The great intertwining of life and love, an interview with Yoshiyuki Shirahama, the director of "Cuckoo's Engagement"
The new Japanese show "Cuckoo's Engagement", which will be broadcast in April 2022, is adapted from the manga of the same name by Miki Yoshikawa. It is Shirata's good will. Roshiyuki Hakuba once was in charge of the storyboards and performances of the animation "The Love Comedy That Childhood Will Never Lose" and "The Voice of Pure White". This is his first time as a supervisor. In this article, I interviewed Director Ryozhiyuki Shirahata about his impressions of the original manga and the charm of the characters.
The protagonist Nagi Umino, a sophomore in high school, suddenly learned one day that she was wrongly held as a baby, and on the day she met her biological parents, she met Erika Amba, a famous high school girl of the same age. By chance, Nagi was coerced by Erika and complied with Erika's request, "I have a fiancé I have never met, and I want to regret the marriage", pretending to be her boyfriend... In fact, Nagi and Erika were the two who were wronged back then. A baby, the parents of both parties hoped that the two would get married, so that both of them would be their own children, so they decided on their engagement!
and his parents think differently, Nagi has a crush named Mi. In addition, Yuki, who is not related by blood, also has a secret affection for his brother Nagi... In the complicated four-cornered relationship, what kind of relationship will Nagi build with whom? Let's watch this unpredictable romance with trepidation!
- If you want to animate it, what is the feeling and charm of watching the original comics?
Hakuba : At the beginning of reading the manga, I thought it was a love story between Nagi and Erika. Later, I found out that other characters besides the two betrothed are also quite attractive. The relationship with these two people, family relationship, etc., not only the romantic comedy part, but also various other elements are mixed together, which makes me feel "so curious about the follow-up! It's so interesting!".
- How can animation express the charm of the original manga?
Hakuba : The producer wanted "Let's recreate Erika's change of plain clothes every time", so she drew a lot of settings of Erika's plain clothes using the clothes of the original manga as a reference. There are also some cosplay-like clothes, so this can not only interpret "Miss Celebrity", but also show Erika's charm.
- Please talk about the charm of the protagonist Nagi.
Hakuba : In the interaction with Erika and the others, Nagi often acts as a complaining role. Nagi was made round and round and complained in various ways, which is also an interesting part of his role. However, Nagi is a serious, honest boy, so I pay attention to the degree of relaxation, and the heroines are attracted to this side of him.
- Erika's setting is "Miss Celebrity". Are there celebrities?
Hakuba : She is a celebrity lady on SNS, so I think she is a celebrity like Paris Hilton. Erika also has the feeling of being a celebrity called Chacha doing things, so this is also very similar to Paris.
——Among the three heroines, who is the role that Hakuba supervises your choice?
Hakuba : The three of them are very attractive, so I really want to "recommend them all"... But Erika who candidly expresses her feelings is very cute, so in the sense of "wanting to cheer her up", I still want to recommend she.
- What kind of girl was Erika as a child?
Hakuba : She may be unexpectedly lucky, she is a crybaby, the newborn baby Erika will cry super energetically, and then she will grow up to be a complimentary riot child.
- Please briefly talk about each of the three heroines.
White banner : Erika is a famous young lady, so she feels a little out of place, and it's cute when she occasionally goes wrong. I pay attention to the animation to reflect these aspects of her, and she is the most direct emotional expression of the heroine. Fortunately,
should pay attention to the fact that the animation reflects her mentality change after she found out that she was holding the wrong child, and her arrogant sister. This is a compliment. As the number of animation episodes progresses, there will be many times that Erika and Zhen sisters are very similar, I am surprised - as expected, the original teacher Yoshikawa (Miki) is amazing. It's especially cute that
Mi has the line "Ham?"
- Please talk about the relationship between Nagi and the three heroines.
Hakuba : At the time of episode 1, Nagi's love for Mi was very strong, and for the other heroines, there was no excess beyond blood. The strength of the three heroines' love for Nagi is Erika > Yukio > Mi. Some parts will be announced slowly in the future, please look forward to it and pay attention to the animation.