creating a commercial anime.” We’re doing it on the basis of making a proper, professional, product. As well as employing a lot of young people, we’ve also hired a lot of trustworthy staff members who’ve worked on anime like Arpeggio of Blue Steel: Ars Nova and Tiger & Bunny too.
— To make something good.
N: Without making excuses in regards to the production process, I want to deliver a landmark product to the fans. We’re going to develop the content in response to the times. With that in mind, it’s a project which is simply between fans and creators. The creators receive direct investment so they can announce directly to the fans. I think this will become the final pattern for the relationship between fans and anime. If this model performs well, at the same time as being able to come back to the creators, fans, creators, and voice actors will all be happy - that’s what I believe.
^1^ Idols mainly active in live shows and events without being very exposed in the media.
^2^ Japanese television period drama. Oldest programs date back to 1969 and as of now there are over 1,200 broadcast episodes. The series released its final special in December 2011, but a special edition was also broadcast in June 2015.
^3^ In Japan when someone makes a gaffe or mistake on the internet and receives a number of critical comments; i.e. getting flamed is called “honjo.”
CHIKA*CHIKA IDOL Official Website
Symphonium
Twitter: @chikachika_idol
This is a Tokyo Otaku Mode original article written by Kohji Sakurai and translated by Hayley Scanlon. Photos by Tetsuya Hara.