Interview
What “emotions” did
you consider during the creation of Symphogear GX?
When I created the structure
of the series the first thing I asked myself was “what are Hibiki and the
others going to fight against?” I had thought about them being overwhelmed by a
powerful enemy, but at this point Hibiki had already concluded that “my power
is not something used to fight, but to save people” and so first it became
necessary for her to have “a reason to fight.” As a basis for that I considered
making use of the family circumstances that burden her, in particular her
father who she was separated from. Desperate to flee from a harsh situation
Hibiki’s father left his family behind and disappeared, and that incident has
always cast a gloomy shadow over her heart. Although the story continued from
season 1 and 2, there was still a need to bring it to some sort of conclusion.
In order to achieve that I wanted to resolve a number of the issues that had
been presented thus far, and among those I most wanted to do something about Hibiki’s
situation in-between all the fighting. To that end I came up with Carol, the
character who would serve as both a contrast and an enemy to Hibiki.
And we can see that
Carol and Hibiki’s relationships with their fathers are the exact opposite of
each other.
That’s right. Hibiki
has continued to keep complicated feelings towards her father, who ran away
from hardship and thereby severed their relationship. Meanwhile, Carol
continued to love her father who did not run from the hardship he faced and
lost his life as a result. In the end both of them were cut off from their
respective fathers, but also still hold deep feelings towards them. If we take
two characters who have these strong feelings and connect them on a rail headed
towards each other, then there’s no choice but for them to clash head-on. So I
wanted the focal point of the story to be what answer each of them finds within
that struggle.
Considering her past,
it wouldn’t be odd for Hibiki’s heart to become corrupted similar to Carol’s,
so what keeps her so earnest?
Carol saw too much of
the darkness that lies in people’s hearts and thus her own heart became
corrupted, but Hibiki had a relationship with friends who relied on one another.
Because each of them has experienced being saved by the people around them,
Hibiki and the others are still trying to save Carol despite her plans to break
the world apart.
What is something you
wanted to do during the creation of “GX”?
The unique qualities
of Symphogear’s composition, including the intensity and energy that it gives
off, were all made to order the same as before. However, this time when
production was just starting the chief animation director Mr. Satoru Fujimoto
told me while we were out drinking, “Mr. Kaneko, everyone in production will
follow your lead. So it’ll be okay if you just do more of what you want!” It’s
thanks to those words and all of the reliable staff that I was able to go at it
using everything I wanted to do. Perhaps as a result of this we ended up
playing with words even more than before and creating a lot of these “weird
phrases” that you don’t see anywhere else (laughs). For example, in season 1 we
took the word “imperial wrath” and separated it to make a new phrase in a line
that involved an “inverse scale.”* Maybe that sickness of mine caught on, but
some of the weird lyrics written by our music producer Mr. Agematsu also really
left an impression on me.
*(TL note: In Japanese the word for “imperial wrath” (gekirin)
is comprised of two individual kanji meaning: “inverse” and “scale”
respectively. This is referring to a line Fine speaks towards the end of season
1 when she amasses the Noise to form a dragon-like monster and says “You’ve
touched the inverse scale of the dragon and incurred its wrath, clearly you
must be prepared for the consequences!”)
So from here on, what
sort of challenges would you like to take on outside of creating anime?
Well this has been a
dream of mine for awhile now, I’ve got this small but well thought out idea for
an original RPG filled with a retro flavor. I want to make it while ignoring
any news from players, and just pack it full of things that I like. It’s
something that definitely would not get through at any meetings of a typical
game company. At the moment I don’t really have enough free time in my schedule to
make it happen, but one day I hope to make that dream come true.
With the final episode
coming up, please leave us a closing message.
The biggest theme that I
most wanted to create with GX was “a story of fixing that which is broken.” In
episode 12 Hibiki and the girls unlocked their X-Drive forms to oppose Carol,
but in the final episode they will use that power to do more than just
fight. Please watch until the end to find out what choices Carol and Hibiki
have made.
Kaneko’s comments from other parts of the article
The problem Hibiki
faces
Akira may seem like a
terrible father, but the reality is that he’s just a cowardly, weak, ordinary
human. His excessively thoughtless and cheerful personality is an essential
part of him, the same as Hibiki before she became a hero. So because of that, it’s
possible that at the eleventh hour, he might change to become stronger just
like Hibiki does.
Carol and Elfnein’s
memories
Carol’s father was
burned at the stake as a result of the value system upheld by a village of
ignorant people. As a result, Carol came to hate “ignorance” and thereby attempted
to obtain “all knowledge” through the disassembly of the world. However,
Elfnein realized what exactly their father wanted to tell them as an alchemist.
She realized the pinnacle of alchemy was reached by “knowing all things and
through that knowledge, bringing harmony to the world.” In other words, he
desired for Carol to “forgive the world and find harmony.”
The issues that
Maria, Kirika and Shirabe surpassed
After all the time
they spent together, and with no blood relatives, Maria, Kirika and Shirabe
regarded each other as family. When they were first made a part of S.O.N.G. they
hesitated about how they should interact with their new friends. However, at
this point they have forged bonds that make them close enough to all be considered “family.”
The feelings that
sprouted within Chris
Previously Chris had
been saved by her senpai, Tsubasa, so this time she tried her best to become a
suitable senpai herself, but pushed too hard. However, when those
feelings became one with the feelings of Shirabe and Kirika, who “wanted to
support their senpai as kohai,” the 3 of them developed a much deeper bond.
That which Tsubasa
regained
Yatsuhiro named his
daughter “Tsubasa” (meaning “wings”) out of a wish that she “would not be bound
by the expectations of the Kazanari family to become a sentinel that protects Japan, but
rather be able to fly freely instead.” He is an awkward person so his feelings
do not get conveyed well, but he truly loves Tsubasa as a daughter and she also
considers Yatsuhiro precious to her as a real father.
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