Shinji ARAMAKI in an heart-to-heart discussion with his fans

In a friendly and private atmosphere, the famous artist Shinji ARAMAKI gave a masterclass in a room full with fans impatiently waiting to meet the director of the memorable Captain Harlock.

Shinji ARAMAKI not only is a director, but also a prolific producer and a mecha designer. His personal creative style has weighed a lot on the anime world. He’s known for his movie Starship Troopers : Invasions and for his stunning Appleseed universe, turned into many anime adaptations.

He starts the meeting with one question: “What do you expect from this masterclass?”. Judging by the enthusiast responses’ impact in the room, there were a lot of Captain Herlock fans in there! Good news: today, it was precisely about that movie that the director was about to talk, and he was eager to know his loyal audience’s honest opinions.

What happened then can be summed up by a real exchange of feelings between the director and his fans, about his work and above all about Captain Herlock. He admits that in France, that movie had a lot of success compared to how it was received in Japan after its release, which can be easily explained by its new interpretation of the main character “My interpretation of Herlock wasn’t accepted by everyone in Japan, but people had to see him under a new light, under a human light”.

He continues this talk explaining the team work behind all the unpublished scenes and sketches that unfolds on the screen before our eyes, including the character changes throughout the years. And with an admirable humility, the artist gets into the heart of the debate, discussing with his fans about the pressure and the constraints he had to face during the pre-release of the movie: that is, the version released in France was a bit different from the Japanese one, because they made changes to some cues and also cut some original scenes considered too violent for the young audience. “Of course, my goal is to show you my work in its entirety. […] After what you’ve told me, I think I’ll have to adapt my next animated movie to all the target audience.”

To sum it all up, it was a dynamic participation and a unique moment that both the director and the fans would have loved to share a bit longer! Were you there? Share with us your impressions on this event!