The TV anime “16bit Sensation ANOTHER LAYER” will begin broadcasting in October 2023. The original work “16bit Sensation” is a doujinshi that traces the changes in the times, from the perspective of the people who make bishoujo games, as Akihabara went from an electric town to overflowing with beautiful girls. It was interesting to see what kind of influence it had on otaku culture.
The TV anime “16bit Sensation ANOTHER LAYER”, which was created with an original story based on this story, is filled with the excitement of not knowing what will happen in the story as the main character makes a time leap while gaining that knowledge. It became a thing. Of course, the characters that appear in the original work will also play an active role, so I hope you enjoy it as a new story.
How “ANOTHER LAYER” was born, I will tell you about the original author, Tamiki Wakagi, who worked on visual novel series such as the Leaf trilogy (“Shizuku”, “Ata”, and “To Heart”), and the PC of the time. We spoke to Tatsuya Takahashi, a scenario writer who has built a history at the heart of bishoujo games and who is also participating in this work.
Why Konoha Akisato was the main character in ANOTHER LAYER
Tamiki Wakagi (hereinafter referred to as Wakagi): I have been connected with Misato Mitsumi (Aqua Plus) and Itsuki Kanroki (Aqua Plus) since the anime “The World God Only Knows” (hereinafter referred to as “Kami Only”). We met occasionally. During that time, we talked about how interesting it would be to have a project like this, and I really wanted to do it, so after that we decided to actually start it.
However, at first I didn’t intend to continue for that long. But before you know it, you’ve been doing it for 7 years, right? That’s what I mean (laughs). That’s because when I published my first doujinshi, people around me got really excited about it, and it made me realize that there are people out there who want to talk to me.
And as I talked to not only the illustrators, but various people involved, it started to become a story about the game production company as a whole. But I can’t move on to the next one if I don’t finish this one quickly, so I’m desperately trying to draw a manga right now (lol).
Wakagi: Halfway through, I’m only talking about my memories (lol). But the more I think about it, the more strange it becomes. Why did bishoujo games stand out so much? In the early days of “Megastore” (magazine), erotic manga and erotic videos were compared on the same level. Gradually, bishoujo games started to get a lot of attention, and before I knew it, there was a big fuss in the middle of Akihabara every Friday. It felt like I was drawing a memory that I thought was strange.
–I’m sure the younger generation doesn’t know that.
Wakagi: The younger generation lives in a situation where it is common for beautiful girls to be found in Akihabara, but when I moved to Tokyo, it wasn’t like that at all.
–It was an ordinary electric town, wasn’t it?
Wakagi: Up until the late 1990s, it was just an electric town, so I was really surprised that we were now openly talking about bishoujo games. However, only after the turn of this century. I wanted to create a work that chronicled those memories in chronological order, so that’s just what I did.
――Was it a surprising development that the original work was made into an anime?
Wakagi: But we talked about doing an anime from the beginning. After all, when you have a big circle like Mitsumi and others, I think that kind of talk will come out quickly. However, it wasn’t until much later, right before the coronavirus pandemic, that I was able to get into specifics.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, we stopped talking about it, and then we came back again. I thought this wasn’t going to happen anymore, but then I found out that Aniplex was going to do it, and I thought, “Every time I hear about it, it’s getting bigger and bigger!” (lol) This is a bishoujo game theme, is it okay? I don’t know what to say, but that’s what I think.
――How did scenario writer Tatsuya Takahashi come on board?
Tatsuya Takahashi (hereinafter referred to as Takahashi): Actually, I joined the series after the series composition was well underway, and the story had already been finalized. However, the content had changed drastically from the doujinshi version, so I asked, “Does Wakagi-sensei get mad at you for changing things so much in the anime?”, and I was told that Wakagi-san was the one who made the changes, and I said, “What!? That’s how it started (lol).
–This time, the title has changed to “16bit Sensation ANOTHER LAYER.” What was the reason for the change?
Wakagi: We are considering an anime format that has a limit on the number of broadcast episodes. I didn’t know when the doujinshi would end, and I didn’t know what the story would be (because it follows history), so I chose Meiko Uehara, who looks colorless and transparent, as the main character. However, in a story that has limits, it’s easier to move a character who adds color to each element, and I wanted to move the story more actively, so I created the main character, Konoha Akisato.
There are various purposes for doing time leaps, but the main reason is “I think it’s more interesting.”
――There are many elements in the history of bishoujo games alone, but I thought it would be difficult to summarize them if there was a time leap element on top of that.
Wakagi: The way people think about time leaps is different between the present and the past, and it’s also different from the concepts that people from the past who meet when they go back in time think about it, so I thought I’d try to have a cross-cultural exchange that includes that. It was. The same goes for otaku culture; for example, the world today would be unimaginable without Mr. Takahashi, who wrote the scenario for “To Heart.” I thought it would be interesting for someone who came from a world that went through “To Heart” to go back in time and play an active role.
So I basically thought there was no such thing as a time paradox, and I thought it was old to dwell on it, so I thought, “Maybe this is okay?” So, I was just moving forward without worrying too much about it, when Takahashi-san came on board as a staff member and started making fun of me, making me nervous (lol).
Takahashi: There are many different kinds of effects when you go back in time and change history, but which one do you use? We talked about this. Also, if people with modern knowledge go back in time, no matter how much the game was a turning point in its time, they might think it’s old-fashioned, which is the exact opposite of the reaction I had in mind when planning the game. We discussed concerns that this may occur.
Wakagi: Mitsumi also said that.
Takahashi: When you say that the drawings from that time are the latest in the work, when they actually appear on screen, what? I think that’s what you think.
Wakagi: That’s why we chose Konoha as the main character. I also thought DOS games were fun and played them back then, but I don’t think I’d recommend them to anyone. Because it wouldn’t be fun if I did it now (lol). But in order to make it feel interesting, I thought that I needed a character who could say that it was interesting, so I created Konoha, who could have a different reaction than Meiko.
Takahashi: That’s right. At first, I was concerned about this, but as the story progressed, my concerns were resolved and I thought it was okay, as the theme itself was a misunderstanding. Konoha has a strong sense of respect for the game culture of the time, and the story is not just about technique.
–When I look at anime from the 90s, I think it’s amazing, but when it comes to games, it’s also about the hardware, so maybe it’s a different story.
Takahashi: Anime never fades.
Wakagi: Technology is difficult because it easily becomes obsolete. For bishoujo games, having computers at the center is a big factor, and the evolution of computers and the evolution of games were synchronized up to the middle, and Mamoru Rokuta was in charge of that part. I’m talking about PC crap.
This is what happens when the limiter is released by Tamiki Wakagi!
–Did you have a lively discussion of old stories during the script meeting?
Takahashi: I think we talked about old times, but…
Wakagi: Due to the coronavirus pandemic, all scenario meetings were held remotely. However, there is less chatting when working remotely. When I was working on “Only God,” more than half of the meetings were just small talk, and we were always talking about things that didn’t appear in the story, but when we were remote, we only talked about things related to the theme. That’s why I personally thought it would have been nice to have more chats.
Takahashi: And it was recorded (lol).
Wakagi: I would never say anything bad about someone (lol). However, since I had been writing the story by myself for a long time, I was constantly anxious. Is this correct or not? To be honest, there are times when I just want to raise an observation balloon in a casual way. When I was working remotely, when I asked “How are you doing?”, the only answer I got was “Isn’t it okay?”, which was really troubling. Moreover, there were some people whose faces could not be seen due to connection problems.
–If you just listen to your voice, you won’t know how good you think it is. It’s not comparable to the amount of information you can get when you actually meet.
Wakagi: That’s true!
Takahashi: It’s true that everyone seemed to know what was going on, so if I had any questions, I would personally ask them on LINE.
Wakagi: Mr. Takahashi really played that role and gave me various responses, so I relied on him tremendously.
Takahashi: This time, I’m participating under the title of “Another Layer Main Story,” and it has my name and Wakagi-san’s name on it, but Wakagi-sensei has mostly come up with the storyline. is. So, my role was to convey information to the scriptwriters for each episode and supervise the formatting of the script. The director and Wakagi-sensei also checked this, so I think Wakagi-sensei’s workload was tremendous.
Wakagi: The main writer was absent for a long time, so I had no choice but to do everything myself. Halfway through, when I was getting too nervous and it was getting difficult, Mr. Takahashi came in (lol). I don’t think Takahashi-san expected him to be so involved, but he got so involved that I became much more stable. So I think Mr. Takahashi’s role was similar to that of an editor (for a manga artist).
–For Wakagi-sensei, he was a savior.
Wakagi: That’s definitely true. After all, it’s Takahashi-san! We’ve been interacting with him since before we created this doujinshi, so I feel safe with him. I don’t know much about the anime industry, so just having him there made me feel at ease.
Takahashi: When I joined, there was talk of “you could go back to the doujinshi version,” and there were two options: Another Layer idea and the original idea. I feel like the original idea was the strongest on set, but after I personally exchanged opinions with Wakagi-sensei, I thought it would be better to go with another layer, so the director and I decided to vote for that one. I received it. However, if that happens, the only person who can write it is Wakagi-sensei himself (lol).
Wakagi: That’s right. If it was based on the original story, it would have been fine to just throw it all away, but when it comes to the original, we have no choice but to do it. But in the end, I’m glad I did that, and I don’t think I would have made it to the end without Takahashi-san. It’s all thanks to Mr. Takahashi.
Takahashi: No, the manga artist who has weekly serialization writes the plot for weekly meetings and even supervises the script. That would never happen in other workplaces, so I wonder if Mr. Wakagi is okay? I was worried.
Wakagi: And he diligently fixes it every week (lol). When I went to renew his driver’s license, I was surprised to see how many gray hairs I had (lol).
But for me, it was a reward, so I just put out what I wanted to see. I don’t think I would be interested in actually being drawn, but I was told that I was free to write whatever I wanted, so I accepted his words.
Takahashi: Actually, at the stage of turning from the script to the storyboards, there may be cuts due to length issues, etc., so I don’t know how faithfully the script will be reflected.
Wakagi: Still, I thought that if I didn’t have to draw the pictures myself, I would be able to create works with such freedom! I guess I was unconsciously applying a limiter to my drawing skills. This time, I can ask someone else! What’s more, Mr. Takahashi is the one who writes the script, and Mr. Mitsumi and Mr. Kanro draw the characters (original draft), so it’s a site where you can start with such a cheat. Not really (laughs).
–surely.
Wakagi: Isn’t it amazing? It’s a happy and rewarding experience.
–You can release the limiter to your heart’s content.
Takahashi: That’s why Wakagi-sensei has his own unique way of telling the story at various points in the plot. I guess it’s science fiction in terms of genre, but there are a lot of crazy ideas thrown in here and there. So I hope you will think of it as Wakagi Sensei’s song.
Wakagi: When I asked a certain voice actor who I had also met for “Kami no Mimi” how it was, he said “It smells like Tamaki” (lol).
Takahashi: There’s a lot of essence of what Wakagi-sensei liked and what left an impression on him at the time, and there’s a sense of respect for everything.
Wakagi: I wonder how well it has survived in the end (lol).
Takahashi: The events flow according to Wakagi-sensei’s plot, but it’s also up to the director to decide where to point the camera.
Konoha and Mamoru are Keima and Elsie? A story centered around both
――I have high expectations for the content, but I would also like to touch on the cast. Aoi Koga plays the original character, the main character Akisato Konoha. When I saw her in the PV, I thought she was quite energetic.
Wakagi: Mr. Takahashi, how was it?
Takahashi: The image was perfect.
Wakagi: It was amazing. I was imagining a slightly thinner voice. But Koga-san dyed it in his own color, so I thought it was amazing! This has a lot of energy! If you put a loudspeaker on them, you would get the impression that they were obscene people who were saying things like this, but Mr. Koga changed it to feel like they had a loudspeaker installed from the beginning. Thanks to that, the whole atmosphere became a lot more energetic, which was amazing.
――No matter what happened, you had the power to break through it.
Wakagi: Certainly. If that thing comes flying from the future, you might wonder what kind of world the future will be like (lol).
–What about the members who were originally in the original work? The role of Meiko Uehara will be played by Yui Horie, and the role of Kaori Shimoda will be played by Ayako Kawasumi.
Wakagi: These two have already appeared in the TV anime “To Heart.”
Takahashi: Both of you also appear in the TV anime “Kanon”.
Wakagi: So she’s a legend and a muse.
Takahashi: It has become a meta thing where the work that has been given a voice appears in the work. However, when I was writing the script, the cast hadn’t been decided yet, so I didn’t add in any play. So I don’t know what happened in the field.
–And Atsushi Abe plays the role of Mamoru Rokuda, a programmer who loves PC98.
Wakagi: Abe-san had to do a lot of things this time, so I asked Abe-san, who was doing the best job, to help with that. Abe-san’s voice remains clear even when he shouts loudly, which I really like.
–Mamoru will be a key player this time. There was a part where Konoha and Mamoru were driving the story.
Wakagi: This is a transition from my “God Only” style. In other words, if you swap forwards and backs in the relationship between Keima and Elsie, you’ll end up with Konoha and Mamoru. In that sense, creating a conversation between these two was extremely easy.
Takahashi: I also participated in “Kami no Mi”, so it was very easy for me to do it. After all, it’s those two people.
Wakagi: Because no one was paying attention to me, I thought that unless I had a reliable unit in the middle, I wouldn’t be able to control the story. After all, anime is all about people coming together as signboards and bringing their own weapons, so midway through I changed my mind and decided to try not to go on too many adventures. That’s why I thought it would be best to do something that I can do the best calculations on.
–It’s a very interesting story, and it makes a lot of sense. Lastly, please give a message to the fans who are looking forward to your work.
Takahashi: On the screenplay side, the people who are in charge of the scripts for each episode are people who are connected to the games and culture of the time, so I hope people are looking forward to that. I’m writing a parody of the work that person is involved in!There may be something like that, so please look forward to it.
Wakagi: I think you can feel the enthusiasm for recreating that time as much as possible despite the various constraints. If you look at the group, the animation production is st.Silver, and behind them is Yasushi Ishikawa of Purple software. The staff, including Mr. Takahashi, were in the middle of everything, so in that sense, I think we’re made up of really good people. We had to express a bishoujo game without eroticism, so we were very creative during the dubbing, changing the lines and recording them over and over again to accommodate any situation. This is also a delicate area, so I’m sure it’s difficult, but I want people to feel that it’s through such hardship that they have come out of it.
And I think that’s the history of bishoujo games. How can we overcome the various constraints? I think that’s what’s happening in this anime, so I hope you’ll check it out.
[Written by Junichi Tsukagoshi]
“16bit Sensation ANOTHER LAYER” work information
Synopsis
Konoha Akisato is an illustrator who loves beautiful girls and beautiful girl games. She dreams of becoming a super popular illustrator and is working hard at a bishoujo game production company, but things don’t go well in reality…The company leans toward the modern age of social games, and Konoha works as a sub-illustrator behind the scenes of mob characters. I spent my days painting.
One day, by an unexpected turn of events, she ends up having a game shop owner give her a classic bishoujo game. She thinks back to the golden age of beautiful girl games, and when she opens the package for her “classmate”, she is suddenly surrounded by a dazzling light, and the next thing she knows, Konoha has time-leaped into the past!
I ended up in 1992! The world is in the dawn of beautiful girl games! Will Konoha, who has started working at a company called Alcohol Soft, be able to think about beautiful girls, draw beautiful girls, and create beautiful girls? ?
A story about a girl brought to you by an overwhelming love for a beautiful girl – “Let’s get started!” ”
