100 Meters (Hyakuemu) is Hype, Beautiful and Existential? — Transcript

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1. 0:00Hayukamu or 100 meters is an anime movie
2. 0:02that is based off of a manga by the same
3. 0:04name created by Mangaka Uu, the same guy
4. 0:07that blessed us with one of fall 2024's
5. 0:10best anime for the theme song alone.
6. 0:15It wasn't long after I finished Orb that
7. 0:17I learned about a new movie that was
8. 0:19coming and the art style looked very
9. 0:21familiar. A sports drama from the mind
10. 0:23that delivered as one of 2024's most
11. 0:25underrated anime. I'm seated. In fact, I
12. 0:28was the only one seated in my theater.
13. 0:30But trust me, that is not reflective of
14. 0:31the movie's quality, just the lack of
15. 0:33culture in a small town in Canada. U
16. 0:36said in an interview that his
17. 0:37inspiration for 100 meters was sparked
18. 0:39when he was casually watching the 100
19. 0:41meter dash competition during the 2016
20. 0:43Rio Olympics. He wondered to himself
21. 0:45what training for a moment that only
22. 0:46lasted 10 seconds felt like. He imagined
23. 0:49spending a lifetime preparing yourself
24. 0:51for a 10-second dash. all the emotion,
25. 0:54tension, and horror of being in that
26. 0:55moment and the questions that might
27. 0:57present to the person competing. And
28. 0:59those very questions are what 100 meters
29. 1:01tries to tackle. The story follows two
30. 1:03boys, Togishi and Kyama. He's a
31. 1:06naturally gifted runner born with fast
32. 1:08legs, as he puts it. In elementary
33. 1:09school, his speed just comes naturally
34. 1:11and is absolutely no issue in winning
35. 1:14the 100 meter dash against his
36. 1:15classmates. Whether it be in sports,
37. 1:17state competitions, or just another day
38. 1:18in gym class, Tokushi's natural talent
39. 1:20grants him awards, friends, popularity,
40. 1:22and honestly, special treatment in some
41. 1:24cases. He continues his running career
42. 1:26into high school and adulthood, but he
43. 1:28learns that talent can only take you so
44. 1:30far. Why does he run? He's not as fast
45. 1:33as Togei at first, but he has drive and
46. 1:36passion to be faster. He has his own
47. 1:38physical setbacks, but he's able to
48. 1:40overcome them with hard work. is
49. 1:42eventually able to go toe-to-toe with
50. 1:43Tushi and becomes one of the best
51. 1:45runners in all of Japan. The passion
52. 1:48will only get you so far. Why does he
53. 1:51run? Eventually, a rivalry forms between
54. 1:53the two that spans all the way to
55. 1:55adulthood. They both endure and overcome
56. 1:57different hurdles, some physical, some
57. 1:59existential. Okay, a lot existential.
58. 2:03But it all commulates into a final race
59. 2:05where they finally answer, "Why do we
60. 2:08run?
61. 2:11The highlight of 100 meters animation
62. 2:13has got to be its rotoscoping.
63. 2:15Rotoscoping is an animation technique
64. 2:16where animators trace over liveaction
65. 2:18footage to give their animation more
66. 2:20lifelike movements. Tracing over
67. 2:22something may sound like an easier
68. 2:24process, but it's really quite the
69. 2:26opposite. A lot of it is done frame by
70. 2:28frame, meaning the character is often
71. 2:29drawn and redrawn over and over. There's
72. 2:32almost never a moment where the
73. 2:34character is still, even if it's just
74. 2:36standing in place, which means keeping
75. 2:37characters on model is also a more
76. 2:39difficult task when using this
77. 2:41technique. 100 meters is a very
78. 2:43dialogueheavy movie. So, there's a lot
79. 2:44of scenes of characters just speaking.
80. 2:46But the rotoscoping really made these
81. 2:48scenes enjoyable to watch. When filming
82. 2:50liveaction footage for rotocoping, their
83. 2:52conversational scenes were done with
84. 2:54normal actors. But when filming the
85. 2:56races, they hired professional athletes
86. 2:58like now retired four-time 100meter
87. 3:00champion of the Japan Championships,
88. 3:02Masushi Iguchi. He helps with bringing
89. 3:04Tagashi's running form to life. And this
90. 3:07approach takes the races to crazy hype
91. 3:09levels. The realistic running pair with
92. 3:11the exaggeration we love from anime, and
93. 3:13the killer intense soundtrack had me on
94. 3:16the edge of my seat every time the
95. 3:18starting pistol was shot.
96. 3:20There's a 3 minute and 40 second
97. 3:22rotoscope scene all done in one take.
98. 3:25And if you've seen the movie, you
99. 3:26probably know exactly what scene I'm
100. 3:28talking about. The liveaction footage
101. 3:30was filmed in one take. And the
102. 3:32animation is one continuous long shot as
103. 3:34well. What I'm showing on screen is just
104. 3:35a small portion of that scene. And this
105. 3:37long shot has a total of 9,830
106. 3:42animation cells, which combines the
107. 3:44count of 3,500
108. 3:46cells of background animation and 6,330
109. 3:50cells of character animation. Nearly
110. 3:5210,000 unique drawings for this scene
111. 3:55alone. I hope the artist felt like it
112. 3:57was worth the trouble because I
113. 3:58certainly enjoyed this scene a lot,
114. 4:01especially with how the scene concludes.
115. 4:03I generally think this scene will be
116. 4:05looked back with great fondness for
117. 4:07years to come by many animation fans.
118. 4:09It's incredible.
119. 4:14This question is asked multiple times
120. 4:16throughout the movie in different ways
121. 4:17by different characters. One of my
122. 4:19favorite answers comes from Kaido. Kaido
123. 4:21is one of the runners that makes it to
124. 4:23the finals. He's very familiar with
125. 4:25defeat, but despite that, he never
126. 4:27waivers when it comes to his goals. He's
127. 4:29a little bit older compared to his
128. 4:30competitors, but he's determined to beat
129. 4:32the champion and take home gold in the
130. 4:34100 meter race finals. When he's asked
131. 4:36how he overcomes these odds and why he
132. 4:39runs, he says, "No matter what insights,
133. 4:41opinions, truths, or enlightenment
134. 4:43people throw at me, I value myself. If
135. 4:46reality says my goals and dreams are
136. 4:48impossible, I will simply escape reality
137. 4:52to achieve my goals." And how
138. 4:54unbelievably cool is that answer? If
139. 4:57reality says you can't do something,
140. 4:59Kaido says screw reality. Make your own.
141. 5:02And as outlandish as that sounds, Kaido
142. 5:04is able to prove that true in the movie.
143. 5:07The question, why do you/ why do we run?
144. 5:10Comes up a lot. Though a specific
145. 5:12question in the film, it can be applied
146. 5:14to anything, not just running. Why do we
147. 5:16draw? Why do we study? Why do we make
148. 5:18videos? Why do we do anything? What's
149. 5:22the point of training, practicing, and
150. 5:23dedicating your life to something? Are
151. 5:25the long nights and challenges you face
152. 5:26to achieve your goals going to be worth
153. 5:28it once you achieve them if you achieve
154. 5:31them? Is it worth training, practicing,
155. 5:33and dedicating your life to something
156. 5:34that you may never accomplish? I mean,
157. 5:36we're just going to die one day anyway.
158. 5:38The movie exclaims that's exactly why
159. 5:40it's worth it. One day, this will all be
160. 5:42over. Of course, everything in
161. 5:44moderation, but one character says, "One
162. 5:46day, I will die and I'll never be
163. 5:48reborn." And that's the reason that
164. 5:50character chases their goals. Never get
165. 5:52the chance to do it again. Not
166. 5:54everyone's answer to this question is
167. 5:55going to be the same and there is no one
168. 5:57right answer. After 20 years of
169. 5:59searching for his answer, Togoshi's
170. 6:01reason for running is to give it my all
171. 6:04because there's no better feeling. Who
172. 6:06wins? Both will only get you so far. If
173. 6:08your heart isn't in whatever you're
174. 6:10doing, you'll have a hard time beating
175. 6:11the competition. You might have heart,
176. 6:13but you got to be willing to work twice
177. 6:15as hard to see results. In the end,
178. 6:17whether you have talent or passion,
179. 6:20you'll still have to give it your all.
180. 6:22[Music]