After its debut in Japan in September, the Hyakuemu or 100 METERS anime film has also been released overseas, including in North America in October and in Indonesia in November, allowing international audiences to experience another animation adaptation of mangaka Uoto’s work—following Orb: On the Movements of the Earth—this time on the big screen. Starting this New Year’s Eve, however, even more people can experience 100 METERS at home, with the track-and-field film arriving on Netflix on December 31.
The film is directed by ROCK’N ROLL MOUNTAIN’s Kenji Iwaisawa—known for his distinct, rotoscope-based experimental approach—in his second full-length feature. Anime Trending had the opportunity to talk with him in an email interview about the process behind adapting 100 METERS from manga to animation, the creative use of rotoscope, the creation of that rain sequence, and everything else in between!
Interview questions and article by Rakha Alif. Article edited by Isabelle Lee and Tamara Lazic. The interview has been edited lightly for clarity.
Anime Trending: First of all, congrats on the release of 100 METERS, Iwaisawa-san! Now that the film has been released overseas to positive reviews, how do you feel about the audience’s reception so far?
Kenji Iwaisawa: I really wanted as many people as possible to enjoy it, so I’m honestly relieved to see so many positive responses. Until people actually watch it, you never know what kind of feedback you’ll get. As the creator, I’m just happy that the passion we poured into the film seems to have come across. I’ve even seen comments from fans in Indonesia on social media, and it makes me really happy if they’re enjoying it.
You and the team had to adapt five volumes of the original manga into a 106-minute animated film, which certainly was not a simple task. How involved was Uoto-sensei throughout this process, and how did you, Uoto-sensei, scriptwriter Yasuyuki Muto-san, and the rest of the team determine which parts to include or omit while still keeping the essence of the story?
Kenji Iwaisawa: I first proposed a rough structure, including some original elements for the movie, and got feedback from Uoto-sensei several times. There were scenes we desperately wanted to keep but had to cut with tears in our eyes. One was the moment Nigami gets disqualified for a false start and can’t even run in the race. It was a very dramatic scene that fit perfectly with the 100-meter theme, but it required too much surrounding context and drama to work, so we had to let it go.
From our understanding, PONY CANYON initially approached you for this project. Among the many reasons you accepted the offer, such as your personal experience playing in high school, or the captivating story and characters created by Uoto-sensei, was the rarity of Japanese films about track and field also a contributing factor?
Kenji Iwaisawa: There are almost no Japanese films centered on the 100-meter sprint, so the idea of tackling something no one else had really tried felt incredibly exciting and attractive.
There was a pilot version initially, in which composer Hiroaki Tsutsumi-san was already involved. How different was the pilot compared to the final film?
Kenji Iwaisawa: The pilot was a testing ground for trying out different things. However, almost everything we experimented with in the pilot ended up in the final film, so you could say the theatrical version is a direct extension of the pilot. As for the music, when we made the pilot, my vision wasn’t fully formed yet, so most of the direction came from the producer’s suggestions.
On-Gaku: Our Sound was made with an independent spirit—a much smaller team full of rookies, and a modest budget. Meanwhile, 100 METERS had roughly 50 times the budget and a much larger team of professionals. How did you approach this new territory, both in the directorial workflow and organizational aspects?
Kenji Iwaisawa: The biggest change was the sheer number of people involved, so communication became the top priority. Thanks to working as a proper team, we were able to obsess over the visuals far more than I ever could on solo projects. In personal productions, you’re always limited by your own technical skill—there are things you want to do but simply can’t. This time, we were able to create an incredibly luxurious look.
The film is filled with nuanced and detailed depictions of track and field—both technically and emotionally, such as baton passing techniques, running styles, muscle tears, and social pressure surrounding athletes. Were these elements just adapted directly from the manga, or did you refine and fine-tune them even more perhaps through additional research or by consulting professional athletes?
Kenji Iwaisawa: Most of it is adapted and slightly rearranged from the manga, but we also went to real track meets for reference. We even interviewed 100m sprinter Ippei Takeda and listened to real athletes’ feelings and behaviors to make everything feel authentic.
One of the things we really love about the film is its many subtle yet fascinating character movements that amplify the scenes even more. For example, two of our favorites are Zaitsu pulling up the mic off the stand and speaking to it, which adds a layer of mystery to him, and Asakusa’s body language when she first tries to convince Togashi to join the club, which is really in line with a nervous teenager. How did you develop the use of character behaviors as a way to express emotion or characterization?
Kenji Iwaisawa: That’s largely thanks to the rotoscoping technique unique to this film. I directed the acting, but the actors and I built the performances together, so their contribution is huge. For example, Asakusa’s rapid-fire, machine-gun talking when recruiting Togashi was something I specifically directed.
Manga tends to use dialogues or inner monologues to convey emotion and exposition, while the animation medium can handle these “more elegantly” by using visual expressions without being too straightforward relying on words. In the film, you use wobbly, stretchy visuals when Togashi receives the bad news from the doctor, and rough black-and-white pencil animation to depict the kinetic intensity when kid Komiya runs down the track. How did you and the team explore these visual representations to deliver the narration?
Kenji Iwaisawa: Animation has so many tools—movement, color, sound—so my basic stance is to rely on dialogue as little as possible and see how much I can express through images alone. I think that approach creates more captivating results. It’s more my personal style than a team invention. Of course, manga is a different medium, so the differences in expression are natural.
The first half of the film, which mainly covers the characters’ childhood, uses more traditional 2D animation, while the high school era and onward rely more on rotoscoping. What was the reason behind this shift?
Kenji Iwaisawa: We avoided rotoscoping for the elementary-school scenes because those moments are “the past” relative to the adult characters. We wanted a slightly more detached, less hyper-real feel compared to the rotoscoped present-day scenes.
Of course, we have to talk about the rain sequence! A 3-minute-and-40-second one-shot sequence, with 9,830 drawings and a year of production. How did you and the team approach the initial planning and finally executing such an ambitious sequence?
Kenji Iwaisawa: The long take right before the final race start was the very first idea that came to me once we decided to make the film with rotoscoping: “If we’re going rotoscope, we need a scene that only rotoscoping can achieve.” It’s the most symbolic scene justifying the technique. Early on, I went to actual track meets and watched athletes’ pre-race rituals. I realized that if we could capture that tension and those tiny movements without dialogue, it would be both cinematically rich and a spectacular highlight. That conviction is why I pushed forward with rotoscoping. I also wanted viewers to project their own emotions onto the silent movements. The moment the screen turns monochrome at the finish line wasn’t planned from the beginning—it emerged naturally during production.
The cat appearing in the film is your own cat, Hokusai, right? Are there any other fun or surprising facts about any aspects of the film that audiences might like to know?
Kenji Iwaisawa: Nothing in particular. (laughs)
Your roots are in live action, so it’s only natural for you to utilize rotoscoping in all your works. Do you think you might ever create a film without rotoscoping in the future?
Kenji Iwaisawa: Right now, rotoscoping is my greatest weapon and my defining trait, so I don’t really imagine making something without it. That said, I can picture the technique evolving—starting from rotoscoping but ending up with a completely different final look.
So far, your feature films have all been adaptations—On-Gaku, 100 METERS, and the upcoming Hina is Beautiful. Is it a possible future avenue for you and ROCK’N ROLL MOUNTAIN to perhaps take on the different challenge of creating an original work?
Kenji Iwaisawa: I definitely want to do an original someday, but nothing is scheduled yet. Right now, our young studio staff are making a roughly 10-minute short based on a manga, and I’m overseeing rather than directing.
Lastly, do you have a message you’d like to share with your overseas fans?
Kenji Iwaisawa: Knowing that people overseas are watching and enjoying the film is a huge motivation for me as a creator. I’ll keep making more works, so I hope you’ll continue to check them out! Thank you!
We would like to thank Iwaisawa-san for kindly taking the time to answer our questions. Our special thanks also go to Asmik Ace and Medialink Group Limited for making this interview possible.
100 METERS will be available on Netflix starting December 31, making it the perfect film to close out the year with a bang!
