Hello everyone! This is Tadashi Hiramatsu.
I was the core director and animation director for Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms.

First, I’d like to explain what a “core director” is, as you have probably not heard much about that position.
At first, Horikawa asked me to be in charge of storyboards and animation director, but after a while, I was asked to be animation director, and then design a few sub-characters… and my work grew. As production went on, I was asked to give some ideas to director Okada and Shinohara on how to improve the rush check work, even though it wasn’t part of my job (“rush check” is checking the actual filmed footage and making notes on any changes).  As they say, too many captains will steer the ship up a mountain, (though in anime you might have a ghost ship or flying airship that can actually climb mountains), and nothing good would happen. So, I was responsible for technical things only, but in the end I worked on a wide range of tasks. Toward the end, Horikawa told me “I want to give you an actual job title, not just “animation director.” So after a lot of discussion, we settled on “core director”. Woo-hoo!

So, this is less of an interview and more like an essay. That said, if I just write my own thoughts the focus might be quite narrow, so instead, I had the production deskman Kitsunai, who has been such a big help from the beginning to end of production on Maquia, compile some questions. He came up with 4 questions, and I’ve answered them below.
So, here we go, one by one.

Q-1: How did you feel about working with director Okada?

It was the first time to work with her, but it was easy to work with her as everything from the story to the characters to the message was so clear. On the other hand, it’s not like all those elements come together quickly, and we would talk a lot and I would get hints from those conversations. It wasn’t always easy, because there aren’t always specific answers; it’s more like a subconscious feeling of “eureka!” So at first it was slightly confusing, but it became more and more interesting as it went along. That’s how production goes, you find new discoveries as you go along.

Q-2: How did you feel when you first read the script?

I had never worked on animation in the fantasy genre before, so I wasn’t sure if I could do it or not. I am trying to avoid spoilers here, but elements in the script overlapped with things I am interested in, and I was attracted to the characters, so the more I read it the less I worried.
Horikawa gave me a job which is the middle of the story called a slump where the audience becomes bored. It’s something necessary for any story, and I thought, wow, Horikawa really understands my interests, and I was able to visualize the imagery from the first time reading it.

Q-3: In terms of your work as animation director, did you have any particular expressions you wanted to focus on?

The part I was in charge of was the town with the large stone water mill you can see a little bit in the promotion video. It was completely different and interesting after what comes before, that is, Iorph and Mezarte, and it was interesting to depict the changes in the relationship between Maquia and Ariel. The most interesting thing about directing is depicting the changes in the relationship and emotions between people. My main focus was on how to convey that.

Q-4: What do you think is the thing people should look out for in this movie?

All of it.
No, wait… let’s narrow it down a bit.
There are so many interesting scenes, but taking the entire movie into consideration, I think it’s interesting to compare the things that change drastically over time, and the things that do not change at all. You may not realize it after just seeing the movie once. But among all the change in the environment, between people, between seasons–sometimes violently so–what things never change no matter how much time has passed? Are they even tangible? I think this is the main thing to look out for in this movie. …or, rather, all of it!

Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms is a film created through the hard work of everyone at P.A.WORKS, from the young new staff to old-timers like Toshiyuki Inoue and me (?). The art is beautiful, the music is wonderful. The filming and sound effects are delicate, and Yuriko Ishii’s character designs are so fresh you can almost smell them.
I hope you come to the theater and follow the scents of Maquia and Leilia, and their lives! Let’s experience it together!