Newtype Exclusive Interview: “Jellyfish Can’t Swim in the Night” by Ryohei Takeshita and composition/screenwriter Yuki Yaku

Where are these drifting jellyfish going?

Jellyfish dives into the unknown blue and begins to swim! Illustrator Mahiru Kozuki quit drawing after her work was ridiculed. Idol Kano Yamanouchi left her group Sunflower Dolls after a scandal. Kiui Watase stopped going to school and started living a double life as a Vtuber user. May “Kim Anouk” Takanashi struggled academically due to her mixed German heritage and shy nature, devoting herself to supporting her idol. The paths of these four broken-hearted girls converge in the night, and together they form the anonymous artist JELEE. Thanks to Mei’s musical composition, Kano’s lyrics and vocals, Mahiru’s illustrations, and Kiui’s video editing skills, the songs they create travel the seas of the World Wide Web and reach listeners around the world.

Jellyfish can’t swim at night – an original anime series directed by Ryohei Takeshita and it is written Yuki Yaku. The story follows four girls who want to pursue their passion without the pressure of the media, inspired by the recent rise of online artists who don’t reveal their names or faces. JELEE’s music was provided by the composer. 40mPillustration provided by the illustrator Hamunezukoas well as collaborations with many other authors. JELEE’s music is featured in the endings of episodes 3 through 5, as well as other dramatic moments throughout the story, to showcase the girls’ growth not only through the story, but also from a creative standpoint.

On their way to growing up, girls face a serious challenge. The producer of the Sunflower Dolls, an idol group that Kano was once the leader of, comes to Mahiru with a job offer. The producer is none other than Kano’s mother, and she wants to use Mahiru’s work to promote the Sunflower Dolls’ new song. If Mahiru accepts her offer, there is a possibility that she will not be able to work on JELEE’s new music video, which is scheduled to be released by the end of the year. Having played their first online concert without an audience and gained over 100,000 followers on social media, what’s next for JELEE now? Will they choose to live as creators, or will they each go their own four separate ways? Where will these jellyfish end up when such a huge wave rocks them?!

Interview with director Ryohei Takeshita and composer/screenwriter Yuki Yaku:

Work driven by great enthusiasm.

─As I understand it, you knew each other even before Meduza, right?

Takeshita: Yes. I gave a workshop called “Creating Eromanga Sensei Anime” and Yaku kindly agreed to attend.

Yaku: I’m a big fan Eromanga Sensei anime. I’m not usually one to attend seminars like this, but I thought that if this was for Eromanga Senseithen I wanted to go. It was there that I gave Takeshita and the other employees a copy of my light novel. Lower level character Tomozaki.

Takeshita: Right. And from that moment we started communicating through direct mail on social networks.

– What were your impressions when you saw director Takeshita’s plans for creating an original anime?

Yaku: When I heard that the project was about creators who “seek approval online,” “can’t help but compare themselves to others,” and “discover their true passions,” I thought to myself, “That’s right up my alley. I felt like he gave me a project that I could definitely write. Not to mention, I liked the vibe of Takeshita’s work so much that I even attended workshops on it, so of course I couldn’t miss the opportunity!

Takeshita: Yaku gave me a copy of his book, and as soon as I read it, something popped into my head that told me I wanted to work with him someday. And there was also a part of me that wanted to come up with an original piece of work that would pique his interest.

Yaku: And he succeeded.

What aspects of working on the original anime were interesting or difficult for you two?

Takeshita: When I direct an adaptation, I mean working with the source material, we shape the characters based on our own feelings, but the original author’s ideas in the story must still be respected as law. On the other hand, creating original anime is really fun because we can decide all the right answers ourselves.

Yaku: I usually write light novels, so I almost always write on my own. However, when it comes to anime, everyone is sharing their opinions and looking at the work from all these different perspectives, and they do it constantly, like every week for a year or two. It was such a stimulating experience for me. We spent a week rewriting the script and then finalized it at the next meeting the following week. Doing this over and over again gave me new perspectives that I had never thought about before, and I really think I gained so much experience from it.

Takeshita: Meeting people who were as passionate as we were was really exciting. It was a lot of fun.

Yaku: I agree. For our meetings, we created a group chat in LINE Messenger, a popular Japanese instant messenger, and even before the meetings, I spoke on the phone with Takeshita…

Takeshita: I would also sometimes go to Yaku’s work place, or the two of us would have dinner after reading the scripts and discuss more there.

Yaku: I’ve always been very enthusiastic when it comes to creativity, and sometimes I worry that my enthusiasm is too much and that I might end up pushing others. But Takeshita was able to match my level of enthusiasm, so I was very grateful for that.

– How do you two feel about social networks and streaming?

Takeshita: I’ve always felt that Yaku’s stories are very relevant to this generation because they believably describe social media and the like. Yaku is pretty good at social media himself, so I thought it would be great if I could use his strengths in our work.

Yaku: I consider myself fluent in social media, often watching how people talk on the Internet and social media and studying how people behave. This is one of the places where I conduct my field research. I believe that this will affect my work as a result.

– It seems like social media is an important part of your work, doesn’t it? What was a memorable moment for each of you working on this anime that made you think, “This is really interesting!”?

Takeshita: Well, the script that Yaku wrote is interesting, and the storyboards that I draw myself must also be interesting if I’m going to move forward. AND Junichiro TaniguchiThe character designs are also very cute. But part of me was worried about how audiences would perceive the finished product when everything came together. We did a short edit on an unpainted stage, added voices and music, and when we watched it with the team, everyone was happy. At that moment I felt some relief as a director and decided that I should trust my intuition more.

Yaku: For me there were two points. One came up with a plot. The plot of the first episode took me about four times my usual amount of work. When I finished it and everyone told me it was interesting, I felt that if I could keep this pace until the end, the anime would definitely become interesting. The second moment was when I watched the first episode at its conclusion. I felt the script was compelling, but wasn’t sure how it would turn out as animation. I had no idea how the nighttime atmosphere or the “street” feel would translate into the film. When I saw how Takeshita and his team created such a wonderful atmosphere through carefully thought out compositions and skillful imagery in the finished product, I really felt how great it was.

– Please share your impressions and feedback from working together on this project.

Takeshita: There are many challenges in creating original animation. There were times when we demanded high levels of performance from our staff and pushed them to their limits, and there were also times when our opinions clashed mid-reading the script. But each time we overcame it as a team and managed to finish. What makes me most happy as a director is that we were able to make something that everyone could be happy with and proud of.

Yaku: I agree. I’m glad I could be a part of this.

This interview was originally published in NewtypeJuly 2024 issue

Be sure to stop by and join Newtype Community on Reddit for discussions and latest updates!