After The Rose of Versailles film came out, little girls who couldn't read subtitles were saying "please make it into an anime..."
AM: Iâd like to start off by asking about the process that led up to The Rose of Versailles being made into an anime.
Ikeda: Last year, I thought Iâd like to make The Rose of Versailles into a movie, so I entrusted everything to producer Mataichiro Yamamoto. However at the time, I wasn't considering an anime. I had also turned down all the previous offers.
Ikeda: There was a fierce amount of opposition saying, âDonât make it into a movie or anime, it would ruin the readersâ imageâ
AM: So despite opposition you went ahead with the anime?
Ikeda: It ended up being made into a movie, didnât it? After that, requests for an anime increased, little girls around kindergarten age couldnât read my original work or the movie subtitles. So I began to feel that I wanted younger children to be able to watch it.
AM: So you consider the main audience of the anime The Rose of Versailles to be children from around kindergarten age to around third grade in elementary school?
Ikeda: Yes. I believe so, due to the time slot. If you look at the sponsorâs advertised products theyâre things like little purses and dolls, you can tell by that.
AM: I see. Once the anime was decided and production began, how were you involved during that time?
Ikeda: I was not involved at all. I was not involved in the planning stage, they sent me the scripts but I didnât really read them. I think an anime means that a completely new work is being born. So I think itâs best just to look forward to that.
My work is becoming an anime. This is not something that happens often in one's life. I think I am very fortunate...
AM: I'd like to ask what your impression of the anime is, based on what you've watched...
Ikeda: Every week I record it and watch it with my assistants. If I am working, I will take a short break. So, I am just jumping on the bandwagon and watching for the fun of it.
AM: Just following the trends?
Ikeda: Yes. For instance, the anime version of Girodelle is very cool and handsome. In the first episode he duels Oscar for the position of commander, right!?! That scene was very intense. I thought "Wow, he looks so grown up! He looks so cool, with his hairâs blowing in the windâŠHe looks much cooler the the original (laughs)"
AM: Was there anything else that stood out like "Wow!"?
Ikeda: So far, more than any specific scene, it is the gorgeous backgrounds that leave the greatest impression on me. Things like the buildings in the background.
Back when I was drawing The Rose of Versailles, I had not been to the Palace of Versailles. I was drawing by looking at photographs...and even those reference materials were not sufficient...This time they also have the film The Rose of Versailles to refer to, and I think the backgrounds are very well developed.
AM: It is indeed very detailed.
Ikeda: It really is. My grandmother watches it too but she thinks the backgrounds are real. Like the Palace of Versailles. She is getting old, her eyesight probably isn't what it used to be (laughs).
AM: In episode 8 there is a scene at the Jarjayes mansion with the sunrise, it was very beautiful, the colors changing to show the passage of time...
Ikeda: Yes, it was. I don't really understand the technical aspects, but I was moved and thought "very beautiful!!"
AM: I see. So, there are some differences in the story and setting, between the original work and the anime.
Ikeda: The introduction of episode 1 was different, wasn't it? As for myself, I thought I had put equal effort into all four of them. Antoinette, Fersen, Oscar, and AndrĂ©. However originally what I wanted to depict the most was Marie Antoinetteâs life.
Ikeda: Correct. That is why the beginning of the original story is about Antoinette. I had intended for Oscar to be a supporting character. The thing is, historical figures are surprisingly hard to move around a story. So inevitably, I became more invested in and favored the fictional character, Oscar.
AM: And for creating interesting drama too...
Ikeda: That's right. Besides with anime, the audience consists of younger children, it is much easier for them to follow the story if you establish early on who the protagonist and heroine is. So I think Episode 1 was fine. It was very straightforward...
AM: Is there anything else that stood out to you that is different from the original, what have you noticed?
Ikeda: The Duke of Orleans appearing as a villain from the beginning. In my version he was more the type of person who schemes behind the scenes...I think, because of the same reason as before, the viewers' ages being much younger, It is better this way. It helps make the story simple and clear, if we know that the Duke of Orleans is a bad or good person.
AM: So you and the production staff have a mutual understanding.
Ikeda: That's right. It's not as though I put in any specific requests.
AM: How do you think the main themes are being handled?
Ikeda: As I said before, one of the things I wanted to portray in this work was the life of Marie Antoinette. And then there is Oscar's way of life. The story of a woman who is forced to live as a man, she lives a life no one else can, and in the end accepts it and chooses that way of life for herself....
AM: Is this depicted in the anime?
Ikeda: Not yet, it is still a work in progress....Though, as long as Mr. Yamamoto is the producer, I think it will be fine.
AM: Are you worried that "Oscar's way of life as a woman" may be too difficult for kindergarten and elementary-school children?
Ikeda: I think there can be certain limits due to age, but it is all dependent on the way it is portrayed. When I was in middle school, I heard an interview with an unmarried twenty year old female professor. At the end they asked her "do you have plans to get married" and she said "Huh? Well no". She answered "I had forgotten about that".
I was moved at that moment, to think that there are careers for women out there that are fulfilling enough to make them forget about marriage. I thought that, even though I was still a child.
They have reproduced my clumsy characters from early serialization, in great detail. It is very embarrassing.
AM: What do you think of the character design?
Ikeda: I think they are quite close to the original. Personally, I really don't like the drawings I did right after serialization began. I was not very good. These too have been reproduced to look like my originals, and it is very embarrassing, I don't like it....
Ikeda: Yes, how Oscar and Andre look chubby when they are young. And as they get older their cheeks start to hollow out. You know, that was not something I did intentionally. Even the early round faced Oscar, I was trying to draw her as cool and mature looking as she is just before her death. But my drawing skills were poor....and I don't want to see those old drawings again...
I have known of TarĆ Shigaki since he was young, but I didn't know he was so talented.
AM: What do you think of the voice cast?
Ikeda: Fersen is voiced by Nachi Nozawa, right? His character is supposed to be 18 years old, just like Oscar, his voice really makes you feel the age difference. He sounds more like someone who is around 32 or 33. But I think his personality suits the role very well. I feel that he talks a little fast though.
AM: What do you think of Reiko Tajima in the role of Oscar?
Ikeda: Right now she is ok, but I am worried about what will happen down the road. Same with Antoinette. Miyuki Ueda's voice suits the young Antoinette. But I don't know how her voice will work for her when she is in her 30s, I am a little concerned about that.
Ikeda: I knew that Taro Shigaki, who plays André, had been on TV since he was young, but I had no idea he was so talented. I had thought of him as the type of actor who was known for his looks rather than his acting. So I thought of acting with dialogue only....but I ended up being surprised at how good he was (laughs).
AM: What about the narrator?
Ikeda: First of all, it really makes an impact. For younger children, I wonder if that voice will be a little scary though.
Osamu Tezuka said, âAnimation is great.â He said "you should make one". Maybe I should become an apprentice at Tezuka ProductionsâŠ
AM: From what you have told us so far, it seems that you are quite satisfied with The Rose of Versailles anime.
Ikeda: Yes, I'd say so. Or rather, there isn't anything I have to compare it to, I am the type of person who is generally pleased with things. People say all sorts of things, but I just want to tell them, âthink about it for a second.â Just seeing something I worked so hard on end up on TV, and with famous voice actors voicing it, thatâs not something that happens every day.
Ikeda: I think so. I am really lucky, aren't I? So, I don't really think in that way of âI didn't like this partâ or âI didn't like that part.â
AM: And, if there were an offer to adapt any of your other works...?
Ikeda: Yes, if there was someone who understood what I wanted to express in my work and who my characters are, I suppose I would let them. I myself created The Rose of Versailles using the book Marie Antoinette by Zweig as inspiration. If Zweig had said, "I would be bothered if my work were made into a girls manga," then I would be bothered too. (laughs)
AM: The readers would also be bothered.
Ikeda: I choose to see Zweig respecting my autonomy as a creator and saying "Well then, why don't you try drawing it?â. Besides, Zweig was no longer alive....so I drew it.
AM: The same can be said about the anime.
AM: But it took you a long time to give permission for an anime adaptation.
Ikeda: There was very strong opposition from the fans, and I was afraid of that. Personally, I thought it could be interesting to do.
Ikeda: Yes. I mean, in the sense that I could see the characters I created actually move. Is that not the dream of every artist who draws?
AM: I would like to ask you some questions about anime other than The Rose of Versailles.
Ikeda: This is a problem. Because I am a novice anime fan (lol).
AM: Do you watch anime often?
Ikeda: No. I haven't even seen Space Battleship Yamato or Galaxy Express 999.
AM: Is there anything you are looking forward to watching?
Ikeda: Well, I would like to see Phoenix, the series Osamu Tezuka is currently working on. Oh, that reminds me, I just saw a Soviet animated short film that was about 10 minutes long, it was at an independent film screening. It didn't have much of a story, just an animated film about a butterfly flying around. But I really liked it.
AM: So you are interested in anime.
Ikeda: Yes, I just arrived late. Osamu Tezuka said, âAnimation is great.â He said "you should make one. It wouldn't be something that makes you money like The Rose of Versailles, but something about 10 minutes long, drawn all on your own. For example, a boy and girl meet in a park, exchange a tender glance, and then quietly go their separate ways." He told me "that sort of thing, a really good 10 minutes long, you could draw it in about a year and a half"
AM: That's a wonderful idea.
Ikeda: I think it would be great just to draw something like this for fun!!!
AM: Do you know anything about the technical aspects of animation?
Ikeda: I don't know anything. I told them, Maybe one day I'll apprentice at Mushi Productions (laughs).
AM: Finally, could you give us a few words on anime as a medium.
Ikeda: As you know, I studied philosophy in college. My junior high school teacher was very pleased with that, to have a former student go on to pursue academic scholarship. When I told them I was leaving university to become a manga artist, I got a letter saying "âIf you have time to draw something so foolish, you could at least learn one word in German" I thought "do not underestimate me". Really.
A girls manga, something that has been looked down upon, has finally become an anime! This is how I see anime.
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