Shingo Tamagawa - Three Minutes, Three Years: Making Puparia

A portrait of Shingo Tamagawa, the talented animator behind the mysterious short animation film PUPARIA.

He looks back at his motivations and emotions that led him to this project, in addition to the daunting process of single-handedly creating the film, spending one year on preparation and two years on production.

Thanks to SubTube for the Portuguese (BR), Tsvetoslav 'Sean' Shalev
for the Bulgarian, nAnoMarV for the Arabic, Kandakyo for the Chinese (Simplified) and Charlotte for the French subtitles!

#animation #puparia

[Renzsu]

It's so nice to just hear your interviewees talking by themselves, it feels like a stream of consciousness, uninterrupted by interviewers trying to get their own points or views across.

[kokujinkreates]

I think one of the best things he said was that he doesn't make animation to be efficient. Today's animation industry as a whole often sacrifices the love for the craft itself in exchange for efficiency.

[Sambulemme]

I was so curious to see the process behind the creation of this masterpiece.

Shingo is so kind he privately wrote me after I had posted some fanart of his work on Instagram that he seemed to have liked.

I feel like this documentary really accomplished in showing the kind of sensible and creative person he is.

Bravo to everyone involved in making this, and to Shingo as well for this achievement!

[ilovevloging]

PUPARIA is honestly one of the best things I’ve seen in recent years, everything about it is so refreshing. Animation studios have been putting out things in recent years that look and feel so cheap and to see a piece of art that a man made all by himself just stands to show what different point of view and young talent can do. I truly hope he becomes more and more successful so a new era of animation can start.

[the_kumomi]

In 3 minutes, Puparia inspired people for the rest of their lives. Including me.

Thanks Shingo.

Greetings from Santiago, Chile.

[KLK]

That white haired being has got to be the most beautiful creation ever. There something eerie about it. Like if it what was infinite, god like. I love it.

[nimazsheik]

These are more than just documentaries, I can't draw for shit but after hearing this man talk I want to draw anything even if it's just a small flower 💖

[CrazycruxGaming]

"Generate new emotions I hadn't felt before." That's what it's all about man. That line brought me to tears because so many people don't value art for what it could be. They call it pretentious or useless or this or that. In reality, art is all we have to fortify us against the utter brutality this world bombards us with in every moment. Every instance of our existence is characterized by pain and suffering and ambivalence and sometimes even hatred - but...art as something that exists for the sake of existing is what lifts us out of that. It helps us to recognize the fact that there can be things that don't need a pragmatic justification. There can be windows into the transcendent. God needs no justification, after all. We live for others, or money, or fame, or recognition, but art just says "Here I am. You can ignore me, you can be lost in me, or you can peruse me. I do not have a tether to your gods of oil and grease and brushed steel. I fly free." It tells us that perhaps, one day, we can also exist merely for the sake of existing, and stop searching for a reason.

[luqmanalif]

I love how he studies and experiments a lot for each scene. He doesn't give up until each frame looks the way he wanted it to be.

[kloudikiddo]

such a great animation, it's has a smooth fluidity and gorgeous art style.

[cindy]

I knew Ghibli movies had to be his inspiration, especially the part where the man was in that vibrant room with a mirage of open doors. It reminded me of spirited away a lot. I hope this guy creates more beautiful pieces and lives a fulfilling life.

[lostzephyr]

I remember seeing this short film. I would have expected it to have taken maybe a year to make, but three years? That's some serious dedication. Incredible work from him and from Archipel. Thanks for giving a glimpse into the process.

[ilikebirds]

I'm really grateful that he showed us his planning sketches. I feel like a lot of artists hide their messier compositional sketches and only show the clean finished stuff, but I love seeing the thought process behind someone's work.

[ixchel]

i loved that he mentioned Spider-Verse, i think that movie truly made history when it comes to animation, but more importantly, i believe the general audience can tell that the creators had a lot of fun making the movie, just like with Laika films, that tend to requiere a lot of work and dedication from it's creators, seeing the animators passion and love to the craft through these films feels more meaningful than just watching an entretaining movie with quality animation y'know? can't want to see what else Shingo Tamagawa works on

[dr.franxx]

There's only one word to define what I feel for Shingo Tamagawa and his work: *RESPECT*


I really wish Sunrise studio would give him the chance to run an OVA of 6 episodes so Tamagawa could explode his creative work and mind. On the long run it would even be more profitable than making another "mass produced anime" with no depth whatsoever.

I hope to see more of Tamagawa's work.

[sana]

No one thing calms me so much as puparia. That’s really anxiously to live these days and I needed to this smile of Future.

[karsukilic]

"I wanted to take a stand in a way" - that is exactly what I thought of the first time I saw Puparia. I thought, this is such an inspiring piece of art that challenges the current anime industry with its authentic facial expressions, color palette, character/background design thereby showing that the goal of being "efficient" has been indeed rising at the expense of "pursuing something more beautiful". I feel grateful that Puparia came alive and is such a breath of fresh air. I think it is because of such daring, authentic works like Puparia that people can stay inspired to explore new possibilities within the anime/animation realm. Thank you so much for all the hard work!!

[captivatingcurios]

You can tell just how much he respects the medium of animation. He's a real visionary.

[KyouBeanie]

It's truly no lie to say that every single frame of Puparia is it's own artwork, there are no messy in-betweens or digital colouring shortcuts, the dedication that went into every image helps convey a strong and indescribable emotional impact, Tamagawa-san truly made something that inspires and comforts others.

[MonoMino]

This is so reassuring to hear and see. I've always adored Japanese animation, particularly the likes of Lain, Angel's Egg, Texhnolyze, the old Ghost in the Shell movies and Satoshi Kon's amazing library of work. It was fine art in the form of animation - fascinating, philosophical, and clearly made for a purpose and personal reason. It inspired me so much I've dedicated my past few years to animation college, drawing, and learning Japanese, so that I can be a part of it when I finish.
However, I've recently noticed that the industry has shifted massively towards being more commercial. It's all about the big franchises, the prettiest drawings, and the simplest most enjoyable stories. It's become a battlefield of creators dying for the attention of the masses. When I see the likes of Ohira, Hashimoto, or these other more expressionistic animators either not getting any work at all or getting their work messed with so much you can't even call an Ohira cut an Ohira cut anymore, I felt so depressed. It felt like we lost a wonderful medium to the people on the top that only care for the money and mass appeal of a 'product'.
So when I see people like Tamagawa think in a similar way, it gives me so much hope that anime may one day come back to its wonderfully philosophical and artistic roots, and 'Puparia' was an enormours motivator for me, to be there, in a studio in Japan, when it happens. His work has reignited the passion within me that I lost from the recent direction anime has gone.