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This month(November issue) of Pash! features an interview with Kobayashi Yasuko (Screenwriter)



Translation of PASH! November 2018 (Scans Above)

Interview with Screenwriter Kobayashi Yasuko

All translations by @suniuz & @fuku-shuu of @snknews

(Please credit if used)

“THE STORY FOUNDATION”

Episode 38

Considering the contents of the original work, episode 38’s story came about very naturally. However, as soon as I thought about including a certain amount of action sequences in the first episode of the season, just to set a basis for the rest, Isayama-sensei suggested, “If you can change things around significantly, that would actually be good.” Isayama-sensei felt that during the original release, readers did not react very positively to thedevelopments. He seemed passionate about modifying the first half of the arc, which was the manga’s 13th to 15th volumes. Hence, the first episode’s presentation was completely produced in accordance with Isayama-sensei’s wishes. The timeline, setting, and contents were all courageously reshaped.



Episode 39

Since we changed around the chronology of events, the fight with the Interior Military Police was moved to Trost District. Therefore, when the new Levi Squad chased the horse carriage, the order of who handled the horses during the action sequence, as well as what caused Mikasa to give up the chase, made me quite conflicted. In addition, we originally didn’t know the names of the nobles. Seko Hiroshi, who shared my responsibility of screenwriting, suggested a great amount of ideas, and we decided on the names together with other staff.



What was the reasoning behind omitting Levi and Dimo Reeves’ alliance plotline?

Kobayashi: Throughout the third season, we omitted the elements pertaining to “revolution” from the original work. Ultimately, the scenario we wanted to showcase was “coup d'état,” which was a point that never changed. Hence, the anime’s storyline skewed towards that direction. The citizens, such as the Reeves family and the journalists, definitely belonged as part of a “revolution” rather than a “coup d'état.” It was unfortunate that we had to remove their screentime. In order for the plot to become more comprehensible, we only retained the most essential of the developments.

Episode 42

During the interrogation of Erwin, Isayama-sensei wanted to change one detail. As a result, we specifically described the “Charter of Humanity” that was not mentioned in the original manga. From the very beginning, we decided to to use the charter as basis, and elaborate upon it during Erwin’s interrogation. The overall story development is fairly close to the manga, but we changed the dialogue slightly.

Episode 44

This episode added a scene where Historia decides to become the queen. The script has slight changes from the original, because she matured mentally from bidding her father farewell. If we used the same developments from the manga, it would seem like all her growth up to that point had been futile. In the end, we both went along with Historia’s feelings while adding in new dialogue that established the scene. Also, we absolutely did not want to edit out the sequence of Historia punching Levi. However, since Dimo Reeves originally said the line, “Give him a punch after you become queen,” and he was already deceased by then - we gave the line to Mikasa. In order to keep that exchange, we devised a way to successfully reach the same end result.

Episode 45

When it came to the fight against the Interior Military Police, we felt that one more duel between Levi and Kenny would be best. Therefore, we modified some parts of the story. Even the church basement cavern’s design went through some changes in order to suit the action sequences, and we had to reassess the actual physical distances between various elements. For example, how far apart Eren and Mikasa were during the ritual [T/N: Kobayashi may have meant Historia here, but the article text says Mikasa], how far the shockwaves from Rod Reiss’ Titan transformation reached, etc. At the same time, as an anime original, we added a secret tunnel that led towards the ceremony. When the battle broke out, the Interior MP blockaded entry through it, but due to various structural collapses, the tunnel opened up as well. We also considered what reasons to give Levi and his team to discover that tunnel’s existence. The chief director (Araki Tetsuro) created general sketches, and Isayama-sensei helped us scheme out everything - many thanks to both of them. Once production and animation actually started, the inconsistencies between the amount of space and distance of character movements was glaring, so we concentrated on creating specific adjustments.

Episode 47

Even though the spin-off “A Choice with No Regrets” revealed the truth of Levi’s underground upbringing, it’s shocking that he was born into these kinds of conditions…but now I understand that everything comes full circle in the end. Kenny’s existence was also an enigma up until this point, so his appearance was quite the surprise. The relationship between the two of them is truly astounding. In my opinion, Levi’s conflicted feelings about Kenny stems from the fact that he actually remembers everything from his childhood.

Episode 48

For Grisha’s memories, we invested a lot of effort to ensure that it explained the first ever SnK episode sufficiently. Even though the flashback is a crucial part of the story’s core, we also didn’t want to make it too long. Thus, we tried to be selective about what to adapt from the manga while creating original scenes that supplemented any missing pieces. To our surprise, it was a huge endeavor.

“Episode 38, Which Required Significant Time and Energy to Complete”



- How did you adapt Season 3’s overall scenarios?

Kobayashi: The first step was to organize all the information, so we wrote each development onto separate pieces of paper. Then, in accordance with a chronological timeline, we attached and reorganized the papers one-by-one onto a wall, grasping each development individually while crafting the overall story. This was because we must thoroughly understand who communicated what to whom, and what emotions the characters felt due to those interactions. There were even times that if we changed the order of a single event, a character would not be aware of a specific piece of information - thus, the work became complicated (Laughs). This was especially true for episode 38, where significant changes took place in terms of both setting and story, which made our work very challenging. That was the season 3 episode that we spent the most time conceptualizing.

Please let us know the theme of Season 3.

Kobayashi: The first half’s theme is “Levi and Kenny.” Chief Director (Araki) said, “We would like to lead with Levi and Kenny to help viewers understand the story at first glance.” Thus, the two of them dominated the focal point early on. As everything progressed, however, that focus shifted over to “Historia’s Tale” and “The Mystery Closing in on the World.”

During screenwriting discussions, did anything leave a strong impression on you?

Kobayashi: During episode 38’s production, when we finally assembled the complete script that everyone has since laid eyes on, Chief Director (Araki) said, “Let us proceed like this.” It really made me feel like everyone on the production team had strong wills to manifest all our initial ambitions for this series. At the same time, I was very grateful to Isayama-sensei and Kawakubo-sensei’s complete approval on our completed work. Thanks to everyone for forming such great relationships ever since season one.

I want to ask something regarding the characters. In Season 3, Hanji replaced Erwin, who lost his right arm, and carried out strategies as the Survey Corps’ backbone. What thoughts do you have for Hanji?

Kobayashi: Since Erwin remained in a semi-retired state, I felt like Hanji took on much of the heavy burden for that sector. Even though up to now, Hanji showed a “Mad Scientist” persona when confronting Titans, the attitude they possessed towards humans was never really portrayed. But ever since season 2 episode 26, when Hanji interrogated Pastor Nick on top of the wall, we started witnessing that attitude bit by bit. As we planned the scripts for season 3, Hanji seemed to be constantly moving back and forth between various different settings, so their screentime in general also increased.

What about other characters?

Kobayashi: If Hanji was the one who kept the plot linear, then Sasha, on the contrary, would be the story’s “healing” character. From the style of Isayama-sensei’s artwork, even though sometimes the scenario he drew is comedic, it didn’t necessarily mean that Sasha only showed comical expressions during it. In other words, despite using a normal tone in speech, her actual words were incredibly humorous in themselves. Thus, even if it were just a slightly funny scene, we would try our best to insert dialogue for Sasha somewhere. That made the whole conversation refreshing as well. On that note, there aren’t many other roles like that in the series (Laughs) - probably just Connie. Even Jean is still a rather serious person. That’s why Sasha and Connie are crucial characters to have in a series like Shingeki no Kyojin. They can energize conversations, and they can also play the “straight man” here or there, like they are part of a gag manga - which I think is great. An intellectual character like Armin would never do that (Laughs). In reality, during the scene where Historia decides to become queen, if no one came out and said the words, “Poor her…” the interactions between Historia and Levi would not resemble that of the original work. Connie ultimately became the one who delivered that phrase, and it helped me a lot.

In Season 3, what do you think about Historia, who became the queen but was also dubbed “Cattle-Farming Goddess?”

Kobayashi: If we look at this from Season 1’s perspective, I would use the words, “I never would’ve thought!” or something akin to those (Laughs). The impact Historia leaves is quite immense. Around Season 2, I started to realize, “Is she actually this type of character?” And her story reached a certain conclusion during Season 3. Someone who had a supporting role ended up as an incredibly key individual, which shocked me a bit as well. Isayama-sensei is truly masterful at molding characters!

[T/N: Slight manga spoilers in the final question below!]

Please let us know any future must-watch elements, and any last words for PASH! readers.

Kobayashi: To readers of the original work, I can only say, “THAT” is about to take place (Laughs). This scenario, that scenario…they’re all about to happen! Action sequence-wise, the battles in Eren’s hometown/Shiganshina region should be very interesting. When “that” begins to “move,” what will be the result? Even though I haven’t seen the animation yet, I believe that there must be a great sense of helplessness. So I hope that the viewers of the anime will also feel the same desperation. Please anticipate it!

Related News: Anime Staff || Interviews || Season 3 || Translations: Interviews

Archival News: Anime Staff || Interviews || Season 3

