The second roundtable meeting with the main staff. This time we have gathered those who hold production and animation in check. Hikawa-sensei and Director Shinbou will continue to participate here. |
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A surreal opening incorporating live action footage |
First of all, a question to Oishi-san regarding the opening, what kind of instructions the director did provide you? |
Oishi | Director said, ”I want it to look like the title sequence to a 60s Western movie” and “I want telops to have a huge emphasis”. The plan was that each frame and picture would be formed using and including text. |
Shinbo | But in the end, Oishi-san’s sense took over it, which I think was for the better. |
The opening has a pretty surreal atmosphere to it. |
Oishi | The reason is that I wanted to give the surreal aspects of the original work a concrete shape and form. I guess the other thing was to have some visual impact. I also wanted to create a collage with photos, so in the first opening, I made Miyako’s forehead shine through a kettle and fit other appearing characters with school equipment one way or another. I pasted all of them with photos, and I used that style in the next opening too. I paid crabs and everything else out of my own pocket (laughs). |
The character designs have a feel of plumpness, no? |
About character designs, what kind of instructions did you receive from the director, Oota-san? |
Shinbo | Probably the biggest thing was “Have there be a feel of plumpness”. The only thing was to “Make their thighs thicker” (laughs). When making anime, it won’t go quite the same way as the manga, so I want to reflect things that are consciously drawn into the anime. |
Oota | At the very first time I received the original work for perception, the first thing that caught my eye was the thighs. I thought that this isn’t unusual, but rather that Hikawa-san intentionally draws them like that. |
Hikawa | Thanks to that, it turned out as a really lewd anime (laughs). |
Oota | I’m surprised at myself; I’ve found myself more interested in this kind of art as of late (laughs). |
Earlier on, Oota-san, I heard that you spoke how "you wanted to increase the density of drawings". |
Oota | If there are fewer lines, people tend to say it’s cutting corners (laughs). When looking it on the large screen above, I didn’t want it to feel hollow. And this time I wanted the details and silhouettes to be compatible with another, and tone down the 3D figures. |
The anime really is more voluptuous compared to the original work. |
Oota | Personally, I don’t want to separate all the quick croquis and regular sketches from anime characters, but rather design and present characters as they are. |
Hikawa | The show’s vastly unpopular among fans of flat chest (laughs). It suddenly got more lewd around Episode 4. |
Oota | The eyecatcher with Kill **ll -style that appeared in Episode 5 was actually made for Episode 4. Just looking at it made me think “Is this enough?”, and then I drew the current eyecatcher for Episode 4 hurryingly in 30 minutes. Something inside me changed after seeing that eyecatcher (laughs). “This is good”, I thought, and I became acceleratingly more crooked in drawing them (laughs). |
The butt shots in bus episode 15 are pretty noticeable. |
Hikawa | Kurumi’s talking through her butt (laughs). |
Oota | Episode 4, 10 and 15 had the same staff, and in the role of animation director was (Noboru) Jitsuhara-san, whose drawings are curvaceous and sensual, and the feedback I got from him has made my art even more lewd. We are competing with lewdness (laughs). |
Costume design of Becky and others from a female perspective |
Kametani-san, you design costumes for Becky and others for every episode, but that’s pretty unusual considering your work duty. |
Kametani | In the beginning, I was asked to “become Becky’s big sister” (laughs). Firstly, I was instructed to make the main Becky scenes in Episode 1 memorable, so I chose twintails and that costume. The director also liked it, which made me glad. |
What were your impressions when you reviewed costume designs of the original work? |
Kametani | My first impression was that “these clothes were designed by a man”. I wondered if I, a woman, could create designs matching them, but the Director just told me “Just think what clothes would look good on Becky”, and I was able to add things that weren’t in the original work. |
Hikawa-sensei, you always say that coming up with costumes is a difficult task. |
Hikawa | It’s hell, amirite? (laughs) |
Kametani | I really enjoy what I do, but even though I’m often asked “Isn’t it difficult?”, I don’t think it that way. Instead, I have fun. |
Hikawa | So I’m having fun too? (laughs) |
Shinbo | Kametani-san always presents us two sorts of her creations, and if there are options A and B to be chosen from, it’s detectable that male staff are bound to choose A, while female staff choose B (laughs). |
Everyone’s pajama designs appeared in Episode 4, and they were pretty impressive. |
Kametani | At the time of designing them, Himeko was as expectedly Himeko-like and others were “cute, but everyone had a little different feel”. Since the start Rei was specified to wear a button-down shirt, so I made her wear an oversized and baggy shirt. |
Shinbo | That was decided at the script-writing stage, so it’s all Katsuhiko Takayama’s fault (laughs). |
Kametani | Apparently both Oota-san and Oonuma-san had said “I want Ichijou to wear a kappōgi”, and when I presented her with a disaster prevention hood to Oota-san, he gave recognition as in “if this is the only way, let’s go with this one” (laughs). |
Shinbo | It was Kametani-san who gave Ichijou the appearance of India** Jones. That look has then stuck to the character. |
Kametani | That was a situation of “This is the only option” (laughs). The Director and Oota-san suggested that they wanted Becky, for the time being, to wear cat ears. I too thought they’d be well-fit for her. |
Hikawa | I was also very happy for the cat ears, but the other day I realised that since it’s Pani Poni, bunny ears wouldn’t be that bad either, which in itself was a great discovery (laughs). |
Oota | If that happens, Mesousa won’t have any chance in that situation (laughs). |
The digital sense of chibi characters moving around |
Director, what kind of instructions did you give to Series Director Oonuma-san? |
Shinbo | I didn’t give any instructions, but since Oonuma-san has a peculiar sense in gaming world, I wanted him to bring those ideas to life. |
Oonuma | Since I’m strong on the digital side, I was asked to “bring those things to the forefront”. |
Shinbo | In Episode 1, the thought of having character introduction screens in a somewhat similar style as in videogames was on par with Oonuma-san’s sense of taste. I wanted Oonuma to do that type of visuals, so I left nearly all the work for him. Afterwards, the chibi characters were decided during Episode 1. |
Oonuma-san has apparently included game references in the actual episodes as well. |
Oonuma | There are a lot of references to games on the blackboard, most of them by me (laughs). When I was a kid, I preferred games to anime, so the first things that come to my mind are just games. |
In Episode 8, which Oonuma-san was in charge of directing, there appears a picture that resembles the style of Super **rio. |
Oonuma | Well in the very beginning, I intended in making only the side-scrolling part, but then I thought “if there’s a pipe popping up” and “were you go through the pipe, you’d enter the underground”... and then the result was like this (laughs). |
Can you tell us about the 3D models of mob characters? |
Oonuma | Those things were made by (Motoi) Sakai-san, who’s responsible for the visual effects. In the ending of Episode 5, mob characters appear in various poses, and that’s because Sakai-san was in charge of that part. Eventually I’d like to see mob characters fighting each other in the background (laughs). |
Hikawa | With each episode adding up, textures becomes more realistic, and by the end, the face becomes incredibly realistic (laughs). |
Oonuma | The model versions for mob characters are gradually improving. However, they’re on a level you wouldn’t notice at all. |
Oota | It’s like ”finger’s first joint is now closer to its proper spot on a hand” (laughs). Even though it wasn't asked for, the mob characters are made so that all of their joints can move, just like a Perfect Grade model (laughs). |
An environment that viewers read too much into |
Are there episodes that have left an impression on you? |
Oonuma | Speaking from my point of view, it has to be Episode 6, one that Oishi-san directed. Because I work with digital, and on the contrary Oishi-san uses a lot of real-life imagery, the opposing sense of his gave a big impression on me. |
Oishi | I was aiming to create a strange feeling when mixing anime and live action together, as in “Scary, yet funny”. |
In Episode 6, a real-life hand turned the Earth around to imply the passage of time. |
Oishi | I aimed to have a visual impact with that too. That hand is (Hiroshi) Kamiya-san’s hand, who plays Lord Cat. Since the scene has Lord Cat spinning Earth, we had to get none other than Kamiya-san himself to spin it for us (laughs). |
Oonuma | I even went all the way to the dubbing studio just to take photos or Kamiya-san’s hand (laughs). |
Oishi | Actually, Earth here is rotating backwards (laughs). I realized that the photo had been taken of the opposite hand, and when I wanted to reverse the image closer to reality, Director said “It’s funny for someone to point out” and I left it as it was (laughs). |
Oonuma | As expected, people on the web pointed it out (laughs). |
Oota | People have said we’re putting Tensai Baka**n’s opening lyrics into practice, so I think it’s alright (laughs). |
Oota-san, are there references that you inserted on your duty? |
Oota | Basically, a lot of scribbles on the blackboard. If retro games are Oonuma-san’s thing, majority of the mecha anime lines and others are mine (laughs). I also include references to TV shows that no one has watched, but when I afterwards check comments online the day after the episode airs, I found out that there exist people who know the reference (laughs). It’s quite funny. |
Oonuma | Even if there are references you can understand, I believe it’d be good if you discussed about the Pani Poni episode you last time saw and references you got with other people. That’s why I’d like to explain the blackboard references to an extensive degree. |
Are there other things that were made by Kametani-san? |
Shinbo | There was a pantomime for” Pani Poni Dash!”, that was by Kametani-san. |
Kametani | It’s the eyecatcher for Episode 12. |
Oonuma | That I didn’t realise at all (laughs). Later on, I learned “That’s Becky pantomiming Pani Poni Dash!” |
Oota | While I was supervising the animation, I too just thought to myself “The meaning of this movement sure is hard to understand” (laughs). |
How did the next episode preview turn out to be a four-panel manga by Hikawa-sensei? |
Hikawa | That’s because at first Director said “Let’s get various authors to make previews as four-panel manga”. However, people who can draw illustrations and people who can draw manga are two different things, so I ended up drawing all the previews. |
Oonuma | I never know what the previews look like until they’re put out, so I look forward to them every time (laughs). In Episode 7’s preview Ichijou grew into a giant. And when Episode 8 had Ichijou’s little sister becoming a giant, I thought to myself, “He got us first!” (laughs). That’s how the whole workplace saw it. But even though there are only a few previews, if they can make you laugh, it’s a win (laughs). |
Hikawa | I want people to point out that “It’s an anime, so make it move” (laughs). |
Oonuma | It’s funny how it is different from the actual episode, as in “If this was an anime, you couldn’t represent it this way”. |
An environment where being extraordinary is forgiven |
Are there episodes that have left an impression on you? |
Hikawa | Firstly, the show’s probability and activity to do the extraordinary is amazing. It’s an environment that forgives such things, and I think it’s wonderful there are viewers who enjoy it. I believe it can be enjoyed from youngsters to elderly. |
Shinbo | Considering that it takes time for people to remember the characters, the anime aims to a wide range of audience. And once you remember the characters, you can see both the manga and the anime over and over again. That’s really the No. 1 theme. For now, it's going well thanks to everyone's efforts, and it’d be great if we can continue the same way to the end and make a sequel (laughs). |
Oonuma | After all, there are still a lot more jokes and references that can be done. |
Oota | Next time, let’s go with Dash Turbo (laughs). |
Shinbo | This time, we intentionally left out the elementary school arc that was in the original work. We’ve left it for the sequel, so if everyone buys the DVDs, we’ll make it happen (laughs). |
Oonuma | If a sequel happens, it might be possible to focus on another class or make an episode that focuses on only one of the characters. |
Oota | For now, the Season 1 will be centered on Becky and Class C. In this work, any side character can become the lead, so I would like to do something like that next time. I think it would be fine if the show ended in a dense drama, or with an episode of Old Geezer and Alien Captain just playing baseball (laughs). |
Shinbo | We aren’t granted very often this type of an environment, so I believe this time everyone could show their true colours (laughs). |
Oishi | There hasn’t been any other work where I’ve been able to do as I please, so I want to make sure I make it with no regrets until the very end. |
Oonuma | Because I can do whatever I want, I honestly want to cram it full until there’s nothing left over, and do as much as I can. |
Kametani | At first, I was a bit worried that I would be restrained due to my preferences, but everyone has been so supportive, to which I'm really grateful. |
Shinbo | It’s possible to make parody with Pani Poni because of its characters. There's no point in doing it without the characters. |
Oota | That’s right. It's because the characters have unique personalities and live in a well-defined world that they're able to jump into other works. |
We’ll continue expecting a lot from Pani Poni Dash! |
Return to Interviews top page Last update on 4.5.2025 |
