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EIGHTY-SIX Script Writer Interview: Ohno Toshiya, Kurasumi Sunayama, Chiaki Nagai
A boy-meets-girl war story
How did you end up on the production team?
Ohno I was asked by Producer Fujii (Shota)
Sunayama I was Introduced to Fujii-san by someone else
Nagai My experience was the same as Sunayama-san. Though, I had work with Ohno-san before and said that he would like to work with me again so maybe he recommended me.
Ohno I remember that when Fujii-san first explained the series to me, he said it was "a war story, but also a boy-meets-girl".
Nagai Wait, I never got that explanation (laugh)
Sunayama I was told that this would be a military-styled story like the anime "GATE", which was the last military-styled story I had worked on.
I'm guessing thats where scriptwriting began. How was the work assigned?
Ohno I was assigned the job of Main Writer, so I had Nagai, Sunayama and the rest of the staff to help come up with the overall direction of the script and then divied up the screenplay into parts.
Was there any reasoning to how the scenario was split?
Ohno Nope, we just went by order.
Sunayama Usually we would get split the scenario up because of how many total episodes there are, but not this time.
Does that vary due to the nature of the work?
Ohno Yes, but interestingly usually the amount of episodes each scriptwriter is assigned usually depends on what the writer is good at. So even when just going by the order, at somepoints you'd realize that you have become incharge of a specific character.
Nagai That does happen quite a bit in my experience as well.
Ohno Sometimes it character, but other times it can be "taste(for story)" as well. For example, in "86", I was assigned mostly SoL parts.
Sunayama I definitely felt like I wrote a lot about Rei.
Ohno Makes sense. Thats probably why I don't remember writing much about Rei. Splits based on the work tend to happen naturally like this.
Nagai Thinking back, I definitely wrote quite a bit on Shin's internal scenery when his concious is a bit hazey. Its mostly abstract scenes that are hard to describe until you actually see it, Director ishii really helped me out there.
How did you capture the quirks and specialties of "86" in writing the screenplay?
Ohno My impressions after reading the source novel is that the natural description of the sceries is beautiful. However, its one of the harder things to show as an Anime.
True, the natural descriptions were definitely given more thought in the novel.
Ohno Of course, the gap between the innocent daily lives of the 86 contrasted with the brutal battlefield is also notable and effective. Also, I am under the impression that there were a lot of detailed food descriptions.
Nagai There were definitely a lot of descriptions of food in the source novel as well.
Sunayama Another notable thing about 86 is that while the plot is brutal, the characters are not always pessimistic and depressed. The 86 having come to terms with death, puts the reader at ease and allows the story to be more than just brutal. I really enjoyed this aspect of "86".
Ohno After watching the completed product, I was surprised that Shin was more naive and childish than I had thought. Of course given his age it makes sense, but when writing, I had imagined him to be a bit older due to having fought so many years on a battlefield like that.
Its pretty natural to see them as a bit older given that they have been through a lot of brutal battles.
Ohno I was under the impression that Shin and Rei both had a deep voice, turned out it was kids trying to murder each other.
Nagai That definitely makes it way more brutal.
Ohno I think that, that brutality really elevates "86" as a whole.
What do you think, Nagai-san?
Nagai I agree with Ohno-san. I was also sucked in by the beautiful natural description. It worked well incontrast with the battle scenes and as a whole "86" really paints a clear image in your mind as you read. Personally, i was a bit nervous coming in since I had never worked on Mech or War pieces, but the Spearhead ensemble cast really helped ease me in.
The brutality of kids murdering each other
Modernity expressed through themes
Did Director Ishii give you guys any points of focus or overall drection for writing the scenario?
Sunayama Specifically, "No Monologues".
Nagai Yep.
Ohno Also, to split the Lena-side and Spearhead-side completely. We had to reverse engineer the script with these rules in mind.
So basically, no cutbacks allowed.
Ohno Yep. I got used to it half way through, but the rules definitely heavily impacted both the script and the acting. Ultimately, I think it made the series very unique.
About Mechs, are there any specific methods to writing mechs?
Ohno Fundamentally, we just followed the way its written in the novels, the battle scenes in the end product was definitely more impactful than expected.
Sunayama One thing I had in mind was that since the Legion were unmanned, I wanted to express the terror of an inorganic murder machine. But that was more dependent on the visuals than the script.
Ohno While "86" does have a lot of battle scenes, I still think it is more about human drama. Specifically, Shin and Lena being connected only by sound also interestingly resonates with the Covid-disaster reality that we live in.
Nagai Indeed, being unable to meet in person is something we face in real life as well.
Ohno Lena's overwhelming sense of justice would be pretty problematic in our reality as well.
Sunayama She probably hates boomers as well (laugh)
Ohno Especially when she got scolded by Karl in episode 4, the dialogue there is powerful.
Nagai Agreed
Ohno Fundamentally, stories are built on its dialogues. You can't just have ideals and nothing else. Thats
Sunayama another similarity with our reality right now.
Would you say, as a result the story is relatable and modern?
Ohno I think it is definitely relatble. The center piece of the story is definitely watching what Lena, a young girl full of ideals being thrown around by harsh reality is going to do about it. Meanwhile Shin and co are quite mature.
Thats the unfortunate result of the situation.
Ohno I do pity them. Especially as the 86 makes it really clear to Lena that they are different. This makes the contrast between the 86 fooling around at the river in episode 3 and Lena being told sternly the differences between the 86 and her even more impactful.
Side note, How were your meetings with Asato-sensei?
Ohno Asato-san was really flexible about everything, fully understanding that anime and novels are completely different. This is the first time I've seen the Source Author at every meeeting, which helped a lot.
Sunayama Especially when we can get answers to questions and thoughts on suggestions right away was really helpful.
Ohno She also participated in the directing of dialogues as well.
Sunayama She is definitely the person with the clearest idea of who should respond when and what in a conversation involivng multiple spearhead members.
Nagai Being able to get questions about those things answered right aways meant making immediate changes to the script was easier as well.
How to express Shin's "…"
Was there any part that was difficult to write?
Ohno The hardest part was how to express the individual character's upbringing and individuality. We couldn't avoid adding anime original content, so having to insert those things while respecting the source material was especially difficult. On top of that, this time its 2 cours which only makes solidifying the structure more difficult.
Sunayama I only joined the project in March of 2019, so it was 2 full years since then.
Ohno In that case, that would make it 2 and a half years total for me. That really contributes to the sense of accomplishment I felt at the end. Nagai-san, did you face any notable difficulties?
Nagai For me its still the structure of A-B part split between Lena-side and Spearhead-side.
Ohno There is also the C part as well
Nagai yeah, having to split into A-B parts means we had to restructure the entire source material for the anime, which is the "anime original content" that Ohno-san talked about. We had to create scenes and backgrounds just to connect individual scenes and dialogue on top of structuring existing content. This meant we had to really get into the head of the characters, understanding their motives and how they would act and think.
Ohno Especially since they live a very different reality than ours.
Nagai It was also really difficult to relate to Lena, a young Female Army Officer in a privilaged position (laugh). We had to make sure to make sure her positive attributes stand out despite her being in such a privilaged position
Ohno I see. Also, Shin had a lot of "…" moments as well.
Sunayama He really doesn't speak much (laugh)
Nagai Shin doesn't only speak little, his expression also doesn't change much. On top of that, Shin also had an even more particular upbringing which made it hard to imagine how he would act outside of serious moments.
Ohno I definitely spent more time pondering that than reading the novel.
Was there any part that was difficult for you, Sunayama-san? Not just the source material, but also including anime original.
Sunayama I actually had a really good time writing the anime original parts. Specifically the school scene in episode 11 was a lot of fun. Of course, I did get a few "thats not how that works" from Asato-sensei but that included was what made making original scenes a lot of fun for me. Difficult parts were as Ohno-san said just now, Shin not speaking much. Even if he spoke, its not always what he really thinks and sometimes its just what a soldier would say. This make me anxious about whether the audience would be able to get his emotional state in the moment. Having to calculate how to pace the lines and moments of showing his emotion was really difficult.
Including having to show "…" visually somehow?
Sunayama Yep. In works that include monologues we get a easy look into the characters emotions and internal thoughts. But in this case, having to express the meaning behind "…" without monologues to go off of, made me nervous about whether the audience would be able to get it.
Ohno Shin is also not a character that uses a monologue to express his emotions and thoughts. So often times its up to other people, specifically Raiden to translate it to the audience.
Was there any character or scenes that were fun to write?
Ohno I really like writing the scenes of Annette and Lena enjoying snacks. Also, the scenes of the 86 fooling around in between the battle scenes were fun to write as well.
Sunayama The characters that gets introduced in cour 2 were most interesting for me, since they were diffierent types of characters from those that showed up in cour 1.
Nagai For me, it was the scenes where character's ideals clashed with each others. Specifically, Lena va Annette and Lena vs Karl's finale.
Ohno Aren't those all really harsh scenes? (laugh)
Nagai Yep. But I ended up really liking the scene where Lena faces off against Annette in the rain.
Shin and co being forced to fight is both painful to watch, but also what makes the series worth the watch
Were there moment that highlight tempo differences between cour 1 and 2?
Sunayama The positioning of characters are different in cour 2, therefore how their dialogue flow are different as a result. I don't know how it will appear visually in the end product, but I am looking forward to it. The setting and its culture are also different, which will probably leave a different impression on the viewers.
Nagai I didn't really write with a different tempo between the cours. However, Lena and Shin's situations and mental states have changed a lot so I made sure to keep that in mind while writing. Since the situation, setting and relationships also changes during cour 2, I had to make sure it doesn't feel too jarring when it happens.
What would you say is the selling point of cour 2's plot?
Ohno While Shin and the Spearhead can only live on the battlefield, watching them being forced to fight is both painful and also cour 2's selling point. Also, seeing Shin change slowly and slightly was also interesting to me as I was writing the script.
Sunayama If you have not read the source material, then a big selling point is definitely what will happen to Shin and Lena. As a story I think cour 2 is more enjoyable if you keep Shin and Lena in mind.
Nagai Both Shin and Lena experience a huge change in their position and environment since cour 1. Fundamentally, they are still the same person, I hope that Lena specifically having become a stronger person in cour 2 is expressed visually as well.
Lastly, Please talk breifly about notable points in episodes 3 to 5 that are included in this blueray.
Ohno In this terrible war, seeing the possibility of Lena and the Spearheads forming a friendship despite their differences, to then be shown how it is only a dream afterall is the key to these episodes. Normally, one would give up, but seeing Lena push forwards despite the setback is moving.
Sunayama I was incharge of episode 5, if I remember correctly its the introduction of Rei. I really enjoyed writing the conversation between Shin and Lena, I was really lucky to have been assigned such an enjoyable scene to write. Additionally, in episode 5, seeing the contrast between the gentle Rei and Rei's strangling of his brother was also a key moment in the overall story.
Ohno That would make episode 4, the one I wrote, the breakpoint of the plot so far.
Nagai I only joined on episode 7, but the plot breaking at episode 4 and episode 5 being the start of something new definitely left an impression. The scene at the start of episode 5 is the only moment that breaks the chronological order of the series sofar and having that moment mark the start of a new plot development is in hind sight, really effective.
