Mamoru Nagano Speaks About His Theater-Exclusive Anime Gothicmade

For many outside of Japan, if they've heard of the film at all, likely only know of Gothicmade through an almost mythical, untouchable lens. This is a 70-minute animated film released in Japanese cinemas in 2012. At the explicit request of a director in Mamoru Nagano, who insisted the only way to experience this story at its true quality would be in the cinema, it has never seen a home video release. Over ten years later, outside of requests for new screenings by eager fans in Japan and a limited engagement in Toho Cinemas in November for its 10th anniversary, the film remains inaccessible via other means.

This was always going to make the screening of the film at Niigata International Animation Film Festival a special event, even before the news that Nagano and his wife, prolific voice actor (and voice of lead character Berin) Mariya Kawamura, would be attending the screening for a special Q&A. Tickets were some of the first to sell out, and fans were eager to see this rare gem on the big screen.

But what actually is Gothicmade? The movie is more of a self-contained story within the broader universe of the The Five Star Stories manga created by Nagano and continuously serialized in the pages of Newtype since back in 1986. Still, beyond the early volumes released in a limited format in English in the late 1990s and early 2000s, it has remained chiefly unavailable outside Japan. It's a sprawling mecha manga franchise of impressive scope, but centering on the word 'mech' undersells its unique, almost-graceful robots and characters wrapped up in the narrative's inter-planetary politics.

The story of this film centers on a young Songstress named Berin on the planet Carmine, mostly left alone but under colonial rule by the planetary federation. As the latest in a line of Songstresses in the planet's history, she acts as the leader of the people of the planet. Despite the militaristic forces looking to stop her, she must complete the ritualistic pilgrimage to Ha-Ri. To aid on the journey, the seemingly imposed brutal ruler Toriharon joins as protection.

The journey, in turn, is one where the two forms an at-first uneasy yet soon respectful, admirable bond on their journey across the planet. Their views on war and violence regularly come to blows, but character drama and their symbolic representation of the lives of people inevitably lost amidst a conflict far larger than them make the duo fascinating to follow on their brief but meaningful journey. Only briefly do the actual mechas teased so much actually fight one another, and it's certainly flashy, entertaining, and worth the wait for their introduction. Still, it's the people we're left caring for most here.

The film's dedicated fanbase is comprised of fans of the manga and respect for the anime's craft on display. Beyond Nagano jumping into the director's chair, handling storyboards and animation, and putting his hand in nearly every aspect of the film's creation, its extended six-year production is, in part, a result of the film being produced at sound and visual resolutions far beyond the standard for anime (between 4k and 12k resolutions). While this is detrimental during the at-times jerky animation, it is a stunning visual treat during action sequences or even looking out on its many planetary vistas.

This brings us to the event itself and a room full of dedicated fans eager to hear Nagano speak in a rare talk event for the film, offering a rare chance to dive into the film's tightly-run small-scale production, even if some details have been forgotten over time.

One big assist for Nagano during production came from his friendship with Madhouse and many of the people who later formed Studio Chizu, such as Yuichiro Saito. Nagano and anime director Kunihiko Ikuhara have worked together on other projects, including the Schell Bullet novel series.

"When starting the project, I first spoke with Ikuhara, and thinking about the cost, I initially thought about just making it a mix of video and narration," explained Nagano. "It's been a while, but as I was building the team for Gothicmade's production, I was able to work alongside Yuichiro Saito, who helped me with some of the setup. When I was still unsure, he brought over Mamoru Hosoda-san and provided me with cels from The Girl Who Leapt Through Time."

The assistance Nagano received from industry friends helped him understand the processes of the anime industry from both a cost and production scale perspective. It was his first animation project, and the help he received allowed the small team to bring the project to life over its long development. Still, early production was difficult. There was a lot of uncertainty about the production's direction to the point that Berin voice actor Kawamura was confused despite joining the project in its early stages.

"When the project first started up, I really wasn't sure what I was supposed to be doing," admitted Kawamura. "We talked about a narrated version of a short story at one point, and I saw some outlines before things changed."

The side story that eventually became the basis for Gothicmade sidelined some of the iconic robots and characters fans loved from the manga in favor of the story, something that Nagano apologized for. However, the film's production impacted his approach to the story. When the manga returned from an extended hiatus following the film's release, the film's story was retroactively integrated into the manga. In part, this was because, as the story grew more complex, it became fundamentally harder to balance the differences, and the easiest way to amend that was to change it all at once with this film.

"After I finished the 12th volume of the manga, I was thinking that 'I'm done, this is too much, I'm sorry to all the fans of Mortar Headds,'" he joked, referring to the name of the central robot who was later renamed as Gothicmade. "The stress of making the manga was getting to me as I reached the Gust Temple Story, and if I wanted to change anything, it was easier to just change all of it at once."

The result was a story whose relationship to the manga was initially unclear. This was remedied near the film's end after the introduction and appearance of long-running characters and an on-screen epilogue. Aspects of this were kept secret from Kawamura and others until the film's release. "It wasn't in the script," she exclaimed during the Q&A. "I remember seeing it in the preview screening and was really shocked."

Ten years on, Gothicmade's legacy and dedicated fans have turned this small project into a cult film, flocking to limited screenings whenever they occur to get a chance to see it again. Ending the talk by discussing the moments worth checking out on the latest viewing, Kawamura brought up a scene where her character dances while sowing seeds with Torimaron. In a testament to the detail put into the production, the song used was produced first, with the dance animated afterward to replicate the voice actor's performance. "Because the song was finished first, Yoko Kadokami animated the scene by first sketching me dancing while performing the song. I tend to bend my wrist often while dancing, but it was all expressed."

Meanwhile, Nagano brought up the sound. "Due to my personality, when someone asks what scene I would recommend, I end up wanting to remake every cut of the film, so I'm not the best at selling my work in that sense. However, before this film, Japanese movies and animation didn't really bring too much attention to sound work. So I'm proud to often have the film elevated as something with interesting sound or that recreates sounds they would never have heard before."

Alas, a chance to see it outside of events like this seems unlikely. It's understandable, if a bit of a shame, as for all the film may be flawed in parts, it's undeniably a fascinating work from a passionate creator immersed and proud of the world he created.