Word from Animators

Tezuka Fan Magazine featuring Unico on the cover.

Tezuka Fan Magazine
April 1983 Issue #38

Translated by Crystal “Xellis” Rider (3/21/2023)

Toshi Noma (Animator)

It’s interesting. It has been a long time since I have been able to enjoy working on film. Nowadays, anime is so strained by dialogue and content that once you miss it, you don’t know what’s going on. But this time Unico was like Tron. The props were interesting, and it was simple and clear.
Then there is Kukurukku. That was moving. It must have taken a lot of sheets. This time, Unico’s free-spirited movements and the final scene were very powerful. Unfortunately, however, Unico himself was not moving. As for Unico itself, I remember the Unico pilot was good.

Shinji Seya (Animator)

Kukurukku’s use of transmitted light is something that has never been done before, and I am sure that those who see it for the first time will be astonished. And it’s technically elaborate, using special backgrounds, and there are places where the background video is switched from a background video to a regular background. But when the film is over, it would have been nice to have a more relaxed presentation using the character of Unico, rather than just interesting pictures.
I was also concerned about the lack of consistency in the characters. There were many Tezuka-style characters, Murano-style characters, and half-baked characters, and I found they did not play important roles and could not stand to be stopped. I felt that Mr. Murano was over-enthusiastic, and he took something from the Tezuka world of “Unico” and made it his own color, and he did this and this and this. Technically, it’s great, but it’s not the best…

Kano Kano (Animator)

Kukurukku is interesting.
Compared to the previous film, the story is more geared toward young children, and while it would be interesting for children of the age who buy Sanrio products, I felt it was not enough for older animation fans. As I’ve said before, Kukurukku is a great character, and I felt that Unico, Cherry and Tolby were eclipsed by him.

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日本語:

手塚ファンMagazine
1983 4月号

のま とし(アニメーター)

面白いですね。久々の映像で楽しめる作品です。今のアニメは、セリフとか内容とかでがんじがらめで、一回見逃すと何が何だかわからなくなる。でも今回のユニコはトロンみたいで小道具が面白かったし、単純明快でよかったですね。それからククルック。あれは動いていましたね。枚数かかっているでしょうね。
今回のユニコは、自由奔放な動きと最後のシーンが迫力がありましたね。ただ残念なのは、ユニコ自身が動いていませんでしたね。ユニコ自身についていえば、パイロットのユニコがよかったことを覚えています。

瀬谷新ニ(アニメーター)

ククルックの透過光の使い方は、今までになかったものなので、あれを初めて見る人はさぞ驚ろくだろうね。それに特殊背景を使って、背景動画から普通の背景に切り変えるところがあって、技術的に凝っている。ただ終わったとき、そういった絵の面白さだけで、内容的に、ユニコというキャラクターを使って、ゆったり見せる部分があってもいいんじゃないかな。
それから、キャラクターの統一性がないのが気にかかったね。手塚調キャラ、村野調キャラ、中途半端キャラが多くて、重要な役割にしては動かないし、止めにしても止めにたえられないところが見受けられましたね。村野さんが気負い過ぎて、ユニコという手塚世界のものを、自分のカラーにして、これでもかこれでもかというふうな気がして、ちょっとヤリ過ぎたという感じで、2度目を見るのはちょっとしんどいですね。技術的にはすばらしいんですが……。

加納薫(アニメーター)

ククルックが面白い。前作に比べてお話が幼児向けにできていて、サンリオの商品を買うよょうな年代の子には面白いだろうけど、ちょっと年上のアニメファンには物足りない気がしました。
先にもいったのですが、ククルックはいいキャラクターで、ユニコやチェリー、ドルビーが食われてしまた感じがしましたね。

※ In the Tezuka Fan Magazine, Toshi Noma’s name is written in hiragana, but the kanji spelling is 野間吐史.

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