Confession from the Mastermind Behind ‘Girls Band Cry’ Addresses Doubts About That Scene and Answers in Episode 13

Girls Band Cry” is a girls’ rock anime about music and adolescence. It was broadcast on terrestrial TV from April to June 2012 on TOKYO MX and other channels, and is currently being distributed on Amazon, ABEMA, and various other platforms.

The girls are also challenging voice acting! In Part 1, we interviewed Mr. Rishi Hirayama, a producer at Toei Animation, who was the driving force behind this project, about the process of creating ” Girls ‘ Band Cry”. In the second part, we will continue to dig deeper into Mr. Hirayama’s answers to fans’ considerations and the sequel.

–The film is a challenge to various unprecedented attempts. How did you feel before the TV anime started airing?

I was very scared. I had worked hard for five years to make it, but there was a good chance that the audience would reject it.

–To be honest, I had the impression that there were not many positive reactions before the broadcast.

First of all, I wasn’t sure if people would accept the look of the work, in other words, its appearance. I couldn’t predict how the main character, Iserenina, would be accepted.　I couldn’t predict how the main character, Nina Isegaki, would be accepted.

–I couldn’t predict how Nina Isegaki, the main character, would be accepted.

I thought there was a possibility that there would be a split between those who accepted her and those who didn’t, but I am relieved that she seems to be well-loved.

–When was the first time you felt a positive response?

When was the first time you felt a positive response? This was unusual. Most of the time we don’t get a full house, and the number of people who attend the screening decreases as we go through it. But “Girls Band Cry” was always packed no matter how many times we previewed it. This phenomenon would not have happened if people in the company who saw the previews did not return to their seats and spread the word by word of mouth that they enjoyed the film. I felt a little more confident that this film was interesting. However, the people who watch in-house previews are all animation professionals. They have different senses from the general public, so I thought that I wouldn’t know until it was actually broadcast.

I was also worried about the number of competing titles in the spring season this year. There were many high-profile titles with popular original works, such as “Blade of the Demon” and “Kaiju No. 8.” In the girl + music category, there were “Jellyfish Can’t Swim at Night,” which had been attracting a lot of attention even before it aired, and “Hibike,” written by Juki Hanada, the same scriptwriter as “Girls’ Band Cry! There was also the third season of “Euphonium. I was worried that under such circumstances, an original CG animation work would not get much attention, and that the audience would be occupied with watching popular and talked-about works.

–The theme of “Night Jellyfish Can’t Swim” is music, and the story begins with an encounter between the main character, who is searching for a place to belong, and a mentor-like woman who was once a professional but has since left the stage. It was a surprise that this work, which has much in common with “Girls Band Cry,” was broadcast at the same time. The nicknames “Galkura” and “Yorukura” are also similar.

It was a complete coincidence, and we were really surprised too (laughs). Night Jellyfish Can’t Swim” is a story about making a music video, and although the approach is different from that of “Girls’ Band Cry,” which is about a band, there was a sense of empathy that we were making the music video in a very similar way to our own.　We felt a kind of empathy with the audience. I was hoping that customers would compare it to Yorukura and Gurukura and get excited about it. In fact, we were grateful that customers compared them. Fans of “Yorukura” often came to know about “Galkura” from there, and I am very grateful to “Night Jellyfish Can’t Swim” for that.

–Did you have any ambition to surpass your own past works in producing the film?

No, everything I did was based on zero. For example, “Love Live! TV anime broadcasts began more than 10 years ago, and the world has changed a lot since then, so I had to create something that was in tune with the current era. I only thought that I had to make the necessary start-up for that purpose. Therefore, I honestly did not think about other works. I started thinking about what kind of work would be accepted by customers today.　That’s how I started thinking about it.

–To be honest, I’m amazed that this project got through …….

It was very difficult to get the project through (laughs). But Toei Animation’s corporate culture is to create original works, and we had a direction to create an original work in 1919, so it was great that the company supported us so much. Toei Animation is a company that allows us to do experimental projects, and if we had used the production committee system, which usually involves multiple companies, we would have had to coordinate various opinions. Toei Animation had the financial and personnel structure in place and the determination to create something new, which made it possible for us to overcome various difficulties and get it on the air.

–I heard that it took several years to develop the CG technology and to audition the main characters. What was the pressure of the decreasing budget like during the long production period?

One of the basic principles of a producer’s job is to balance the budget. If the budget is spent, how do you recover this amount of money?　I thought that the only way to recover the money was to raise the quality of everything. We could not compromise because we believed that if we could raise the quality of everything and have any part of it appreciated, we would be able to recover the budget from that. Nevertheless, it was really scary to watch the production costs accumulate by the minute.”

–In episode 11, as Togenashi Togeari performs “Blank and Catharsis,” flashbacks to the past of the five members are shown, and the people involved are depicted. In the past part of “Lupa”, the woman facing the grave is Lupa’s sister, and fans are wondering if that is her or not.

Yes, that’s right, it is Lupa herself.

–There was a character who did not appear in the ending as of episode 1, and I did not understand the meaning of that, but by the end of episode 13, fans were speculating that this was a depiction of everyone from episode 13 onward. At the end of the 13th episode, there was a widespread speculation among fans that “this was supposed to be about everyone after the 13th episode.

I was going to say that everyone is still getting along well after episode 13.”

–There is a shocking turn of events from the end of episode 12 to the final episode, episode 13. Without spoiling anything for those who haven’t seen the episode, the main characters continue to undergo trials. What were your thoughts on this?

We wanted to tell a down-to-earth story. We wanted to tell a down-to-earth story, so we thought it would be a lie if we accomplished everything. But there was a sense of unity with the audience who came to that concert, and the band “Toge-Nashi-Toge-Ari” was recognized for the hard work it had put in so far, and we were able to stand there. I wanted to express that moment when the audience recognized what the band had done so far and jumped up and down. We know what will happen as a result of the competition, but there is no choice but to avoid it. We know what the result will be, but it doesn’t mean that what we have done so far has been meaningless. That’s what I wanted to say.

People who were involved with the members of Spiny Spiny Ants in each episode gather at the Spiny Spiny Ants concert. From characters with names such as Kyoko to so-called “mob” people, I think that this was Director Sakai’s particular intention to show that what Nina and the others had done was not wrong as a result.

–What will happen in the future?

The activities of the band “Toge Nash Toge Ants” will continue. We have a lot of plans for the future, but it will take some time, so please wait. We have finished the 13th episode, but we are still distributing the various videos, so if you haven’t seen it yet, please do so. Spiny ants and spiny ants will continue their band activities, and the soul-stirring rock story “Girls Band Cry” will continue, so please continue to support us!

Profile: Rishi Hirayama

Tadashi Hirayama After graduating from the University of Tokyo, he joined Madhouse in 1999 and moved to Sunrise in ’00. In 2000, he joined Sunrise, where he worked as a producer on “Love Live! Love Live! Sunshine! Sunshine!” and “Horizon on the Threshold. He joined Toei Animation in 1919. Produced “Girls’ Band Cry

Interview and text: Miyu Kurusu

Miyu Kurusu is a freelance writer. Her main areas of expertise are humanities, social issues, and subcultures, and she is active in interviewing and writing articles for magazines, newspapers, the Internet, and other media. He is the author of numerous books.
X ID:@mewzou

Girls’ Band Cry

Available on Amazon PrimeVideo, ABEMA, BANDAI CHANNEL, hulu, U-NEXT, etc.
Official website: https://girls-band-cry.com/
Official X: https://x.com/girlsbandcry