Crunchyroll News wraps up its series of interviews from the Annecy International Film Festival with 100 METERS , based on the manga by Uoto ( Orb: On the Movements of the Earth ). During the event, we spoke with director Kenji Iwaisawa ( On-Gaku: Our Sound ) to discuss how they adapted the manga, the unique animation style for the movie and the sport behind the work itself. How's the beginning of your week at Annecy, and how do you feel about French food? Kenji Iwaisawa : I've been eating pasta over the last few days, but I hope to find a big piece of meat I ate last year (when the movie was in the Work In Progress session). Let's hope you will! Starting with a basic question, what was the biggest challenge in adapting Uoto's manga for the big screen? Iwaisawa : So, the characteristic of Uoto's manga is that there's a lot of dialogue and therefore plenty of exchanges between the characters. Showing all the dialogue risked being tedious and boring, so to avoid that, I had to think hard (and make some cuts). RELATED: 100 METERS Anime Film Reveals New Trailer, Visual, Theme Song Performer Was it always the goal to adapt the entire story that was published in five volumes? Iwaisawa : When I read the original work, I knew that I really had to cut out some big chunks for the adaptation. After all, there are certain things that aren't necessary to tell this story in the length of a feature film. In the manga, there's a really long passage of memories and flashbacks of Nigami, and I decided to cut that part out entirely. What were the differences in your working ways, especially from On-Gaku: Our Sound to 100 METERS ? Iwaisawa : The most significant difference was the budget. Let me do the math… So, 100 METERS ' budget was 50 times the budget of On-Gaku . Linked to that is the fact that I could have a professional team. Could you please elaborate on your aesthetic choice of style that you previously described as closer to live-action than "orthodox/classic anime"? Iwaisawa : First, it's a rotoscoping film, so there really are real people who serve as models. So yes, of course, there's a live-action aspect to it, but I honestly prefer the characters to be more realistic and live-action than pure animation. So that's the intention I immediately wanted to convey through Keisuke Kojima, who worked on the character designs. How do you feel about presenting the movie as finished one year after presenting it as a Work In Progress? Iwaisawa : During the WIP session last year when we were asked when the film would be finished, I said in the next year would be impossible. Therefore, I was a little surprised myself to see that we finally succeeded. But at the same time, we didn't know until the last minute whether we could really screen the movie at Annecy. In the end, I'm delighted to be able to present my movie here as a world premiere. And did you get some feedback from the audience? Iwaisawa : A few festival goers came to talk to me, but I was so excited that I couldn't remember much of what was said. RELATED: 100 METERS Anime Film Adds 10 New Cast Members to the Starting Lineup Rivalries are almost a staple of anime and manga. In bringing that to the big screen, how did you approach that theme and did you try adding something of your own? Iwaisawa : In terms of the story, I was more or less following the manga narrative, but at the same time, this manga narrative is unusual or rather quite particular. Togashi's character is very complex, much more so than in some works that deal with a duality. So I leaned a little more on the rivalry side of anime. And last question, did you try to actually get into character by racing? Iwaisawa : I tried the 100-meter race, but after 20 meters, my legs wouldn't lift. Kenji Iwaisawa directs 100 METERS at studio Rock 'n' Roll Mountain alongside character designer and animation director Keisuke Kojima, art director Keikankun Yamaguchi and producers Yusuke Terada, Yuki Katayama and Akane Taketsugu. Uoto ( Orb on the Movements of the Earth ) created the original manga which ran for five volumes between November 2018 and August 2019. GKIDS, who is distributing the film in North American theaters in October , describes the story: 100 METERS follows Togashi, a track star who is born to run. As a kid, he is naturally gifted and wins every 100-meter race without effort. But in sixth grade, he meets Komiya, a transfer student who is full of determination but lacks technique. In teaching him, Togashi gives Komiya a new purpose: to win no matter what. Years pass by, and Togashi and Komiya meet again as rivals on the track and reveal their true selves.
