"Rurouni Kenshin Final Chapter The Beginning" Director Keishi Otomo What is necessary in manufacturing is an awareness of details [Director's Interview Vol.120]

A passion for making movies that can only be created in movie theaters

Q: I think the ``Rurouni Kenshin'' series, including the detailed designs you talked about this time, is a movie that only shows its true potential when you see it in a movie theater. Director Otomo, what are your thoughts on watching movies in movie theaters?

Otomo: I myself have been planning and developing projects for distribution in response to requests from Netflix and other companies, but one thing I can't seem to manage is that even though I call it a ``movie,'' it is still very similar to a TV drama. It's not so much about the creators, but because the "boxes" that compete are the TVs and smartphones. It's an overused phrase, but the sense of immersion and realism is completely different between watching it on a big screen and watching it in your own living room.

After all, dramas are something we watch in our daily lives. In other words, it's something you can enjoy while doing something while surrounded by noise. This has been the case since the days of radio dramas, and for a long time the "freedom" of television dramas has been constrained by the methodology of having to explain everything in dialogue so that it can be understood in just a few moments. The "grammar of the cathode ray tube" has long since been overcome in distributed works such as Netflix, which require expressions similar to those of movies, but it is still not easy to concentrate fully and watch a movie in everyday life. I don't think so. If you're a movie buff or drama buff who lives alone, you might be able to immerse yourself in watching it, but I don't think that's the case for many. In the first place, it is difficult to find the time to do so.

In other words, a movie theater is a place where you pay your own money and go to experience something. From a creator's perspective, I feel like when they're showing a movie in a movie theater, they're more likely to use various preparations and tricks and pay close attention to every detail. It's not so much an issue of production costs as it is an issue of context, and the number of people who concentrate on watching the show is gathering. Even if you don't exchange words, the environment where you can feel the atmosphere of people being moved by you and watching it is completely different from watching it in your own room. On the other hand, even when watching streaming movies, I often feel that there are still many gaps in the details.

“Rurouni Kenshin Final Chapter The Beginning” © Nobuhiro Watsuki / Shueisha ©2020 Movie “Rurouni Kenshin: Final Chapter Part I - The Final/The Beginning” Production Committee

Q: It is said that ``God dwells in the details,'' but the tension on the part of the creator is also very different, ``I want to be particular about even the smallest expression.''

Otomo: Television is basically information. I'm sorry if this is an old example, but how did ``trendy drama'' come about? It's a drama that sells the very atmosphere of ``wearing this kind of clothes and eating this kind of food in such a fashionable place.'' ) It was also a drama to sell. There, even the emotions of the characters become an accumulation of information, or rather, they become symbols. Distribution works will also become more and more informational as they compete in the space of television and smartphones. This is also true from the perspective of the viewer.

An easy-to-understand example would be that you won't be able to create pauses or silence. If it were broadcast, everyone would probably fast forward it. But in a movie theater, the sound and images are powerful, so even if there is silence, it still holds its own. Actually, I can't fast forward even if I wanted to (lol). Also, if people are told that they can watch it anytime, they may stop watching it. I feel like I don't have to do it now. Movies shown at movie theaters can only be seen ``now.''

Everyone should advocate for the necessity of movie theaters.