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There're some Mamoru Oshii book lists on the Internet, but they don't have detailed explanations about the contents. My Mamoru Oshii book collection is far from complete, but I'd like to write some short summaries for each of those books.
I apologize in advance for grammatical errors and misinformation.
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title: これが僕の回答である。1995-2004
("This is My Answer.": 1995-2004)
release: 03/06/2004
publisher: Infobahn
[contents]
answers to anime and technology at the end of the 20th century: from GitS to G.R.M.
answers from a film director: the Billboard record, Cannes, and Avalon
answers to the film industry: from Minipato to INNOCENCE
biography
Oshii's films/series recommendation
[review]
This is a collection of Oshii's interviews serialized in WIRED Japan magazine and Cyzo magazine. It started from the time of "G.R.M.", so it feels different from other interview books.
*Oshii says his favorite anime of his own is Gosenzo-sama Banbanzai. (I guess he probably says The Sky Crawlers is his favorite these days.) The most fulfilling project was Patlabor 2 the movie.
He says GitS was 10 times easier than P2. He just played Virtua Fighter with the staff after dinner and went home around 10:00 PM. (This is not mentioned in the book, but that staff includes Kazuchika Kise. When Kise ran away from the studio, Oshii went to the arcade and said to Kise "If I win this match, go back to the studio" Obviously, Oshii lost the match. Oshii says Kise was a turtle. GitS has the iconic round kick scene because they used to play Virtua Fighter, Oshii says.)
"GitS was a very easy project to me, but it got the most fame. Film-making is a very ironic activity in that kind of sense. It might be one of my best films in terms of quality, but I personally like P2 much more. I even feel like some other people made GitS.
One of the reasons is that the same crew from P2 made GitS by the pre-established system. After production systems are completed, directors can only automatically react to the daily chores. All we have to do is to check important points. It lessens the sense of fulfillment. 'We need this tool, but we can't get it. We need that creator, but he won't come.' Lacks of resources like that reinforce our wisdom and techniques. Films reflect that kind of energy. Films made by pre-established systems might look good, but they lack creators' enthusiasm.
I developed the system through several anime projects, and GitS was a conclusion of that system. And thus, I won't use it anymore. People expect me to say GitS change something in me, but it didn't happen."
*Oshii believes that directors should have both "strategic directing method" and "tactical directing method". The audience notices the superficial/ tactical direction, but the strategic direction is hidden from them. Oshii learned that from Toriumi in Gatchaman 2. Toriumi advised young creators "Don't try to make it look cool." That kind of scene feels very calculated and artificial, so creators need "strategic direction". Oshii learned it from Isao Takahata's direction in Future Boy Conan. Oshii was impressed by how Takahata showed Dr.Lao's personality.
