Do you like time travel and sci-fi stories?<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Then you should keep reading, because we had the honor of interviewing the authors of the exciting time travel series, <\/span>Vivy: Fluorite Eye\u2019s Song<\/em>: Tappei Nagatsuki and Eiji Umehara.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n If you didn\u2019t know, Nagatsuki-sensei is also the author of <\/span>Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World<\/em>, and has been involved with other series like Isekai Quartet<\/em> and \u200b\u200bSenyoku no Sigrdrifa<\/em>. Meanwhile, Umehara-sensei has been involved in series like Chaos;Child<\/em>, Grimoire of Zero<\/em>, etc.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n So, let\u2019s start the interview!<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Note<\/strong>: This interview has been edited for clarity.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Nagatsuki<\/strong>: The foundation of your typical time-travel story is that there\u2019s a past that\u2019s \u201cflawed\u201d or \u201cincorrect,\u201d and so the goal is to fix that past. You have to create two different worlds, or timelines, and think about what\u2019s wrong with Timeline A and how it <\/span>should<\/span><\/i> be in Timeline B. Basically, one story becomes two. So, there\u2019s a lot more planning and preparation to do compared with linear storylines, which can be tiring.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Umehara<\/strong>: Nagatsuki-san has a lot of experience with this kind of thing, so he was truly a godsend in that respect.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n N<\/strong>: Yeah, I\u2019m good at repeating the same events over and over and over (laughs).<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n U<\/strong>: I\u2019m glad to hear that.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n N<\/strong>: I was invited by Umehara-san.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n U<\/strong>: I was part of the scriptwriting team for the anime adaptation of Nagatsuki-san\u2019s <\/span>Re:Zero \u2212 Starting Life in Another World.<\/span><\/i> After reading the light novels and speaking with Nagatsuki-san during meetings, I felt we got on quite well together and that it\u2019d be fun to team up and work on something. So, I brought up the idea with him, and that\u2019s how we got the ball rolling.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n N<\/strong>: Yeah, we met face-to-face while working on <\/span>Re:Zero<\/span><\/i>, but I\u2019d first heard about Umehara-san through a video game I had recently played. It was a really interesting game, and I thought to myself. \u201cMan, that was great! Who wrote the story\u201d? And listed in the credits as a head writer was Umehara-san, so I made a point to remember his name. <\/span>The very next day, we were having a meeting about scriptwriting for the second cour of <\/span>Re:Zero<\/span><\/i>, and the writer, <\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n [Masahiro] Yokotani-san said he wanted to add another writer to the team. The name \u201cEiji Umehara\u201d came up as we were deciding who to ask, and I said, \u201cWait a minute\u2026I swear I just heard that name recently\u2026\u201d (laughs) \u201cOh yeah, from that awesome game I just finished! If it\u2019s possible, we should definitely ask him!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n So, he joined the team, and the very first thing I said to him was, \u201cThat game\u2019s writing was purely devilish!\u201d (laughs)<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n U<\/strong>: You don\u2019t forget hearing something like that from someone you just met (laughs).<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n N<\/strong>: I said: \u201cIt was<\/span> so good<\/span><\/i>! There\u2019s no way a normal person could come up with that!\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n U<\/strong>: He\u2019s referring to a game that I worked on as a scenario writer and was published by MAGES., the creators of <\/span>Steins;Gate.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n N<\/strong>: That was our first-time meeting in person, but I was already familiar with his work at the time. So, I felt at ease being able to work with him.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n N<\/strong>: I indirectly touched on this a bit earlier, but we really got on well and didn\u2019t fight over anything.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n U<\/strong>: Of course, that\u2019s not to say there weren\u2019t differences of opinion. We had plenty of disagreements, but rather than deteriorating into arguments, we\u2019d go back and forth with our opinions. It was mostly along the lines of: \u201cOK, but what if we wrote it this way instead?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n N<\/strong>: Yeah, we never flipped out and screamed at each other. We tried to keep it constructive. If we did come to an impasse, we\u2019d just pack it in and say, \u201cAlright, let\u2019s discuss this next week then.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n But I think that\u2019s quite uncommon. Normally, if you put two creators together, they\u2019re liable to get into heated arguments.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n N<\/strong>: We\u2019d exchange opinions and discuss lots of things, but never any arguing or fighting.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n U<\/strong>: That\u2019s very kind of you to say.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n N<\/strong>: I hadn\u2019t really been all that involved with anime production anyway, which makes it hard for me to answer. Honestly, I don\u2019t think I have an answer (laughs). I just figured, \u201cWell, if Umehara-san\u2019s here, everything will be fine\u201d! During production, I put my trust completely into his experience with <\/span>Re:Zero<\/span><\/i>. <\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n [To Umehara] Maybe you can answer this one better.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n U<\/strong>: Nagatsuki-san may say that, but he contributed a lot to meetings when we were writing <\/span>Re:Zero<\/span><\/i>. Although he was originally the writer of the original light novel, he was very involved in the scriptwriting and visual production aspects and gave a lot of helpful feedback. I\u2019d say he contributed the most to those meetings.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n For example, he\u2019d say, \u201cLet\u2019s cut out this part. In terms of visuals, it isn\u2019t very interesting\u201d. That\u2019s quite rare for original creators to be so upfront. Of course, most creators [of the original work] will say things like, \u201cNo, no, please be faithful to the novel\u201d, and so on. <\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n But Nagatsuki-san was eager to share his opinions and make it a great visual work. He was a huge help not only to me but also to everyone else on the scriptwriting team including Yokotani-san and [Yoshiko] Nakamura-san. Our meetings were really productive thanks to his help.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n N<\/strong>: This isn\u2019t strictly related to time travel plots, but one thing <\/span>Re:Zero<\/span><\/i> and <\/span>Vivy<\/span><\/i> have in common is that people seem to keep enjoying it no matter how distressing the story becomes (laughs). <\/span>Re:Zero<\/span><\/i> in particular just gets more and more depressing, with a brief moment of hope. I was worried that might put everyone off, but it seemed to work out. <\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n So, I thought, \u201cMaybe <\/span>Vivy <\/span><\/i>can have depressing story arcs over and over too\u201d! Looking back, there were a lot of those in <\/span>Vivy<\/span><\/i> (laughs).<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n N<\/strong>: Yeah, we made the most of our experience.\u00a0<\/span>That said, <\/span>Vivy<\/span><\/i> isn\u2019t about repeating the same events over and over\u2014it\u2019s mostly a series of different struggles. The idea is that we know what\u2019s <\/span>going<\/span><\/i> to happen<\/span><\/i>, but we don\u2019t know how things ended up that way. <\/span>That lack of information lends an air of mystery to the plot. <\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n So, we used our experience from <\/span>Re:Zero<\/span><\/i> to include story elements that help viewers piece together the truth, as well as other ways to capture attention. Going <\/span>against<\/span><\/i> the flow of time is one type of time travel, so I tried to make the most of my experience in that regard.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n U<\/strong>: Well, as I mentioned earlier, I mainly deferred to Nagatsuki-san because he had so much more experience with time travel and looping stories. In that respect, at least, I felt that since he did such a great job with <\/span>Re:Zero<\/span><\/i>, we\u2019d definitely come up with something great if we let him handle the time travel aspects.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Story elements like AI and music were suggested by the producer from the beginning, but it was Nagatsuki-san who suggested we do a story about time travel and rewriting history.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n N<\/strong>: If you\u2019re asking what <\/span>my <\/span><\/i>reason for living is, it\u2019s to create stories that really have an effect on people\u2019s lives (laughs). I mean like destroying the will of any other creators besides myself (laughs). Lots of people are fascinated by an amazing novel, manga or whatever and decide to become creators themselves. I\u2019m definitely one of those people. <\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n But what I want to do is create something so amazing that other would-be creators lose hope of ever reaching that level and give up (laughs).<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n U<\/strong>: Whoa, that\u2019s brutal! (laughs)<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n N<\/strong>: Thank you<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n U<\/strong>: Of course, as a creator, I\u2019d say my answer is closer to Nagatsuki-san\u2019s. I want to write stuff that changes people\u2019s lives. <\/span>I think <\/span>Vivy<\/span><\/i> also has a message about never giving up searching for what you want in life. <\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The answer to that might change many times, and it may never be such a clear-cut answer that you can find easily. It\u2019s more about continuing to ask yourself and look for your own answer.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n U<\/strong>: I like that philosophy, so I tend to write characters who feel that way.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n U<\/strong>: Are you sure? I think our answers were kinda lame (laughs).<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n N<\/strong>: [George] Wada-san, who\u2019s the producer and the owner of WIT Studio, had the idea for the story. Rather than leaning towards one or the other, we had planned on both from the start.\u00a0<\/span>Neither I nor Umehara-san were really thinking anything too music-heavy. Not like singing while fighting, and stuff. <\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n We were thinking of adding a musical scene, not like a big concert or anything, but some kind of singing scene near the story\u2019s ending.\u00a0<\/span>We had planned on keeping the music and story separate, more or less, so in that sense, it started out as a music-themed, sci-fi story.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n N<\/strong>: Yeah, like sci-fi that relies heavily on music. Given the concept we were presented with, I feel like <\/span>Vivy<\/span><\/i> was our best possible product.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n N<\/strong>: If you were surprised, then that means Aniplex\u2019s promotional strategy worked!<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n U<\/strong>: Yeah, the advertising department\u2019s work paid off! (laughs)<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n N<\/strong>: A strategic victory. From the start, they really piqued your curiosity.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n N<\/strong>: Actually, we were only going to make 12 episodes. That was the original plan, but when we tried to organize the story into episode 1, episode 2, etc., we just couldn\u2019t manage to fit everything allotted for episode 1 into a single episode.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n We had already decided how the story would end, but as we were writing it, we realized that there was just no way we could cram all the stuff we planned for episode 1 into a single episode. So, we begged the producer to let us add another episode.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n N<\/strong>: It would have been near impossible to fit everything into 12 episodes.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n U<\/strong>: Yeah, just thinking about it gives me a headache. We were going to include Vivy meeting Matsumoto <\/span>and<\/span><\/i> the building collapsing, but it dawned on us that it just wasn\u2019t going to happen (laughs).<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n N<\/strong>: Yeah, impossible in all kinds of ways. But as for the overall series, we planned for it to last one cour. We set out to write a complete story to end with this songstress AI named Vivy would sing, and we detailed what would happen in which episode.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/img.mipon.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/29223456\/KV1_vivy_-725x1024.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nMipon: What are the difficulties involved when writing a time-travel story?<\/b><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/img.mipon.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/25151350\/vivy2-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/p>\nM: I see, that does sound difficult.<\/span><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/img.mipon.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/25151700\/vivy_3paakcVcAAHYsQ.jpg\")
<\/p>\nM: I\u2019m a big fan of time-travel stories, so I really enjoyed Vivy.<\/span><\/h3>\n
M: Nagatsuki-san, how did you come to be involved in the project?<\/b><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/img.mipon.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/29223249\/2_vivy_-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/p>\nM: Ah, so that\u2019s how it all began. Did you meet during work on the Re:Zero<\/i> anime?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/img.mipon.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/29223525\/vivy_img_34-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/img.mipon.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/25151335\/vivy3_2-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/p>\nM: What was the scenario writing process like? Did working as a pair lead to any disagreements or conflicts? And if so, how did you resolve them?<\/b><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/img.mipon.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/29223304\/02_vivy_-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/p>\nM: That\u2019s a relief. I\u2019m glad you two never fought like that.<\/span><\/h3>\n
M: And that\u2019s how you ended up with such a great story!<\/span><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/img.mipon.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/25151302\/vivy4_1-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/p>\nM: How did your prior work experience influence the setting and story of <\/b>Vivy<\/i><\/b>?<\/b><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/img.mipon.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/25151247\/vivy4-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/img.mipon.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/25151502\/story_197vivy_vivy_162vivy35435313348444-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/p>\nM: Like <\/b>Vivy<\/i><\/b>, Re:Zero also involves time travel. How did your experience with writing <\/b>Re:Zero<\/i><\/b> help you when writing <\/b>Vivy\u2019s<\/i><\/b> story?<\/b><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/img.mipon.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/25151433\/story_1991_vivy_16221112vivy1536114587-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/p>\nM: So, the ability to create those kinds of stories was very helpful.<\/span><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/img.mipon.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/25151418\/story_1998_vivy_1622691468954933779-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/p>\nM: How about you, Umehara-san?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/img.mipon.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/29223332\/4_vivy_.jpg\")
<\/p>\nM: One of my favorite things about <\/b>Vivy<\/i><\/b> is its message. To many fans and I, the message is one of: \u201cFinding your own reason to live freely\u201d. How do you feel about that interpretation?<\/h3>\n
M: Very cool! (laughs)<\/span><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/img.mipon.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/29223435\/E4QGJVEUcAUowgg_vivy_.jpg\")
<\/p>\nM: How about you, Umehara-san? What are your thoughts on <\/b>Vivy<\/i><\/b>\u2019s message?<\/b><\/h3>\n
M<\/strong>: I see, so it\u2019s about not giving up and continuing to search for your own reason.<\/span><\/h3>\n
M: \u201cNever stop\u201d. That\u2019s a very nice answer.<\/span><\/h3>\n
<\/p>\nM: When you began writing the scenario for <\/b>Vivy<\/i><\/b>, did you set out to create a \u201cmusic-themed Sci-Fi story,\u201d or a \u201cSci-fi-themed musical?\u201d<\/b><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/img.mipon.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/29223511\/story_1998_photo_1622691470194614248_vivy_-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/p>\nM: So basically,<\/span> sci-fi with strong musical influence?<\/h3>\n
M: When I read the synopsis of Vivy, I was expecting a story about a songstress. But I was very surprised and intrigued when I first saw the key visuals!<\/span><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/img.mipon.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/25151447\/story_1991_vivy_16221112vivy464964933-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/p>\nM: Did you originally plan to finish <\/b>Vivy<\/i><\/b> in 13 episodes?<\/b><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/img.mipon.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/25151549\/vivy_4QFuWFVgAM5MUX.jpg\")
<\/p>\nM: Oh, so that\u2019s why! I\u2019m glad it turned out that way though. The overseas fans were very happy to have more.<\/span><\/h3>\n