P.A.WORKS 15th Anniversary Interview: 

P.A.WORKS’ PRODUCER/CEO, Kenji Horikawa - Part 1 of 2

It has been nearly 3 months since P.A.WORKS’ headquarters has moved to a new location, Johana Highway Oasis. Our new business projects are proceeding, and P.A.WORKS will be exhibiting at Anime Expo 2016, held at Los Angeles Convention Center from July 1st to 4th, 2016. Kenji Horikawa was interviewed by writer Daisuke Marumoto about their future plans and about the titles from true tears to their newest title, Kuromukuro.

P.A.WORKS 15th Anniversary 

– Interview with P.A.WORKS’ PRODUCER/CEO, Kenji Horikawa –

Interviewer: Daisuke Marumoto

[THERE WAS NO VISION FOR OUR FUTURE WHEN WE FOUNDED P.A.WORKS.]

Daisuke: First, what is your frank opinion about P.A.WORKS 15th Anniversary?

Horikawa: It has been a good 15 years; we’ve been blessed with many opportunities. We began with just two people, so I feel that things are finally beginning to take shape, but at the same time I feel that there is still long way to go. I mean this animation industry has various problems, and it is becoming harder to continue making animation. In these times, it’s great that we have been able to come this far, but it’s still far away from ideal. That’s how I feel.

Daisuke: Has your vision changed due to the changing climate of the anime industry?

Horikawa: P.A.WORKS was founded with two of us, myself and our Animation Manager, Masayuki Yoshihara. The initial goal was to create a production team, with Yoshihara as director, that can keep up with Yoshihara’s high expectations to the animators. At first, we wanted to create a workplace where they would be able to comply with his requests. That’s why, at first, we didn't care to create a stable organization and didn't have any future goals. However, in the industry, it was becoming harder and harder to produce TV series animations according to directors’ demands, so we wondered how to continue with anime production and started to seriously train our animators. After that, we began to see various objectives. That was probably about 3 years after we started.

Daisuke: What kind of objectives?

Horikawa: To be able to reliably meet directors’ demands and produce a show. We thought it would take 10 years to develop a team that could keep producing works continuously. More than 10 years have passed since we started, but we have not achieved that goal yet.

Daisuke: P.A.WORKS has a wide range of genres; from love to horror.

Horikawa: We had no intention of cementing our style of producing a specific genre and wanted to challenge various types of shows. We expanded our genres on purpose, especially to train our animators. Even though we have challenged all kinds of works during the past 15 years, I think we have established our technical style, which we want to continue developing. “Speaking of P.A.WORKS, this is their genre." I would like to break that image.

Daisuke: true tears is your first animation series as a main contractor. What does it mean to you?

Horikawa: Until 2000, before we setup this company, I was working on animation at an anime production studio in Tokyo. Until true tears, our studio had been a subcontractor for 8 years since founding our studio. So, I was very excited to produce a work as a main contractor. As we were a small team with many new people that lacked in skills, Director Junji Nishimura and Chief Animation Director Kanami Sekiguchi took great care of us. A considerable amount of preparation went into this. When I watch this at screenings and events, I am reminded of my feelings when we made it, like a first love. This is a very special one to me.

[GIVING BACK TO ALL THE PEOPLE THAT SUPPORTED US DURING THE FIRST 10 YEARS.]

Daisuke: Let’s talk about your action animation series, CANAAN.

Horikawa: true tears is a love story, and we expressed delicate wavering emotions in this slice-of-life show. So, we wanted to challenge producing an action animation next. It was also a challenge against the larger quantity of production. This film is set in Shanghai, and there was much more information that needed to be expressed. Like with true tears, we spent a longer time with a small number of people and worked by trial and error. It’s a series that took time. We completely relied on Director Masahiro Ando. He began as an animator and later became a director, so he was able to prepare the drawings himself. Our staff were barely able to keep up with him and weren’t able to support him at all. I think the first half of our projects were mostly like that. Directors and Chief Animation Directors took care of and looked after all our young staff during the first 10 years, just believing in their future, even though there was no merit at the time in doing so. From here on, I believe it’s our turn to return the favor to them.

Daisuke: Your collaboration with Jun Maeda, a charismatic creator in the game industry, on the Angel Beats! project and his first involvement in animation became a topic of conversation.

Horikawa: This is a project that began with Mr. Hironori Toba from ANIPLEX asking us to work on it. I have a sense for people who create things, and I cannot work with someone who does not understand that there is a team creating things and is not willing to stand in their shoes. In that respect, I strongly felt that Mr. Toba is person I would like to work with, and Mr. Toba had a strong passion of, “I want to produce Mr. Maeda,” so we all got on board with the project.

Daisuke: The concert scene and the music played by Girls Dead Monster in the show were impressive.

Horikawa: Around that time, there was a trend in creating band and musical performance scenes in animation. We knew that these scenes would be a lot of work, but we faced it head on and did it. At first, we were worried because it was quite different from what we had done before, and the character designs and acting direction were also different. But, our young staff seemed to fit right in. They became emotionally involved with the characters and created this work as if from a fan’s point of view. To be honest, it was a crazy workplace but that fueled our fire. We were all worn out but had lots of fun and were able to work on it with love.

Daisuke: Hanasaku Iroha is your 10th anniversary animation. Were there any particular things you challenged?

Horikawa: It was the first time we created an original story from scratch. Since then, for our original titles, we decided to strongly express what’s on our mind as the theme of the show. Until then, we didn't really strongly express our opinions during the scripting process.

Daisuke: You mean, you’ve become more involved in the story?

Horikawa: Yes. However, my themes are always very simple… “That’s not going to sell,” say directors, writers, and producers. Therefore, using those as a base, they present various ideas.

Daisuke: I was told that Toyama Prefecture had planned “Mai, Magic and The Family Day”

Horikawa: In Toyama Prefecture, there is a day called, “The Family Day.” I was asked if I wanted to make an animation in order to familiarize people with the day. In Toyama, elementary school students write an essay on that day. One of these essays was the preliminary draft of this story. These essays are a treasure trove of good ideas and even after this project, I have collected essays on “Family Day.”

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