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I want to express the beauty and coolness that underlie my work.
Takano:And after graduating from art school, you started shooting music videos. What was the impetus for this?
Nagasoe：After graduating from art school, I apprenticed myself to director Junji Kojima. I worked as an assistant under Kojima for several years as an aspiring director, but the timing was not so good. Because I was an assistant, I didn’t have a single work in my portfolio. I was just getting confident that I wanted to direct a film by myself when I was approached by a record company about a competition for a music video project. They chose my project, and I was able to start making music videos.
Takano: So you won the competition. I looked back at the ending of the first season of “Jujutsu Kaisen” yesterday and saw your name in the credits, and I thought, Ah! I thought, “Oh!” It has a pop worldview with a bit of pastel colors, doesn’t it? The ending song is playing now.
Celeina: “LOST IN PARADISE” by ALI.
Takano: I think you have a great sense of taste to match that video with this song. How did you create it?
Nagasoe：I brought the first sketch I drew.
Takano:Precious! Is it a kind of a storyboard?
Nagasoe：It’s before the storyboard. It’s like the very first process of developing an idea. It’s a video, so it can’t really be expressed in pictures, but I usually start with an image sketch of what it would look like if it were expressed in a single frame.
Takano: No, it’s still a still picture, but it’s a cutout of the ending animation as it is.
Celeina：That is a very valuable document.
Takano: Once again, you have made a variety of images, but is there anything you are consistently particular about?
Nagasoe：I think it is the same for all creators, but I don’t want my work to be taken lightly. Whether it is animation or live-action, rather than improving the quality, I want to work on adding depth to the work and making it heavier and heavier. I’m going to stick to that point and brush up on my work and make it. That’s a bit abstract, isn’t it?
Takano: It’s about making it heavier. That’s why it stays in the mind.
Nagasoe：That’s also why I don’t want to end up pursuing superficial coolness. I want to complete the work by expressing the underlying beauty and coolness.
Takano: That is a very important word. It is a necessary mindset for those who express themselves and for all those who are involved in making things.
Celeina：That is a mindset that should be cherished forever.
Takano: Let’s make it heavier, too. Now, I would like to interrupt one song here. I asked Mr. Nagasoe to choose a song that he would like everyone to listen to together on the radio at this time.
Nagasoe：As I mentioned earlier, the first video I directed was the music video for “Kick It Out” by BOOM BOOM SATELLITES. This song holds a lot of memories for me.
Takano: Let’s listen to the song.
