To promote the release of princess mononoke, President Aoki got dressed in a nice suit early and went to Studio Ghibli.
They were in the familiar small meeting room with a round table and bookshelves, surrounded by a film crew.
The staff on site were setting up cameras and equipment.
Upon arrival, he entered the dressing room.
Only then did President Aoki notice that Hayao Miyazaki was still his usual self, wearing a black shirt with a white apron over it, looking no different from when he normally worked.
In contrast, President Aoki seemed a bit too formal.
The makeup artist was applying makeup to Hayao Miyazaki and couldn't help but smile when he saw President Aoki.
"Aoki-san, please sit here."
"Alright."
President Aoki nodded, then casually took off his suit jacket, leaving only the white shirt underneath.
He also loosened his collar to make himself appear more relaxed and natural.
This part was also recorded by the accompanying photographer.
But to the accompanying PD, President Aoki's performance was truly adorable.
This President himself had the face of a peerless handsome man, and he didn't expect his personality to be so cute.
For an interview that didn't need to be so formal, President Aoki took it so seriously, and upon arriving at the scene, he quickly changed his approach when he saw Hayao Miyazaki wasn't dressed formally.
This scene was truly adorable.
"I've been filming this documentary for a while now," Hayao Miyazaki raised his hand to signal President Aoki to sit down, "Just pretend these cameras aren't there."
Although today's interview content was relatively formal, it would also be edited into the future behind-the-scenes documentary of princess mononoke.
Although requested by TV Tokyo, Hayao Miyazaki seemed to really like this method of documentation.
Even without a filming assignment, he would always carry a small camera to shoot his daily work.
Sometimes, to find inspiration, Hayao Miyazaki would simply mount the camera on his car and travel and film along the way, somewhat resembling a future dashcam.
After President Aoki sat down.
The makeup artist immediately began to clean his face to apply makeup.
...
Entering the interview room, a backdrop of the princess mononoke movie scene was pulled up behind them, and two vertical posters, also known as roll-up banners, were placed beside it.
"So, two masters, today will primarily be in an interview format," the director said.
"Alright," the two masters nodded.
President Aoki was overjoyed—
Holy cow, I can be called a master too?
"Please talk about some of your feelings and experiences during the production of princess mononoke this Time."
"Well, there's actually not much to say," Hayao Miyazaki remained as calm and composed as ever, but his smiling face revealed a hint of pride.
"All the feelings are actually during the production process; after it's done, my heart is very peaceful instead."
"Every work feels like extracting what you want to confide and express from your brain, like fueling up. Once everything is injected, your state at that Time is actually relatively relaxed."
Hayao Miyazaki laughed, "I once had a conversation with Director Akira Kurosawa, and there's a line of his that I strongly agree with: what we express has already been put into our work, so—
Go watch it!
Go to the cinema and truly experience our true feelings, true thoughts, and everything we want to express!"
After the old man finished speaking, everyone around him covered their mouths and laughed.
President Aoki sighed beside him, this really was Hayao Miyazaki's style.
"Then, on August 4th, be sure to go to the cinema!" President Aoki added beside him.
Everyone laughed even more joyfully.
Hayao Miyazaki was also amused and almost forgot about it.
He scratched his forehead with his thumb and smiled sheepishly.
Facing the camera, the director quickly signaled the cameraman to give him a big close-up.
"On August 4th, be sure to watch princess mononoke in cinemas. We look forward to your arrival."
...
After this promotional message ended, Hayao Miyazaki sat in his chair and took a sip of water.
He thought for a moment and said, "If I were to describe my current mood, I think there might be some apprehension about the future performance of the film. Also, I'm very much looking forward to the namesake game being produced by Pokeni."
"Yes, there's definitely anticipation for the box office," the host looked at President Aoki, who was sitting next to him, but the question was directed at Hayao Miyazaki, "How did Ghibli consider making a namesake game, and how did you decide to hand the game over to Pokeni for production?"
"Hmm, how to put it, this is also a bold attempt on our part, but up until now, I haven't been able to see what the game actually looks like," Hayao Miyazaki laughed.
"Don't even mention you, I haven't seen it either," President Aoki said with a smile.
Hahaha, the staff on site couldn't help but laugh.
This interview couldn't continue.
"However, I'm not worried about this at all," Hayao Miyazaki straightened his face and said seriously, "This isn't our first collaboration with Pokeni. Our last collaboration was CL and LL.
The collaboration itself was quite pleasant.
And from these two games, I believe we have found a very suitable partner.
I have great confidence in Pokeni, especially in President Aoki.
He's the kind of person where, as long as you hand your work over to him, you know he will never disappoint your expectations."
...
"Alright, Miyazaki-sensei."
The host shifted his focus to President Aoki and asked, "Then, Mr. Aoki Haruhi, do you have anything you'd like to say?"
President Aoki thought for two seconds.
"First, we would like to thank the original Author, Hayao Miyazaki, for his support and trust.
His creativity and imagination are the source of our creation.
During the adaptation process, we tried our best to maintain respect for the original work, while also adding some new elements to make the story richer and more diverse.
Of course, all of this had to be done with Ghibli's permission first."
"I probably can't be as indifferent as Senior Miyazaki; after the game development was completed, I actually had quite a few feelings.
Especially in terms of the game's presentation, one thing that greatly troubled us was—
The expressive power of the game itself is different from that of animation, and we couldn't fully adopt the animation format for the game.
Because this aspect was already completed by Ghibli.
It's very likely that most of the players of this game in the future will have already watched the princess mononoke movie.
In such a situation, how to create the inherent fun and experience of the game, rather than simply guiding everyone to watch the movie again, was a content we were very concerned about."
"So how was it finally resolved?" Hayao Miyazaki asked with some curiosity.
The surrounding staff were also very curious.
"Hmm, it was probably a combination of 3D and 2D."
"Eh? 3D+2D?"
Everyone on site was even more confused.
The concept of 3D was popularized by Pokeni, and in recent Times, everyone has gained a relatively deep understanding of 3D games.
But what on earth is 3D+2D?
No one knew.
But if pressed further, President Aoki would smile and shake his head, indicating that it was a trade secret that could not be revealed for now.
"What kind of appearance will the princess mononoke game ultimately present?"
The host asked doubtfully, "We actually find it quite hard to imagine."
"Haha, well, that's probably a secret. When the game is released, everyone can give it a try," President Aoki kept them in suspense, "But, one thing I can guarantee is that in our game, players will be able to experience the authentic taste of Hayao Miyazaki.
At the same Time, they'll also be able to experience a real princess mononoke world.
The game won't be a visual novel type; it's a first-person 3D action game with strong gameplay.
But the final effect presented to players should have a very strong 2D viewing experience."
Eh?!
Is it that amazing?
Everyone was stunned.
However, even with President Aoki's description, no one could imagine what that picture would look like.
Hayao Miyazaki, beside him, was even more confused.
For the rest of the Time, it was basically the host asking questions and the two responding, occasionally with President Aoki and Hayao Miyazaki chatting with each other, all of which were recorded.
After about an hour, the interview was nearing its end.
"The movie is being released on August 4th, so when will the game roughly be released?"
"The game is still in production, so it might not be finished until August. I can't guarantee it," President Aoki replied, "If it's done quickly, you might see it at the Tokyo Game Show in July."
"Finally, what I want to say is that this princess mononoke is not just a movie and a game, but also a collaboration that transcends fields, cultures, and Time.
We hope to convey the concepts of friendship, peace, and environmental protection through this movie and game, allowing more people to pay attention to our common home."
Hayao Miyazaki made a concluding remark, and President Aoki, seeing that he was about to end, lightly coughed and pointed to the poster beside them.
The old man suddenly realized and quickly added:
"On August 4th, be sure to watch princess mononoke in cinemas. We look forward to your arrival."
...
A week later, the completed interview footage was broadcast on TV Tokyo in the evening.
It was a promotional campaign in the form of a documentary.
In this hour-long film, the first half documented what happened at Studio Ghibli from the very beginning of princess mononoke's creation until just before its release.
This naturally included footage of Hayao Miyazaki's production process, occasionally showing the old man running outside to smoke alone in pursuit of inspiration, or even not returning to his workstation for half a day.
However, everyone noticed the presence of Goro Miyazaki in this animation.
"Oh? I didn't expect Goro Miyazaki to actually return to Ghibli."
Miyamoto Shigeru felt a little emotional seeing Goro's figure.
He had some previous interactions with Hayao Miyazaki, but all of that happened after Hayao Miyazaki's master talk with President Aoki.
As a leading figure in the game industry, Miyamoto Shigeru later had several conversations with Hayao Miyazaki.
So he had some understanding of him, especially having heard about Goro.
What he didn't expect, however, was—
He could actually see Goro working at Ghibli again.
It seemed something must have happened in between.
The last 10 minutes or so of the film were the promotional interviews with President Aoki and Hayao Miyazaki.
After watching the documentary, Miyamoto Shigeru jumped directly from the sofa.
"Eh? 3D+2D, what on earth is that?"
His face was filled with shock; even with Miyamoto Shigeru's decades of experience in the industry, he just couldn't for the life of him figure out what kind of effect this would be.
A 3D action game, where you can even change direction—you can't make it feel like a Hayao Miyazaki movie.
How can I combine these two things?!
...
Not only was Miyamoto Shigeru shocked, but everyone in the industry was stunned after seeing the relevant interview content and reports.
In addition to the TV Tokyo interview footage, Famitsu extensively reported on princess mononoke and also mentioned the concept of 3D+2D.
However, no game screenshots were provided throughout.
This was mainly because Pokeni's game was not yet fully developed, and no game images were leaked due to confidentiality requirements.
At Square, the final fantasy 7 production team was in an uproar when they saw the related reports.
"This... not a single image, just relying on text descriptions, right? Are magazines really that perfunctory now?"
"3D+2D, what on earth is that? How can I not imagine it at all?"
"Exactly."
"As soon as I heard 3+2D, I immediately bought the magazine without a second thought, and I didn't expect there to be not a single image inside."
"I was thinking what kind of new and amazing game this was, that it could achieve Hayao Miyazaki's animation effect and also be a 3D battle game. How incredible would that be?
But then, there wasn't a single image."
"You can't even imagine it just by imagination."
"Anyway, I can't imagine it," said Yoshitaka Amano, the master original artist of final fantasy, with a sigh.
Lately, everyone has been obsessed with making 3D games, and they haven't even figured out 3D modeling yet, and Pokeni has come up with another 3+2.
The most crucial thing is that President Aoki actually boasted that players could experience the cinematic feel of Hayao Miyazaki in the game.
This was a bit of a stretch.
Although Pokeni's games are indeed very creative, and lately they've had a bit of a feeling of wanting to create game myths.
But the 3+2 that President Aoki mentioned was truly a bit too magical.
"Who knows? What exactly did Pokeni make it into? Could it just be a gimmick in the end, actually just a relatively crude 3D game?"
"But this is Pokeni, anything is possible for Pokeni, right?"
"Hey, are you guys missing the point?"
"Isn't the point that princess mononoke is about to be released?"
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