✨Technical notes

Hi! Welcome to my Yuri!!! Library project blog✨

Long before Ice Ado was cancelled officially, I started doing the Daily Translations as a tribute to the amazing artists that worked on YoI.

My plan is to make at least 1000 translation/paper cranes, one translation/paper crane each day (so far I haven't missed any days, I think, but it was close a few times - I was translating not very sober after parties, and posting a minute before take-offs on 15-hours flights 😂...), as a form of my personal prayer.

❕This blog is for people, who like to read&ponder about canon, what the original creators were inspired by, the anime production process etc., so probably not for everyone. I don't post original Jp text, because of copyrights, but if somebody is interested, I can provide you with the source text privately (also stuff like Jp transcriptions of all episodes etc.)

And finally, to the most important thing:

It will take me a while to sort everything out, but the link to the final masterlist will appear here ✨

Today’s translation #959

Part 3.

-- What represents music of Yuri!!! on ICE is, of course, the music used for skating programs. What was important to you when you were producing it?

Tominaga: Music for skating was produced even earlier, before the animation - first of all, we had to produce demos, that Miyamoto Kenji-san could use to work on choreography. I needed to pay attention to the physical, dancing side of the music, all those turns, jumps and gliding, so to make sure if the music is good fot dance or not, I myself was moving a lot, moving my arms, legs and the whole body, sometimes like a conductor, sometimes feeling like a ballerina, I was constantly making sure that it has the right rhythm, so I was working, while dancing non-stop. Compared to background music, in case of skating music, it was okay to bring it to the front, so I didn't need to worry about the need to arrange the music, to blend well with lines that characters are saying. It was fun that I could make it so showy and over-the-top (laugh).

-- When producing the music for skating programs, did you take into account the personality of each character?

Tominaga: Depends on the music, but in most cases, the image of each program, and the settings for each character, that Director Yamamoto and Kubo-san told me about were my goal, and I just pushed on to reach that goal. The first stage of production was about deciding what tempo and rhythm every piece would have, and then, composers had their time to work. After I listened to the demos that they created, we discussed the music, including some ideas that I myself came up with while listening to the demo, and we were polishing up the music, introducing more improvements and even more improvements. For the process of creation, the ideal method should be finding the good parts and trying to extend them, not trying to scoop out the bad parts... But depending on the situation, that's not necessary what we do. Overall, I think that the production process wasn't that different, compared to how it's usually done, but we really did not compromise and persistently pushed on to get what we wanted.

Today’s translation #958

Part 2.

-- You worked on the project as 'music producer', but what kind of job was it specifically?

Tominaga: My role was to participate in everything that was a part of the music production process and closely supervise the quality and direction that was taken. In other words, you could say it's something like 'music director'. After I discussed it with them and made sure that I know what direction the Director and Kubo-san wanted to head into, I took part in the process of choosing and ordering of lyrics, music and arrangements, also taking on the role of director for the process of composing the music, as well as partly composing, arranging, and writing the lyrics myself. I was also taking care of the business part of the process, like choosing vocalists and musicians, placing offers and negotiating with them or planning the recording. In addition I was doing all kind of studio work, like acting as a director during recording at the studio, conducting (expect for when orchestra was used), editing, mixing and audio mastering. Other than that, in some cases, when classic music was used (Popovich's SP, Leo's FS, SeungGil's FS etc.), I picked up the music, choosing from existing versions or decided what the title of the song or the soundtrack piece should be or translated the lyrics into Japanese, too. In addition to the music used in the anime, I was also responsible for producing the OP and ED, so I know each and every piece of music that you can hear in 'Yuri!!! on ICE' (including short ones, that is approx. 70 pieces of music), the length of every note and every pause and even every mismatch in the musical performance, that you probably can't really hear (laugh). After we completed the production process, every week, I was at the dubbing studio, as I was responsible for choosing the music and editing for all episodes, too.

Today’s translation #957

Part 1.

-- At first, please tell us how did it happen that you joined this project and what was your impression when you saw the project proposal for the first time?

Tominaga: At first, they contacted me about the project through an anime director, Watanabe Shun'ichiro, who was music producer for Director Yamamoto's previous works. When I read the project proposal, I could already see there a clear image of the show, drawn in bold lines, which was a combination of pop and intricate story, cool and edgy worldview, characters with real depth and deep, deep love of figure skating that Kubo-san and Director Yamamoto have in them. I thought that it was going to be a show like no other.

-- What kind of request did you get from Director Yamamoto?

Tominaga: For example, before we started production of the OP song, Director Yamamoto requested that 'Because it's story of young men competing with each other at the world level, I want a big-scale song'. After that, we narrowed down the ideas that we came up with and decided to ask Dean Fujioka to participate in the production and do the vocals. Uembayashi Taro, Matsushiba Taku and Dean created together a fantastic demo, and I was so happy with it, when it first got its shape, that I immediately sent an email to the Director. It was right when the production of Yuri!!! was at its peak, and she was extremely busy, so I wasn't sure if she would be able to listen to the demo right away...... That was the situation, but she replied quickly, and her reaction was positive. What's more, very late at night the same day (or basically it was already morning), she sent me a rough idea for the OP, writing that 'I was listening to the demo on repeat all night, and I have an idea for the OP visuals!' I was so glad. Other than this one, there was a lot of different moments when the visuals and the music jammed together, and through that Yuri!!! as a show, gradually got it's shape - that was a lot of fun.

[Notes: It's the last interview from this Febri issue~!]

Today’s translation #956

Part 4.

This year's Grand Prix series has already started, but does Miyamoto-sensei have any male skaters that he wants to pay special attention to?

'Hanyu Yuzuru, of course, but Uno Shoma is also amazing. He has more quads now, and his artistry is also on the rise.' Miyamoto-sensei also recommends the pay attention to Yamamoto Sota, who just advanced to senior division this season.

'His strong point is his fast skating, and powerful jumps. You can see, when he gets ready for a jump, but his jumps, with very narrow axis of rotation, seem so effortless. Yet they have the punch. Pay attention to that.'

Miyamoto-sensei has hopes that Yuri!!! on ICE will help get more young people into figure skating.

'I'd like Yuri!!! on ICE to become an opportunity for young people to feel that figure skating is a sport that feel close to them and to come to a skating rink, and get on the ice themselves. Even if just to try. And if they have fun, to keep on skating.'

This winter, let's focus not only on the real-life Grand Prix series, but also on the Grand Prix series that Yuri!!! on ICE shows us.

Today’s translation #955

Part 3.

Miyamoto-sensei also says that he felt realism in the choice of making a 15-year-old the rival of the main character, who is 23.

'At this age, skaters start to think about emergence of a new generation. Including this setting, there is a lot of realism in how Yuri!!! on ICE portrays figure skating. What figure skaters think about when they are skating, their relationship with their coach, how they feel after they finished skating a program... And of course the artistry of figure skating - all of this is portrayed in a very realistic way. When you watch the anime, I'd like you to pay attention to the beauty of figure skating, and the programs, but also to the individual story of every skater.'

Miyamoto-sensei's favorite character is the legendary Victor Nikiforov, who volunteers to be Yuuri's coach. His age in the anime is 27, the same as Miyamoto-sensei's age, when he retired from competitive skating and according to Miyamoto-sensei, he feels a strong affinity towards Victor, also because of this fact.

'Personally, I also try to make sure that I treat the skaters I'm working with as my equals, with a lot of affection. I felt that Victor has the same mindset, and that's why I like him. There is also a lot that I'd like to learn from Victor, like the ability to see if the skater has the necessary potential in them or not, or the ability to think quickly and adapt my behavior to the situation.'

Today’s translation #954

Part 2.

Miyamoto-sensei says that for him 'changing the switch in his head' was difficult.

'Especially, when I had to create choreography for two programs in one day. Before I could start working on the second program of the day, I had to forget everything about the first one. The point was to completely delete the first character from my head, and focus only on the next character. It was difficult to flip this switch, when I had my break between the programs.'

The finished choreography is so polished that it could be a choreography a skater presents during a real-life competition.

'I made sure that the choreography can earn a high score for steps, but also for transition elements. It's a choreography that only top athletes, skaters, who practice diligently everyday are able to handle well. It would be possible to just use this choreography for a competition, as it is.'

Yuri!!! on ICE was born from passion and attention to details of all its staff members. What did Miyamoto-sensei feel when he watched the finished product?

'What really made an impression on me was the beginning of episode 1. It's right after the main character, Yuuri, lost in a competition, failing to show his true abilities. This feeling, when everyone was supporting you so much, but you couldn't make it, and you feel so bad for that. People around you say 'You did very well!', but you feel only disappointment. I think that the harder someone trained, the stronger this feeling is. My heart really ached when I was watching those scenes.'

Today’s translation #953

Part 1.

'To be honest, my first thought was that it would be difficult to show in an anime those intricate details, like the sense of speed, the movements of fingers, the flow of hair. But it was also making me really happy, when I thought that maybe, thanks to this anime more people would get to like figure skating. That's why, my answer was 'If you want me to take part in this fantastic project, then I'm in!'

Miyamamoto-sensei was strongly determined that if he accepted the proposition, then naturally, he can't do a half-baked job.

'I wanted to created a choreography about which people would say that "Only Miyamoto Kenji could do this, nobody else", not something that everyone could do'.

According to Miyamoto-sensei, surprisingly, creating a choreography for an anime character wasn't that different from creating a choreography for a figure skater.

'The only difference was that it's for an anime, not for a human being and the methods were all the same. The thing that I'd say was different was that I had to skate the choreography myself, after the creation process was over. Normally, I teach the skater the choreography, and they skate it, so I can make some small improvements, as I'm watching them skating. I was a bit terrified, when I realized that I need to skate the choreography now (laugh).

[Notes: A magazine published in Nov. 2016 about figure skating, completely not related to anime.]

Today’s translation #952

Part 26.

Oguro: As you mentioned a moment ago, the accomplishments that you have made, working on such demanding shows as 'Shingeki no Bahamut GENESIS', were a part of what made the success of Yuri!!! possible.

Otsuka: That's exactly right. Because we worked very diligently on such shows, as a studio, our fame rose, and that's why we could meet with a show like 'Yuri!!!'.

Oguro: So you climbed a level higher, working on your previous projects, and now, working on Yuri!!!, you climbed even higher.

Otsuka: Yes, because it gave us the power necessary for our production team to develop and us, as a company, to develop, too. Yuri!!!'s success was so big, that's also a bit scary and at the same time 'In this Corner of the World' was also a success. We have a lot of discussions at MAPPA right now, that we need to be very calm, not to destroy these good circumstances. We mustn't get cocky.

Oguro: I see.

Otsuka: If the case was that something that we wanted to make a success became a success, we could use that as a source of self-confidence and just continue, but both 'Yuri!!!' and 'In This Corner of the World' were projects, in which we just realized the director's vision, and the success came afterward. We have confidence in the shows that we make, but with our experiences, I think it will be better if we don't think to much, if a show will sell well or not.

Today’s translation #951

Part 25.

Oguro: How confident you were that Yuri!!! would become popular?

Otsuka: Nah, I wasn't confident that Yuri!!! would be popular at all. Of course, I thought that it seemed interesting, and that it had that charm that could make it popular with female audience, but I didn't think at all about how many copies of DVDs it would sell and so on. At any rate, we worked, very motivated to do the best that we could. Director Yamamoto, who pays so much attention to details, was very serious about this show, and it was a show about figure skating. That's why, I think that when rumors that we were making Yuri!!! at MAPPA spread in the anime industry world, a lot of people thought that 'Otsuka, you took on too much'. In such circumstances, I had that self-confidence in me, that had no real basis, that we can make a good show. And I also think that it was important that we have started with 'Kids on the Slope'. Maruyama Masao created MAPPA, and then Watanabe Shinichiro, who for some time hadn't done any anime series, did 'Kids on the Slope' at MAPPA. That anime and Yuri!!! are completely different, but how we met with both of them is somewhat similar to me.

Oguro: For sure. Both 'Kids on the Slope' and 'Yuri!!!' were a new step forward for their directors.

Otsuka: Yes. And we, as well, wanted to progress from doing simple hard work. That was the time, when we started wondering, how well we are able to manage a show that is technically difficult to make. Well, for our employees it wasn't necessary all sunshine and rainbows situation. Probably for them it was more, like 'You can't be serious...'. Doing this cost us much more hard work that we could imagine, but as a reward, far better results, or I should say, achievements that we could imagine, fell into our lap.

Today’s translation #950

Part 24.

Oguro: How Director Yamamoto was like during production?

Otsuka: ... As expected, she did everything at her own pace.

Oguro: I see. So when she wanted to take more time to do something, she did?

Otsuka: Noo, she was taking more time and taking more time (laugh). Glued to her work.

Oguro: So that you managed to keep everything on schedule, was thanks to all staff members joining forces?

Otsuka: Yes, it was (laugh). Also staff members from other projects helped us.

Oguro: Was Director Yamamoto satisfied with the show, when the production process was over?

Otsuka: Well, she was the director, so when it comes to smaller details, I think that there were things that she wanted to do a little bit different, but she didn't mention anything like this, and was just thanking the staff for their work. One of the reasons why the production ended in such a good atmosphere was because the show became so popular.

Today’s translation #949

Part 23.

Oguro: Did Kubo-san and Director Yamamoto know each other for a long time?

Otsuka: I think they mentioned that they have known each other for a few years? I think that it was Vancouver Olympics in 2010, that they went to see for the first time?

Oguro: So it's not that they started going to see figure skating competitions for the purpose of gathering reference materials for Yuri!!!?

Otsuka: That's correct. I think that as they were doing stuff together as friends, the idea to make an anime together developed, and that's how Yuri!!! came to be.

Oguro: What the reaction of Kubo-san to the finished anime was like?

Otsuka: She was very happy with it. Because of the tight schedule, we couldn't keep the same high quality as episode 1. has, so I was a bit worried, but yeah, Kubo-san was very pleased.

Today’s translation #948

Part 22.

Oguro: Why did you pick Karatsu as a model for the town, where the story of Yuri!!! takes place?

Otsuka: If I remember correctly, Kubo-san has some special memories connected to that town.

Oguro: You went there to gather reference materials for the show, right? Does the onsen, that is Yuuri's childhood home, really exist?

Otsuka: I think that there was a place that was used as a reference. There was also Karatsu Castle. I went to visit that castle, too.

Oguro: Did all staff members participate in the trips inside Japan?

Otsuka: A part of the staff, like the Art Director, for example, went on those trips with us.

Oguro: What about the trips abroad? Did Kubo-san go on those trips alone?

Otsuka: She and the Director went together to see the figure skating competitions (laugh). Because they go to see those competitions every year, anyway…

Oguro: So that wasn't just a one time thing?

Otsuka: Yes, it wasn't (laugh). That's why I think that they already had all that knowledge, like where is what.

Today’s translation #947

Part 21.

Oguro: A moment ago we talked about how you didn't have a lot of time to film the live-action footage, but I suppose that in case of music, not every piece that was used in the anime, was ready before the series started?

Otsuka: No, it was.

Oguro: Was it?

Otsuka: Yeah. The music production team worked really hard. I think that everything was ready even before we started working on dubbing [adding sound to animation] of episode 1. It is possible that minor stuff still wasn't ready at that point in time, though.

Oguro: So the production of the show started after you had all the music ready?

Otsuka: The production started first. The music was all ready around one month before the first episode aired on TV.

Oguro: I see. Speaking about episode 1., how much time did production of that episode take you?

Otsuka: .......I think that it was around half a year. The production time when we were working really intensively was short, but we did a lot of various tests as a part of the production process, so I think that yeah, it took around half a year.

Today’s translation #946

Part 20.

Oguro: Emotional aspect?

Otsuka: (laugh) In case of animes, like Yuri!!!, I think it's normal that staff members quit in the middle of the production. That or they decide from the start that what we ask for is impossible, and they lower the bar for themselves. But it was thanks to the experience that we gathered through our previous works, that we could deal with this and even despite all the failures, we made this show until the end.

Oguro: The result of MAPPA constantly challenging itself with high-difficulty works....

Otsuka: Yes, the result is finally here.

Oguro: Is all the music used for skating scenes original?

Otsuka: No, we also used existing music, like classical music and so on.

Oguro: I see. 'The King and The Skater' movie doesn't exist in reality, does it? The movies that are mentioned in the story are all fictional movies, right?

Otsuka: That's right. The Director and Kubo-san made up titles that sound just like real movie titles.

Today’s translation #945

Part 19.

Oguro: From around which episode, you started to introduce CGI?

Otsuka: I think that Minami-kun in episode 5. was first? If you watch the show, having this in mind, that this is when we started to use CGI, I think you may notice it (laugh). At first, the CGI, too, wasn't all that good. Having learnt from what we did wrong in episodes 5. and 6., when working on episode 7., we have already decided for which cuts and in what way we should use CGI. Until episode 6. I was ready to just try to do everything as I was told, to challenge the limits of what seemed to be possible to do in animation, but as expected, it turned out we didn't have enough time. We were doing a lot of adjustments along the way - as the story progressed, we started to use those cuts, to fill in the gaps in animation, change the way we use CGI etc. We were changing the methods of how we were working.

Oguro: I think that just 10 years ago, production of an anime like Yuri!!! on ICE would have been impossible. In the figure skating scenes, the characters are non-stop moving, aren't they? A show with such animation couldn't have been created as a TV anime. But that a show like Yuri!!! became a possibility, isn't just because now we can use CGI, isn't it?

Otsuka: Yes, that's right. I don't think that CGI is the reason. There isn't really a lot of technical novelty in what we are doing. As MAPPA, starting with 'Kids on the Slope', then the dance scenes in 'Shingeki no Bahamut' - we had the experience in making high-difficulty animation for TV series, that's why technically, we are able to make something like Yuri!!!. And there is the emotional aspect, too...

Today’s translation #944

Part 18.

Oguro: To show a character's facial expressions, while the character is performing his program, middle shots were used only in episode 1., right? Later only long shots were used to show the performances, perhaps, so it's not necessary to draw details on the character's face?

Otsuka: Nope, until around episode 6. we were trying very seriously to do everything right, and that [the use of long shot] was how we dealt with all those shots that didn't turn out very well. We started to think about the composition of skating scenes, assuming from the start, that we need those cuts to fill in the gaps, from around episode 7. We changed the methods of how we were working to control the amount of work that we had to do.

Oguro: The animation in the later part of the show is more stable, isn't it? (laugh)

Otsuka: Yes, it is (laugh).

Oguro: Even though, I'm sure, the schedule was impossibly tight.

Otsuka: I think a miracle happened then. We were inventing methods of working, as we were working, and then we were implementing those methods and that turned out to be a success. When you try to change your methods of working, when you have no time, in most cases, it ends with a failure, but this time, the CGI team also worked very hard, and an animator, who was responsible for those cuts that were inserted to fill in the gaps, Hisaki Koji-san, also did a fantastic job. I think that implementing those new methods of working was what saved the second half of the show. If we didn't do that, it would be a real disaster.