Press Conference: Sparks of Tomorrow ED Artist Ginger Root & Art Director Mao Takayama

Sparks of Tomorrow is a bright and inventive contribution to this season’s stacked list of new anime. Hailing from esteemed studio Kyoto Animation, the animation adapts the 20th Century Electricity Catalog light novel written by Hiro Yuki and illustrated by Kazumi Ikeda, with art and backgrounds by Momoka Nagatani. The series takes place in an alternate timeline’s version of early 20th century Japan. In the alternate history, steam power is a predominant technology and electricity is something so new and foreign that it may as well be magic. Through its characters, Sparks of Tomorrow explores the possibility of an “Age of Electricity” as well a variety of topics like piety, loyalty to the ideas and dreams of loved ones, nihilism, and, of course, the ingenuity that coincides with a new technological era.

During Anime NYC we, alongside other members of the press, had the opportunity to speak with two members of the anime’s staff, including musical artist Ginger Root, who composed the ending theme, and Art Director Mao Takayama. The conversation covered their processes and inspirations as they contributed to the series.

Portions of this interview have been lightly edited for clarity. This interview was conducted with the assistance of an interpreter for Takayama-san’s responses.

The Natural Aristocrat: Takayama-san, in your view, which scene best represents the visual style of the series? What part of the world required the most research visually?

Takayama-san: Personally, the scene that really characterizes the work the most is the scene where they show the cityscape of Kyoto. The old fashioned buildings and the pipes that are strung through the city, the skyline, and also the ground which has a little bit of the dampness really show the the whole toned-down, misty, foggy atmosphere of the series.

Adult Swim Central and Toonami Faithful: Takayama-san, the background art is incredibly unusual for an anime. Could you talk about how you and the team created the show’s art style?

Takayama-san: When we’re working on the background art we really want to focus on making it as close as possible to an oil painting. And so whether focusing on the brush strokes or working on — and obviously it’s not done by an individual, it’s done by a team. So there’s much communication between the team members. Whenever art will be finished, they will communicate whether it was okay — if parts could be done a little better — and really focus on creating this oil painting style.

Unknown Outlet: Sparks of Tomorrow brings together a highly distinct visual identity and a very unique musical soundscape. When constructing the ending sequence and the overall atmosphere of the anime, in what ways did the art and music complement or connect with each other?

Ginger Root: I know that I wrote the song not seeing any visuals of the ending animation. I was just given a painting done by the director as well as a piece of writing about what he wanted. I also met with him online and saw what he wanted and all that. But I didn’t have any real, actual visuals to go off of except for that one piece that he gave me. And obviously some directions from him. And I know that I purposely wrote things in the song that could probably complement opportunities for the animation to do something special, like the breaks, the drums, or the interludes and the chorus and all that. So I was very excited to see the finishing result and I think it matches very well. I wish there was a whole animation for the whole song. But yeah, I know that it was still in the works and they actually animated to what I wrote, which is very special to me. That’s my side of the story.

Takayama-san: When it comes to actually working on the art of the ending, most of it was done [in] 3D. The actual background art, the painting part, there’s only three cuts of it. And so there wasn’t too much physical work being done on the background team side. But we were able to actually listen to the song before we started working on it and we really thought that it matched the eerie atmosphere of the series. I’m not sure what kind of instrument was being used, but it sounded kind of like a pipe organ type of instrument. We really thought that matched the the atmosphere of the work.

Animation Spaces: Takayama-san, the background art for Sparks of Tomorrow captures the atmospheric transition of 1906 Kyoto beautifully, particularly the contrast between traditional wood structure townhouses and the emerging glow of electrical innovation. How did the production team approach balancing historical Meiji era accuracy with Kyoto Animation’s distinct visual style?

Takayama-san: When we were working on the series we really wanted to focus on the brush strokes and we wanted to keep all the brush strokes of the art when we were drawing the the background art. And so when it comes to that, we put a lot of inspiration from impressionism and blurred the the lines to make it very vague. But when it comes to depicting the the cityscape of Kyoto, we really wanted to — because it’s a it’s a world that not a lot of the viewers are very familiar with — we wanted to make sure the lines for that were very clear. And so when it comes to characters we want to feature or the Kyoto cityscape — the more traditional building structures — we want to make those lines very clear. When it comes to trying to balance the two together, each cut was really focused on to make sure the balance was well maintained.

Anime Corner: This is a similar / related question for Takayama-san. To what extent did you make use of historical reference material when creating the physical world of the series? What are some real-life elements you wanted kept in and where are places where you intentionally deviated from the real world?

Takayama-san: When drawing the cityscape of Kyoto, generally from the orders from the director were to make sure we didn’t make any unnecessary edits. And so the locale of Kyoto, or how the buildings were structured, we tried to be true to the actual historical accuracy. The parts that we did change were the steampunk aspects. The pipes that are streamlined throughout the cities, or the cloudiness to add the steam aspect to it were the [places where] we tried to deviate a little bit from the historical aspects. One thing in particular though is, if you look at the series, you’ll notice a lot of a lot of cloth strung over the pipes to kind of obscure the the skyline a little bit. And those were actually historically accurate, where there were clotheslines put out and clothes being hung over those clotheslines. But we replaced them with pipes and because the world’s skyline is a little bit obscured within the world anyway, we decided to put more cloth over the pipelines.

Anime Trending: This question is for Takayama-san. Many animation studios don’t have an in-house background art department like Kyoto Animation and have to rely on external specialist studios. From your experiences so far, how does the in-house aspect of Kyoto Animation’s background team contribute to the studio’s culture and expertise?

Takayama-san: The biggest strength of having an in-house team is the communication aspect. When it comes to trying to describe what kind of scenes we want, sometimes it’s very hard to verbalize or to put into words what we what the director wants. And so in that case we can directly just draw out what we want from the background team. It makes it very very easy for us to to relay what we want to each other. Especially in this work, the atmosphere is a very distinct art style. And so because of that I feel that this this kind of work could only be done with a studio like KyoAni.

Yatta-Tachi: This is a question for Ginger Root. For your past work you’ve found creative ways to create music, like performing using an old rotary phone as a microphone and filming on tape recorders. What is your favorite of your unconventional instruments? And did you make use of one while recording “Soarin'”?

Ginger Root: When I made “Soarin'” I did it completely in a bedroom. I didn’t rent any studio time for it. So it does have that kind of lo-fi sheen that a lot of my other songs have. I used a little bit of the same telephone that you talked about, recording some of the vocals on there. The thing with writing for TV and anime is my anxiousness of having to change things all the time. So when I did stuff for example with NHK earlier this year — I used that as a learning experience to not actually record a lot of real sounds. Instead of using like soft synthesizers or VSTs and stuff like that. So it was a good exercise with a lot of my other songs, recording things with actual microphones, instead of this way for this song in particular recording things directly that were easily editable in case I had to make changes. Especially because there’s two versions. There’s the short version and there’s the long version. I made the short version, got the okay, and then I had to figure out how to recreate the sounds I made for the short version to duplicate them for the long version. But thankfully I didn’t have to change anything after the first draft, so I worried for nothing. But that was probably kind of how the song was recorded in that way.

Adult Swim Central and Toonami Faithful: My question is for Ginger Root. What conversations or discussions led to this song becoming the ending theme?

Ginger Root: I got a proposal to do it — I thought it was fake. I was really excited, I’m a big anime fan. So I took it. One story I will tell is I had one meeting with the whole team, including the director Ota-san. And we bonded over the fact that he really likes Lady Gaga. I don’t know why. But weirdly I think that subconsciously influenced how I wrote the song. Not like I’m saying “Soarin'” sounds like any Lady Gaga song to begin with. But the back and forth that he had was, like I said earlier, he gave me that painting and he gave me that piece of writing. He also said something differentiating from the opening theme where he didn’t want any Eastern sounding instruments. Because the opening is acting like “Here is the Meiji era, here is stuck in time, very traditional, a sense of adventure.” But then with the ending theme he wanted it to actually sound electronic. What would the future that all the characters, with what the electricity catalog is, what those ideas may offer. So that was a big thing that we went back and forth on. He gave me those notes, I made something that I thought would probably fit well and it sat with the team very well. And that’s kind of the back and forth that we had.

Unknown Outlet: This question is for both of you. And you kind of hinted a little bit already on it, but the ending of an anime episode is crucial because it dictates the emotional aftertaste the audience is left with for an entire week. What is the exact feeling or lingering thought you want the viewers to walk away with?

Ginger Root: Yeah, that’s a good question. For me on the music side, I know specifically they gave me a reference to City Hunter where the theme song would start while the ending scene is going. There’s a little bit of dialogue left and then the beat drops — “Get Wild” I think that song is. So they wanted me to kind of create that same essence of “And here’s the ending.” With that involved — the adventure isn’t solved. There are a lot of things that the electricity catalog — there’s so many mysteries in there. So an essence and a cloudiness, just like the town is shrouded in steam and smoke. Similarly having that feeling of uncertainty. There’s a lyric in in the song that’s like “but together we can we can go past the stars and we can get out of that steam together.” And so that’s something that I wanted to portray and kind of also, with the animation team, give them an example. And, like I said in my previous answer, so the characters could actually fly off the screen, and give them a sense of soarin’ into the sky.

Takayama-san: [For] a lot of the things I basically agree with Ginger Root in the sense. But I also want to make sure the viewers will be able to have a more thought provoking kind of ending. And so I want the viewers to be able to think back or think more about about what happened in the episode, what’s going to happen in the future. And I want to make sure those thoughts remain within the viewer’s head.

Animation Spaces: This is for Ginger Root. You kind of answered this a little bit, but your music frequently draws inspiration from retro Japanese city pop, Showa era television aesthetics, and vintage analog synth textures. When composing “Soarin'” for Sparks of Tomorrow, how did you approach matching your signature retro soundscape to the show’s early 1900s Meiji era setting and the sense of flight and wonder surrounding Kihachi and Inako?

Ginger Root: Sure. I do like vintage Japanese culture but not that vintage (laughs) I will say. But, it was a great opportunity to stretch my palette and deviate from the things that I normally do. When talking to the team I asked “Do you want me to write an anime song I think would sound like an anime song or do did you want a Ginger Root song?” And they said “Well, while we would like a Ginger Root song 110%, we probably can’t.” So in my own head I decided okay, let’s do a 70% Ginger Root song and a 30% anime song and see what would that sound like. And it was a great exercise. It was a fun exercise to put on a new hat, try on a new set of clothes. I think they fit really well. I think ultimately taking Ota-san’s writing, his painting, and also all the key artwork that I was able to see, all the character designs and stuff like that. They said that essentially Sparks of Tomorrow is a boy meets girl story and that you can’t do it alone. And so how the song starts off with a single instrument — it’s like you start off alone. And then as you try to achieve something you want to do, you need help along the way to support that. And that’s why the song gets bigger and bigger and in the chorus there’s a whole choir that sings the chorus. It upheaves towards that point. So, it was a really good challenge, it was really fun, and I’d like to do it again.

Anime Corner: This question is for Ginger Root. You commented on your creation of the ending theme and noted that you were thinking about themes and emotions. From the early parts of the series, which characters in specific were top of mind for you, and what themes in the series struck you as best belonging to a song?

Ginger Root: I think that in terms of themes specifically, I think it was the sense of wonder that this book has. It’s something so familiar but something that hasn’t been delved into a lot. And I feel like in the song choosing certain chords that evoke a sort of “We’re not at home yet, we’re not done yet. This series isn’t done yet, this song isn’t done yet.” In terms of the characters I feel each character — this I guess translates into more of a theme as well — everybody wants something. Whether it is to avenge their brother, whether it is to aspire [to be] like their mother, whether it is to just get what they want. You know what I’m talking about. I feel like that feeling is something that I wanted to bring a main focus of we all want something in life, we can’t do it alone, some people try to do it alone and fail, some people try to do it together and succeed. And I feel like that was the core essence of what I took from both the theme, the character, the scripts, as well as the stuff that the the team told me to implement into the ending theme.

Anime Trending: This question is for Takayama-san. What’s the best piece of advice or the best lesson regarding creating background art that you’ve acquired?

Takayama-san: Something that I learned from from my previous work and people that I’ve worked with before is to think while I’m drawing at all times. Because it’s background art we want to make sure that the the art really brings out the characters in the foreground. Or to be able to control where the viewer’s eyes lie. I think that a lot of it is constantly thinking about what I’m drawing.

Yatta-Tachi: This is for Takayama-san. The question is, how and when did you first start drawing, and what other artists would you say influenced you in your career development?

Takayama-san: I’ve been drawing since I was little, maybe like 5 years old. And I’ve always kept on drawing. But what really made me want to become a background artist was when I was around 14 years old, I went to an art exhibit for Nizo Yamamoto, who is a art director for works such as Castle in the Sky or Princess Mononoke. When I saw his art exhibit, it really made me really want to become a background artist. And so I feel that a lot of my inspiration comes from his works.

The Natural Aristocrat: Takayama-san, what’s the biggest change for you moving from background artist in 2020’s Violet Evergarden the Movie to the art director in Sparks of Tomorrow?

Takayama-san: Back when I was working on Violet Evergarden I was still very new to the industry. It was probably my second year or so. And so there’s a lot of times where I’ll get edits from my superiors and and I was really trying my best and fixing all the the edits that I was given. And now that I’m an art director, the roles have swapped. Now I’m the one giving edits to the people who are working for me. And so I feel like [for] a lot of the roles or a lot of the things I’ve been doing, I was able to implement the things that I learned while I was an artist now as an art director.

Adult Swim Central and Toonami Faithful: Takayama-san, how does it feel art directing an anime for the first time?

Takayama-san: So first of all it was very difficult. Because, as an art director, not only do I have to work on actually drawing the pieces, I also have to communicate. And so I felt a lot of the roles that I had to do or a lot of the things I had to learn to do were things outside of just drawing. The other aspects become more important and I felt that was very very difficult and very challenging.

Unknown Outlet: Takayama-san, color palettes are incredibly important for setting the psychological tone of a series. For Sparks of Tomorrow, did you establish a specific set of color rules or lighting techniques to separate the moments of intense drama from the quieter, more intimate scenes of everyday life?

Takayama-san: Generally for the coloration, whether it’s a serious scene or a more relaxed scene, the general colors we try to keep the same. Whether it’s the colorful grayness — the very clouded sort of coloration we try to keep. The main difference between the the more more dramatic scenes with the more relaxing scenes were the brush strokes. For the dramatic scenes we used stronger brush strokes. While for the relaxing scenes we used softer touches. So those are the things that we focused on a lot.

Animation Spaces: This is for Takayama-san. From Kihachi’s invented wingsuit escape to the atmospheric smoke and electrical lanterns in the city, the series features many memorable visual beats. Is there a specific scene or detail from the first three opening episodes that the staff found particularly rewarding or challenging to bring to life?

Takayama-san: So this isn’t quite — it’s more so a scene that took a lot of effort rather than something that was very impressionable. But the scene where Kihachi is thinking about the the future where it’s the very futuristic cityscape and what not. The people who are moving around were very realistic. Those people, the background team had to draw them in. We had to we had to separate the moving parts with the background and it was a very very arduous process. I thought that was a lot of thought that was very impressionable on my part.

Anime Corner: This question is for Ginger Root. To what extent did the fact that you were working on a song for Sparks of Tomorrow affect your usual choices around instrumentation, structure, and the overall creative process for your music?

Ginger Root: Yeah, I think, as I said in a previous answer, the director wanted specifically to have more electronic based sounds and stuff. And I think finding that medium between what I would personally put in as a synth sound that I would like versus something that I think would fit the story, that was a fun challenge to incorporate. I think in terms of, like I said before too, having the conscious decision of I had to make the 89 second version first because they needed that to animate and then go back and kind of extend the song from there was a really interesting thing that I’ve never done before. Because usually when I’m writing writing songs specifically just for Ginger Root I write from the first beat to the last beat. But this one I had to basically hit a checkpoint and then get it approved and then go on. And having to replicate — I didn’t save the guitar sounds. I had to match by ear how much distortion I had on the first half and stuff like that. So that was a really interesting challenge that I would try to figure out a way how to not do that again.

Anime Trending: My question is also for Ginger Root. Both your creative elements such as like music, video, visuals, and the story of Sparks of Tomorrow explore themes of creative passion and perseverance. Have you ever felt burnt out or hit a creative block, and how do you keep up your motivation and maintain momentum when you’re juggling different roles?

Ginger Root: Yeah, I was burnt out last year, definitely (laughs). Yeah. I think in the midst of getting burnt out I had to remember — and I’m still trying to remember — why I started doing music in the first place. And it was for fun and it was because I enjoyed doing it. I never thought I’d get this far doing music. I never thought I’d be sitting in a room at an anime expo talking about my song, literally. And I’m very excited that I have the opportunity to do that. So I’m trying to learn to be more mindful of taking a step back and really being thankful for what I’m able to do with all these music opportunities that I’ve been able to do. So in terms of creative block, man, just going for a walk does wonders. And also I used to be where like if I can’t do it in one go or I can’t finish a song in one night then it’s a bad song. And I’ve started to be a little more lenient and be like “It’s okay to take a step back, take a day, take two days, don’t even think about it and then come back with a fresh perspective,” because there’ll be a bunch of times where I’ll make something and I think it sounds like garbage and I’ll wake up next morning with a fresh mind and I’m like “This is not bad.” So I think take it easy on yourself if you have a creative block. Motivation comes and goes. But yeah, creative burnout is hard. But if you remember why you started doing something in the first place it’ll come back when it’s ready.

Yatta-Tachi: Question for Ginger Root. Yeah. What does your past experience with Kyoto Animation’s works look like and do you have specific feelings about being able to collaborate with a studio like this on this song?

Ginger Root: I love Kyoto Animation. I don’t know if I’m allowed to say all the other shows that I like or whatever, but K-On! and Nichijou and Violet Evergarden. I watched Violet Evergarden with my mom, she cried, it’s great. One thing I will say is, and I said this at LA Anime Expo, that I was learning Japanese during COVID and the first book that I was able to read in Japanese was Hibike! Euphonium or Sound! Euphonium. And so I read that book, realized that Kyoto Animation made that, and I watched that and that’s like a super crazy connected story — now I’m working with the same studio that made that work and everything. So it’s really special. I’d love to do something again, maybe an opening theme one time would be awesome. Yeah, I don’t know, I — just as a fan? Awesome, it’s really cool. I’m really happy that I had this opportunity and hope to do more in the future. And who knows, if I get better at drawing or maybe take a lesson from Takayama-senpai I can maybe draw better and maybe make my own anime one day. But that’s maybe, I don’t know, 15 years from now.

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We’d like to thank Ginger Root and Mao Takayama for taking the time to speak with us during Anime NYC. The Sparks of Tomorrow anime recently revealed its second story visual. The anime is streaming exclusively on Netflix. If you’re interested in hearing from more staff involved in the series, check out our interview with Director Minoru Ota and Producer Satori Senami 

©Hiro Yuki, Kyoto Animation/Sparks of Tomorrow Production Committee