INDEX
Getting out of a slump by believing “I can draw”
Celeina：Did you always want to make painting your career from your childhood?
Sushio: No, I didn’t.
Celeina： You just like to draw,right?
Sushio: I I finally decided that drawing was the only career for me, and I entered the animation industry at the edge of a cliff.
Takano: But, you have been so successful.
Sushio: No, it was hard work.
Celeina: You went to a technical school for animators, didn’t you? What was the reason for that?
Sushio：When I was hanging around at home after failing the university entrance exam, my sister sent me a pamphlet of vocational schools and I looked through it. Then it told me that Japanimation was about to start, and there was a picture of “AKIRA” on the brochure. That was the Animation Department, and that is how I ended up becoming an animator.
Celeina：I see, so your sister was the key.
Sushio: Yes, she was. I am grateful for that.
Takano: I would like to ask you about the work of an animator. I feel that drawing pictures and moving them are two different tasks. You do all of that, don’t you?
Sushio: But I entered the industry without really understanding it. I liked illustrations, but I was quite nervous when I found out that I had to move them.
Takano: What do you pay attention to when you move them?
Sushio: I don’t just draw the movements I want to draw. I am conscious of the character’s “unconscious” movements.
Celeina：Does it feel like the character is possessing Sushio and moving the pictures?
Sushio: Yes, that’s right. So I let them act, so it’s like being with an actor.
Takano: Interesting.
Celeina: I had never seen it that way.
Takano: It changes the way you look at anime. Maybe one of the ways to enjoy it is to pay attention to how each character moves.
Celeina：Sushio-san, you mentioned earlier that you are currently doing a great job and that you have gone through a lot of things, but do you have any tips for getting through when you are in a slump or feeling depressed?
Sushio：I get through it by believing that “I can paint.”
Celeina：I see. Believe in yourself.
Sushio: Yes, that’s right. Belief is quite important. When you believe you can do it, your brain works in that way. Then your brain softens and more and more ideas come to you. If you think you can’t draw something like this, your brain atrophies, and it won’t come up with ideas. Therefore, it is important to have a baseless confidence.
Takano: This is very important.
Celeina: You just gave me a power word.
