by “Yakami-chan Dropkick X” was broadcast as an anime in the summer of 2022. In this work, Furano City solicited production costs from hometown tax donations. The ninth episode, “Furano’s moist lavender eyes,” which was broadcast on August 31, was based on the contents of the Furano City Council’s Special Committee for the Review of Accounts.
The news jumped in that the general account settlement was disapproved because it was inappropriate. In response to this, on November 16, at 12:30 pm, the whole story of the 9th episode was uploaded to the official YouTube of “Dropkick on My God” for a week only, and a questionnaire was taken to see if Furano’s image had improved. It is
SNS was full of surprises and topics, such as the collaboration with the region involving hometown tax payment, the notification of non-certification several months after the broadcast ended, and the overwhelmingly quick official response. We interviewed Mr. Kazuki Yanase. It took an hour from the idea of the interview and consultation to implementation. We will tell you about the interview that was the fastest project in the history of SPICE. What does the official think, and what is the charm of “Yamagami-chan Dropkick”? I will tell you exclusively.
It was a sudden question, but thank you for accepting the interview.
Thank you.
First of all, how did you feel when you received this decision from the Furano City Council?
On the morning of the day, I saw an online article in the Hokkaido Shimbun and found out about it. According to this article (Jashin-chan), it was written that “the content of the anime will drop the image of Furano.” Since it’s up to the viewers to make the decisions, I decided to check it out.
I see, but the sense of speed is fantastic.
It would help if you watched the “Furano arc,” but the TV anime broadcast has already ended.
That’s right, and it’s a summer 2022 anime.
To solve this problem, we made it accessible for one week on YouTube (Nico Nico Douga will also be available on the night of the day). Originally, you would have to pay to watch it through a distribution service, but this time we have set a unique limit of one week to distribute it for free.
I’ll say it repeatedly, but it’s an extraordinary sense of speed. It usually takes time to get confirmation from various people.
It is often said. However, we are consulting with committees and stakeholders in advance. In this case, it is necessary to obtain the consent of the distribution contact (members who have the right to distribute the work on the Internet) and the hometown tax payment contact, but the initial response is essential for crisis management public relations, absolutely I want to settle it by the end of the day. I want to move immediately for the fans who are indeed worried.”
As of this interview (16:30 on the 16th), it has been viewed 37,000 times. It has over 4000 high ratings. I just saw it again, and it depicted Furano in a very positive way. However, according to the Hokkaido Shimbun, during the debate, Rep. Hideyasu Sato argued, “Because Jajin-chan is in debt, there are many acts that are not permitted under social conventions, such as proposing the sale of organs, and this could damage the image of Furano.”… apparently …
“Jashin-chan Dropkick” is a gag anime. The origin of gag anime is slapstick, a drama that stretches your body. In this case, Jashin-chan, cornered by debts, was suggested by Medusa, who is usually gentle like an angel, with a serious face, “Jinjin-chan, sell your internal organs?” It is interesting to see how the organs are received, but this is not an endorsement of organ trafficking.
Of course, it is. I found it quite interesting as a comedy, and Furano’s charms and specialty products were carefully written. It sounds like you’re working closely with the local community.
Our production team visited Furano for location scouting and thoroughly enjoyed the charm of {Furano. And to convey its magic, I drew the city’s magic from a “traveler’s perspective” that is different from that of the locals. After watching the main story, I would like to leave judgment to the viewers.
The creator has already delivered the work.
Yes. On top of that, if the viewers are disappointed after watching the work, the creator will need to reconsider how to make it. Is it so? I wanted to know first.
The way you did that was through the YouTube release and survey. In the past, to prevent unauthorized uploading of third-party clipping videos, the official distributed clippings before the latest episode was broadcast, and the production team of “Yakami-chan” said, “No matter what, we will make a work called “Yakami-chan Dropkick” into an anime. I have the tenacity to transform and deliver it. What is this obsession?
It’s love. Please remember the last line of 3rd episode 12, Jashin-chan. “The most precious thing in the world is love,” he says.
Jamigami-chan was screaming.
It’s not just the creator’s side but also the thoughts of everyone who wants this work to continue. I have a heavy burden to carry, so I can’t afford to give in to even the slightest adversity.
That’s right, that’s what it means to carry your thoughts on your back.
Yes. For that reason, think about what you can do to turn a pinch into an opportunity and act immediately.
I feel it very much. In particular, the animation is now required to have high-quality work, and raising the budget and personnel for that is becoming more challenging. In addition, Blu-ray and other discs are not selling like they used to because of the decrease in rental video stores.
You will only be recognized if you make something good, but in this situation where it’s becoming more complex, why don’t you try to make something that you think is interesting? I’m touched by the way they’re doing it. Again, I would like to ask what part of the work “Dropkick on My God” is considered exciting and attractive.
I think that the charm of Jashin-chan is made up of these two elements, “the work itself” and “the way the work should be.”
Regarding the first, “the work itself,” these days, we are often suppressed by the theory that it should be, but Jashin-chan is not caught up in such things and lives as he likes. If Yurine also decides to punish her, she will be merciless, and there will be no intrusive way of thinking like “this is how it should be.” Isn’t it much fun to watch their slapstick drama with an empty head?
Indeed, with Jashin-chan at the top of the list, Medusa, Minos, and Yurine all seem to be interacting with each other.
Regarding the second “how the work should be,” I think that Jashin-chan is a work established as a piece of entertainment, including the outside of the video.
It is a work that always does something different in places unrelated to the video, such as audition planning, VTuber planning, fighting against illegal uploads, and recommending secondary creations.” this is different.
This is reflected in the numerical value of the “TAAF2023 Anime of the Year” vote of the “Tokyo Anime Award Festival 2023”, and among the 420 works selected by fans, Jashin-chan is currently ranked first. It shouldn’t be an evaluation of the video work.
It’s pretty amazing that the creators say that, but…!
This is also the result of being evaluated as an exciting work, including “Outside Brawl,” which doesn’t fit the way of thinking, “This is how a video work should be.”
Now that the 3rd season of “Yamagami-chan” is over, are you thinking about the next move for the 4th season?
The activities from the 3rd term onwards have been named “Yakami-chan Dropkick NEXT,” and various developments have begun. Among them, the biggest one is the “crowdfunding 4th installment project”, and we promise to make a new animation for each 30 million yen collected by crowdfunding. The video created here will be used as an OVA (original video animation) as a return to the participants. By repeating these activities, I plan to televise them as the 4th season when I have 12 episodes someday. Of course, we’ll be collecting sponsors in addition to crowdfunding, so it’s not like we can’t make Season 4 unless we raise 360 million yen. I will do everything in my power to make a sequel.
Finally, please give a message to the readers of this interview.
For those who have learned about the work through this news, I would like you to watch “Drop Kick on My Devil.” We will continue to take on various challenges to create new projects and business models, so we hope you will enjoy it, including the outside of the video, together from now on.
