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Interview: Super Robot Wars’ Terada Takanobu (Otakon 2023)

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Terada Takanobu is a veteran game producer, and has been involved with the Super Robot Wars franchise since the 1990s. This interview as conducted at Otakon 2023 in Washington, DC.

Hello, it’s great to meet you. I’ve been a long-time fan of the Super Robot Wars series, and I’m very glad that is finally easy for people to play around the world.

My first question: You recently announced that you were becoming a freelancer. How has that change been for you? Have there been any particular advantages or challenges that come with it?

There were lots of interests I wanted to pursue, so I decided to step down from the producer role to become a supervisor, and use that time to do the things I’d like to do.

I want to make toys and plastic models, and original robot animations—ones that are not Super Robot Wars OG.

Do you have any all-time favorite anime or even tokusatsu works?

My favorite super robot is Mazinger Z. As for tokusatsu, Ultraman and also Masked Rider. And more and more. 

Original Kamen Rider, or…?

It would have to be the first Masked Rider, fundamentally.

One signature element of SRW is the continued use of very creative 2D attack animations. What are the reasons you have stuck with this style even though so much has changed about video games over time?

In Super Robot Wars DD, we’re doing 2D animations and something between 2D and 3D too, so we’re diversifying. 

In SRW DD, the idea behind going for 3D animation is to better capture the original. But more than when I was a producer, I can now better create the content I make compared to before 

What has it been like developing mobile games, as well as having multiple games out there? Is it part of a broader strategy?

With regard to the overall strategy of creating mobile games, that lies with the publisher, Bandai Namco, so I can’t really speak to it. However, as for challenges in mobile games specifically, I’d say one that having a deadline every month is a bit challenging. For example, before, if it was for a console, you had three years to get the battle animations and the scenarios and put everything into one package. But now, with the mobile games, you have everything packaged every month.

You started at Banpresto in the 90s. Are there any staff from that era still at [its successor] BBSoft?

There are some.

Do you have any specific series or character units that you thought turned out especially well in terms of their presence in SRW? Or do you think there were any storylines that were executed very well?

It’s a bit difficult, because all of them are a lot of work, and I’m mainly putting effort into making what’s there. It’s a cyclic process of making and releasing and making. More than myself, it’s ultimately the users who decide what’s good.

Are there any titles you are especially proud of being able to obtain for SRW or thought you’d never get for the series?

Space Battle Yamato, aka Star Blazers. As for recently, too many. Hmm…recently, Gridman, Mobile Suit Victory Gundam, and Gun x Sword. In SRW DD, Devilman and Koutetsu Jeeg. What’s it called in English?

Translator: [Steel] Jeeg. 

Oh, just that directly.

Ogiue Maniax: There isn’t much of a Jeeg presence in America.

Ah, I see. Oh, and there are two Jeegs now: [Steel] Jeeg and [Steel God] Jeeg. 

The impression I have about SRW is that there are the “main” games—Alpha, F, F Final, V, X, T, 30, etc.—and then there are smaller ones that tend to be a little more daring with game mechanics and what series they include. One title I think of is SRW Neo, with Jushin Liger. Is there any truth to the idea that you see the smaller games as more experimental?

Before, yes, there was a difference with the more experimental ones. But now, SRW DD is the only one out, and in there, we try all sorts of things like Jushin Liger and Granzort. SRW DD does embrace the style of SRW, such as the game stages and the scenarios and everything.

I know that you cannot reveal any unannounced information, but has there ever been any consideration to include giant robots from non-Japanese media?

I’m not allowed to say what it was, but there were past attempts. There’s lots I would like to license, but it didn’t work out.

Do you receive feedback from the directors and other staff involved with the titles included in SRW? For example, have you ever had to interact with directors Tomino or Anno?

Yes, there has been some feedback—and actually, there have been some ideas that came from Tomino-san and Anno-san. And actually, I came across some suggestions that Kawamori-san of Macross had earlier. But I had to tell him that’s not something I have control over.

One last question: Over the years, you’ve worked with many voice actors, and unfortunately, some have passed away. Sometimes, they are replaced by new actors, and other times, you re-use existing voice clips. Do you have any say in who gets recast in SRW, or is it outside your control?

If it’s stated by the original source material, I will do as the source material requests. Otherwise, I have the freedom to choose.

Thank you very much!

Interview: Aramaki Shinji (Otakon 2023)

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Aramaki Shinji is a creator known for his mecha design work on Bubblegum Crisis, Genesis Climber Mospeada, Megazone 23, and more. He also designed many of the toys that became Transformers, including Soundwave. Aramaki is also an anime director who has focused on pushing 3DCG animation since the early 2000s.

You have a lot of experience as a mechanical designer, and I understand that different mechanical designers have different processes for designing. For example, Kawamori Shoji has talked about how he uses Legos. What are the key aspects of your approach?

Well, it depends a lot because I get different requests for each project I work on. For example, you mentioned that Kawamori Shoji-san uses Legos, but I think that’s mainly for designing transforming mecha. Should I answer just based on transforming ones? It’ll make it easier if we narrow it down to a certain genre.

Sure, let’s go with transforming.

So we initially choose two or three shapes/forms, and we ask, what are we going to transform and how. But we start out with the two coolest forms.

Would you say you sort of work backwards from the final designs/silhouettes perhaps?

Initially, we don’t really get into the details. We just think, oh this is what a cool bike looks like, and this is what a cool robot looks like. So we just start off with what looks cool and don’t get into the particulars of how it transforms yet.

It gets difficult from there. In the past, I used to study how things might transform using papercraft. Nowadays, though, we can use 3D programs. We start off with simple blocks, but using them, we can join them and see how these volumes move around.

If we use 3DCG, we can study how these forms look from varying perspectives, so it makes the process much easier.

The next work is one that you might not be as known for. I looked up your credits, and it said that you’re responsible for conceptual design on the anime Star Driver. The style of the mecha there are quite different from what I typically think of when it comes to your work. How far removed are the final designs compared to your originals?

Actually, for Star Driver, I didn’t do much mechanical design, and I didn’t really touch any robots. But I actually designed the landscapes and backgrounds—the stage design—for Star Driver. The series is set on an island, and I designed what the island is like, and what the school is like. I did it based on discussions I had with the director, Igarashi, to set the mood for the anime.

You directed works such as Appleseed, which was, at this point, decades ago. I remember seeing them first start to show up, and that was a time when directing in full 3DCG wasn’t nearly as convenient as it is today. What are some of the challenges you faced in the early 2000s?

Back then, we actually had a lot of problems. There was no standardized software for design, so the character design software was different from the landscape design software. That made it really difficult to organize everything and keep it together as one team. 

For one scene, when we decided on the camera angle and looked at the scene, the table and the character were sort of shifted because they were designed using different softwares.

These seem to be simple problems, but back then, Japan wasn’t as advanced in the field of CG. So we faced challenges every single day.

My final question: I actually have fond memories of the cartoon M.A.S.K. and its toys, and I was excited to learn that you worked on it. What designs were you responsible for, and what did it feel like to work on a foreign production?

This series involved a lot of transforming vehicles such as trucks and boats, but the original designs came from the toy company, Kenner. Back then, I was working in LA, but I went to Chicago where their company was based, and took a lot of pictures of the prototypes. We did drawings to help with animations.

Most of the mechas were designs provided from the toys, but some were not from the toys, so I got to design them.

I don’t remember all that well where they appeared in the show, but they let me design two transforming vehicles back then, where I got to pick the car types and how they transform. They were called the Manta and the Shark.

Thank you for this interview. It was great to have you at Otakon!

Thank you.