by “Fujimoto Tatsuki 17-26” is a series of eight short stories by manga artist Fujimoto Tatsuki, known for works such as “Chainsaw Man” and “Look Back,” all of which have been adapted into anime. It was released worldwide exclusively on Prime Video on November 8th and has been screened for only two weeks at nine cinemas nationwide, including Shinjuku Wald 9 (Shinjuku, Tokyo), since October 17th.
The original works are “Fujimoto Tatsuki Short Stories Collection 17-21” and “Fujimoto Tatsuki Short Stories Collection 22-26,” which are collections of short stories drawn by Fujimoto between the ages of 17 and 26. This is an unprecedented project in which seven directors and six studios are working together to animate all eight stories. We spoke to
It seems disjointed, but it is consistent.
Oyama also worked on the animated feature film “Look Back,” based on Fujimoto’s manga, which sparked much discussion when it was selected for Best Animated Feature at the 48th Japan Academy Awards. This is a bold project to adapt all of the works from “Fujimoto Tatsuki Short Story Collection 17-21” and “Fujimoto Tatsuki Short Story Collection 22-26” into animation, rather than just selecting a few.
“These eight works represent the path that Fujimoto-sensei took from the age of 17 to 26, and also represent his origins. I thought that the key to the project would be to show all eight of his works together, so that people could get a sense of the breadth and depth of his talent. However, I thought it would be difficult to make this work without some ingenuity.”
A total of eight works were animated by seven directors, including Watanabe Tetsuaki of the anime “Blue Lock,” Takeuchi Nobuyuki of the film “Fireworks, Should We See It from the Side or the Bottom?”, and Terazawa Kazuaki of the anime “The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 2,” as well as six studios: ZEXCS, Lapin Track, GRAPH77, 100studio, Studio Kafka, and PAWORKS.
“We had two options: either animate all eight films with the same studio and director, or use a different team for each film. Given the project’s core, the best approach is to combine Fujimoto Tatsuki’s high level of artistry with the individuality of the animation creators. Working with different teams for each film would be difficult, but it would be more interesting that way.
Rather than trying to create a unified overall look, it would be more interesting to let each film’s individual personality shine and amplify its breadth through animation. At the same time, we also thought that a common thread could be seen within the wide range of expression.”
