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08:27:03 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> Hello everyone, some of you I'm familiar with, I'm Maruyama, CEO of Studio MAPPA
08:27:09 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> and with me is Iwase, it's his first time at Otakon
08:27:29 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> and today I've brought something special
08:28:22 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> This is In this Corner of the World and we've brough tthe trailer
08:29:14 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> (Kono Sekai no Katasumi Ni)
08:31:34 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> (Going over the story)
08:32:11 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> So currently MAPPA is working on the film, and we're probably going to complete it approximately around next year's summer
08:33:01 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> So from last year's Otakon to today.. i've worked on terror in resonance, bahamut, punchline and garo
08:33:29 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> currently we're working on the second series of some of those, like we're working on the second season of garo, the rest aren't announced so i can't talk about them
08:33:50 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> for Garo, for the first series, there is actually the staff for that came with me to otakon
08:34:42 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> This time, Garo is going to take place in the Heian era
08:35:36 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> So that's what we've been crunching on MAPPA right now... everyone is saying Maruyama is too busy to come to america...
08:36:44 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> So that's the current now and future of MAPPA... and we'll go to Q and A after one more thing
08:37:02 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> Actually, for the first season of Garo, we're actually making a theatrical version of it, that will probably be aired next summer
08:37:55 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> So from Madhouse, there are two studios that came out... MAPPA and Studio Chizu
08:38:02 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> Chizu being map
08:38:17 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> Who knows where the word MAPPA comes from?
08:39:04 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> In Japan, there is a word "mappadaka", so I took the first half...
08:39:32 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> Mappadaka meaning fully naked... since I wanted to start from scatch when I started the company
08:39:45 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> And also I'm working on ... this is actually a collaboration with a producer who left madhouse
08:39:55 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> This is Ushio to Tora
08:40:03 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> This is very madhouse style... it's a style we achieved back then
08:40:19 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> This is actually based on a 20 yr old manga
08:40:41 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> We came up with the idea to do it after 2 decades cause we wanted to do something interesting and it wasn't done before... it's a collaboration between MAPPA and Studio Voln
08:45:48 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> Let's go to Q&A
08:46:45 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> Q: (Question about Shirobako)
08:46:58 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> A: Don't get confused, that character's name is Marukawa
08:48:18 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> So the director is a good friend of mine, and before he worked on the series, he was saying he was going to work on an animation about animation, and he said he would put him in it, and Maruyama told him to do as he wishes, and that was my mistake
08:48:04 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> Q: Biggest difficulty movie in moving to a new studio?
08:48:55 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> A: I actually didn't build the studio, it was him (Defers)
08:49:30 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> So Maruyama is currently 74, and when he left madhouse he was 70, and everyone including me told him at that point, he should retire, and he said no, so we had no choice to make a new studio to make stuff for him
08:51:00 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> (Lost rest about the deciding about the name and having to say it when they answer the phone)
08:51:11 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> Q: Any traditions you have to boost morale at the studio?
08:51:59 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> A: Bringing out the morale is the main reason, but I also like too cook and I like to eat
08:52:11 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> in Japan, there is a saying eating from the same pot
08:52:26 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> and the saying means, if you are eating from the same pot, you are comrades, you are family, so that's why i try to serve food
08:53:27 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> I've been cooking since the showa era, (but now there are now strict rules about cooking)
08:54:31 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> Q: (Question about Shingeki no Bahamut)
08:56:11 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> A; Generally when you are adapting a game into anime, it's difficult because each user has their own game experience, as opposed to novels or such...
08:56:17 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> But the game developers said to do as we pleased
08:56:56 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> Q: When you came to Otakon last year, you were trying to get funding for it, but now there is a crowd funding thing for it, can you talk more about it?
08:58:45 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> A: In the case of general crowdfunding, it's hard to earn the full budget, something like in this corner of the world, it cost millions, but what crowd funding provided for in this corner of the world did is it proved there was interest in the project
08:59:51 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> And in this corner is not some flash anime, it doesn't have panty shots, it's very straight forward, it's about the story, so it's really hard to get funding because of that, but due to the crowdfunding, we were able to get the funding
09:01:09 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> Saying that, I've still worked on Punchline, which is about panties, but that wasn't crowdfunded, it had actual funding, so this kind of thing is hard
09:00:34 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> MAPPA is a studio about doing both sides of things
09:02:12 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> Q: Last year I asked about Tekyu 4 and you said impossible because of Garo...... but now it's 5... so what's the story with this and the new studio
09:03:16 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> A: Actually the new studio that worked on 4 is actually a studio founded by the director of the series, I'm fine with him continuing at the studio, as it's his work
09:03:42 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> (lost part about how the industry is comrades)
09:04:09 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> If the project is doing well, I'm not going to say anything, and let them handle it themselves (missing part)
09:04:26 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> Q: If Ushio and Tora is succesful, will MAPPA adapt more older series that never got anime series
09:06:04 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> A: So, for Ushio and Tora, it was a series back then, but it was very short, and the manga itself is 32 volumes so it didn't scratch the storyline
09:06:15 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> For other things, I really want to work on nekketsu genre things...
09:06:20 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> But it depends if I can get the license to it
09:06:35 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> If the publisher or artist says yes
09:06:50 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> But there are series I don't want to work on
09:07:28 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> Like Tetsuwan no Atom, and Ashita no Joe, and (missed)... It's because I worked on all of those, and they are precious to me
09:08:26 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> Q: (Animators with potential question)
09:09:30 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> A: (Lost)
09:10:14 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> Q: Favorite work to work on?
09:10:33 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> A: My answer is always the same for that when I get it
09:10:41 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> Each anime series I've worked on is like my own child
09:11:08 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> And if you ask a parent which child do you like the most, a parent wouldn't answer that
09:11:24 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> and all my works are like children to me, so I can't answer that
09:14:00 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> Q: When I was watching Punchline, there was a mech in the end... do you have interest in doing a mech show in the future?
09:14:39 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> A: I like to work on many different types of things, but one I work less on is mecha,
09:14:48 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> One of the reason is beacuse studios like Sunrise, they are better off doing it
09:15:42 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> So when Punchline was pitched to me, I thought I wouldn't have to draw too much clothing, so it wouldn't be hard to draw, but then there were more complicated things like Mecha
09:16:20 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> Q: What was it like working at Mushipro and the early days of Madhouse (with certain other Mushipro veterans)
09:16:50 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> A: Mushipro was about working for Osamu Tezuka, we were all his teammates
09:16:56 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> even now, that era is the root of my career
09:17:08 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> Q: What was it like working under Tezuka?
09:17:49 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> A: So when I worked for Tezuka, I was in my 20s, and he was a very demanding man, so he will say one thing one day, and a different thing the next day
09:19:13 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> so my thought back then was "i'm going to kill this guy" (lost part about how others probaby think the same about him these days)
09:20:29 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> Q: How do you not confuse all these studio names?
09:21:00 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> A: I sometimes get it wrong myself and introduce myself as from Madhouse
09:22:05 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> Q: Over the years, you've talked about doing Satoshi Kon's last project.. with the kickstarter for In this corner, might you be able to get the funding that way?
09:22:44 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> A: The budget is a huge hurdle, a challenge for the series, but even more so, it's only possible if you bring Satoshi Kon from the after life
09:22:52 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> Q: But in the past he's talked about doing it
09:23:55 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> A: I'm still in the mindest to find the talent that can be equivalent to his talent, but currently, I'm in the mindset that I don't see it
09:24:33 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> Q: (How long it takes to work on things, and what's the longest project to work on?)
09:25:32 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> A: Depends on TV vs movie... (longest movie to be completed took 5 years)
09:27:30 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> Q: How did director Tachikawa come to work with you?
09:28:18 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> A: So he used to work at Madhouse as production assistant, and he wanted ot be a director, and he became an assistant director around when Maruyama left
09:28:45 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> And then he left and became a director, so it's a long relationship
09:29:45 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> That's it for the panel today
09:30:18 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> (Going over other panels today)
09:30:37 <bay|Ota|MAPPA> Thank you for coming