Japanese animation attracts fans from around the world. The sound director is responsible for leading the production of all sound-related aspects of the work, including dubbing, sound effects, and background music. Masafumi Mima made his debut as a sound director in 1988 and has since worked with outstanding skill on numerous productions, including the Pokémon anime series and Attack on Titan. Mima describes his job as “interpreter for the director,” but how does he bring soul to the work?

​​Interview / Text: Yui Kashima　Photo：Yuji Tanno　Edit: Miho Moriya​

When I saw a Ghibli movie in action, I understood the essence of a “sound director”

--I heard that the job of “sound director” is unique to Japan.

Mima: Yes. Perhaps that is why overseas fans often misunderstand my job as that of a composer or mixer (a technician who uses equipment to adjust the volume balance of dialogue, background music, etc.).

The work of a sound director is somewhat different from person to person, but I deal with all the “sounds” that appear in the movie, including the actors’ dialogue, music, and sound effects. I think about how to express the director's vision through sound, and communicate that to the voice actors and composers. I am like an “interpreter”. Specifically, I direct the play, choose the music, and think about how those sounds should be combined to be heard.

MimaMy career began when I was invited to join an animation sound company run by Susumu Aketagawa(*), but at that time the job description of a sound director was still vague. My first job was as an assistant on the eve of the opening of Tokyo Disneyland, which opened in 1983 (laughs).

--When did you understand the essence of the “sound director’s job”?

Mima: I think it was when I became independent. At that time, I had the opportunity to visit the production facilities of Shigeharu Shiba, sound director for the Studio Ghibli films Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984) and Castle in the Sky (1986), Noriyoshi Matsuura, for Mobile Suit Gundam (1981) and My Father’s Dragon (1997), and Yasunori Honda, for the TV anime series Dragon Ball Super and Chibi Maruko-chan.

When I saw the different working styles of the three sound directors, I realized that “the summit of the sound director mountain is high.” What struck me the most was when I visited the site of Mr. Shiba’s work. Because he was a performer himself, he understood the essence of the play better than the director. When I saw him explain, “This is how this character feels right now, so...” I felt I understood the “image of the sound director” I was going for.

Music is effective in portraying the flow of emotions. However, music is not necessary if the emotions are firmly in the play. I believe that by focusing on the play first, and adding music and sound effects when necessary to supplement the play, the work will be more complete.

 (*) Susumu Aketagawa: Has been involved in animation as a sound director since the dawn of Japanese animation. Major works include Princess Knight (1967-1968), AKIRA (1988), etc.

Riding a scream attraction to acquire “a voice that endures gravity”

--How did you go about directing your plays, Mr. Mima?

Mima: I think it is important that the play does not become a lie. That is why I ask the actors not to read the original story if possible. Because nobody knows what the future holds, like “I’m going to die tomorrow.” It is because they do not know that they will die, that they are frightened to death and suffer when they are killed.

Also, for the scene in which Isamu Alva Dyson, the main character in the original Macross Plus video animation, receives and endures G (gravity), director Kawamori’s idea was to actually go to an amusement park and ride with the actors a scream attraction that falls vertically to practice the dialogue while experiencing gravity.

--I see that the performer's actual experience leads to a true-to-life performance. 

Mima: Sometimes we manipulate the voice itself during the recording process to create the sound we are looking for. For example, for Alphonse in the Fullmetal Alchemist series, we struggled to create the atmosphere of his armor style with his voice. While it is possible to process the voice after recording with studio equipment, I wanted a unique effect. While browsing Amazon, I saw a large aluminum trash can like the ones on Sesame Street for sale, and I thought, “This is it.” I cut a hole in the trash can, put a speaker in it, and recorded.

--How are you approaching the long-running anime Pokémon​?　I heard that every line of Pikachu’s “Pika!” has its own meaning.

Mima: Yes. In the script for the anime, what Pikachu is actually saying is written under “Pika!”. When Satoshi, the main character, says “Let's go, Pikachu,” the response“Uh, me too?” or “Let's do it!” produce completely different sounds, don’t they? Pokémon talk, too.

Mima: In commercials and other media where Pikachu appears, I participate in the dubbing as Pikachu’s “keeper” (laughs). If the script just says “Pika!”, my job is to tell the voice actor playing Pikachu how the production team wants Pikachu to say it. Do they want him to greet the audience, or is this a scene where he introduces himself? “Pika!” has different emotions depending on the situation.

Director Satoshi Kon’s workplace, where he was so dedicatedthat he almost fainted

--Who do you think had a strong influence on your uncompromising attitude?

Mima: In terms of perseverance, I think Mr. Kon (director Satoshi Kon) has been a great influence. I have worked with him since his directorial debut PERFECT BLUE (1998), and he was a director who faced his work with no regard for effort and evolved at a tremendous pace.

Mima: At first he was introduced as “a new director,” and he himself mentioned that he was a novice in sound and that he had no knowledge, but soon he became aggressive, saying “I chose the music” or “I want the sound effects to sound like this.”

​Mr. Kon was like an alien. Aliens are beings that when you attack them with a gun, they copy the gun and shoot back, right?　They absorb our weapons and bring them back stronger.

That’s why I was afraid that one day I’d be told, “I don’t need a sound director anymore.” In Millennium Actress (2001), there is a scene where the elevator doors open and a boom box plays loudly. Normally, the volume would be set at a level that would not break up the sound, but I desperately tried to make the scene interesting for Mr. Kon, suggesting things like, “Let’s go out on a limb and make the sound distorted, so we can bring out the eeriness.”

Mima: Mr. Kon is a very meticulous person, and I don’t think there was anyone who didn’t like him. The finished work has a beauty that reaches the level of art and is truly rewarding. However, my nerves were worn to the limit as each piece was produced. I think there was an unfathomable pressure on the site.

After dubbing Paprika (2006), I fell asleep on the set during the mixing process. Later, I was scolded by Mr. Kon, who said, “At the end of the mixing process, you were so exhausted that I was troubled, Mr. Mima.” I apologized on the spot, but thought, “I can’t do it anymore,” ....... Mr. Kon said to me, “I want to work with you again next time, Mr. Mima,” but I couldn't say, “I’ll do my best.” I had done my best to the point of collapse, and I didn’t think I could respond with any more strength.

Mima：At that time, I did not think that Mr. Kon would die. In Mr. Kon’s will, he wrote, “Let me go first,” and I cried when I saw those words. I realized that I had run away from Mr. Kon in the end. Regret and guilt remain in my heart.

Nostalgia I felt at the Attack on Titan production site

--After Paprika, you started working on the anime Attack on Titan in 2013. It is said to have created a social phenomenon by depicting the battle between the Titans and humans, but what kind of difficulties did you have in the production process?

Mima: It was difficult to express the existence of the Titans through sound. The voice of a person looking at someone of the same height is definitely different from that of a person looking up at a 60-meter titan. It was also difficult to commission a play in which a peaceful daily life is suddenly destroyed and the characters are plunged into an extreme situation. But as long as we could convey the fear in a single word, the audience would be forced to concentrate on the screen instead of watching while doing something.

In a movie theater, they can concentrate on “watching” the movie, but when watching at home, they can stop in the middle or watch while fiddling with their smartphones. For this reason, in Attack on Titan, we were conscious of how to attract the audience’s attention using sound.

For example, in “The Final Season,” the climax of the story, the moment Armin opens the door of the airship, there is only the sound of ringing in his ears and then silence. Then, only after Armin calls out the name of the main character, music starts to play. Director Hayashi gave me the idea, and in order to create a sense of immersion, I strengthened the contrast between “stillness and motion,” repeatedly fine-tuning the design and presenting it to the director for improvement.

--You worked closely with the director as an “interpreter” to create the production.

Mima: The director Tetsuro Araki, who directed until the third season, was a man who kept asking himself, “Why this direction?” I felt something like Mr. Kon from him. They are very similar. Anyway, the team never said, “We can’t do it,” and there were no compromises.

For example, at the ending of the 12th episode of the third season, when the ending song is playing and the screen and sound suddenly become confused, I created a sample of the slow-down part, saying, “What if we overlapped various dialogues and shot them quickly?”, and worked with director Araki to polish it. We spent two or three hours working on those few dozen seconds.

Looking back, director Araki and I had a lot of serious confrontations. We would show each other our list of song selections and we have said, “This is good,” but it often turned out that none of my selections made the cut. So when I was told, “Not a single song will be changed this time,” I was happy to death.

The peak is still high. The Impact of THE FIRST SLAM DUNK

--Did you have a burnout after passing through THE FIRST SLAM DUNK after your painful farewell to Mr. Kon?

Mima: When Mr. Araki stepped down as the director of Attack on Titan, I actually thought about quitting as well. But he told me, “You have to stay on, Mr. Mima,” and I kept going until the end. I was thinking of retiring at the age of 60, but I turned 60 in the middle of Attack on Titan, and I am still working on something else. After all, I am still working in the field.

--What is the background of your continued presence in the field?

Mima: I went to see THE FIRST SLAM DUNK (2022) on opening day and was shocked. The movie spends the entire movie depicting a single basketball game, but what made me grudgingly admire it was the way it depicted the monologues of the team members that were interspersed throughout the game. The sounds in the real gym are vaguely audible, as if underwater, and the monologues are inserted there. The characters’ feelings of sinking into their own mental world were beautifully expressed through sound, and I thought to myself, “They got me!”

I have done similar directing myself, but I could not have done it as perfectly as this. Moreover, the person who was able to pull off this production as the general director was the original manga author, Mr. Takehiko Inoue, who is a manga artist in his day job. I had to take my hat off to him. When I come across this kind of work, I want to see higher peaks.