The Blue Miburo Anime Team Talks With Anime Herald

Note: Due to the time-sensitive nature of our coverage, this will debut on the main Anime Herald site on August 29. We apologize for the inconvenience.

• Interview Date: 7/6/2024

• Interview Location: Anime Expo 2024

• Interviewer: Seth Burn

Anime Herald: How closely did you want to maintain the artistic style from the manga?

Kumiko Habara: The original manga has a tremendous amount of detail. We struggled a bit with how to replicate that in the anime. Matching that level of detail would be too much work to be realistically possible. We had to find a proper balance. It took some testing.

Anime Herald: Were you interested in the samurai era, or the Shinsengumi in particular?

Kumiko Habara: I wasn’t particularly interested in the history until I started reading the manga. I started learning about that time period from the manga. I had known the names, but not the details.

Anime Herald: How famous were the Sinsengumi?

Blue Miburo: If you’re Japanese, you’ve heard of them at least once in your life. I’m not sure many people know the details.

Anime Herald: Here in America, we’ve heard of the 47 Ronin. I’m not sure we’ve heard of the Shinsengumi.

Blue Miburo: It’s kind of similar in Japan.

Anime Herald: Are there any stories you’d like to share from this production?

Kumiko Habara: We went to Kyoto to better understand the original manga, and the background history. There was an old map that the author Tsuyoshi Yasuda was using when drawing the manga. That map shows things that don’t exist today, such as a lake and a river that are no longer in Kyoto. I didn’t know the map existed until then. We purchased a copy of that map. I wanted to know everything that the author knew to get up to speed.

Anime Herald: Did that map make it easier for you to visualize what the town should look like in the anime?

Kumiko Habara: Yes. It made it easier to understand the distances the character would travel. One example was the distance from a house to the river. The map was very helpful.

Anime Herald: How closely did the first episode stick to the original manga?

Kumiko Habara: It’s very faithful to the original manga. We respect the manga and want to synchronize it to the anime.

Anime Herald: I watched the first episode. I was curious as to why it showed the fight against the parents of the kidnapped children, but not the fight against the original kidnappers.

Kumiko Habara: In that era, there weren’t any big bosses. It was just a ghetto crew.

Anime Herald: It was a weird era where even the Shogun wasn’t very powerful

Blue Miburo: Yes. That was what it was like during that time.

Anime Herald: What is your origin story? How did you join the industry, to begin with?

Kumiko Habara: I liked anime when I was growing up. I joined an anime club in high school. After that, I went to an art school to study animation.

Anime Herald: How did you end up joining the project?

Kumiko Habara: Producer Hiroya Nakata and Maho Film reached out to me and asked me to join this production.

Anime Herald: I see. What is your origin story for joining the industry?

Hiroya Nakata: I joined the television industry before joining the anime industry. I had liked anime, so I wanted to see how anime is created and join the anime industry.

Anime Herald: You had worked quite a bit on Detective Conan.

Hiroya Nakata: Yes. I was an assistant producer. Detective Conan was my first anime production.

Anime Herald: Blue Miburo is a very different style of anime. Much more violent. In the manga, the blood is going to be black because it’s black and white. Was the level of violence something you had to discuss and work on together?

Kumiko Habara: He’s so strict about it.

Hiroya Nakata: In Detective Conan, blood is not shown as red. I tried to do the same thing with Blue Miburo.

Anime Herald: Director Habara described you as “very strict.” Is that how you would describe yourself?

Hiroya Nakata: Yes.

Anime Herald: Is this your first time at Anime Expo?

Kumiko Habara: Yes.

Anime Herald: Are you enjoying AX? Is it what you imagined?

Kumiko Habara: I’ve enjoyed seeing the cosplayers.

Anime Herald: Is there anything you are looking forward to during your time here in Los Angeles?

Kumiko Habara: We’re leaving tomorrow. We already went to Disneyland. My husband used to live near Burbank, so we went there too.

Anime Herald: And this is your second time at Anime Expo.

Hiroya Nakata: Yes. The first time I went and saw (Shohei) Ohtani with the Angels. This time, I went to see Ohtani with the Dodgers.

Anime Herald: Do you have any questions for us?

Hiroya Nakata: I’m wondering how much Americans know about Japanese history of the samurai era?

Anime Herald: There are two things that have made an impression. We’ve heard of the 47 Ronin. And then there’s Shōgun, the big thick book by James Clavell that became a mini-series in the early ‘80s, and was just rebooted on FX and Hulu.

There was also the movie Ronin with Robert De Niro. Also, a French movie from 1967, Le Samouraï with Alain Delon. So were familiar with the concept of the samurai, but not the Shinsengumi specifically.

Hiroya Nakata: A lot of people love action, but Blue Miburo is about the human story. How people attach to each other. Is that popular in the US?

Anime Herald: It’s impossible to predict what will be popular. Some shows were expected to be big, but weren’t. Other shows had low expectations and became huge. Pop Team Epic and Yuri!!! on Ice were two big examples. Shows that become memes and popular on Twitter often do well.

Do you have any other questions for us?

Kumiko Habara: Do you watch a lot of anime?

Anime Herald: Lately I prefer manga. I spend so much time looking at screens that now I prefer to have a physical book.

Blue Miburo: I get it.

Kumiko Habara: Are there any specific titles you’re into these days?

Anime Herald: One Punch Man. Saitama. My people. (Laughs)

I like detective or mystery anime. The reason for that is you watch an episode, and then you have to wait a week and think about it. For a manga, I’d just read the next chapter or next book immediately.

One other thing. With Crunchyroll, Netflix, HIDIVE, Amazon, and other streaming services, we have more anime than we can possibly watch. People will give a show five minutes and if they aren’t hooked, they’ll move on.

Hiroya Nakata: Did you watch Odd Taxi?

Anime Herald: Not only did I watch Odd Taxi, I made my brother watch Odd Taxi. He’s a screenwriter out here in LA. I made him watch Odd Taxi. He hated me for it.

Blue Miburo: Why did he hate you?

Anime Herald: He felt Odd Taxi was unreasonably slow. It didn’t bother me. I like waiting for the story to develop. He actually asked me, “Did I do something to offend you that you would recommend this to you?”

What my brother loved was Vinland Saga.

What were the anime that you liked when you were young?

Kumiko Habara: When I was a child, on Summer break they would rebroadcast (Osamu) Tezuka-san’s Triton of the Sea.

Anime Herald: You mentioned Tezuka-san. I remember a story where a friend of his won an award. Tezuka-san was furious. His friend asked him “Did I do something to offend you by winning this award?” Tezuka responded, “No. I am angry at anyone who wins an award I am eligible for.”

Kumiko Habara: (Laughs) I know Tezuka could be difficult. It’s famous.

I visited Tokyo Disney for a Michael Jackson show. I saw Tezuka there.

Anime Herald: Was he wearing his hat?

Hiroya Nakata: (Laughs)

Kumiko Habara: Yes.

Anime Herald: Thank you very much.

Blue Miburo: Thank you!