I Won't Stand for a Fiancé Like This!
Interview: Director Konosuke Uda

Translated by: Harley Acres

The charm of the original work is faithfully conveyed in the anime

What did You think when you were asked to work on Ranma 1/2?

Uda: I'd mostly worked on shonen and sports stories up until then, so I was quite surprised when I was asked to work on Ranma 1/2 (laughs). The previous series was airing a few years after I entered the anime industry. ^[1] There was a TV in the staff room at the time, and I remember glancing at it in between work. I had enjoyed the previous series, Urusei Yatsura, from a fan's perspective, but by the time Ranma 1/2 came around, I had already started working, so while I thought the original work and other aspects of it were interesting, I looked at it more from an industry perspective, thinking, "They're doing well."

What approach did you intend to take when adapting this series into an anime?

Uda: You definitely have to consider the times. Even if it's the same romantic comedy, the way male and female characters are treated is completely different now than it was in the late '80s /'90s when the original was written. There will also need to be some consideration from a compliance or regulation perspective. ^[2] I wondered how best to take that into account. However, even with that in mind, I thought the important thing was to properly convey the appeal of Rumiko Takahashi-sensei's work to the screen.

What do you think is the appeal of Takahashi's works, Director Uda?

Uda: Of course, the first thing is the appeal of the characters, but I also think the other thing is the structure.

Structure?

Uda: That's right. Structure refers to the order of scenes within a story. I think a big reason why Takahashi-sensei's manga is so interesting is her excellent compositional skills. The atmosphere and charm that are created by the order of the scenes is what makes the original manga so interesting. This time, we've combined two to four chapters of the original work into one episode of the anime, but I've asked (Kimiko) Ueno-san, who is handling the series composition, and the other scriptwriters to keep the structure true to the original. ^[3]

How did you think about the appeal of the characters?

Uda: Not just in Ranma 1/2, but in all of Takahashi-sensei's works, the characters' healthy sexiness is a big part of their appeal. That's what makes the girls so cute and cool. I wanted to cherish that. In the case of Ranma 1/2, female Ranma is quite open, which is also part of her charm, so I thought a lot about how to depict that.

Did you decide on any specific policies in this regard?

Uda: I had many women participate as animators and episode directors. When a man tries to draw a woman's body, it inevitably comes across from the male gaze, so I wanted to avoid that as much as possible. ^[4] I thought that having a woman draw it would result in images that women wouldn't find objectionable. In that sense, I didn't set any rules from the beginning, like "this is not allowed beyond this point." In my experience, if you do that, the rules get too out of hand and the overall expression becomes stifling. So this time, we're all going to brainstorm ideas and choose the best expression.

The staff's ideas expand the work's range

That's one of the great things about TV anime: it's created through everyone's ideas.

Uda: That's right. Unlike movies, which are unified by the director's ideas, TV series are made more interesting by the individual personalities and unique aspects of each staff member, adding something that the director doesn't have. The previous Ranma 1/2 was a work from an era that had such freedom, so I wanted to make the most of that "benefit of not being too specific" this time as well. Therefore, I didn't prioritize uniformity when it came to storyboards and animation, as I felt that a variety of elements would increase the enjoyment. So I hope you'll enjoy the variety of the work when it airs.

The pop atmosphere reminiscent of the '80s is also a key feature of Ranma 1/2.

Uda: In addition to art director (Chihiro) Okawa-san, who created the overall tone of the screen, (Daiki) Kuribayashi-san, who was in charge of the art board, and (Yukiko) Kakita-san, who was in charge of color design, I think it was a big help that we had video artist Minami Kitamura-san participate in the pop artwork this time. ^{[5] [6]} Kitamura-san's work originally has an '80s feel, so we asked her to draw the handwritten text that appears on screen and the background images in that direction. She also did the ending, and the cover of the dubbing script was also drawn in the same style as the ending, which is really cute.

Parako Shinohara-san, who helped check the storyboard, also played a big role in creating the pop atmosphere. ^[7]

Uda: That's right. Shinohara-san was involved in the storyboarding and direction, and the ideas she added were great. So, the process was that when the storyboard was first completed, Shinohara-san looked at it first, and added various ideas for how to make the work pop. Then, I checked them.

If you could transform by pouring water over yourself, what would you be?

Answer: Boy
Reason: Changing gender seems like a pain... I'd simply like to be a boy without back pain. I'd be happy to just pour water over myself (laughs).

Ranma depicted in a POP style.
The Reiwa era of Ranma is full of newness and nostalgia. We spoke directly with the main staff about the meticulous production process!

Cherishing the "love" in a romantic comedy

Director Uda, you're also serving as sound director this time. How was it recording with the cast continuing from the previous series?

Uda: Naturally, everyone had a high level of understanding of the characters from the very beginning. That's why I had an easier time in some ways. Normally, it takes quite a while for the cast to get a grasp on the characters when recording the first episode. That wasn't the case this time, but I didn't think the basic characters' principles of behavior would deviate from the original, so in that sense, I think the cast members were able to act honestly and without any sense of incongruity.

On the other hand, many new cast members are joining the cast as guest characters.

Uda: The new cast members are all very talented, so when we communicated the image we had in mind, they absorbed it well and performed it, so it all went very smoothly. From the casting stage onwards, I placed importance on the actors' natural talents, so in a sense, I thought that if each person could bring out their own unique qualities, they would fit each character perfectly, and I think that aspect went very well.

And the music is by Kaoru Wada.

Uda: This is my first time working with Wada-san as a director, but I've always felt a familiarity with his music, including on The Kindaichi Case Files, which I was involved in as a staff member. The music for GeGeGe no Kitaro (series 4), which uses the kokyu, has a particularly lovely atmosphere, and that was one of the reasons I wanted to ask him to compose it this time. Wada-san also worked on Inuyasha, so I thought his music would be familiar to fans of Rumiko Takahashi-sensei. Wada-san's forte is melodic music, which is something I wanted to achieve with Ranma 1/2. The beginning starts off on a light note, but the second half gains more drama, so I thought Wada-san was the perfect choice to add a change of music there.

Enjoy the individuality

Even in the early stages, the scenes that sympathize with the characters' emotions are presented in a mellow and impressive way, and I felt a sense of contrast.

Uda: I've always been particular about varying the pace of my direction, so it came naturally this time around as well. To begin with, Ranma is a work with a lot of the "love" elements of romantic comedy. The high proportion of romantic elements is a major part of the show's appeal, so I wanted to portray that carefully. In fact, I even thought it would be good if the romantic elements increased in number.

What would you say to people watching Ranma 1/2 for the first time about what the highlights of the series are?

Uda: The relationship between Ranma and Akane, which is frustrating to watch from the outside, is a type of relationship that we don't see these days, so I think viewers will find it refreshing. Directing this time around, I was reminded that all the characters are straightforward and good-natured. However, because they're so straightforward, they end up causing trouble in all sorts of places (laughs). The characters also become more lively with each episode, so I hope you can clear your mind and enjoy the series.

Shadow Colors in the Battle Scenes

"The idea came from Shinohara-san. She thought it would be interesting to make the screen look like an American comic. So, I asked Kakita-san to create several different color variations, and among them, we wanted one that had the feel of Ranma 1/2, so we decided on the purple shadow colors we have now." (Uda)

'80s Pop

"We suggested the keywords 'vivid colors' and 'fluorescent colors.' As for the colors, I trusted Kakita-san and Okawa-san, so I didn't dictate the details and let them come up with their own ideas. The screen decorations were largely the work of Kitamura-san and Shinohara-san." (Uda)

Softness of the Original Art

"I asked character designer Hiromi Taniguchi to keep in mind the softness of Takahashi-sensei's pen. I also wanted to keep the lines simple and the shading simple. If a current animator were to draw them, they would naturally incorporate a modern essence, so I thought it would be fine to keep the base character design a little classic." (Uda)

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Footnotes

• [1] Konosuke Uda (宇田鋼之介) is the director of the 2024 adaptation of Ranma 1/2. He began his career as a video tracer on Transformers: The Movie while still a student. He made his directorial debut on Goldfish Warning! (きんぎょ注意報/Kingyo Chuiho!) followed by working on Sailor Moon (美少女戦士セーラームーン/Bishojo Senshi Seeraa Muun). In 1999 became the first series director of One Piece, which he worked on for six years. You can read an interview with him here.
• [2] When the original television series aired from 1989 to 1992 nudity was much more common in anime, but due to the increasing global popularity of anime and manga, this has largely been tempered. Due to the nature of the original manga, Ranma in particular is often shown topless, however the 2024 anime adaptation made certain edits (generally obscuring the nudity or not depicting the characters' nipples). Rumiko Takahashi also laughed about whether doing the show in 2024 would break any broadcast regulations.
• [3] Kimiko Ueno (うえのきみこ) has written scripts for Crayon Shin-chan (クレヨンしんちゃん), Space Dandy (スペース☆ダンディ) and New Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt (パンティ&ストッキングwithガーターベルト). She was interviewed as well.
• [4] The "male gaze" is an art historical term that discusses the presentation of female nudity as being primarily drawn by men for the pleasure of men. It can be used to discuss everything from western art's tendancy towards "reclining nudes" to Japanese erotic "shunga" prints and even prehistoric "Venus" fertility figures as all being the product of the male imagination.
• [5] Chihiro Okawa (大川千裕) served as art director for Ranma 1/2 and primarily worked as a background artist prior to this on projects such as Weathering With You (天気の子/Tenki no Ko) and NieR:Automata Ver 1.1a. Daiki Kuribayashi (栗林大貴) served as background artist and art director on Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun (地縛少年花子くん/Jibaku Shonen Hanako-kun), Dragon Ball Super: Broly (ドラゴンボール超 ブロリー) and also Weathering With You. Yukiko Kakita (垣田由紀子) worked on special effects for Fullmetal Alchemist (鋼の錬金術師/Hagane no Renkinjutsushi), paintwork on Inuyasha the Movie 4: Fire on the Mystic Isle and color design on Mr. Osomatsu (おそ松さん).
• [6] Minami Kitamura (北村みなみ) who handled the animation for the ending theme, Anta Nante. Ranma 1/2 is the first anime she was involved with as she typically works as an illustrator. Her website can be seen here. She was interviewed as well.
• [7] Parako Shinohara (篠原ぱらこ) had a number of different jobs on Ranma 1/2 including storyboards, episode director, unit director and key animator. She worked on storyboards for Attack on Titan: The Final Season Part 2 (進撃の巨人 The Final Season Part 2/Shingeki no Kyojin The Final Season Part 2) and You Don't Know Gunma Yet (お前はまだグンマを知らない/Omae wa Mada Gunma o Shiranai). She was interviewed as well.
• [8] Kaoru Wada (和田薫) was responsible for all of of the music on Inuyasha, Inuyasha: The Final Act and Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon as well as all four of the Inuyasha films. You can read an interview with him.

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