Lycoris Recoil is one of the two original anime series alongside Engage Kiss from the A-1 Pictures, that has been airing in Summer 2022. Since the premiere of the first episode, the series has gotten a lot of positive reviews from anime fans.
As the series doesn’t have any source material so nobody (except the staff) knows what is going to happen next. Is the anime series going to take a dark turn by killing any fan favourite character? Is the anime going to have some romance? (as the previous episode hinted at a Yuri relationship).
A Japanese website, Febri recently conducted an interview with the series director and composer, Shingo Adachi, who is directing his first anime series. Adachi revealed that Lycoris Recoil anime was planned to be a darker story but he wanted to make a story that is easy to watch and that will make you laugh every 5 minutes.
Also Read: 10 Anime Like Lycoris Recoil
Lycoris Recoil is your first anime as a director, how did you get involved in this project, Mr Adachi?
The project itself was already underway by Aniplex even before I joined. We already had the plot from Asaura-san’s side, and they contacted me when they decided it was time to start looking for a director. At the time, I was waiting to find out whether or not I would accept the project, but I went to the meetings and expressed many opinions, and it all led to me being asked to direct the animation.
How much of the vision of the world and of the characters had you noticed when you attended the meetings?
The five characters in the LycoReco Café already had a setting (profile) that did not change at all, including their names. On the contrary, the world view, which at that time seemed to be based on the concept of “a girl, ‘City Hunter’ style……”, had nothing concrete.
On the surface, it’s a coffee shop, but behind the scenes, it’s like a dangerous mission with a gun in your hand. But if you are Ryo Saeba, you are an adult and you can choose your work freely. But when it comes to underage girls, it’s not like that, right? We needed a reason for these girls not to go to school and do such dangerous things. First, we discussed it with Asaura-san, and then we built the world view by creating scenarios like the organization “DA (Direct Attack)” and its agents “Lycoris”.
So the scenario changed considerably from one concept to another?
That’s right. That said, I didn’t want the story to be as dark as possible, so I wanted it to be an easy-to-watch anime that would make you laugh once every five minutes. While he wanted to properly portray firearm action and etiquette, he also wanted to create an anime that would be accessible to non-gun fans.
How does it feel to participate for the first time in animation as a director?
I realized that “being a director is a lonely thing anyway”. Especially this time, as I am also in charge of the series structure for this original work, I had to decide all the development and dialogues myself. The whole time I was working on it, I was worrying if I was okay, if I was going to get mad, if I was going to comply, etc. In script meetings I always wondered, “Why aren’t they saying ‘great’?” (laughs). I am still in a state of doubt and uncertainty about whether my decisions were good or bad.
Crunchyroll describes the Lycoris Recoil anime series as follows:
For these peaceful days――there’s a secret behind it all. A secret organization that prevents crimes: “DA – Direct Attack”. And their group of all-girl agents: “Lycoris”. This peaceful everyday life is all thanks to these young girls. The elite Chisato Nishikigi is the strongest Lycoris agent of all time. Alongside is Takina Inoue, the talented but mysterious Lycoris. They work together at one of its branches–Café LycoReco. Here, the orders this café takes range from coffee and sweets to childcare, shopping, teaching Japanese to foreign students, etc. It’s mostly tasks unbefitting of Lycoris. The free-spirited and optimistic pacifist, Chisato. And the cool-headed and efficient Takina. The chaotic everyday lives of this mismatched duo begin!
Source: Febri
Ah so it was actually interesting before
It’s a great anime, and the slice of life moments (like ep4 ) are amazing!
Can’t wait for more episodes 😀
It did make me laugh every minute and the action scenes are superb! Great job director 👍👍