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Art direction of Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise

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Topics related to
Royal Space Force
Pilot film
Screenplay
Design
Art direction
Animation
Cinematography
Voice acting
Music
Marketing and release
Critical response
Academic analysis

Gainax's 1987 debut work Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise was the first project on which Hiromasa Ogura served as art director; although later noted for creating much of the aesthetic behind the influential 1995 film Ghost in the Shell,[1][2] Ogura himself in a 2012 interview regarded Royal Space Force as the top work of his career.[3] Working from Yoshiyuki Sadamoto's color scheme and Takashi Watabe's architectural drawings, Ogura then gave a "a sense of life" to the aesthetics of the world setting of Royal Space Force[4] through background paintings created by himself and a staff of 16, including future Studio Ghibli art director Yōji Takeshige, whose first work in the anime industry was on the film.[5] The film's writer and director, Hiroyuki Yamaga, sought to avoid using what he regarded as the usual visual symbolism of anime, and instead wanted Royal Space Force's art direction to express specific times of day and night; Ogura attempted to convey Yamaga's verbal instructions in graphic form.[6][7]

Nobuyuki Ohnishi, a contemporary illustrator whose work director Hiroyuki Yamaga knew from the music magazines Swing Journal and ADLIB, was chosen by him to create the film's title sequence and closing credits. Yamaga viewed Ohnishi's style, which employed classical sumi-e ink wash painting technique to depict modern subjects, as a method to convey an alternate perspective and suggest the film's exercise in worldbuilding also included a conceptual past and future, rather than a world brought into existence for the sake of one particular narrative in time.[8] Yamaga believed using contributions only from artists inside the anime industry set limits on the creative potential of an anime project, and compared Ohnishi's involvement to Ryuichi Sakamoto serving as the film's music director or Leo Morimoto as its lead voice actor.[9]

The climactic visionary montage of the protagonist Shirotsugh's childhood and the history of the film's world was referred to in production as its "image scene"; Yamaga, who had written the scene in the script simply as a flashback, worked closely with future The Animatrix and Gankutsuou director Mahiro Maeda to develop the image scene through meetings and discussion, reworking the impressions developed and adding material until a storyboard was completed, based off which Maeda created the finished sequence.[10] Royal Space Force planner Toshio Okada stated in his memoirs that he regarded it as the only place in the film appropriate to the true artistic potential of Maeda; Okada argued that not even Hayao Miyazaki had employed Maeda's talent properly when he had worked on the previous year's Castle in the Sky.[11]

Art direction

Hiromasa Ogura joins project

Hiromasa Ogura had entered the anime industry in 1977 as a background painter at Kobayashi Production, where he contributed art to such films as Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro and Harmagedon. At the time work began on Royal Space Force, Ogura was at Studio Fuga, a backgrounds company he had co-founded in 1983; he related that it was his associate Yoshimi Asari of Triangle Staff who contacted him on behalf of Gainax, arranging for Okada and Inoue to come to Fuga and discuss their plans for the film. Ogura mentioned that although he did not know the details of how Asari came to suggest him for the job, he found out later that Gainax had previously approached his seniors Shichirō Kobayashi and Mukuo Takamura, who had been the art directors on Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro and Harmagedon respectively,[12] but that both had passed on Royal Space Force.[13]

After joining the Royal Space Force team on temporary loan from Studio Fuga, Ogura worked in the film's pre-production studio in Takadanobaba. He later joked that his initial reaction to Gainax was "What's up with these people?", remarking that they acted like a bunch of students who all knew each other, whereas he had no idea who any of them were. Although Ogura recalled that he had seen the Daicon opening animation films before starting Fuga and had been impressed that amateurs had made them, he did not realize at first that he was now working with the same people, laughing that he likewise eventually recognized Anno from having seen his role in The Return of Ultraman.[14][15] After the completion of Royal Space Force, Ogura went to work on his first project with Mamoru Oshii, Twilight Q: Mystery Case File 538, but would later collaborate with Gainax again as art director of the final episodes of the 1990-91 TV series Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water[16] and of the 2000-01 OVA series FLCL, which Ogura personally ranked alongside his work on the Patlabor films and Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade, praising the unique world sense of FLCL series director Kazuya Tsurumaki and animator, designer, and layout artist Hiroyuki Imaishi.[17]

Ogura oversaw a team of 16 background painters on Royal Space Force,[18] including the future art director of Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, and The Wind Rises, Yōji Takeshige. At the time of Royal Space Force's production, Takeshige was still a student attending Tama Art University; the following year he would join Studio Ghibli to create backgrounds for 1988's My Neighbor Totoro.[19] Ogura remarked that many of his team were veterans of Sanrio's theatrical films unit, which gave him confidence in their abilities.[20] More than half of the background paintings for the film were made on site at Gainax, rather than assigning the task to staff working externally, as Ogura felt the worldview and details of the film's aesthetic were easier for him to communicate to artists in person, giving as an example the color subtleties; as the color scheme in Royal Space Force was subdued, if a painting needed more of a bluish cast to it, he couldn't simply instruct the artist to "add more blue."[21]

Creation of film world's aesthetic

Toshio Okada described the appearance of the world in which Royal Space Force takes place as having been shaped in stages by three main artists: first, its major color elements (blue and brown) were determined by Sadamoto; then its architectural styles and artistic outlook were designed by [Takashi] Watabe, and finally Ogura gave it "a sense of life" through depicting its light, shadow, and air. It was noted also that the film's world displays different layers of time in its designs; the main motifs being Art Deco, but with older Art Nouveau and newer postmodern elements also present.[22] Yamaga expressed the view that Ogura being a Tokyo native allowed him to do a good job on the film's city scenes,[23] yet Ogura himself described the task as difficult; while he attempted to sketch out as much of the city as possible, its urban aesthetic was so cluttered that it was difficult for him to determine vanishing point and perspective.[24] Ogura commented that although the film depicted a different world, "there's nothing that you'd call sci-fi stuff, it's everyday, normal life like our own surroundings. I wanted to express that messy impression." As art director, he also laid particular emphasis on attempting to convey the visual texture of the world's architecture and interior design, remarking that he was amazed at how Watabe's original drawings of buildings contained detailed notes on the structural and decorative materials used in them, inspiring Ogura to then express in his paintings such aspects as the woodwork motifs prominent in the Royal Space Force headquarters, or by contrast the metallic elements in the room where the Republic minister Nereddon tastes wine.[25] Watabe and Ogura would collaborate again in 1995 on constructing the cityscapes of Ghost in the Shell.[26]

Ogura theorized that the background paintings in Royal Space Force were a result not only of the effort put into the film, but the philosophy behind the effort: "I think this shows what you can make if you take animation seriously. [Yamaga] often said he wanted to dispense with the usual symbolic bits. It isn't about saying that because it's evening, the colors should be signified in this way. Not every sunset is the same."[27] Critiquing his own work, Ogura wished that he had been able to convey more emphasis on the effects of light and shadow in addition to color, citing as an example the early scene at the graveyard, where he felt he should have depicted greater contrast in the objects lit by sunlight, but joked that it was hard to say exactly how things would turn out until he actually painted them, something he said was true of the entire film. As Yamaga conveyed images to him only through words, Ogura was glad that he was allowed to be free to try to express them visually in his own way,[28] particularly because even in evening shots, the director would specify to him whether it should depict evening close to dawn, the dead of night, or evening close to sunset, noting wryly that it was hard to express the difference between 3 a.m and 4 a.m.[29] Looking back on the project from 2012, Ogura maintained that while he rarely rewatched his old work, he still felt the passion when he viewed a DVD of the film: "I thought there aren't a lot of people these days making [anime] with such a level of passion. Royal Space Force was very exciting, and so were the people around me."[30]

Image scene

The visionary sequence in the film occurring after Shirotsugh's spacecraft in orbit crosses from the world's nightside to its dayside, depicting memories of his youth followed by the cycles of human history, was referred to in production as its "image scene."[31] Ogura discussed the involvement in this scene of former Sanrio artist Hiroshi Sasaki,[32] who would later himself serve as art director on 2004's Gankutsuou, whereas in the director's commentary Akai emphasized the role of Mahiro Maeda, who would partner again with Sasaki as Gankutsuou's director.[33][34] Maeda recalled that initially there was no storyboard to guide the creation of the sequence, which was only written in the script as a scene involving a flashback. He proceeded to develop it by taking meetings with Yamaga, buying photo albums of news events for ideas, and trying to make drawings from inspiration each day. "Yamaga expressed a desire to convey something like human history. I thought it would be best to start with the image of one individual, such as Shirotsugh's own personal history. So we wondered about it, and together came up with impressions of what his childhood had been like. The director then selected and reworked these impressions, adding in some other elements that were thought to be missing, and then finally we had a storyboard ... So, for that scene, I did the storyboards, the model sheets, and the original drawings," laughing, "If that wasn't a good scene, I can't blame anyone but myself."[35] In his 2010 memoir, Okada judged that the sequence was the only place in the film appropriate to the talent of Maeda, whom he called a "true artist." Anime, Okada argued, was like a reactor that harnessed Maeda, whose artistic talent Okada compared to that of a nuclear blast, for the mundane purpose of boiling water, commenting to him that to him Gankutsuou felt like watching only a Kaiyodo scale model of what Maeda was truly capable of creatively. Okada asserted that not even Hayao Miyazaki had been able to use Maeda properly on Castle in the Sky, where he had been the key animator in charge of the scene where the center of Laputa collapses: "Maeda's talent shouldn't be used that way."[36]

Credits sequences

In the 2000 director's commentary, Akai recalled his initial surprise that Yamaga wanted to use Nobuyuki Ohnishi's illustrations for the film's credits sequences, and that also "some of the animators felt there were better illustrators," a remark that made Yamaga laugh and comment, "The world of animators is a small one."[37] At the time of Royal Space Force's production, Ohnishi was known for his spot illustrations in the reader's corner section of Pia,[38] a weekly Tokyo culture and entertainment magazine associated with the long-running Pia Film Festival, as well as his airplane illustrations drawn for the magazine Model Graphix,[39] where an occasional fellow contributing artist was Hayao Miyazaki.[40] In a 1995 conversation with Animerica, Ohnishi remarked however that Yamaga's personal familiarity with his work came through Ohnishi's illustrations for the Japanese magazines Swing Journal, a jazz publication modeled on DownBeat,[41] and ADLIB, covering fusion and pop. Ohnishi, a graduate of the prestigious Musashino Art University, had been an assistant on the films of avant-garde dramatist Shūji Terayama[42] and recalled having been "a little surprised" when Yamaga first approached him, as Ohnishi had "considered animation at the time to be strictly for children, and his own work had always been directed towards adults," but that Yamaga assured him that the film "was going to be a very adult take on science fiction."[43]

Yamaga had desired that the opening and ending credits show the world portrayed in the film from a different perspective, and felt that Ohnishi's method of using light and shadow was ideal for the purpose. He asked the artist to create an "image of inheritance," to convey a sense that this world did not exist only for the events told of in the film, but that it had existed also in its past, and would exist into its future as well.[44][45] Although his illustration style used a sumi-e ink wash painting technique from classical East Asian art, Ohnishi commented that he was uninterested in traditional subjects such as "bamboo and old Chinese mountains," preferring instead to paint "the typewriter and the skyscraper," with a particular interest in 1950s-era objects. Ohnishi's approach in the credits made frequent use of photographs of real people and historical events, which he would then modify when adapting it into a painting: "exchanging and replacing the details of, for example, a European picture with Asian or Middle-Eastern elements and motifs. In this way, the credits would reflect both the cultural mixing that gives the film as a whole its appearance, and symbolize the blurring between our world and the film's world, thus serving [Royal Space Force's] function as a 'kaleidoscopic mirror.'"[46] The last painting in the opening credits, where Yamaga's name as director appears, is based on a photograph of Yamaga and his younger sister when they were children.[47][48] Shiro's return alive from space[49] is depicted in the first paintings of the ending credits; Yamaga remarked that they represent the photos appearing in textbooks from the future of the world of Royal Space Force.[50]

References

Citations

  1. ^ Lum 2018
  2. ^ Onanuga 2017
  3. ^ 「ところで、小倉さんは本当に数多くの作品を手がけられておられますが、ご自身のキャリアを振り返って、一番に挙げるとしたらどの作品になりますか？」「やっぱり『王立宇宙軍　オネアミスの翼』ですね。最初に美術監督をした作品ということもあるけど。。。」SU Planning Co., Ltd. 2012c
  4. ^ Matsushita 1987, p. 18
  5. ^ Mamatas & Montesa 2014, p. 88
  6. ^ Studio Ash 1987, pp. 124–125
  7. ^ Matsushita 1987, p. 205
  8. ^ Horn 1995b, p. 14
  9. ^ Akai & Yamaga 2000, 03:48, 10:38
  10. ^ Matsushita 1987, p. 204
  11. ^ Okada 2010, p. 184
  12. ^ Animage Editorial Department 1989, pp. 77, 95
  13. ^ 「1954年生まれ。1977年、小林プロダクションに入社。。。『ルパン三世 カリオストロの城』(1979年)、『エースをねらえ！』(1979年)、『幻魔大戦』(1983年)などの劇場用作品で背景を担当。1983年に小林プロダクションを退社し、同僚だった大野広司、水谷利春とともにスタジオ風雅を設立。。。」「『王立宇宙軍　オネアミスの翼』の話は、浅利さんから電話があったんですよ。美術監督を探していると。それで、面白そうなので話を聞こうということになって。岡田(斗司夫)さんとかプロデューサーの井上(博明)さんとかが風雅に来て、こういうのを作ろうとしてるんですけど―っていう話になって、それで受けることになったんです。。。あとで聞いたら、“王立”はどうやら、小林(七郎)さんや椋尾(篁)さんに発注したんだけど断られたらしくて。そこから浅利さんにどういう経緯で話があったのかはよく知らないんだけど。」SU Planning Co., Ltd. 2012a
  14. ^ 「何だかわからなかったよ(笑)。“何なんだろう、この人たちは？”って感じで。当時はガイナックスが高田馬場に事務所を構えていた頃で、そこで風雅からの出向という形でイメージボードを描いたりしていた。そこに行ったら、みんな学生みたいで(笑)。みんな知り合い同士みたいなんだけど、こっちは誰が何だかちっともわからない。DAICON は以前に会社で見てて、“これを素人が作れるんだ、すごいな”とは思ってたんだけど、この人たちがそうだったんだっていうのは、後で知ったんですよ。それで実写の『帰ってきたウルトラマン』とか見たら、庵野(秀明)がいるわけじゃない？(笑)。ああ、この人たちだったんだぁって。」SU Planning Co., Ltd. 2012a
  15. ^ Roe 2019
  16. ^ 「『王立宇宙軍　オネアミスの翼』(1987年)が終わってすぐ風雅を辞めちゃったのね。押井(守)さんの『トワイライトＱ 迷宮物件 FILE538』(1987年)をやりたくて。。。“ナディア”は最後の方だけだった(第34～39話で美術監督)。。。」SU Planning Co., Ltd. 2012a
  17. ^ 「さて、“王立”が一番として、これ以外で印象に残っているご自分の作品をあえて挙げるとすると、どの作品になりますか？」「『機動警察パトレイバー』、『人狼 JIN-ROH』…それから『フリクリ』。独特な絵柄に合わせて世界を完結させるのが大変だったけど面白かった。大したもんですよ、今石(洋之)君や鶴巻(和哉)君達は。」SU Planning Co., Ltd. 2012c
  18. ^ Matsushita 1987, p. 32
  19. ^ Mamatas & Montesa 2014, p. 88
  20. ^ 「美術のスタッフは、サンリオの方が多くて。劇場版をやってこられた方々ですから、きっちり描くということに関しては大丈夫、と。。。」Studio Ash 1987, p. 125
  21. ^ 「背景の作業に関しては半分以上は内部でこなしたんです。それはまずあの世界観を把握していなければダメだということと、それだけの情報量を知っていなければダメだということからだったんです。中の人間だと原図を渡した段階で色々とこっちからのイメージも伝えやすいのですが、外の人間は僕がするI回の説明では微妙な部分とか云えきれなくて…。例えば色味を押さえた感じで描いていたので、もっと青味をといっても単純に青だけを加えるということではないので描き辛かったと思いますね。」Matsushita 1987, p. 205
  22. ^ 「『まず、貞本君がこの世界の色を決めた。そして渡部さんが建築様式と美術観を決めて、小倉さんがそこに光と影と空気、ひいては生活感を与えた。そこで始めて[王立宇宙軍]の美術が完成するのです。(岡田斗司夫)』言葉の解釈では、メインラインがアールデコで、いちばん古い部分がアールヌーボーで、新しい部分がポストモダン。メインカラーが青と茶という。」 Matsushita 1987, p. 18
  23. ^ Akai & Yamaga 2000, 25:58
  24. ^ 「そういう意味で今回は街並みが多かったのでかなり大変だったんじゃないですか？」「そうですね。街に関してはできる限り描き起こす方向でやってみたんですが、あれだけゴチャゴチャしていると消失点も何処にあるのかわからなくなるし、パースが取りにくいですね。」Matsushita 1987, p. 205
  25. ^ 「ただ、異世界というところでもって、いわゆるSFチックなモノはなしで、普通の、自分達の周りと同じ日常だ、ということでしたね。ゴチャゴチャした印象が欲しい、ということで。。。〝質感の違い〞を表現するというのを、当初 から言ってましたね。原図段階で大まかな説明をもらって。たとえば宇宙軍本部のレリーフなんかは、『木だ』ということなんで極力それを強調したりとか。室内なんかは、あの、ネレッドン首相が利き酒をする部屋があるでしょ。あそこなんかはデザインが面白かったので、ここんところは金属に、とか意識的にやりましたね。まあ、渡部さんの原図なんかはスゴくて(笑)、ここが金属でここは木みたいなのが細かく書いてあって。」Studio Ash 1987, p. 124
  26. ^ Di Battista 2016
  27. ^ 「全体的にアニメーションも真剣に取り組めばこれだけのものができるよ、ということではないかと思います。監督がよく言っていたのは、記号的な部分をやめたいということなんですよね。単純に夕方ならこういう色というのではなく、いつも同じ夕焼けということはないわけだし、キャラに関しても記号的な部分をなるベくやらないと」Matsushita 1987, p. 205
  28. ^ 「コントラストを、もっと強調してもよかったかなあと、思いますね。最初の頃は、光の当たってるところは真っ白にトンじゃう位、極端に言えばそれぐらいに、みたいなのはあったんですけどね。なかなか、そこまでできなくて。特に、最初の墓場のシーンなんかは、 もっと、コントラストをきかせればよかったかなあと。。。でも具体的にどういう風にするかというと、そりゃ描いてみないと分かんないというのがあるんですけども(笑)。描いてみないと分かんないというのは、作 品全体を通してそうでして。特に監督は、言葉だけでイメージを伝えてきますから。『ここを、こう』とか。まあその分まかせてもらえて、有難かったというのもありますけど。」Studio Ash 1987, pp. 124–125
  29. ^ 「あと、光と影の移り変り方として時間帯が凄く細かく分かれているんですよ(笑)。監督の方から、例えば同じ夕方でも昼に近い夕方とか夜に近い夕方とかもう陽が沈みそうな夕方とか、その時間帯をかなり言われて(笑)。ただ3時と4 時の違いというのはできないですよね、やっぱり(笑)。」Matsushita 1987, p. 205
  30. ^ 「自分の作品を見直すのって滅多にしないんだけど、去年の１月くらいに久しぶりにDVDで見直して、ちょっと感動したもんなぁ(笑)。ああ、情熱を感じるなぁ…今、こういう情熱を持って作ってる人って、あまりいないんじゃないかなぁとかって思っちゃって。“王立”はすごく刺激的だったのね。周りにいた人達もそうだったし。」SU Planning Co., Ltd. 2012c
  31. ^ 「軌道上へ駆け登ったシロツグが、宇宙機の中で恒間見るイメージシーン。あふれる太陽光の光から湖水浴イメージへつながり、やがて平和だった幼年期から少年期へ、そして類の繰り返す営みの描写へとつながっていく。」Studio Hard 1987, p. 159
  32. ^ 「佐々木君というのがいまして。ラストのイメージシーンは、彼が全部やってくれたんですよ。自分でこういう風にしたい、というのがあったみたいで、あれはなかなか面白いモノになったんじゃあないかと思います。」Studio Ash 1987, p. 125
  33. ^ Akai & Yamaga 2000, 1:55:12
  34. ^ Geneon 2005
  35. ^ 「シロツグの回想シーンなんですが、脚本にイメージシーンと書いてあるだけでコンテも何もできていなかったんです。仕方がないから山賀さんと打ち合せをしたり報道写真集をいっぱい買ってきてバーッと見て、僕達が日頃インスピレーションみたいに感じることとかを絵にしようと。 で、人間の歴史みたいなものをやりたいと監督が言いだして。それならイメージとしてシロツグの個人史みたいな個人のイメージから入っていくのがいちばんいいんじゃないかと。じゃあ、シロツグの子供の頃というのはどんなものだったんだろうということで、ふたりで子供の頃の印象をいっぱい考えたんですよ。子供の頃にあんなこともあった、こんなこともあったどいうものをたくさん描いて、それを監督が選んで継ぎ直してその上でちょっと足りないなあというものを足して、最終的にコンテができあがったわけてす。。。だからあのシーンは絵コンテやって設定やって原画もやったわけです。あそこがダメだったらもう誰のせいにもできない(笑)。」Matsushita 1987, p. 204
  36. ^ 「『巌窟王』（二〇〇五）を見たとき、前田真宏っぽいとは思ったけど、前田真宏の縮小版って感じがしちゃいました。前田真宏を掌サイズに縮小したビネット（海洋堂作）みたいな感じ。。。あいつはほんとの芸術家なんです。あふれんばかりの才能を、絵をかいたりアニメを作ったりすることに使えるんだけど、それって本道ではないんです。 例えば核兵器と同じです。核兵器は、すごい核爆発を起こせるんだけど、それを平和利用しようとしたら、お湯沸かしてタービン回して電気作るくらいしかやりようがない。。。真宏がアニメを作るというのも同じ感じがします。。。ジブリでも、宮崎監督は前田真宏を適材適所には使えなかったんですよ。『天空の城ラピュタ』（一九八六）で、ラピュタの底が抜けるシーンの作画を担当していますが、前田真宏の才能はあんなもんじゃないはずです。『王立宇宙軍』でも、前田真宏の才能は、最後の人類の進化を語るシーンで止め絵で見せるしかできなかった。」Okada 2010, p. 184
  37. ^ Akai & Yamaga 2000, 02:40, 04:05
  38. ^ 「なおOP, EDともに、イラストレーター大西信行が手がける。『ぴあ』 誌上の読者コーナーのカットでおなじみ。」Studio Hard 1987, p. 160
  39. ^ 「オープニングとエンデイングのイラストを担当しているのがモデル雑誌『モデル•グラフイックス』で飛行機のイラストを描いている大西信之さん。」Suzuki 1987c, p. 14
  40. ^ Miyazaki 2009, p. 244
  41. ^ Minor 2004, p. 131
  42. ^ Arakawa Gallery 2022
  43. ^ Horn 1995b, p. 14
  44. ^ 「「映画とは別の視点から見た、あの世界を最初と最後につけておきたいと思ったんです。大西さんの光と影だけで描く絵はそれにピタリでした。えんえんとあの舞台になった世界がドラマの間だけじゃなくて、前にも後にもずっと続いている。その継承するイメージを出したくてお願いしました。」」Suzuki 1987c, p. 14
  45. ^ 「延々と舞台になったあの世界が映画だけでなくて、前にも後にも続いているその継承するイメージを出したくてお願いした。(山賀博之)」」Matsushita 1987, p. 20
  46. ^ Horn 1995b, p. 14
  47. ^ Akai & Yamaga 2000, 03:34
  48. ^ Horn 1995b, p. 14
  49. ^ 「エンディングはシロツグの生還から」Studio Hard 1987, p. 160
  50. ^ Akai & Yamaga 2000, 01:56:49
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