Can you tell us who you are?

I'm the director for Fullmetal Alchemist, Seiji Mizushima. Good afternoon.

What can we expect from the second half of the series?

In the second half, the series takes a departure from the original manga, and the story becomes an original creation from the animation staff. It becomes, how should I put this, an extremely intense story, so I truly hope that you all really enjoy it.

How do the Elric Brothers change in the second half?

Hmm. At first, they're on an extremely self-centered journey, in order to get back the bodies they lost due to the forbidden thing they did. But in the second half of the series, they further develop their relationships with the people they've encountered in their travels, they stop being able to think only of themselves when they take any actions. Also, the situation that they're involved in becomes much more complicated and deep. I believe that is the biggest change in the second half of the series.

Who is your favorite character?

My favorite character is Alphonse. The reason is, I also have an older brother, you see, so he feels very familiar to me. However, my older brother doesn't act violently like Ed does.

How did you develop the storyline for the second half? Did you know that you would have to create a story different from the manga from the beginning?

Yes, you see, the original manga had only been sold for a year, so there were only three volumes available, so we knew that there wasn't enough to work with, so from the start, we were planning on probably going with an original storyline. Several times, we presented Miss Arakawa with the plans for the storyline that we had come up with for the second half of the series, she looked at them and discussed them with us, had meetings with us, that's how we created it.

What sort of things do you think about when you begin a series?

Well, when I take on a directorial job, one of the first things that I do, personally, is to check out the manga, to see if it's interesting, to see if I find it interesting. When we're working on making it into an anime, I think about things, like 'if we did things this way, it might make the series more interesting', and try to come up those kinds of ideas. I try to put aspects of the original manga series into the animation when I'm directing, and in a way that doesn't lose sight of the manga's original themes. More than putting one hundred percent of the aspects in, I try to put in details that will move the story in a positive manner, that will make it easier to understand.

The Conqueror of Shambala has been released in Japan. Will there be any more theatrical releases for the Elrics?

Hmm. The Fullmetal Alchemist manga is still running, so there's the possibility that another movie will be made, but I myself feel that my work on the theatrical release of Fullmetal Alchemist is finished.

What's your favorite piece of Fullmetal Alchemist merchandise?

Which is my favorite? Well, there are little figures that are about this big. The kind you get from a gashapon machine. Deformed character ones. (interpreter: Oh, really?) Yeah. They've been released in Japan. They're extremely cute, so I like them. Each of them has a catchphrase written at their bases. I really like them. (interpreter: And is there a particular character that you like the best?) Among those figures, I like the one for Lust and the one for Al - up until episode ten, he was treated like luggage, stored inside of a wooden box, and there's a figure of that. I like those two.

Anime has become very popular here in America. Do you have any advice for American fans who want to get into the anime industry?

Well, if you can't speak Japanese, then you won't be able to do anything. They'll have to learn Japanese to get anywhere. Other than that, well, the anime industry is one that requires teamwork, so in Japan, have a strong sense of individuality is bad. You just have to live harmoniously. Basically, when it comes to techniques... I guess that's what they want to hear about when it comes to joining the anime industry? In regards to the art, the methods are a bit different than it is in America, but in any case, even if you don't have that knowledge, as long as you can draw, I don't think that it would be that difficult for someone to join the industry. As long as you have the language skills and a passion for drawing, I think that you can become a part of the industry. I believe that the people in America have a certain something, so I would like for them to work hard; I would definitely like to work on an animated feature in Japan with them.

Fullmetal Alchemist is an epic coming-of-age story. Did you draw on any personal experience when creating it?

Well, when I was working on the story for Fullmetal Alchemist, I didn't think on it by myself, of course; I worked with the story editor, Sho Aikawa. On a base level, we included both of our experiences in the storyline. In addition, we compared aspects we took from the original manga against those of the real world, and with a stance of creating a world, we took events that can happen in the real world and translated them for the world of Fullmetal Alchemist. With that in mind, we tried to create a balanced world using our own views. Thus, we had a meeting with the other people involved in the production, discussed whether or not these events should be in the series, and put to film what we ended up deciding on. Of course, it's MY job to actually put it to film, so my own views might be included in there. I tried to be as even-handed as I could.

Why did you choose to go with orchestral music for Fullmetal Alchemist?

Well, originally, the image I get from the original manga, which being out in America, I'm sure everyone else gets too, is that it's very European in style. This European sensitivity is something that you can feel in this series. I thought, "I'd like to use an orchestra for the background music for a series like this." I wanted to work with a full orchestra, if it were possible, and use music with that kind of styling. I was able to listen to some classically styled songs that were made based on impressions of the series, (although I've already forgotten their titles), and I requested that there be several songs that had the same kinds of nuances as those. And if it was going to be that kind of music, then I thought that Michiru Oshima would be a good fit. The topic came up with the production house, Aniplex, on whether or not Miss Oshima would be a good choice, and we ended up asking her to create the background music.

Why do you think Fullmetal Alchemist is so popular?

Why is that, I wonder? Well, as I said earlier, one of the reasons is that the viewers are able to identify with the journey and experiences that the main characters go through. I believe that the fact that the world of Fullmetal Alchemist has a link to the real world is one of the things that pulls the fans in.

What's the most difficult part about working on an anime?

Well, I've been able to work on two animated series based on long-running manga series, Shaman King and Fullmetal Alchemist, and the most difficult thing with on-going series like them is to create, in just one year, with about fifty-one, maybe fifty-two episodes, an encapsulated storyline. Within that limited span of time, you have to take all of the interesting points from the original manga and put them into the series. You also have to work with the creator to come up with an ending original to the anime. That, and quality control.

The transmutation circles in the show are incredibly detailed. Were all of those drawn from the original manga?

Well, when we were creating the animation, we discussed things with Miss Arakawa, but only in regards to the storyline. She left the remainder of it to us. We read the original manga, and in it we saw the marks and such. Even though they are very detailed, we decided to make them more visual by choosing aspects that made them more 'anime-eqsue'. It's alchemy, but even though it feels like it's close to magic, if we left it as it was it would have been kind of bland. In order to have the audience enjoy what they saw, we made things a little more flashy; for example, the alchemical circle that was mentioned earlier - in order to show the growth of the characters and the progression of the story, we made the symbols and their arrangements more complex, all on our own, without asking Miss Arakawa. It seems like she likes them.

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