Yutaka Izubuchi interview: _Newtype USA_, February 2003, pp14-15

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[right top: portrait/head-shot photo of Yutaka Izubuchi in a black shirt against a bookshelf.]

# Yutaka Izubuchi: NTUSA talks with the creator behind RahXephon, BONES' latest work slated for release in English

In 2015, the entire world's population amounts to 23 million people, all of whom live in Tokyo.

It is the only city left standing after the destructive global campaign of nameless invaders. This is what high school student and budding painter Ayato Kamina has been taught and is the common belief held amongst Tokyoites, who live their lives as though nothing as changed.

As Ayato soon discovers, it's all a pack of lies.

A sudden attack by a fleet of futuristic aircraft is the catalyst for the revelation. Amidst the collateral damage, he encounters a mysterious girl, Reika Mishima, who uncannily resembles the subject in his latest painting. They've never met before. When the standard tanks and jets prove no match against the attackers, the city's defense forces scramble their secret weapons, which don't appear to be of this world. Government agents after Ayato are fended off by a young woman named Haruka Shitow; despite appearing human, they bleed blue blood. She later reveals the truth: it is not 2015. The real enemy is the government. Tokyo has been under control and isolated from the rest of the world. The global population is actually six billion.

All of this certainly would have been a much greater shock to Ayato, if only Reika hadn't awakened RahXephon, a giant humanoid, with Ayato becoming its driving force.

"As the director, the best aspect was being able to create everything from scratch", says Yutaka Izubuchi of his experience on _RahXephon_. In his previous roles as a designer, the setting of a work that had to be expressed solely through the mecha, costumes or characters. Despite the design process inherently sparking other ideas, he wasn't involved in contributing towards the story or the setting itself. Handed the creative and directorial reins of the BONES production, Izubuchi once stated that he wanted to produce "a new standard of robot animation." Reminded of the quote, he replies that while the soundbite was probably good for promotional purposes, it wasn't quite what he meant. "Rather than setting a new standard, I wanted _RahXephon_ to show one of *my* standards."

Arguably best known in the West for the mecha of _Patlabor_, RahXephon's appearance - a human-like face adorned with wings - is a complete departure, bordering on the radical by comparison. Izubuchi remarks he didn't deliberately set out to challenge fan's perceptions of his style with the directorial debut: "I just like trying different approaches."

"I watched a lot of robot shows when I was a teenager, and I wanted to see how I could create an old-style robot, one that has a face and expression like Raideen, in current times. Those old shows look pretty rough now by comparison; I wanted to update their look and make the visuals more stylish." He briefly runs over various approaches in past design works, commenting that _Patlabor_ and _Gundam_, though different from each other, represented "the common and popular image of Japanese robots." The Tactical Armor of _Gasaraki_ was heavily militaristic, while _Dunbine_ exuded creature-like characteristics.

[right middle: Large quote in blue text: "The most important elements in RahXephon are music and time."]

Indeed, the giant itself is awakened by a single melodic note sung by Reika, and the appearance of the enemy's weapons is preceded by a haunting, wordless song. "In another interview, I was asked what RahXephon was; I replied that it's made of time, converted into material. I also though that it would be interesting to have songs used as weapons of destruction."

Before the series hit the airwaves, a _RahXephon_ manga by Takeaki Momose was published. "I wasn't heavily involved with it", Izubuchi says, believing that it wouldn't be as interesting if both versions were exact replicas in narrative. Although the setting was discussed with Momose to establish the parameters, the artist was asked to create the manga freely.

"We decided to debut the manga before the show, otherwise the anime would finish much earlier", he explains. "I think it's much better to synchronize the endings. For example, the manga of _Evangelion_ is still running...and the show finished years ago!"

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Izubuchi stresses that the anime is a complete, continuous story told in 26 parts, as opposed to the episodic style of _Patlabor_. The series' conceptualization process was literally a conscious and subconscious brain drain for the director. "I practically expressed everything that had accumulated in my mind over the years in _RahXephon_'s world", he says, laughing. "Maybe I crammed too much information in there!"

As an example, the MU - humanity's true enemy - are named after James Churchward's book _The Lost Continent of MU_, about the vanished motherland continent from which mankind originated. Their weapons, called Dorem, resemble gigantic ancient artifacts. "I've always been interested in stories about mythical continents that disappeared long ago", Izubuchi quips. He mentions other influences from ancient civilizations, offering that Ollin and Ixtli (names by which Ayato and Reika are called respectively) originated from the myths of the Middle/South American Nahua people.

"It's not essential for enjoying the series", he says of all the mythical references found throughout the show. "But if you read between the lines and are familiar with various mythologies, you'll discover different meanings and metaphors."

Wanting to inject into his sci-fi magnum opus a sentimental drama of characters separated by different worlds and times, Izubuchi came up with Tokyo Jupiter, the dome-like barrier that separates Tokyo from the rest of the world. "I wanted to have something that doesn't look realistic as a main visual, yet make it using an image that people are familiar with." He observes that the structure resembles a boil on the Earth. As for _RahXephon_'s dramatic aspects, he cites sci-fi writer Robert F. Young's "The Dandelion Girl" as being influential. The short story's 44 year old protagonist meets a girl while hiking in the country, who says she's from the future. As the pair continues to chat, he gradually becomes smitten with her, despite already being married.

Some references even eluded Izubuchi himself. The realization that _Portrait of Jennie_ was inspirational to _RahXephon_'s painting motif didn't hit until he watched the 1948 black and white film recently on DVD. It's one of his favorites; the story concerns a struggling artist who meets a young girl in New York's Central Park during the winter. Meeting again sporadically in the ensuing months, her appearance mysteriously ages disproportionately on each occasion. By the end when he discovers the tragic truth, he's nevertheless been inspired to become a great painter by their brief relationship.

He's currently involved in the _RahXephon_ movie production. "It will be an edit of the TV series, with 20 minutes of new footage", he explains. "I'm only overseeing this project; the director is Kyoda-san." The final running time is yet to be set; while his ideal is 90 minutes, he says, laughing, that "it will probably go over."

When asked about his views on the recent state of robot anime, Izubuchi replies that nothing of late has left an impression. On the suggestion of _Gundam SEED_, he admits that he hasn't seen it. "I know that I should watch it, because Fukuda is the director", he says, smiling. It turns out that they're acquaintances; when Fukuda entered the industry at 19 (at SUNRISE's Production Planning Division), he used to get manuscripts from Izubuchi, who was then 21.

"I think that in current entertainment, everything is explained. I want to make fans aware of what's taken for granted, to make something that would cause people to think. The approach is more literary; you have to consider things and draw your own conclusions."

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    illustrated by HIROKI KANNO
    color designated by SHIHOKO NAKAYAMA
    finished by KOUICHI IWANAGA
    background by RYUSUKE HIKAWA
    text by AMOS WONG
    © 2001 BONES - Yutaka Izubuchi / RahXephon project ALL RIGHTS RESERVED