This is Shudo's final column about writing for the Pokemon anime. In it, he discusses his slow departure from screenwriting altogether.
After leaving series construction of the TV version of "Pokemon," I decided to write scripts that, as much as possible, would not feature battles as a highlight, that is, something different from the cliched pattern that was becoming established in the "Pokemon" anime.
At the same time, I tried to find something that could only be depicted in the "Pokemon" world.
Moreover, I was conscious of content that only I would be able to write.
I thought it would be easy to write, but I had a very hard time.
Perhaps it was because my energy and stamina were waning, but it was difficult to find something that was "Pokemon" but did not seem like normal "Pokemon."
The people who attended the script meetings, perhaps out of concern for my departure from the film version and series construction, were mostly willing to let me go through with the plots that I brought to them.
In other words, at least in front of me, they showed their willingness to let me write whatever "Pokemon" episodes I wanted to write.
From around "Teppouuo's Sky!" in 2001, through "Poppo and the Giant Poppo! Towards the As Yet Unseen Sky!" to "Yadon's Comprehension! Satoshi's Comprehension!" in 2002, you can see a few of my scripts here and there.
Even if I were to list and explain them here, each of them is just one of the more than 600 episodes of the "Pokemon" anime, and I am not even sure if they are still remembered by the readers of this column.
A quick Internet search will reveal the names of these works, but even the writers themselves are not sure if they wrote them or not.
I have reviewed the episodes from that period on video before writing this column, and while they are certainly different from those written by other scriptwriters, and I think the scripts are very typical of me, I am not sure if I can proudly call them unique works in the "Pokemon" anime.
Rather, the early scripted works when I was doing series construction were much more unique from the overall "Pokémon" anime, and are more memorable to me, perhaps because I was more concerned about making the "Pokémon" anime a success, even though I didn't seem to be doing anything.
In other words, because I had left series construction, I could not come up with crucial scripts I thought I should write for the TV-sized "Pokémon" anime that would make me happy with the result, no matter what objections were raised at the script meetings, just like the script for the movie version.
I was stumped by this.
In addition, at the beginning of the "Pokemon" anime, I was told by one of the producers, perhaps as a form of encouragement, that I should become known as "Shudou of Pokemon," to which I inadvertently replied that I did not want to be called that when I left series construction, citing poor health at the same time.
So, behind those words, it sounded like I meant that because of my poor health, I wanted to prioritize the other things I wanted to write about besides "Pokemon"—in fact, there were things I felt I needed to write—but from the point of view of the producer of "Pokémon," no answer could sound more rude.
I had put myself in a corner with my words.
The subsequent "Pokémon" anime I would write would have to be as good as or better than anything else I wanted to prioritize.
And if some of my priorities, including my novels, were not as good, I would be laughed at, with people saying I left Pokemon series construction for something like this.
In fact, when I announced that I was quitting the "Pokemon" movie and the series construction (i.e., the main scriptwriter of the "Pokemon" anime), most of my family and acquaintances were against it, asking why I was leaving "Pokemon," which had been such a hit during this recession, and I remember they even wondered if I'd lost my mind and told me that I should hang on to "Pokemon" no matter what I'm told.
Well, the fact that I felt that I would never be able to write scripts for "Pokemon" that I would be satisfied with led me to the conclusion I reached, but I was not in a peaceful mood when what was just a "feeling" became a true realization.
I was in the worst physical and mental condition. I collapsed and was hospitalized at the drop of a hat.
Then, apart from the things I wanted to write about, all sorts of things came barging in.
TBS decided to produce a special program "2001 Manga Hajimete Monogatari." I was largely responsible for writing the scripts for the "Manga Hajimete Monogatari" series, which ran for 13 years and was the predecessor to this program. If the special program was successful, the series could be resumed. Some of the staff members came to the hospital in Odawara for a meeting with me. One of the staff members was so busy that his cancer was discovered too late and he died young. I thought I would be the one to die first... The result of the airing of the special was middling due to a variety of factors, and the project is still in the planning stages as of 2010. Just recently, a small reunion of the staff of the previous series was held, which was a lot of fun.
In addition, several stage musicals were promised with no deadline... one of which was realized six years after its planning, and two years later, it was performed again. By the way, this is a completely different musical from the one that was performed this year, which seems to be a magical girl musical. Just a reminder.
Come to think of it, a third animated series with a name similar to that of the magical girl musical was also in the planning stages.
At the time, 10 years ago, the animation staff of the past series seemed to be willing to do it. The same went for the scripts. There was talk of asking the two main actors of the previous two series to do the plot, and if possible, there was even an idea for an episode in which all three main actors' voices would be present, including the voice of the main actor of the third installment.
The chief director of the previous two series is also the chief director of "Pokemon," so it was basically impossible for him to take over this role, but there was a theory that he could at least be brought on as a supervisor. Incidentally, although I have been aware of his feelings since that time, the situation at the magical girl animation production company is very different today from the past, and he has clearly refused to be involved.
[Note: Shudo is referring to an attempted reboot of Minky Momo. In 2009, a year before he wrote this entry, Ashi Productions' successor studio, Studio Reed, began advertising their intentions to make a third series. The "chief director" Shudo refers to is Kunihiko Yuyama, the executive director for the Pokémon anime and the director for Minky Momo. Clearly, Yuyama was not going to give up Pokémon, given that it put OLM on the map. The Minky Momo reboot never occurred due to Shudo's passing in October 2010.]
What I have written above is one part of what I thought I had to do.
My physical condition is such that I could go to heaven at any time.
I was aware of this, but there are many things I felt I had to do in the time I have left, and in addition, I had set the bar so high for myself that I was half-crazed.
So, with my child entering elementary school, I suddenly moved from the fish port in Hayakawa to the middle of Odawara City, where there is a grade school with a magnificent building.
In hindsight, it was probably my wife and daughter who had the hardest time of all.
The house in Odawara is quite large for a family of three, but we were living with a man who was in poor health and emotionally unstable.
I would not have wanted to live with such a man.
I am amazed that they put up with him.
So, the TV scripts for "Pokemon," which I had been planning to do once a month, kept getting delayed, and I kept causing trouble to the staff... Since the scripts I wrote for "Pokemon" were all side plots that had nothing to do with the show's progress, Shudou scripts were not included in the rotation and I was allowed to bring them when they were ready, and still more, the pressure mounted. One day at a script meeting, I submitted a plot that focused on a Pokémon that no one else had touched, got the go-ahead, and as I was writing, I started pondering and never got around to it again. Now, I've forgotten the name of that Pokémon. I think the plot was about a large group of Pokémon that resembled meerkats in Africa.
[Note: He probably means Furret]
In the middle of writing it, I was hospitalized again due to health problems... I completely lost contact with the script meetings, and they must've decided that Shudou Takeshi probably did not want to write "Pokemon," and that was that.
I was somewhat relieved to have lost touch with them for a while.
The episode about a meerkat-like Pokémon did not seem to have been written by any other scriptwriters, and seemed to have gone naturally extinct.
Since then, I have met the "Pokemon" staff unexpectedly and exchanged phone calls with them on other matters, but there has been no mention of the "Pokemon" scripts or the third installment of the novel series, of which I have written two. The series ended on the second novel, and there is no sign of a continuation by another author.
In other words, as far as "Pokemon" is concerned, I was allowed to leave the movie and series construction, but Shudou Takeshi as a screenwriter disappeared before anyone knew it, in the middle of writing the screenplay.
You could say that I was no longer able to write. That's why I disappeared.
I may have been irresponsible, but hey, I think that's okay.
Because I don't feel like I didn't do everything I could do until the very last minute regarding the "Pokemon" anime.
I don't want to be misunderstood, but I didn't break up with the "Pokemon" anime staff.
There is a producer who still sends me "Pokemon" goods every year.
[Note: Probably Choji Yoshikawa.]
There is also a producer who took care of my "Pokemon" scripts when he had them preserved at the Odawara Public Library.
I also met the so-called "Nobleman" by chance at the funeral of someone. He expressed his concern for my health.
[Note: Masakazu Kubo, the lead producer from Shogakukan. Shudo refers to him derisively as "gozensama" throughout his AnimeStyle column.]
I also occasionally talk with the chief director. About "Pokemon," he says, "It's still on," and "It's still going."
Rather, there may be a lot of gossip about a certain magical girl show. "What's going on?" and "What happened to it?" and stuff like that...
So, when asked what I think of the current "Pokemon," I can't say anything.
I am impressed that they are doing their best, and I hope that they will continue to do so.
After all, it was I who wrote the scripts for the first "Pokemon."
By the way, when the "Pokemon" script was cut short, I was in a hospital room worrying about other works.
However, when I thought my body recovered and I was discharged from the hospital, late at night one day, I slipped out of the house, and the next day, I was floating in the sea of Odawara. A dangerous place full of tetrapods. The person who found me was a homeless person on the beach, who rescued me from the sea and reported me to the police. The person did not even tell the police his name. So, there is no way to thank him.
The beach is quite far from Odawara city, but apparently I walked there even though I had a car.
I may have taken a lot of tranquilizers (over-the-counter ones you can get anywhere), but I still have no recollection of this part of the incident.
I had several stitches on my head, but it was not life-threatening, and although I was unaware of it, the police thought it was a suicide attempt and questioned me, but I apparently gave incomprehensible answers.
The police were at a loss for what to do with me, so they admitted me to a nearby mental hospital for the time being.
I told the doctor my address in Shibuya, Tokyo and the phone number of my house in Odawara.
The Shibuya address and Odawara phone number didn't make sense, but the doctor called the Odawara phone number.
My wife answered the phone and said, "Oh my, where did you wander off to?"
The next day, my wife came to pick me up, and by that time I had come to my senses.
But the doctor asked, "But why don't we wait and see?" and my wife and I agreed.
So I spent a few days in a small room with a dozen or so very mildly mentally ill patients until the bandages were removed from my head wound.
The behavior of the normal-looking but slightly broken people I saw there was, how should I say it, a great learning experience for me.
When my wife told my mental counselor (a well-known psychiatrist) about this, he panicked and said, "If you stay in a place like that for too long, you will really go crazy," and he directly contacted the mental hospital, which transferred me to a hospital for rest and relaxation.
I am not trying to hide this incident.
The lesson is that when you are absorbed in your thoughts, don't take over-the-counter drugs or alcohol to help you.
Just that year, the Hanshin professional baseball team won the championship. A number of overjoyed Osaka fans jumped into Doutonbori.
I am a Hanshin fan. So, I laugh about this incident, saying that I jumped into the sea in Odawara instead of Doutonbori because I was so happy that the Hanshin won the championship.
Now, of course, there was a time after that when I stopped writing scripts for "Pokemon."
To put it in a more tasteful way, there are the traces of my troubles and struggles in pursuit of what I wanted to do.
However, it would be embarrassing to tell the story of a good old man fumbling around, and it would not feel clever to listen to it.
I don't think it would be of much interest to those interested in animation or screenwriting.
I've had the occasional script that I thought I'd write, and it turned out to be an unthinkable piece of work. I've written a bit about this before in the column below, but it will only be helpful in an embarrassing sense.
As for what I've written so far, I have focused on works that anime fanatics might be interested in.
I will end with "Pokemon" and finish this column with a few words about what I have found useful in writing screenplays, in my own opinion and prejudice.
This column was also a column in which I reviewed myself, and after four years, I have found that it is not good for my mental health to open the door to the past too much. My mood inevitably turns negative. That said, I hope I can be of some help to you. To all the positive people out there...
To be continued
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● The Me of Yesterday (not so much a status report, but how anyone can be a screenwriter)
At the beginning of this column, I wrote that, at the very least, you should watch a lot of movies.
Among them, there must be a hundred or two hundred films that have been called masterpieces in the past.
They should have become your blood and flesh.
Having done so, how do you feel when you see the Japanese live-action films of the past few years?
You must be fed up with too many dumb and nonsensical films.
If you can feel that way, you are a good scriptwriter.
Why is there so much stupidity and nonsense in Japanese films these days?
I think it is because filmmakers have watched too many easily produced TV dramas, animations, and games, and they tend to make movies from the know-how accumulated from them.
In other words, creators who grew up on TV are simply transferring expressions from past dramas, animations, and games to movies.
Therefore, there is a sense of trite déjà vu in the films, which makes them seem boring.
However, there is such a thing as great deja vu.
A good déjà vu is something you have seen before, but something new.
So-called masterpieces of cinema always make you feel something new because of their excellent sense of déjà vu.
That is why they are called masterpieces.
Having said that, why do I find today's anime interesting?
I think it is because the creators of today's anime are trying to find new expressions based on the anime they have already seen.
They are not trying to transfer the animation to other visual media, but are searching for new expressions within the animation itself.
That is why it is interesting.
It is impossible to say whether an interesting animation today will be an interesting masterpiece in a few decades.
But it is interesting now.
I feel that one of the things that screenwriters can do today is to try to bring a sense of great déjà vu of classic films to the expression of anime.
If you write an animated script with this in mind, I think there is no reason why you, with past masterpieces in your blood, can't bring something new to today's animated films. What do you think?
Is it hard to understand what I mean?
To be continued