John UM
The 3DCG robot animation “OBSOLETE” composed of Xu Yuanxuan as the original case and series has been launched on YouTube Originals. He spent his childhood Xuan Yuanxuan in the company of robot animation, and for the first time in his career independently planned “real robot animation”. Robot animation has more than 40 years of history and has produced many masterpieces. What is his ambition on this subject? “Da Vinci” magazine interviewed Xu Yuanxuan to discuss the story about “OBSOLETE”
A few years ago, Xu Yuanxuan came up with an idea, wrote a plan, and got the doll manufacturer Good Smile Company (hereinafter referred to as “GSC”). He feels that the recent robot plastic models and movable dolls are based on standing posture, so if the knee is bent, it will damage the handsome image. He wanted to make a robot toy capable of making squatting positions, and in order to commercialize this toy, he made a plan for video works. In order to be a doll, he even thought about the joint structure of the robot, drew a sketch, and appended it to the GSC in the plan
Three-dimensional toys are one of the goals of this project, but another motivation of Xu Yuan is to want to see “action pictures of robots that won’t break after three-dimensionalization”. For example, in some works, the robot is equipped with a spare magazine for a handheld gun in the setting of the animation, but once made into a three-dimensional toy, it is found that due to the structure of the robot, the robot’s fingers cannot reach the magazine. He wondered, could he make a robot animation and eliminate these compromises as much as possible?
With these ideas, Xu Yuan produced this plan and went to the GSC. Because he didn’t even say hello, he suddenly stuffed such a thing, GSC people are also more confused. However, this project eventually became the “OBSOLETE” we saw
Xu Yuanxuan has been watching robot animation since childhood, and I like classic works such as Mobile Suit Gundam, Tooth of the Sun Dagram, and Armored Cavalry Votoms. What impressed him particularly was the first episode of “The Tooth of the Sun”, which started from the scene of the decay of the robot driven by the protagonist. When a giant robot with a humanoid shape breaks, it will become “things” and become part of the scenery, which shocks Xu Yuan
In the OP screen of “Armored Cavalry” two years later, countless robots were damaged and dead. Only the robot driven by the protagonist is still standing. This powerful lens left a deep mark on Xu Yuanxuan, who was still a primary school student. Robots who easily turn into wreckage, move freely with the vibrancy of a living person, which brings great surprise and pleasure to Xu Yuan
Xu Yuan believes that the “destruction” of the robot is a strong emotional sublimation. The same is true for the final episode of “Gundam”, where the hero driving the Gundam fights without hands and head. The handsome Gundam before was so destructively damaged that only the protagonist survived. That farewell drama was impressive. The contrast between the wreckage, the robot that disappeared into the landscape, and the teenager who gave up the robot to live, is full of dramatic effects. While watching the latest robot animation, Xu Yuan felt that the aesthetic consciousness may have become obsolete
In recent years, robots will not be destroyed. Xu Yuan feels that the robot is described as a beautiful symbol of the gods, and is no longer consumed like a used throwaway weapon. The robot is designed to be exquisite and beautiful, as if a breakage would hinder its movement. He felt a change in the robot concept, and his robot concept may have begun to deviate from the world
In Xuanyuan is still the end of the Showa period of the child, sometimes abandoned cars are seen. Vehicles often gallop past scrap cars, and people can see the life and death of machinery at the same time. However, all the cars running on the street have not suffered any injuries recently. They are very clean and beautiful, and should be sold to recyclers if they fail. Cars, clothes, mobile phones, etc. are the same. It becomes normal without damage. Once injured, the value will be immediately damaged
Xu Yuan believes that this avoidance of flawed things is an important factor. This change makes the death of people and things no longer visible in daily life. The robot in the fictional work is no longer damaged, which may be one of the manifestations of this change
According to Xu Yuan, no matter how damaged it is, it can still be used. This is the original strength of the robot and the charm of the robot. He claims that in robot animation, there is an aesthetic similar to professional wrestling: no matter how many times the body is bruised, the winner is the one who can stand to the end. Do not destroy, making the robot lose its charm as a prop
In “OBSOLETE”, Xu Yuan wants to return to the robot is the necessity of the robot, describing the destroyed and abandoned robot
Xu Yuanxuan privately wrote novels in which robots appeared. But he felt that robots still had to be seen with their eyes to be valuable. Things that are not human act like humans, that kind of consternation and horror can only be easily conveyed through the use of pictures
Before “OBSOLETE”, Xu Yuan also participated in several works with robot debut. But this is the first work in which he has participated completely and even created a world view centered on the existence of robots. He thought that the existing “Gundam” or “Fang of the Sun” or “Armored Cavalry” was the product of repeated trial and error by the creative team at the time, and they just enjoyed the results of trial and error
And if you do the same thing as your predecessor’s work, then let the audience watch the Armored Cavalry on the Bandai Channel directly. He wanted to find another possibility for robot animation, so he went back to the origin and tried the trial and error that people had done before. First, start with the premise of re-examining robot animation
Xu Yuan’s skepticism asks: After all, why are there fewer robot animations now? There must be something preventing the birth of robot animation. Then, when conceiving a plan, he must exclude all the things that may become obstacles. He rethought “budget allocation for making robot animation”, “length of animated episodes”, “what should be shown to the audience”, and see what else can be left at the end
And the final result of his thought experimentation was a 15-minute episode in YouTube Originals
Xu Yuan said that the world is constantly changing, and the freedom of the format and presentation method of video works has increased. Therefore, he tried to conceive a robot animation with a length, a collection form, and a free story timeline. He believes that by changing the existing framework, it may be possible to make new attempts
The stage of “OBSOLETE” is the earth from 2014 to 2026. There are real countries on the scene, describing the changes in the situation after the robot debut
Xu Yuan said that no other stage can have such mellow resources as reality. Since he wants to describe the real robot, there is no reason not to use the background of reality. In the real scenery that people are accustomed to seeing, a robot that has never been seen appears. This composition must be very novel, and it can brew a strange sense of strangeness
In the animation, aliens apply for trade with humans, using robots in exchange for 1 ton of limestone. The idea that “the resource on the earth that has the least impact on human civilization is what the aliens want” was born during the discussion between Xu Yuan and Supervisor Bai Tuqing. People exchanged things that didn’t know “what do you want this thing for?” And got the robot Exoframe
Exoframe’s elemental design concept is to be as “active” as possible. Xu Yuan asked for a robot that could do everything. For the exterior installation on the body, he asked the designer Shidu マ コ ト to use the existing weapons and components as much as possible. The weapons and bullets used by Exoframe are active weapons
In the animation, Exoframes are too mysterious, so big countries restrict their use, but they have become popular in small countries and war zones. Xu Yuan believes that developed countries will not need robots that they can’t figure out by themselves, but think that having such things will cause trouble for many people. But where robots must be used, they are used. For example, the Exoframe was first adopted by the regular army in the conflict area of poor mountains and rivers such as the Siachen Glacier in the conflict area between India and Pakistan. Exoframe starts from this place and continues to broaden active occasions
What Xu Yuan said in the interview is that Exoframe is not popular in the “world without waste cars”, and Exoframe is popular in the “world with waste cars”. Because of his work, he often travels abroad and finds that in some countries there are still used cars parked on the roadside. In his eyes, he would think that even if there were armored cavalry or mobile police on the scene, it would be very suitable. As the world becomes more and more convenient, robots will become useless. He felt that robots and advanced cities were not incompatible, but a romantic product
And since this world is not incompatible with robots, how about changing the world and making it compatible with robots? “OBSOLETE” can also be said to be such a dangerous story
Takemoemon who produced “OBSOLETE” is the studio of the producer who participated in the short story “Goodbye Weapon” in the assortment movie “SHORT PEACE”. The picture of “Goodbye Weapon” is very amazing, so Xu Yuan commissioned this company to produce animation. CG works can easily be too informative, and Wu Youmen is good at sending information into the human brain in a clear and understandable form. They used French comic-style painting styles to depict the characters and made a very impactful picture. The two supervisors, Bai Tuqingyi and Yamada Yujo, worked together to figure out what kind of play would be most suitable if there were Exoframes in reality
The series that has been released so far is just the beginning, describing the surroundings of what happened. Xu Yuan said that if the situation allows him to create the next series, he can be closer to the core. However, he already has a roadmap in mind and wants to slowly make it. This is a work full of fun, and I hope everyone can use this work for a while