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not_sophieThat moment when you're flipping through your book that already alarmed you with its nudity all over its cover and realize that the reason the OP of this anime is full of naked anorexic women is because Inomata painted the main character nude like fifty times.
I started translating the interview contained in this Spiral nudity Book of this horrible anime that I have an odd attachment to (screw you, Inomata and Yoko Kanno) with Mutsumi Inomata, the character designer. I didn't finish it because I don't finish anything and I was offended that Tomino doesn't like Inomata's art. Goodbye.
EDIT: just kidding I finished it a year later have fun
"The characters of Brain were created from base emotions."
How did you come to be involved in Brain Powerd?
When I first went to the business meeting, Director Tomino told me to do it. But he also told me "I don't really like your art." Despite that, he thought that that my characters could be good, and he thought I might actually be able to create something fresh if I didn't have restrictions. Really, it seemed like it might have just been a whim.
What kinds of requests did the director give you?
There weren't many little details, but he did tell me to stop giving people shorts.
In this series there also un-robots. How did this influence the character designs?
I didn't design uniforms for them. That's the only concrete influence, though they do wear Fluid Suits. As for the characters themselves, I made them feel like my own friends and acquaintances, and they weren't hugely deformed. They might be a little plain for anime characters.
What was your process for completing the designs?
Meeting, request, rejection, completion. That was the basic order of things. That said, it's not like I couldn't draw what the director told me to. There were just times when the designs would become something else in the middle of drawing. Because of that, the final product might have diverged from the director's image.
Tell me a character you feel you were able to successfully shape.
Queency. Before the plan really materialized into a TV series, I had a clear image of her. A lot changed with the characters and settings, but the first image I held of Queency stayed the same. As for my personal favourite character, it's either the chubby one or someone who's all skin and bones. I hope you feel fond of the finished characters the way I do.
What are some characters you had a hard time with?
Normal characters. Like the guys.
It surprised me that Professor Kensaku Yuu's rejected draft was actually really cool. His beard gave him the same vibes as Yomi from Babel II...
Lord Yomi! Come to to think of it, that's true. Maybe it would have been better if I emphasized that more? As far as this couple goes, Midori's design came first. That went well, and I wanted to make Kensaku match, but he didn't come to me very easily.
I thought a couple with a wife taller than the husband would be better, and I figured the director must have thought so too. "About Kensaku..." he told me, "I was also thinking we should change him." Considering the situation, I suppose I didn't really ask why.
How did you decide on Valone Maximillian's clothes?
The most important thing was to make it so you didn't know it was Anoa (a woman). But normally those clothes would give a woman's figure, so I gave her that sort of shape. Also, since Anoa thought "I want to hide myself," I thought maybe she would wear something a bit crazy. They both wear high-bottom shoes.
It seems there were naked designs of the female characters. Was this for the opening?
They were used for the opening, but they were more like a reference or note than anything else. I thought it would be bad if you had things like, "her breasts seem hard," "this spreads out," "this is attached too low," "the butt's drooping," "the navel is in a weird place" so I drew the naked designs. But when I saw it animated, I felt I was needlessly anxious.
There are rumors that Naoki Isami is popular around you... Why is that?
Wha?! I wouldn't say that... But I will say the second most popular is Shigeta's (Atsushi Shigeta) art of Jonathan. Jonathan has a weird personality too, he's very popular.
Director Tomino doesn't seem fond of characters with large eyes, yet he still hired you. What do you think his reason was?
Who knows? Since it wasn't in his usual scope, maybe he wanted to try something different from what he'd made up until now. That's the reason I myself chose to work on Brain Powerd. But are the eyes in my art really so big? There are people who draw much larger eyes than I do.
What did you have in mind when you were designing Yuu, Hime, Jonathan, Queency, and Nellie?
For Yuu, mostly a spoiled child.
Hime was like a big sister.
Jonathan, someone with many complexes.
Queency, someone who tries too hard.
Nellie, someone who wants to be herself more.
I drew them while thinking things like that. What was interesting about making Brain Powerd's characters was that they started from raw emotions.
Were there any characters that left a stronger impression when they became animated?
With anime, even though you might have drawn the settings, the characters aren't necessarily finished. So I think it's something that's completed only after you keep working at it for a while. But I will say that as the episodes went on, Jonathan's weirdness became even more bizarre and more interesting. Why is such a strange guy popular with the female characters? Is it because there weren't other male characters around?
I think the plainclothes of the named characters were simple yet fashionable.
Thank you. They didn't wear uniforms, they wore everyday clothes. They all have different interests and experiences, so I made sure the clothes they liked didn't have anything to do with each other. I also didn't do a lot of deformation.
What is the appeal of Brain Powerd?
What's important is how you view it. Don't watch it one episode at a time, watch it all in one go. Don't watch it once, watch it over and over again. If you do that, and get caught up in it, I think you'll find it charming in many ways.
I started translating the interview contained in this Spiral nudity Book of this horrible anime that I have an odd attachment to (screw you, Inomata and Yoko Kanno) with Mutsumi Inomata, the character designer. I didn't finish it because I don't finish anything and I was offended that Tomino doesn't like Inomata's art. Goodbye.
EDIT: just kidding I finished it a year later have fun
"The characters of Brain were created from base emotions."
How did you come to be involved in Brain Powerd?
When I first went to the business meeting, Director Tomino told me to do it. But he also told me "I don't really like your art." Despite that, he thought that that my characters could be good, and he thought I might actually be able to create something fresh if I didn't have restrictions. Really, it seemed like it might have just been a whim.
What kinds of requests did the director give you?
There weren't many little details, but he did tell me to stop giving people shorts.
In this series there also un-robots. How did this influence the character designs?
I didn't design uniforms for them. That's the only concrete influence, though they do wear Fluid Suits. As for the characters themselves, I made them feel like my own friends and acquaintances, and they weren't hugely deformed. They might be a little plain for anime characters.
What was your process for completing the designs?
Meeting, request, rejection, completion. That was the basic order of things. That said, it's not like I couldn't draw what the director told me to. There were just times when the designs would become something else in the middle of drawing. Because of that, the final product might have diverged from the director's image.
Tell me a character you feel you were able to successfully shape.
Queency. Before the plan really materialized into a TV series, I had a clear image of her. A lot changed with the characters and settings, but the first image I held of Queency stayed the same. As for my personal favourite character, it's either the chubby one or someone who's all skin and bones. I hope you feel fond of the finished characters the way I do.
What are some characters you had a hard time with?
Normal characters. Like the guys.
It surprised me that Professor Kensaku Yuu's rejected draft was actually really cool. His beard gave him the same vibes as Yomi from Babel II...
Lord Yomi! Come to to think of it, that's true. Maybe it would have been better if I emphasized that more? As far as this couple goes, Midori's design came first. That went well, and I wanted to make Kensaku match, but he didn't come to me very easily.
I thought a couple with a wife taller than the husband would be better, and I figured the director must have thought so too. "About Kensaku..." he told me, "I was also thinking we should change him." Considering the situation, I suppose I didn't really ask why.
How did you decide on Valone Maximillian's clothes?
The most important thing was to make it so you didn't know it was Anoa (a woman). But normally those clothes would give a woman's figure, so I gave her that sort of shape. Also, since Anoa thought "I want to hide myself," I thought maybe she would wear something a bit crazy. They both wear high-bottom shoes.
It seems there were naked designs of the female characters. Was this for the opening?
They were used for the opening, but they were more like a reference or note than anything else. I thought it would be bad if you had things like, "her breasts seem hard," "this spreads out," "this is attached too low," "the butt's drooping," "the navel is in a weird place" so I drew the naked designs. But when I saw it animated, I felt I was needlessly anxious.
There are rumors that Naoki Isami is popular around you... Why is that?
Wha?! I wouldn't say that... But I will say the second most popular is Shigeta's (Atsushi Shigeta) art of Jonathan. Jonathan has a weird personality too, he's very popular.
Director Tomino doesn't seem fond of characters with large eyes, yet he still hired you. What do you think his reason was?
Who knows? Since it wasn't in his usual scope, maybe he wanted to try something different from what he'd made up until now. That's the reason I myself chose to work on Brain Powerd. But are the eyes in my art really so big? There are people who draw much larger eyes than I do.
What did you have in mind when you were designing Yuu, Hime, Jonathan, Queency, and Nellie?
For Yuu, mostly a spoiled child.
Hime was like a big sister.
Jonathan, someone with many complexes.
Queency, someone who tries too hard.
Nellie, someone who wants to be herself more.
I drew them while thinking things like that. What was interesting about making Brain Powerd's characters was that they started from raw emotions.
Were there any characters that left a stronger impression when they became animated?
With anime, even though you might have drawn the settings, the characters aren't necessarily finished. So I think it's something that's completed only after you keep working at it for a while. But I will say that as the episodes went on, Jonathan's weirdness became even more bizarre and more interesting. Why is such a strange guy popular with the female characters? Is it because there weren't other male characters around?
I think the plainclothes of the named characters were simple yet fashionable.
Thank you. They didn't wear uniforms, they wore everyday clothes. They all have different interests and experiences, so I made sure the clothes they liked didn't have anything to do with each other. I also didn't do a lot of deformation.
What is the appeal of Brain Powerd?
What's important is how you view it. Don't watch it one episode at a time, watch it all in one go. Don't watch it once, watch it over and over again. If you do that, and get caught up in it, I think you'll find it charming in many ways.
