Studio Ponoc’s latest feature, The Imaginary, debuts next Friday July 5th on Netflix. It’s based on A.F. Harrold’s novel about Rudger, the imaginary friend of Amanda, who must find a way to save her life and not disappear forever. Here’s my Animation Scoop Q&A with writer and producer Yoshiaki Nishimura, two-time Academy Award nominee for The Tale of Princess Kaguya and When Marnie Was There. (This interview was conducted on Zoom with a translator and was edited for length and clarity.)

Jackson Murphy: What makes the idea of ‘imaginary friends’ so interesting and exciting for you as a storyteller?

Yoshiaki Nishimura: There are so many stories where human beings encounter monsters or martians and then that person grows. The most important and interesting thing about this film is that it’s depicted from the perspective of the one that was imagined and that relationship is with the person who imagined him.

JM: What were the challenges of coming up with the sophisticated dialogue and the conversations Amanda has with Rudger and her mother?

YN: I am so happy that you say it’s sophisticated. It would be easy if we just focused on only turning this into a fantasy, exciting story. But the most challenging thing for me was to make sure I would incorporate the realistic family story. So for each dialogue, make sure people could feel the real family relationship. And how can you really seamlessly connect the real world and the imaginary would? That was the challenge I had.

JM: You do such a great job. This film is based on a novel, and in the movie we see a bookshop and a library. What do you love so much about books?

YN: The bookstore actually comes from my childhood memory. I had a friend who lived in a bookstore like that, and I loved it, so I wanted to use it. But one thing, and something I ask everyone, is ‘Where does that imagination come from?’ And how do people create imagination? When we were creating this, we had to really define where this imagination comes from. How do we bring up or create this imagination? One way is the world of books. So I thought if we used books as something common with everyone’s imagination emerging, then we were able to create this world of books. That’s why the imaginaries’ world — the town of imaginaries — is made by books.

JM: There are several intense scenes in the film. How far did you and director Yoshiyuki Momose want to go in exploring the dark themes of the story?

YN: There are scary things and fun things. It was very hard to have a balance between the two. Plus, our stories are primarily focused on children. I’m an older guy now, so it’s different from when I was a child. The world children are looking at on TV is full of scary things. For children who are exposed to these kinds of worlds, to show them that the world is happy is fake. That’s not true. One thing we really think is valuable in what we created is we want to convey the truth about this world to the children. We want them to have the power to overcome fearful or scary things, like Rudger.

JM: Absolutely. And kind of going off of that: this movie celebrates the power of believing in children. What does that mean to you?

YN: People are exposed to so many different opinions. Children don’t know which way is the right way. What’s right and what’s wrong? They’re unsure. One thing I really wanted to convey to the children is that something that you really feel dear, make sure you understand and take care of that. For some people, it might seem silly or not very wise, but I wanted to convey and let them know to make sure you cherish something that is most dear, no matter what other people say. You should be able to embrace your own self.

JM: Without giving it all away, the climactic scene at the hospital is powerful. What was the biggest challenge in crafting that and making sure it worked? There’s a lot going on there.

YN: There are two things I would like to say. When I created the script, I wrote everything down in words. So that scene was all written down. And the creators very much valued and appreciated that. They depicted it visually based on my writing. The written script was recreated as something they really believed in. Also, my son saw something very scary when he was suffering from a fever. It was so realistic to me what he was going through. So I thought if I focused on that experience I observed with him, then I knew I could lead to the very climactic state that I was aiming for.

JM: How did you want to present memory in the film?

YN: That’s a very good question. It’s very difficult too. Memory is something that, no matter what, will remain in your heart. One thing I can say: it’s almost like you can imagine things. Animation that you see as a child can remain in that child forever. Even if you forget the name of the characters… 10 or 20 years from now, something that was very dear to you when you watched that animation will remain and support you. When I was 10 I watched “Grave of the Fireflies” from Isao Takahaka. Then I joined Studio Ghibli later on and I started creating [Studio Ponoc]. There are things that I can understand because I went through this path. Animation is very powerful. The imaginaries are very similar to the animation you thought you forgot but remains in you.