Director Ei Aoki Reveals the Truth Behind the Legendary First Episode of 'Ga-Rei-Zero'! Megumi Ogata Shares Behind-the-Scenes Stories from 'Evangelion' Recording

On ABEMA, 'SHIBUYA ANIME BASE (#ShibuAni)' #72 was broadcast live from 9:00 PM on Friday, January 9th. The show welcomed anime director Ei Aoki and Tenshinhan Tarou as guests to deliver anime information.

In the "ShibuAni Masterpiece Theater" corner, they featured 'Ga-Rei-Zero', a representative work of Director Aoki that aired in 2008. The catchphrase of this work is "Can you kill the one you love, believing in love?" The story depicts the tragedy of two people bound by a bond stronger than family: Kagura Tsuchimiya, an exorcist who risks her life fighting dangerous evil spirits, and Yomi Isayama, a second-year high school exorcist whom Kagura admires like an older sister. However, due to the power of the Sesshouseki, Yomi is consumed by an evil spirit, and the only path left for Kagura is to lay to rest the beloved Yomi with her own hands.

Aoki provided live commentary on this work, which continues to be talked about as a masterpiece even 18 years after its broadcast. The original work is 'Ga-Rei' by manga artist Hajime Segawa, and the anime 'Ga-Rei-Zero' was created as a prequel to it. The anime adaptation was proposed shortly after volumes 1 and 2 of the original comic were released. When MC Yuki Iwai from Haraichi asked, "Wasn't it difficult to create a prequel and make everything consistent?", Aoki reflected on those times, saying, "We proceeded with Segawa-sensei's cooperation, and after obtaining permission, we showed him everything we created one by one, and if something was different, we received his feedback."

Furthermore, he mentioned the unprecedented production that shocked anime fans: "all characters die in the first episode." Aoki explained, "The serialization had just begun, and while the work itself was interesting, it was still weak in terms of recognition" and "I thought that if we made it normally, people wouldn't watch it, so we had to create a first episode that would spread through word of mouth and strongly attract viewers." When he consulted with the KADOKAWA producer at the time about the plan, he revealed that they prepared elaborate lies such as "Then let's create fake key visuals" and "Let's put out a fake interview saying the Special Counter-Measure Division 4 members would be active throughout one cours," surprising the studio.

The scene he recommended was "the battle scene between Kagura and Yomi in episode 12." Director Aoki revealed the production secret: "From the beginning of production, I wanted to deliberately play sad music to make it a tearful scene. I conveyed this feeling to musician Noriyasu Agematsu, and he created a song called 'Reincarnation' for us."

Finally, Aoki stated, "Production was difficult, but I think the prequel idea functioned well" and "Even now, there are many fans who say they love 'Ga-Rei-Zero', and industry people who watched the work and it led to the next job. It was a major turning point in my career."