In episode 10, JELEE was on the verge of falling apart. It was Kiwi and Mei who held them together. Mei’s soulful singing voice at the end touched the hearts of the viewers, making it a very moving episode.
In the 10th installment of the series, director Ryohei Takeshita and series composer and scriptwriter Yuuki Yaku make their first appearance since the first episode! They talked extensively about the story and characters up to episode 10, as well as what to look forward to as the series reaches its climax.
–The first volume of the novel is currently on sale from Shogakukan Gagaga Bunko, but what are the differences between it and the anime?
Yaku Yuki (hereinafter, Yaku): The story is basically the same, but we incorporated the parts that changed when the script was adapted into the anime, while also picking up elements that were in the original script.
I think the biggest difference is that it’s written in the first person for each character. It starts from Mahiru’s point of view, and the first episode is entirely from Mahiru’s point of view, but by the time it gets to the second episode in the anime, it turns into Mei’s monologue, and the story is written from her point of view.
The third episode is told from Kiwi’s point of view, the fourth from Kanon’s point of view, and so on. The story progresses as the novel switches between each character’s first person perspective and Mahiru’s. The very detailed feelings of each character that were not fully captured in the anime are told in the characters’ own words, so it may be especially recommended for those who want to dig deeper into the characters.
I feel like I’ve written a meaningful novel that adds depth to the anime.
–You also write scripts for anime, but are there any differences between scripts and novels? For example, with anime, there is a time limit, so I think the lines tend to be shorter.
Yaku: The amount and frequency of dialogue is completely different. If the same information is being conveyed, it’s easier to read the script if it’s as short and packed into as few characters as possible, and the impression can change depending on what’s shown in the background of the footage.
In a novel, if the story has interesting things written in it or there are pop analogies, it can be sustained even if it’s a little long, and there’s entertainment value in that, but in a movie, if the lines are long, you simply have to listen to them, and that creates time. So if the background is the same, there’s less information to take in and it can be boring.
— In a novel, the dialogue is interesting enough, but with anime you can make use of the visuals.
Yaku: That’s right. So when I write a script, I try to make the dialogue more informative and change the scenes visually to increase the variety of information as much as possible, so I think that’s where it’s completely different.
–Next, since the opening theme was not played in the first episode, I would like to ask you about the opening and ending animations that we were not able to talk about in the last interview. The opening theme depicts the four members of JELEE facing their past, but what was the concept behind it?
竹下良平（以下、竹下）：OPアニメーションって、最近だと外部のOPが得意な方にお任せする感じで、監督自らがOPを作ることは減っていると思うんです。でもヨルクラにおいては、作品の顔となるオープニングを監督が作ることで、本編の深い部分を表現出来るアニメーションにしたいと思っていました。
このオープニングを作りながら考えていたのは、些細なことで傷ついてしまったり、過去にちょっとしたことで立ち止まってしまい、そのまま前へ進めなくなってしまった人って結構いるよなって……。そういう過去を、自分なりに受け入れて、前に進むということを、このOPから受け取ってくれれば嬉しいなと思いながら作りました。
――まさに『ヨルクラ』の物語にもリンクしていますよね。過去があって今があるし、それは切り離せないから、それを抱えて未来へ進まなければいけないんだというのは、作品からも、OPからも感じました。
竹下：ほんの少しのことがずっと気になっている人ってたくさんいますからね。人から見ると「そんなことで」と思うようなことだって、本人にとってはすごく重要なことだったりする。でも、過去の経験を気にして立ち止まらずに、どんどん進んでほしいという思いがあります。
――そんなつもりで言ったわけではないのに、それがその人には深く突き刺さってしまう。まさに第1話でクラゲの壁画を否定されてしまったまひるですね。
竹下：相手にとっては大したことがなくても、本人にとっては何かをやめるくらいショックな出来事って本当にありますからね。
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