Interview: Attack on Titan director Shinji Higuchi

Shinji Higuchi's credits list isn't the longest list in the world, but the projects that are on it are recognized by all: storyboards on shows like Kill la Kill, Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt, and legendary classics like Macross Plus and Giant Robo. He scripted two of the most memorable episodes of Neon Genesis Evangelion - 17 and 18 - and worked on The End of Evangelion film. You've seen his live-action work in the concept film Hideaki Anno wrote featuring Nausicaa's God Warrior attacking Tokyo and now he's directed two live-action Attack on Titan films (and sparring with Japan's movie press in the process). We spoke with him just moments before the premiere of the first part of his saga in Hollywood, California.

Hope Chapman: So how did you become involved with this project?

Shinji Higuchi : In the beginning, it was Fall of 2012 that we had acquired… that we would be able to introduce the live action movie. The original creator is Mr. Isayama--he actually input that "do not make it as the translation of the anime and the manga." He wanted to have it something you can only experience in the live action arena. So we had that goal originally from Mr. Isayama. So then it gets to the director, and we all spoke on what we wanted to create that is real life. So we start working on the script to make it reality and that took about a year.

In adapting this property to live action, is the Eren that we see in this movie a different Eren, a different Armin--is this to be considered a separate story even though these characters have the same names?

The characters themselves are the same, there isn't much changed except for the appearances of course, they look more Japanese of course because the actors are. But it's not a stand-alone piece where it has nothing to do with the source material, it's actually very close: the characters that they represent, the characteristics, the personalities, they're extremely close. 

In bringing this to a live action field, what were the challenges--because it's a very effects-heavy story--what were the challenges in approaching the effect needs for the story and what thoughts do you have on developing that?

All I would I say actually is "everything."

<all laugh>

The challenges were actually in developing a live feature based on a source material that was still continuing. Because the manga was still continuing to be published, it's not a finished story you're basing it on. So you had to go and develop your own story with the story that's going on, that's being developed as you are developing the script, and to actually create a separate climax, of course, and to not betray the Attack on Titan fans and what it represents, and to make a live feature that will also cater to Attack on Titan fans. You can't betray the original source material, but you have to make it into a movie that everybody will like. Those were the the challenges.

From a visual perspective, when you looked at the 3D Maneuver Gear concept, what approach did you think would best to take to show that in real life? What process did you decide to go for?

The first of course--it would be a reference per se, but the first thing you look at is the animation, the manga and the animation. The movements are already conveyed in that medium first, so you'd first sort of refer it and then you'd really have to figure out the limitations as to what a person can do. And then you set the limits there and actually try it out on a real person. We asked the professional stunt people to actually recreate those movements, and to see what can be recreated by a normal person, or what Eren would do or what Mikasa would do.

Because this is a two-film series for now, and it is stand alone, did you go about creating an original emotional climax as well as maybe a plot climax? In the story, in the manga, we don't know what the titans are, we don't know the twist. For the movies are you thinking about taking an original approach to an emotional or narrative climax with that?

Yes and hopefully you'll look forward to it, but we can't let you know here.

Attack on Titan is such a big--sometimes with these adaptations it's a smaller property, but so many people know the story, it's a big hit both in Japan and here. Were you looking to expand the audience with this movie, is it meant to be accessible to even more people or is it focused on "so many people know this story, it's for fans?"

Of course we want more and more people to know about the world of Attack on Titan, of course we don't want to disappoint the fans, but the film is for everybody... even for people who don't know them well…

You have a history of working on the Evangelion movies. I wanted to say there's a little bit of a similar scale or tone to Attack on Titan, with the teenage emotions and large apocalyptic monsters. Do you feel that there's a similar spirit to those works that allows you to move from being very heavily involved with one to the other? Do you find those works similar at all?

I haven't noticed it before, I don't actually go out and say "well this is very similar, I want to do it," but in hindsight, maybe it was a thing I had in mind where there is a connection, there is something underlining that I like. Attack on Titan, I picked up the book--looking at the cover I picked it up and I read it and I loved it instantaneously. So maybe it is there. But I did feel, compared to Evangelion anyway--the creators of Evangelion were past their 50s when they created that--but Attack on Titan obviously, when he started out publishing the manga, he was, what, 19 or so. When we started getting involved in the project he was 25. But the emotions depicted on the page are so much more real. The characters--the conflict they have, the emotions, their passions, it just felt so real. I thought there's a value to that. There's something that it's extremely important for me to get involved in. That is definitely a difference there.

One quick question for the producer: What are your hopes for the release of this film in America?

Aki Yamauchi : Well, we hope it's a big hit!

<all laugh>

Of course, silly question.

Aki Yamauchi : Well, basically this live action is the Japanese casting and Japanese director. This is sort of like evolving in the Japanese arena. However, we are hoping the American audience will feel the same emotion that we put in: that this is more internationally accepted, the live action movie, that's what we are hoping for.