"100 Meters" Manga artist Uo Yutaka's competitive philosophy: what is the significance of using rotoscoping?

The significance of rotoscoping

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The film's highlight is its realistic animation, capturing the athletes' preparations for the race. The film's frequent use of live-action camerawork, unusual for typical hand-drawn animation, utilizes "rotoscoping," a technique invented over 100 years ago that traces live-action footage frame by frame to express the subject's movement. Director Iwaizawa Kenji also used this technique, now often used in art animation, in his first feature film, Ongaku (2020). While breaking away from the mainstream, he adds a modern sensibility to create a captivating world, earning him an Annie Award nomination and other critical acclaim.

Furthermore, with the cooperation of track and field athletes, the film recreated real sprinting forms in 3D CG, and used that as the basis for the animation. However, compared to the highly accurate depictions and animation techniques of recent Japanese animated feature films like " The First Slam Dunk " (2022) and " Haikyu!! The Movie: Battle at the Dumpster " (2024), which used motion capture and 3D CG layouts to enhance the sense of realism and achieved the same kind of free-flowing camerawork as this film, it is true that this film, being a later release, gives off a somewhat primitive impression. However, this can be justified in terms of the original manga's artistic style and the subjective perspective of the individual athletes. As symbolized by the depiction of heavy rain immediately after the race, this film's blend of reality, imagination, and individual racing perspectives makes it a natural fit for rotoscoping, which has a live-action feel yet a sensual quality.

Kaido's competitive philosophy

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In addition to Togashi and Komiya, other athletes appear in this film. Jinshin, whose father was a former member of the Japanese 100m national team, was also a much talked about elite athlete like Togashi, but has since experienced a hiatus. Zaitsu, the Japanese record holder, continues to reign as the absolute champion in the country. There is also Kaito, a veteran athlete who has been ahead of Zaitsu for a long time, and who continues to compete despite being forced to face the reality of being pushed forward by younger athletes. Like Togashi and Komiya, each of these athletes approaches their competition with their own individual philosophies.

The most distinctive aspect of the story is undoubtedly the philosophical element. The athletes' narratives, which could even be described as "argumentative," stand out in a bizarre way within the story, suggesting an approach unique to the author of "Chi: On the Movement of the Earth, " who is committed to his own hypothesis. The most shocking aspect is Kaito's athletic philosophy: to gain extraordinary speed by facing reality and then "escaping" from it.

"100 Meters" © Uo Toyo, Kodansha / "100 Meters" Production Committee

That said, Kaido's extraordinary speed increase due to "escapism" and Komiya's destructive running style, which puts his body at risk, are hard to imagine from the perspective of the realism of actual sports. The 100m sprint is a world where athletes constantly correct their form and running technique to shave off 0.01 seconds, and perfecting scientific physical training. The idea that someone can become dramatically faster through mental adjustments or excessive strain during a race seems like a kind of fantasy. In that respect, the story of this work is similar to Koyama Yu's manga " Sprinter ," which depicts the spiritual sensations that only some athletes can sense.

But perhaps Kaito is trying to say that it is precisely these preconceptions that are flawed. From a common sense perspective, their running style may not be realistic. However, by defining possibilities in this way and accepting reality and common sense, we may be narrowing our own boundaries. In a sense, their "10 seconds" represent a period of time that encapsulates "life" itself. Togashi, who continues to compete after entering the workforce but whose ambition has been completely eroded and whose current goal is to continue his athletic career, symbolizes a person who is bound by such boundaries, a typical attitude toward life that tends to accept limitations without trying to resist them forcefully. This is also perhaps the underlying theme of the depiction of the historical fact that the "heliocentric theory" was persecuted in "Chi: On the Movement of the Earth ."