mention ordinary people,
but animals, plants, monsters, aliens...
...and even desks and chairs
and melon bread...
...or even a gunk can, as an existence
that has inner personality...
...and a specific role in a
certain story, can be created.
A dream character can be anything
and can be drawn in any way.
A character that a real actor
cannot play, even if he tried.
However, because of
this unlimited possibility...
...animation characters are forced to
suffer from not being able to shoulder...
...the ideological demands
placed upon them.
In other words, the preferences and
personal feelings of the people involved.
Tall.
Short.
With long hair,
or short.
Pretty.
Ugly.
Man.
Woman.
Child.
Old man.
The planning meeting gets entangled,
the director gets mad...
...the animation director is called names,
the sponsor is cursed...
...and the fans send razor blades.
A character is drawn
by multiple animators...
...and does not bear the
slightest resemblance.
Yet, as long as its voice is
performed by the same person...
...or even if voice talents change
in an emergency situation...
...the existence of that character
is unquestioningly identified.
What a mystery.
After all, is a character an existence
which, using images as a catalyst...
...and propagates itself inside
the mind of the audience...
...an existence without substance?
Is it an image reinforced
by countless episodes and situations...
...and nothing more?
I suspect the director's hesitation
resided on this point.
The task given to me,
to design an "absent character"...
...may have been derived from his fresh
attempt, secret malice and his obsession.
A character who is repeatedly
spoken of in the movie.
The one who is always
the main topic of conversation...
...and yet does not appear on screen
even once-an absent character.
A character doesn't need a persona or
a specific instance of a mysterious air...
...of a certain character which is emitted
as the sediment of the persona...
...because it's absent.
A character who is never exposed
to the eyes of an audience...
...although recognized
as an inner personality.
A character defined solely
by the intention of the creator...
...a pure and ultimate existence.
But, after having shut myself up in the
apartment, waiting for death as I am now...
...what comes to my mind is
something exactly opposite.
A character that is constantly on screen,
but who in reality is absent.
Maybe such a character
could also exist.
OK. Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Quite a performance.
If at least half of it was in color,
I could've added a bit more sound, too.
It's alright.
You even added some neat effects.
It turned out to be
a nice posthumous work.
The line-drawing is
the posthumous work?
Pathetic.
So, what about the autopsy result?
The estimated time of death
is a week ago.
From starvation.
His stomach was completely empty.
So it was right after the
mutilation murder of Itoh...
...and 5 days before
Aya and Tsuya's drawings.
I wonder if it's a serial murder case
by the same killer.
From the screenwriter...
...to the animation director...
...to the color keys.
Who's next?
Can't tell you. But...
But, what?
Judging from what's happened so far...
...you could say those with
whom the director had...
...or tried to have a meeting with
are being killed in that order.
Congratulations Kawai, you are on.
What?
Why?
Because the sound effects and music
are in one and the same boat.
Mutilation, starvation, and drowning.
The next murder method would be...
What do you think?
Don't know.
Recording Director
Shijimi Shiba
Composer
Ken Kawai
A serial killer or whatever he is.
We the sound producers can,
if we want to...
...decide life and death of a character
by a mere sound effect or a line.
I'd like to see him try to kill me!
The introduction of voices into movies.
Movies kept telling the stories
of their own origins...
...and, as