A Conversation With Kase-san and Morning Glories’ Takuya Satō and Yusuke Terada


Interview With Takuya Satō and Yusuke Terada
Location: Anime Expo 2018
Interview Date: 7/7/2018


Yusuke Terada

I was able to sit down with Takuya Satō and Yusuke Terada, who served as director and producer for Pony Canyon’s Kase-san and Morning Glories, respectively.

“The original manga was very simple. In it, everyone can be so straightforward. That’s how I wish all people could be. The story is about two girls and the glory of youth and love.” -Takuya Satō

“I just picked up volume one. It was a total coincidence. I just liked the cover.” -Takuya Satō

“I read it and realized immediately that I wanted to make an anime. I started looking for people to work with and met with producer Terada.” -Takuya Satō

“When I started this project, I was conscious of trying to share the beauty of the story.” -Takuya Satō

Takuya Satō

I asked about the differences between the manga and the anime:

“There are no major differences between the original manga and the anime. It’s difficult to pick out which parts to present, but we decided early to skip past when they met. We wanted to focus on the relationship.” -Takuya Satō & Yusuke Terada

They added that series creator Hiromi Takashima was involved in the process:

“She loved the storyboards. She said they looked even better than the original manga.” -Takuya Satō & Yusuke Terada

They chatted briefly and then continued:

“Even in Japan, there are not too many anime films. We’re hoping that people will be more open to anime films in the future.” -Takuya Satō & Yusuke Terada

Kase-san and Morning Glories OVA Anime VisualThey noted that they didn’t want Kase-san and Morning Glories to be too long. They kept it to roughly one hour.

“I’m a fan of film as a media. I wanted to share that happiness in a theater.”  -Yusuke Terada

“There have been many great comments. We’re astonished by the number of repeat viewings. It’s still in theaters in Japan.” -Takuya Satō & Yusuke Terada

“We hope Kase-san and Morning Glories has a great premier at Anime Expo.” -Yusuke Terada (Editor’s note: It did.)

“It was easy to staff up for this. Character designer Kyuta Sakai said it was her favorite manga. I’d worked with her on Steins;Gate and Strawberry Marshmallow” – Takuya Satō

In terms of what they want to do while out in Los Angeles:

“We want to enjoy America. Maybe go to a concert or a theater to enjoy the American experience.” -Takuya Satō & Yusuke Terada

“We would like the viewers to post comments to Twitter, blogs, spread the word. As a producer, when we get direct comments on social media, we can bring them to our supervisors. They’ve been very helpful to me.” -Yusuke Terada

“There have been many times when the staff was encouraged and energized. We love comments.”  -Yusuke Terada

He added that they regularly search for “Kase-san” on social media.

It was impossible to transcribe the next bit of conversation, so let me just give you the highlights:

  1. The 1971 British film Melody was a huge hit in Japan. They highly recommend it.
  2. Yuri!!! on ICE and A Silent Voice are already hugely influencing the next wave of anime.
  3. Rooney Mara is a tremendous actress. We had a brief discussion of The Social Network, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and Carol.

Thanks to Takuya Satō & Yusuke Terada for agreeing to sit down with us. Thanks to Pony Canyon for making this interview possible.

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