Why I spent so much time remaking it

This is a story about the
original drama
"Crossroad," set in a metaverse space.

"We're going to remake it."

From the moment I decided that,
honestly, there was no turning back.

To take something that was already finished
and remake it from scratch.

It sounds simple when you say it,
but in reality, it's not such a pretty story.

It drains your time, your energy, and your spirit
more than you could ever imagine.

Even so, I wanted to leave a record
of why I spent so much time remaking it
before the release.

The biggest reason was that I felt I couldn't release it as it was.

It's not that
the quality was poor.

I made it as best I could at the time.
The people involved were also serious.

But as production progressed,
the feeling that "this work shouldn't stop here"
never went away.

If I released it as it was,
it would be over before it even reached anyone.

That was the only premonition
that remained.

Completion wasn't the goal, it was the start.

Creators sometimes make a mistake.

The moment it's finished,
they think, "I've done it."

But in reality,
the moment it's finished,
you finally stand at the starting line.

And,
when you stand at the starting line,
the weak points of the work suddenly become visible.

The lack of tempo.

The instability of the atmosphere.

The moments when what I want to show
doesn't quite get across.

The points where
the viewer's experience is interrupted.

Precisely because I had made it once,
it became clearly visible
what needed to be fixed next.

Once I saw it,
I couldn't go back.

Another reason is that I wanted to deliver it as a full-length video.

In the previous 'Crossroad',
episodes 1 through 3
were not videos,
but were structured using screenshots.

It was, so to speak,
a digital picture-story show format.

At the time,
that was the best I could do.

Within a limited environment,
it was a choice made to move the story forward.

It was by no means
a lack of effort.

But as I continued making it, a sense of discomfort remained.

As the story progressed,
there was a feeling that kept bothering me.

'This world,
is actually a place that moves, isn't it?'

The space called the metaverse is

a place where human emotions are conveyed

by stopping,

walking,

looking back,

and keeping your distance.

Is it really okay to tell that
with still images?

Even though I made it myself,
I was the one who felt
the most uncomfortable with it.

The decision to make it a full video was a point of no return.

Making the entire thing a full video
is not just about 'making it look better'.

The production workload,
honestly, is on a completely different level.

Filming time.

Refining the direction.

Designing the flow.

Reconstructing the tempo.

The difficulty of editing.

Everything
has to be done from scratch.

Even so,
once I thought,
'I want to deliver this story as a proper experience,'

at that moment,
the remake
became unavoidable.

If I'm doing it in the metaverse, this was a place I couldn't run away from.

A story told through screenshots
is not wrong as a form of expression.

But,
if I'm going to call it a metaverse drama,
there is no reason not to use space and movement.

From here on out,
if this work is to remain,
I wanted it to be in a form where I could say to myself,
'I did it properly back then.'

That is why
I made everything from episode one
into a full video.

It was tough. But if I ran away here, it would stay with me forever.

A remake
is truly exhausting.

It's harder than creating something new.
The reason is simple:
because the 'point of comparison'
is always within myself.

You might think
the previous version was better.

For those who don't know the original,
it might not resonate.

Carrying that anxiety,
I am building it up all over again.

But,
if I run away now, it will haunt me forever.

“I wanted to redo it,
but I couldn't.”

Rather than letting that remain,
it is better to take it all on
and see it through to the end.

That is why I spent so much time on this.

There is only one reason
why I took the time.

To release this work
into the world properly.

I want it to go viral.
I want it to be appreciated.

Of course,
I have those feelings too.

But more than that, as a creator, I wanted to be proud and say,

“This is Crossroads.”

I wanted to make it into a form where I could say that.

That is all.

Once it's released, there will probably be mixed opinions.

I will say this
in advance.

It will not be a work
that resonates with everyone.

In the first place,
I am not aiming for that.

But,
for those it does reach,
it will strike deep.

I believe it has become
that kind of work.

And above all,
I wanted to properly capture
the feelings of everyone
who has been involved in this project on film.

The metaverse drama "Crossroad" is finally starting to move.

The release is coming soon.

It will be a little while before it is made public.
But the story
is definitely moving forward.

Information regarding the release of the metaverse drama "Crossroad" will be
announced sequentially on our official X and YouTube accounts.

Announcement of the launch of our YouTube channel

We have launched the official YouTube channel
for the metaverse drama "Crossroad".

We will be posting information regarding CM videos and the main feature release
on this channel
as it becomes available.

▶︎ Click here for the YouTube channel

Directed by Reiji Kuga
You can watch the metaverse drama Crossroad here⬇️

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