Shiriagari Kotobuki × Masayuki Furukawa [Part 2]

Hello, I'm Keita Kusaka from the Kansai Branch Creative Planning Bureau (hereafter, Kansai Creative). Kansai Creative News #2 continues from last time with a dialogue between Shiriagari Kotobuki and Kansai Creative's Creative Director Masayuki Furukawa. Furukawa's works are also unveiled all at once. Here we go.

Connection to the World

Furukawa: When I was young, I dabbled in pottery as a hobby. And I realized I couldn't become a potter. Hiding away in the mountains alone, making things, smash, no, smash, no, smash, no... spending 10 or 20 years stoically pursuing the shape I envisioned? No way. It's too lonely. When I think, "This is it!" – even if it's just a fluke – I want to come down the mountain right away and say, "I made something good, what do you think?"

Shiriagari Kotobuki: You just blurt it out, don't you? (laughs)

Furukawa: And then, if they say, "Oh, I've seen something like this before~" or "Hmm, not quite there!", I'd go "Damn it!" and run back up the mountain to make something else right away. Once I made something good, I'd come back down the mountain again and want to show people immediately, "How about this?"

Shiriagari Kotobuki: The root of the joy in making things is wanting to be liked, right?

Furukawa: I could never spend ten years stoically pursuing only my own style. I crave a reaction. In that sense, advertising is great—you get immediate feedback, good or bad.

Shiriagari Kotobuki: Lately, I want to be popular, but I also want to be popular with God.

Furukawa: Huh? God??

Shiriagari Kotobuki: To make them happy when you show it to them, you need something new, right? If they say, "I've seen this before," it's over. But with something new, no one's seen it before, so there's no way to evaluate it.

Furukawa: You can't even sketch it out.

Shiriagari Kotobuki: Surveys won't give it a good score either. So there's a contradiction in creating something new and asking people to evaluate it. You're creating without a yardstick, so you've got no choice but to aim for the gods.

Furukawa: I see~.

Shiriagari Kotobuki: But clients might be close to gods too. Their judgment is absolute, more so than the public's. Can I just go to the bathroom? When something's interesting, I suddenly need to go.

(Shiriagari-san returns from the restroom)

Shiriagari Kotobuki: It's just so funny today.

Furukawa: So if you don't feel like going to the bathroom, it means it's not funny, huh? (laughs)

Masayuki Furukawa's Work

Kusaka: Well then, let's have Shiriaragi-san take a look at Mr. Furukawa's work here.

Furukawa: What if I don't go to the bathroom?

Shiriagari Kotobuki: Nah, I think I'd go like crazy.

"NISSHINBO" CMVideo http://www.dog-theater.jp/main.html

 

Shiriagari Kotobuki: I've seen this one. I like it. It's great how it uses animals but isn't cute at all.

"Akagi Dairy Dolce Time"CM Video　http://youtu.be/94bmWDdVnco

 

Shiriagari Kotobuki: How did they film this?

Furukawa: It's all live-action. I wanted to do something simple, like a 90s commercial, something even kids could understand.

"Senden Kaigi Copywriter Training Course" CMVideo　http://youtu.be/7leSen1cKOk

 

Shiriagari Kotobuki: This would be tough in Tokyo, huh? (laughs) They'd probably get complaints about the kid crying.

Furukawa: It might have been tough in Osaka too (laughs).

Shiriagari Kotobuki: Who did the drawings?

Furukawa: It was this genius AD I often work with, Ryo Fujii from Dentsu Inc.

Shiriagari Kotobuki: It seems to be mocking CG.

"Plum Blossom" CM Video:http://www.umenohana.co.jp/n_top/tvcm.html

 

Shiriagari Kotobuki: You like Showa-era pop songs, right?

Furukawa: Yes.

Shiriagari Kotobuki: You can tell right away, huh.

Furukawa: I was surprised myself, but I unexpectedly won the ACC Grand Prix...

Shiriagari Kotobuki: That's amazing!

"KINCHO Sanpol"http://www.kincho.co.jp/cm/html/sanpoll_sayonara/index.html#/movie1/

 

Furukawa: I guess I'll just show you this last one. It's a bit long, though.

Shiriagari Kotobuki: Is that the illustration from earlier?

Furukawa: Yes, it's by Ryo Fujii.

Kusaka: This is this year's TCC Award, right? It was a close second.

Furukawa: I was surprised they picked something like this. I was really happy.

Shiriagari Kotobuki: Oh, this is a Sanpol commercial (laughs).

Kusaka: And you were drawing manga privately too, right?

Furukawa: My wife and I brainstormed ideas together for something called "The Sloppy Couple's Scribbled Manga." She's the one doing the drawing.

Kusaka: And you won an award at the Japan Media Arts Festival (2008), right?

Furukawa: In the manga category, it was a juror's selection or something...? Shiriaragi-san was on the jury back then.

Shiriagari Kotobuki: Huh? What was that like?

Furukawa: It was just like 300 sheets of A4 paper, each with a four-panel comic scribbled in pencil, all piled up and held together with a big clip...

Shiriagari Kotobuki: That! That was unusual!

Kusaka: I saw a few commercials, but Shirigarashi-san never went to the bathroom, did he?

Furukawa:...Not at all.

Shiriagari Kotobuki: No, no, I've been wanting to go the whole time (laughs). I saw something good. I'll be right back.

(Shiriagari-san returns from the restroom)

Shiriagari Kotobuki: I hate to say it, but... he might be like me.

Furukawa: Wha—? That makes me so happy...!

Shiriagari Kotobuki: I don't know if it'll sell as a commercial, but purely as a work, it's interesting.

Kusaka: But if you were in charge of promotions...

Shiriagari Kotobuki: Yeah... that's a bit tricky, huh? (laughs)

Furukawa: Isn't that the most important part?!

Kusaka: What parts do you think are similar?

Shiriagari Kotobuki: The unusual parts. The parts that are shifted. But if I'm being greedy, the gimmicks are simple, and I think you'll get tired of them eventually. What do you do then? That sort of thing. I got lost (laughs).

Furukawa: Right now, just shifting things might be all I can manage.

Shiriagari Kotobuki: But there are times you have to push past that. You'll go much, much further, though, Furukawa-san. It'd be great if we could do something together just for fun, not work-related.

Furukawa: Yeah! Let's definitely do that! I want to do something fun. That's the driving force, right?

Shiriagari Kotobuki: Exactly, same with manga. The most fun is when you're drawing and thinking, "Everyone's definitely gonna laugh at this." I want to make something where you're like, "What the heck is this?"

Furukawa: Yeah, I'd love to create something nobody knows how to react to.

Shiriagari Kotobuki: I want to make an ad for a chair no one's ever seen before.

Kusaka: What's that?

Shiriagari Kotobuki: Like placing it upside down.

Furukawa: A commercial where Rausher Kimura just swings that chair up and down.

Shiriagari Kotobuki: And the chair he didn't swing comes too, all for 3000 yen or something.

Furukawa: I'm gonna hit the bathroom.

So, what did you think of this conversation? The atmosphere on set was relaxed the whole time, and the four hours just flew by. We still had so much more to talk about—if the staff hadn't kicked us out, we could've gone another two hours. It was a bit sad to end. Shiriaragi-san left in a super good mood too. We'll do our best to bring you another interesting article next time. But no more four-hour interviews! See you later, and keep supporting KanKuri News. Oh, and we're always open for KanKuri work too! (Keita Kusaka)

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KanKuri News Staff
Advisor: Ryoji Yamamoto (Executive Creative Director, Creative Planning Bureau, Dentsu Inc. Kansai Branch)
Leader: Keita Kusaka (Copywriter, Creative Planning Bureau, Dentsu Inc. Kansai Branch)
Staff: Yuri Otsuki (Copywriter, Creative Planning Bureau, Dentsu Inc. Kansai Branch)
Ai Kono (Art Director, Creative Planning Division, Dentsu Inc. Kansai Branch)
Yuki Kobori (Copywriter, Marketing Design Bureau, Dentsu Inc. Kansai Branch)
Collaborators: Taketoshi Tsuaki (At Arms), Yasunobu Kuroda (Saruyama Hage no Suke)