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Smile Down the Runway Director Speaks of His Former Ambitions in the Fashion Industry

Smile Down the Runway director Nobuyoshi Nagayama spoke to Animage about how he felt when he was first asked to be director of the anime. He revealed that there was a period in his life when he himself wanted to be a fashion designer, so he felt a connection with deuteragonist Ikuto Tsumura.

"For ages, I've always loved making soft toys, and I also made teddy bears by hand," he said. "In the end, I quit university and went to a technical school for animation, but I do feel a bit of a connection with Ikuto. Maybe, like him, I could have stepped into the fashion world... That's what I thought as I read the manga."

He said that he found the ambition displayed by Ikuto and Chiyuki very inspiring, and seeing them overcome trials is cathartic.

The fashion-themed manga Smile Down the Runway launched in Weekly Shōnen Magazine in May 2017 as Kotoba Inoya's debut work. Kodansha Comics publishes the manga digitally in the USA, and it describes the story:

Chiyuki Fujito has a dream: to become a Paris Collection model. The problem is, she's too short to be a model, and everyone around her tells her so! But no matter what they say, she won't give up. Her classmate, a poor student named Ikuto Tsumura, also has a dream: to become a fashion designer. One day Chiyuki tells him that it's “probably impossible” for him, causing him to consider giving it up … ?! This is the story of two individuals wholeheartedly chasing after their dreams in spite of all the negativity that comes after them!

The anime premiered in Japan on Friday.

Source: Source: Animage February 2020 Issue