Interview with Anime Director Tensai Okamura at FicZone 2019

This interview with Tensai Okamura was conducted during the 2019 edition of FicZone 2019 (Granada, Spain), where the Japanese director attended as a guest. Okamura, known for his work in major anime productions such as Neon Genesis Evangelion, Cowboy Bebop, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd Gig and The Seven Deadly Sins, reflects on his extensive career in the animation industry. The interview explores key aspects of anime production, including the adaptation of manga into animation, the challenges of maintaining fidelity to an original author’s style, and the narrative and visual restructuring required when translating static media into audiovisual formats. Okamura provides valuable insight into the role of storyboarding, which he identifies as his preferred discipline, and discusses the balance between creative input and respect for source material in long-running franchises. Additionally, the conversation addresses differences between anime series, feature films, and video game animation, highlighting production constraints, artistic priorities, and workflow structures across media. Okamura also comments on his preference for traditional drawing techniques over digital tools, emphasizing the continued relevance of analog practices in contemporary animation. This interview contributes to the study of Japanese animation by offering first-hand testimony from an experienced director involved in internationally influential productions, shedding light on creative processes, industrial practices, and cross-media storytelling within the anime and video game industries.Originally published in Spanish on CoolJapan.es