"Hisone to Masotan" (Dragon Pilot: Hisone & Masotan), known by fans as "Hiso Maso," is noteworthy simply for being the first collaboration between Shinji Higuchi, the anime's executive director, and scriptwriter Mari Okada. The production is also important when considering the future direction of anime.
In "Hiso Maso," a dragon that has lived in Japan since ancient times is kept secretly in a hangar on the periphery of the Air Self-Defense Force's Gifu Air Base. Hisone Amakasu, a new ASDF recruit, wins favor with the dragon and is appointed dragon pilot. The means for piloting the dragon are quite extraordinary. The dragon must first swallow Hisone as the stomach serves as the cockpit.
When the dragon flies, it is concealed by a costume so that it resembles a fighter jet participating in ordinary flying drills. Hisone names the dragon Masotan and is ordered to execute a bizarre state-level mission with three other dragons and dragon pilots from other bases.
Higuchi is a master of tokusatsu sci-fi films featuring kaiju monsters and among his other roles has worked as director and visual effects director of "Shin Godzilla." Okada, who is in charge of structuring the story line for "Hiso Maso," is a top talent in the world of young adult dramas. She broke through as scriptwriter for "Anohi Mita Hana no Namae o Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai" (Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day). The combination of Higuchi and Okada brings together two creative titans, though the direction of their works have differed vastly. Higuchi is nevertheless a big fan of Okada and has said he wanted to work with her for a long time.
"In Okada's stories about groups of people, ordinary folks comfort each other in everyday life, which greatly excites me in a manner similar to when a kaiju monster destroys a town," Higuchi said.
The pair were initially to team up to create a live-action film adaptation of another story, but the plan was aborted for various reasons. Okada told a disappointed Higuchi they could still collaborate on another project and introduced him to Masahiko Minami from the anime production company Bones. It was then that Higuchi realized that plans for an anime, not a live-action film, were in the works. He decided to give it a shot.
Higuchi has previously worked on a number of anime productions, including in 1987 as the assistant director for "Oritsu Uchugun: Honneamise no Tsubasa" (The Wings of Honneamise). He was also in charge of the storyboards and other duties for "Evangelion Shin-Gekijoban: Jo" (Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone) in 2007.
However, this is Higuchi's first experience as an executive director, a role he had previously avoided.
"Well, anime viewers are content [with what they receive] quality- and quantity-wise, right?" he explained. "If this work can be made using traditional methods, then there's no need for me to get involved. I then ask myself, What do I want to do with this anime? I've never taken my job this seriously before."
True to his words, "Hiso Maso" is filled with an experimental spirit. The characters, originally sketched by manga artist Toshinao Aoki, appear simple and soft-edged and are designed to appear natural against the watercolor background. The production has adopted a pre-scoring system for the voice actors in which voices are recorded before the pictures are drawn, rather than adding the voices to images created beforehand. In doing so, the work encourages the voice actors to perform naturally, a rare approach in anime production.
The dragon pilots are all women and they all have problems communicating with other people, showing the influence of Okada's creative world.
"'Make all of them have a very dark side,' Higuchi requested," Okada said. "I thought, What is he trying to make? But it was interesting. On the contrary, the scripts turned out to be lighthearted and filled with jokes, but Higuchi accepted them."
Higuchi's dryly stiff sense and Okada's sensual touch collide amid a flurry of sparks rather than gently coexist. I find that very exciting.
The anime airs on Tokyo MX, BS Fuji among other channels.
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