"I only know the Snow Queen from Russian animation

Spaniard Abel Gongora did the impossible — he got into the studio of the living legend Masaaki Yuasa, became one of his own in the anime world, and after the animated series on "Star Wars" and "Scott Pilgrim" released the super hit "Dandadan". A film version of the second season of Dandadan, consisting of the first three episodes, is currently in Russian cinemas. Izvestia has learned that on July 18, the season will begin airing online at the Amediateka online cinema. The new episodes will be released simultaneously from all over the world, and in two versions at once — in Japanese with Russian subtitles and dubbed by Studio Gang. On the eve of this event, Izvestia talked with Abel Gongora, who moved to Japan in order to make this anime. And he really wants to visit Russia.

"Russian films are generally great, but they still need to be found"

— Why do you think Dandadan received such a warm welcome in Russia?

— I do not know why we are popular in Russia, but I am extremely grateful for it. To be honest, I'm very surprised that you're watching Dandadan. But, of course, I am very happy about it. I hope you enjoyed the second season too. Personally, I expect to come to Russia one day.

— How well are you familiar with Russian films and animation?

— I'm from the Mediterranean region, so I always associate Russia with cold weather. When I have time, I sometimes watch Russian movies. One of my favorites is Leviathan. There are many other decent Russian films, but "Leviathan" comes to mind first. I also really like "Whaler", it's a film by another director, I can't remember his name now (Philip Yuryev. The film was awarded the "Best Film" award of the Giornate degli Autori program at the Venice Film Festival. — Izvestia), but he is very good. Russian films are generally great, but you still have to find them, it's not always easy. But since I'm a film geek, I try to watch movies from different regions.

As for animation, I only know about "The Snow Queen". Isao Takahata and Hayao Miyazaki from Studio Ghibli talked a lot about this film. There was no Russian animation in Spain when I was growing up, which is very sad. That's why I can't remember any other names right now.

— How did you meet director Fuga Yamashiro, your co-writer on Dandadan?

— He worked in the studio practically from the very first days. We were a very small studio, and we started to grow. Fuga joined the production department a few years ago. That is, not a creative position, it would seem, because he was not even on the team of creators. From my point of view as a foreigner, for a Japanese he is very talkative. Perhaps because he is not from Tokyo, but from Kyoto, so he is very far from the people of Tokyo in spirit. He seemed funny and funny to me at that moment, he was very young then.

While working in production, he first got the position of assistant director, and then joined my creative team. He is not an animator, but he was able to become a director. There is no special story here, the usual thing. We exchanged a lot of knowledge and information about the directors we worked with, like Masaaki Yuasa. And we look at a lot of things the same way.

— Do you like taking risks, as you did in the second season of Dandadan?

— The second season is not risky, I would say, but rather variable and diverse. His thematic and stylistic solutions are diverse.: There is comedy, drama, and elements of scaring the viewer, there are even romantic scenes. He is very playful and free-spirited, and it's easy to enjoy it. No, I would not say that we took any risks by creating it. We just tried to give up stereotypes and be more courageous.

"Princess Mononoke by Hayao Miyazaki comes first"

— Do you have a favorite song in the second season?

— I have three, but I can't talk about two, they're in the season finale, so this is a spoiler. But there is a melody that sounds during the appearance of the Mongolian worm of death. This is the end of the first episode. And then, during the entire arc with this worm, we have music inspired by Mongolian throat singing. As far as I know, you also have people in Russia who are capable of doing this. At least in folk music. I'm fascinated by the sound of throat singing, and I liked the idea of tying it to a Mongolian killer god. This reflects the origin of the monster. I'm very immersed in Mongolian folklore, and I'm interested in it.

— What is your personal top 5 TV series and movies?

— Hayao Miyazaki's "Princess Mononoke" is in the first place. One of my favorite anime. Then "Conan the boy from the future," also by Miyazaki. Then "Kaiba" by Masaaki Yuasa. Next is the historical anime Marco: Haha wo TazuneteSanzenri, but in Spain we just call him "Marco". I also like the anime Mind Game. Today the list is like this, but tomorrow I may have a different mood and it will change.

— Why did you decide to work on an animation about Scott Pilgrim? Are there any common points between that project and Dandadan?

— Working on that anime was a big responsibility due to the fact that the comic and the subsequent film adaptation created a huge fan base for this character. I knew the fans would be watching this closely. I didn't want to be hated, but doing some banal, expected thing would also be strange: I'm interested in trying something new. Our film adaptation caused a lot of controversy, as we did not adapt the existing story. It was something completely new, and it eventually became a breath of fresh air for everyone, perhaps even for those who were not familiar with the original comic. I am happy with the result.

The well-forgotten old: what movie premieres await us in July

Christina Ricci covers the killer's back, and Vitaly Khaev moves into a tape recorder.

Both anime are similar in their ideas. In the center is a couple of a boy and a girl. In the Scott anime, the characters are older, but they are generally close in spirit. There is a common theme, the story is confusing at first, but it gets overgrown with cool details. Both anime have strong comedic elements. There's a lot of action and unexpected events there. We have a lot of intentional quotes and references, for example, with the Ultraman series. We used vintage tokusatsu themes. And since Scott Pilgrim loves vintage video games from the 2000s, this creates new parallels.

— In Russia, the second season will be released in the original and dubbed. What's the best way to watch it?

— I always watch TV series and movies in the original language. Always! But in some countries there are very strong voice actors. A few weeks ago, we traveled to the United States, and I met the actors who voice the main characters there: Conspiracy, Momo, and Jiji. We listened to them for the first time, and it was very cool, they created their own interpretation of the images. Plus, some people feel uncomfortable when they have to read subtitles, especially if they are not used to doing so. Therefore, the position of those who prefer to watch in their national language is clear to me. In some countries, people are more used to dubbing rather than subtitles. Dubbing is preferred in Spain. But I strongly advise you: if you are a fan of movies, then always watch in the original version, just like that!