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My type-up article from Animerica Vol 1 Issue 3, The Toshimichi Suzuki interview

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Dustin Kopplin

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Feb 21, 2011, 10:06:56 PM2/21/11
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Ha, i cant believe i spent time typing word for word the first part of
the interview in this old issue. Im about 4 years behind on part 2, i
guess never late than never.

So yea, heres a real treat for you all, enjoy:
http://www.toonzone.net/forums/showpost.php?p=2528669&postcount=9
___________________________________________
Animerica interview with Toshimichi Suzuki, May 1993

Animerica: Ani
Suzuki: Suz

Ani: Bubblegum Crisis is one of the most popular animated series among
American animation fans. I'd like to ask how the idea for it came
about. What actually inspired the story?

Suz: When i was thirty, before I'd actually started on Bubblegum
Crisis, i left Tatsunoko Productions to start and independent company.
The first project we worked on was called Technopolice, a "mobile
police" story where hazardus jobs in the organization would be left to
robots. The idea was to foster a partnership between man and machine,
a kind of team spirit.

Ani: Like Patlabor?

Suz: Right. And remember that Technopolice was made thirteen years
earlier. I'd worked on this project for a long time, and when it was
finally released through Toho, i kept my basic theme along the lines
of how future society would reflect the relationshiop between man and
machine. A future prediction story - that's what i wanted to do. What
sort of contributions could man make to Earth in the midst of
pollution and environmental destruction? How could civilized society
interact with machines? These were the sort of issues i wnated to
address.

Ani: So Bubblegum Crisis is really a natural extension of
Technopolice.

Suz: Yes. BGC is set in Tokyo, but it could really be anywhere. It's
set in the near future, 38 to 50 years from now, a time when humanity
will gave more progressive values but also greater pressures. This is
where i wanted to keep the focus, while at the same time introducing
the Knight Sabers as a personification of the strain of this new
society. The story would be told from thier prespective; they would
act as "shadow assassins" seeking to resolve those pressures.

Ani: What exactly is your role in Bubblegum Crisis? Are you merely the
producer, or do you plan the entire story? Are there other writers
involved?

Suz: I oversee the production. We use our people for the script, and
sometimes I write it myself. We put together a staff which will best
suit the concept and then give them direction, occasionally providing
guidelines. Right now I'm working on a novel titled Paradise Lost, a
story which takes place after the eleventh video, so my time is pretty
limited these days. Sometimes this affects the decision on who will
write the script.

Ani: Will this be part of Bubblegum Crisis? The next sequel, prehaps?

Suz: No, the novel is a separate project. The subtitle for Paradise
Lost could be anything... Crisis, Crash, whatever. As I'm sure you're
aware, we originally named the series "bubblegum" to reflect a world
in crisis, like a chewing-gum bubble thats's about to burst. Before
the next BGC sequel is released, Paradise Lost will be published, and
the new story will proceed from there.

Ani: While other animation companies tend to work with pre-exsisting
characters, Artmic creates and original work and an original world.
Whats's the reason behind that?

Suz: Basically, Artmic started out as a design company. We don't
really think of ourselves as an animation production house; Artmic is
more a place where we can utilize our designs and stories. We're not
interested in production work. In planning, we control the script all
the way from the storyboard to production. The rest - key animation,
in-between and finishing is done in concert with various production
companies. This may be completely diffrent from how it's done in other
companies, but it's how we choose to work.

Ani: When you're planning a project, what kind of ideas do you have in
mind?

Suz: When told in an organized story, our work is very lultifaceted.
Let's say it's fifty years in the future. We've made it out to space,
the evolved machine has become pseudo-human, the cyborg becomes a
boomer. Suppose that among the ranks of the machines, and anti-
lifeform emerges. In the world of Bubblegum Crisis, of course, there's
still some control over the machines, but give them some time... they
may begin thier revent against mankind.

Ani: Just like in AD Police...

Suz: Yes

Ani: So there is a connection. How do the various series tie
togeather?

Suz: When humanity is finally overcome, we've entered the world of
Gall Force. We're taling about a place where machines are self-aware
and activelyweeding out humans. They take over Earth and evolve a
little futher... voila! You've got Paranoids and Solnoids. They've
split into a kind of humanity single-mindedly adapted to space on the
one side and a machine army that's come to rule Earth on the other.
Surpass that,and you've ventured onto the road that leads to Megazone.
Should there be a war for some reason... then the world of Gaiarth is
born. When you chronicle our works, think of Bubblegum Crisis as a
sort of premonition.

Ani: Surely you couldn't have made up something this elaborate as you
went along. You must have planned this world from the very beginning.

Suz: When the series was announced we were bold enough to say "We'ss
make about thirteen volumes." It was lucky for us that we had and
audience that allowed us to accomplish what we promised. It's been
nine years, and we've gained some confidence since then. BGC is a work
that's met our needs pretty well. Sure, it was an easy thing for us to
tie the various elements togeather, but we would never have been albe
to come this far if we hadn't had the support of our audience.

Ani: Why do you thing Bubblegum Crisis is so popular?

Suz: Honestly? We never thought about it.

Ani: But really, don't you think your fans focus on the story? Or do
you think they're just attracted by the look of the show...?

Suz: Both, i think. They truly devoted fans are always watching it
with thier sharp eyes, coming to me later wanting me to solve the
mysteries, asking me questions such as " Are Mason and Sylia human,
ore are tey boomers?" I could answer them, but i usually evade the
issue by telling them i don't know myself. There are so many diffrent
things i want to focus on in the show. I want to sound a warning
against a possibly chaotic future world, and yet i also want to give
the fans some straightfoward "boomers vs. Knight Sabers" action. Of
our fans I think there are two types, those who see the vigilante
action and become enamored with the superficial side of the story, and
those who dig deeper and analyze why things are the way they are.

Ani: When you speak like that, it sounds as if ther's no cultural
barrier at all.

Suz: I don't think there is. We present the setting as Japan, but you
know we intentionally nicknamed it "Tinsel City." It's just a city of
pretense. It could be New York, London, anywhere.

Ani: It's international.

Suz: Yes. Of course, fifty years from now, it'll be a world mixed with
various races. When you see all these Leons and Prisses, the
foreigners in public agencies and names like "Carson" popping up in
the Japanese goverment, you should be aware that it's intentional.
There's some nationalism left in this world, but mostly it's giant
corporations. In my book, the corporations walk the Earth as if it
were thier own. We have the mulinational corporations in the world
now, and these supranational attitudes are gradually taking it over.
In theory they may be talking about the Japanese ore the Americans but
really, that era has vanished. We're becoming a world where the
corporations have the power.

Ani: When is Paradise Lost novel coming out?

Suz: Actually, the first volume is out already, From Bandai.

Ani: Does it relate to the Bubblegum Crisis world or its extension?

Suz: It starts a few months after the current eleventh episode. I
think it'll end up as a two-volume project.

Ani: I take it there'll be animation based on it, as well?

Suz: Rather than being based on it, the animation version of Paradise
Lost begins right where the second volume ends. We have the storyboard
for two episodes done now. Step by step, the whole picture is emerging
from the story. We've already established that there's a space colony
in this world. In fifty years, new people will arrive; they'll have to
use drugs to adapt to space. These drugs will produce enhanced humans
- "boosts," we call them. And then powerful combat soldiers who fight
on par with boomers will start appearing. Then space-combabt boomers.
When that happens, You'll begin to realize how very big the world of
Bubblegum Crisis is.

Ani: As you know, AD Police is being serialized in this magazine. What
are your views on the series?

Suz: AD Police is the story of a specialized task force, independent
from the normal police, set up to combat boomers and cyborgs. Top
officers such as Leon are recruited from troops much like the riot
police, hand-picked to create an "advanced police force," if you will,
to combat specialized crime. Thier division has been formed, so we set
the story a little earlier than the first episode of Bubblegum Crisis.
And then there's the Knight Sabers... thier exsistence is just hinted
at in the manga. Tony Takezaki's already gotten them involved, but the
story still feels as though it's a set a little bit prior to BGC.

Alemann

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Feb 22, 2011, 4:57:52 AM2/22/11
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Thanks, Dustin. Crash wasn't supposed to be the end after all.
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