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Studio Khara’s director and video director, Hibiki Yoshizaki, has pushed his love and hard work to the limit.

2024.1.4

#ART

A circle of friends connected by goo touch! The “FIST BUMP” corner of the radio program “GRAND MARQUEE” features people who live and enjoy Tokyo in a relay format.

On October 18, Masatsugu Nagasoe, a filmmaker, introduced Mr. Hibiki Yoshizaki of Studio Khara to the audience. In this interview, we asked him not only about music and animation, the starting point of his current activities, but also about the episode in which he met his mentor, Koji Morimoto, and how he came to be involved in the “Rebuild of Evangelion” series.

The Cultural Pilgrimage of an “Otaku Boy with an Overly Polished Sense of Style”

Celeina (MC): Today we have Mr. Hibiki Yoshizaki from Studio Khara, who was introduced to us by filmmaker Masatsugu Nagazoe. Please give him my best regards.

Yoshizaki: Hello.

Celeina: First of all, let me give you a profile of Mr. Yoshizaki. He is a director and video director at Khara, Inc. He has participated in the production of “Macross F,” “The Dragon’s Dentist,” “Evangelion: Q,” and “Shin Evangelion the Movie,” among others. His major directing credits include Eve’s “Rioter,” a song from the Netflix music film “Adam by Eve: A Live in Animation,” and TeddyLoid’s “ME!ME!ME! feat.daoko”

“Rebuild of Evangelion: Q” ©Khara
General Director: Hideaki Anno
“Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time”©Khara
General Director: Hideaki Anno
TeddyLoid”ME!ME!ME! feat.daoko”©Khara
General Director:Hibiki Yoshizaki

Takano (MC): Yesterday, Mr. Nagasoe referred to Mr. Yoshizaki as “an otaku boy with an overly refined sense of style”.

Yoshizaki: I don’t know if I can call myself a nerd, but I think I am probably a nerd.

Takano: I’m looking at Mr. Yoshizaki’s notes on his influences right now, and they are intereasting. Is Koji Morimoto your mentor?

Yoshizaki: Yes, he is. Morimoto-san said he doesn’t take disciples, but I said, “Please make me your disciple! Master!” and he became my apprentice. Mr.Morimoto is a founding member of STUDIO4℃ and now runs a brand called phy.

Takano: He directed Ken Ishii’s “EXTRA.

Yoshizaki: Yes, he directed the music video in 1995.

Takano: Then there is Shop33 in Kichijoji in the 1990s.

Yoshizaki: The name of the store evokes memories for old men. I think everyone who liked techno has definitely passed through Shop33. It is the birthplace of techno culture.

Celeina: What kind of things do you actually sell?

Yoshizaki: Originally, they were a record and CD rental store, and then we became a store selling various apparel from overseas. While they had lots of event flyers, cassette tapes, mix tapes, and demo tapes, our products were mainly T-shirts and other clothing.

Takano: Other influences for Mr. Yoshizaki include Third-Ear (now U/M/A/A), the label that introduced electronic music to Japan, and Designers Republic in graphic design and VJing. And I don’t have to mention Hideaki Anno. MTV’s Amp, Neon Genesis Evangelion, MEMORIES, Ghost in the Shell, video games and culture magazines like Sega Genesis and PlayStation, DTM, and even Chris Cunningham and Michel Gondry are influences.

I think there are quite a few people in their 40s who hear the titles in this lineup and want to talk about them. I now understand what Mr. Nagazoe meant when he said he was “an otaku boy with an overly refined sense of style.”

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