Souta Ueno and Noriyoshi Konuma Discuss Shiboyugi's Sound and Direction
Sakuga Blog published a translated interview from Comic Natalie featuring Shiboyugi director Souta Ueno and sound director Noriyoshi Konuma. The two discussed their creative process for the anime, which premiered on January 7. Ueno said he wanted to avoid common death game tropes by not reveling in the girls' deaths or making a spectacle of them. Konuma explained that the sound design aimed for abstraction rather than dictating emotions, using atonal and dissonant music from composer Junichi Matsumoto. The recording sessions for the hour-long first episode took two sessions, with three takes per episode and five-hour sessions. Konuma noted that voice actress Chiyuki Miura's performance made Yuki more human than expected, adding nuance to her character. Ueno revealed that the opening sequence was inspired by his own experience of wandering at night, which he compared to feeling suicidal, and Konuma's dream of a burning double-decker bus. The interview also covered the casting of lesser-known talent, the decision to use instrumental music for the opening, and the thematic exploration of love in the story's world.