Interview With Takayuki Hirao
Location: Anime Expo 2023
Interview Date: 7/3/2023
Anime Herald: What would you like us to know about Wasted Chef?
Takayuki Hirao: It’s a story about restoring your values when they have been forsaken. The things you are spending your time on, they will not be a waste.
Anime Herald: Can we talk about the chef?
Takayuki Hirao: During [the height of the COVID-19 pandemic], the Japanese restaurant industry was decimated. The government told people not to eat out. It felt astonishing to me that our lives could shift so quickly. When I was trying to come up with a theme for my next project, I remembered something my older brother told me. He’s a chef. Chefs constantly have to come up with new dishes for people. I wanted my new project to be something about the chef’s world.
Anime Herald: In America, many restaurants pivoted to takeout.
Takayuki Hirao: After seeing it in America, many Japanese restaurants started to follow that trend. But, for Japanese people, the restaurants are important gathering spaces. Because of COVID, that wasn’t people. People shifted their habits 180 degrees.
Anime Herald: What is your origin story? How did you become a director?
Takayuki Hirao: I went to the Osaka Design School. After that, I joined Madhouse as a production assistant. Production assistants do mostly managing people’s scheduling. After that, I started doing storyboarding. From there, I was able to get some small direction responsibilities. After that, I was able to do unit direction. That experience allowed me to become a director.
Anime Herald: How did you end up at the Osaka Design School?
Takayuki Hirao: You want to know why I wanted to enter the animation industry? Do we have time?
Anime Herald: No.
Takayuki Hirao: (Laughs)
When I was young, I had a speech impediment. I had a stutter. When I had trouble communicating with people, I watched a lot of films and anime. That healed my heart and gave me inspiration. I thought that I want to be on the other side and inspire people who are suffering, or in pain, or having difficulty communicating. I thought that was something I could do to show gratitude to the people who saved me.
Anime Herald: What were the films or anime that inspired you?
Takayuki Hirao: Studio Ghibli, Gainax. The films of [Hayao] Miyazaki. Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water. Young Guns.
Anime Herald: Let’s talk about Young Guns. It’s famous for its slow-motion shoot-out at the end. In the modern era, we have John Wick and “gun-fu.” Would you ever like to direct a series like that?
Takayuki Hirao: I was affected by Young Guns. In my previous works, whenever there was an important scene, I had a tendency to shoot it in slow motion.
Slow motion focuses us on what’s important and makes the scene dramatic, but for us, producing it requires more effort. We have to draw so many more frames. We got feedback that it was too slow and that we were padding the time with slow motion. It opened our eyes.
Anime Herald: In Pompo: The Cinéphile, there were B-movies. Would you ever like to direct the anime version of a B-movie? Schlock, as it were.
Takayuki Hirao: I would like to do something like that in the future. In my view, the difference between a B-movie, and a general theatrical release, is that a general movie is made to entertain the viewers. To me, a B-movie is made to entertain the creators. There might be parts of the movies that aren’t important to the viewers, but are important to the creators. That’s my view on B-movies.
Pompo-san says that if you can make a schlock movie moving or gripping, that’s more amazing than making a general theatrical release that captures people’s hearts. I agree with Pompo-san. That’s why I’d like to make such a film someday.
Anime Herald: Satoshi Kon made Paprika, which inspired Christopher Nolan’s Inception. What kind of movie would you like to make that would be considered “fine art?” To quote Martin Scorsese, “This is cinema.”
Takayuki Hirao: That’s a hard question!
Hopefully, my next project will be very cinematic. In terms of moviemaking, we have limited time for the length of the film. As creators we’re challenged to create visually intriguing looks, to show what’s important. The combination of the theme and story, as well as the character’s looks, are the crucial parts of what makes a movie cinematic. What’s truly important is the originality. We’re always trying to make something cinematic. It’s a challenge we’re trying to achieve for our next work.
Anime Herald: Do you have any questions for us?
Takayuki Hirao: What are your thoughts on anime?
Anime Herald: It’s exploded. When I was young, anime was not cool. I think that started to change with Dragon Ball Z and Sailor Moon. It became so popular, it was no longer just the fringe groups watching anime. Now, we have streaming. My brother has heard of Crunchyroll and he doesn’t watch anything. It’s very well known. Also, Into the Spiderverse was tremendous. It’s now a very well-respected medium.
Takayuki Hirao: What kind of things do you think American anime fans would be interested in? For example, Wasted Chef will be about a chef…
Anime Herald: William Goldman, the director of The Princess Bride, famously said about Hollywood “Nobody knows anything.”
No one knows what will be a good or popular anime. Not the directors, not the studios, not the actors. Nobody. It’s impossible to predict. But one thing I can say is that we know the popular anime’s FAST. People tweet about them, and then people start making memes of them.
Takayuki Hirao: It’s the same in Japan too. We never know what will become popular or sell well.
Anime Herald: Remember Yuri!!! on Ice?
Takayuki Hirao: Yes.
Anime Herald: I would never have predicted a show about Ice Skating would become the most popular show of the season.
Takayuki Hirao: There are some popular ice skaters in Japan. Maybe that helped generate a big wave. We know it’s a lot about timing and luck.
Anime Herald: In America, the hardest thing to do is get a project “green-lit.” That is, secure the required funding. How did you get them to green light Wasted Chef?
Takayuki Hirao: For Wasted Chef, we started the project before Pompeo. The amount of profit Pompeo made was humongous. Because of that, our reputation was boosted, and that allowed us to secure the funding for our next film. Also, we had different people read the script for Wasted Chef. It got good reviews. That’s why we decided to move forward with the project.
It will be a strange and quirky story. Hopefully, it’s not just loved by Pompeo fans, but also other people, as well.
Anime Herald: That you, this was wonderful.
Takayuki Hirao: Thank you so much. I hope you can interview me again after this project is released.
