The anime as it aired has a lot of scenes from the manga, but it also ended up with a lot of original elements from all the different staff. You mentioned the live-action, but theres also the felt segments, the video game segments, and BOBNEMIMIMMI. How did you lay out the foundations for each episode?
Each creator is left to their own devices. I told them, If anything happens, Ill take the fall for it, and I dont give a lot of specific instructions for what they should make. I think AC-bus BOBNEMIMIMMI is the most incredible out of them all. Normally, you start with scripts and storyboards, and start with roughs before proceeding further, but for AC-bu, the footage that airs for broadcast is the first thing we get from them. Thats their first draft.
And it works out because none of us tell them what to do.
Going back to episode 1, how did that French segment come about? I feel like I saw a lot of viewers at the advance screening and the TV broadcast who were left dumbfounded
That was Kamikaze Dougas idea. Theres a French person who works at Kamikaze Douga, you see.
You mean the one who shows up on camera.
Thats him. He doesnt speak Japanese, and communicates at work with English, so Kamikaze Douga said, Wouldnt it be funny if we gave him the manga and let him do as he pleased? So we ended up going with that suggestion. Since he doesnt understand Japanese, he made the segment by looking at the art and imagining what was going on. Thats why it ignores the canon and has Popuko and Pipimi going to Paris, and makes self-deprecating French jokes. Also, he creates those as a one-man team, which is why its animated more like a Western cartoon. We also hired French voice actresses, so the footage is sent over there for voice-over recording. I was shocked to hear how much it actually cost to do all that (laughs).
Why did you make the opening for a shitty anime so cool?
Since its a gag comedy, we had considered going in strong with the humor at the beginning. But then we realized that if you made the opening really cool, it would be completely ruined by the shitty anime in more ways than one, so we intentionally made it as cool as we could.
The opening sequence starts off with a CRT TV being smashed, which had a lot of impact and felt very Pop Team Epic to me.
We really did smash that TV in real life.
King Records has produced Uesaka Sumire no Yabai and now this crazy anime. Will you sponsor more crazy shows like this in the future?
This is the last of it. Id like to make a nice, wholesome show after this, like a sequel to Seitokai Yakuindomo.
Be honest. Do you think this anime is shit?
Its shit. Theres no mistaking that.
Why is the anime even shittier than the original (laughs)?
Thats what happens when the original is shitty.
The meta behind the creation of this anime might be funnier than the anime itself. This whole thing is glorious. ---
