The phantom anime version of "The Laughing Vampire"

In 1992, when "MIDORI" was shown at a preview screening for people involved in the project, it was not well received by the staff. (That's always the case with Harada's work. It's always poorly received at the first screening).
But in 1992, it was well received by the audience at the shrine and basement screenings (despite the fact that the audience was shown the film suddenly, with almost no advance notice, and various objects fell from the ceiling during the screening).

After "MIDORI" was screened in France in 1994, it was screened in various European countries from the 1990s to the 2000s.
This marked a major change in the opinion of "MIDORI" among those around Harada.
Harada received various proposals.

Many people requested that it be screened without any gimmicks.
Many also suggested that "we should work together to produce "MIDORI Part 2" to raise funds for the production of Zashikiro.
By "MIDORI Part 2," they meant that since MIDORI had been well received in Europe, they wanted to safely receive the same kind of praise and recognition.
It took more energy than expected to turn them down one by one.
Still in his 30s and still inexperienced, Harada accepted each of them.
However, despite spending a huge amount of time and effort, most of the plans were scrapped in the end, and he was left with nothing.
Learning from those big failures over the past decade, Harada has been concentrating on production all by himself since the late 2000s, without collaborating with others.

In 2002, French producer Jean-Pierre Dione came to Japan. He proposed to Harada that he would like to produce "MIDORI Part 2".
Harada submitted a proposal for "Dr. Caligari," based on an original work by Maruo. (We have already introduced that in this blog.)

Today, we discovered another proposal in the Kiryukan warehouse.
It was "The Laughing Vampire," based on an original work by Maruo.
"Dr. Caligari" was written by Harada and was political and experimental.

On the other hand, for "The Laughing Vampire," he proposed to the producer the idea that Maruo be asked to write the script and storyboard, and Harada should focus on drawing as an animator.
The proposal stated that the story would follow the original work or Maruo's script.
The proposal also stated that Harada would ask a filming company and a recording company that he had worked with on commercial anime at the time to do the work, and that he would ask an indie rock band that Harada also worked with at the time to do the music. The art was to be done by Haryu, the same company that did "MIDORI."
Mr. Maruo was also looking forward to it.

However, these two plans were ultimately scrapped for reasons that cannot be disclosed here (to avoid violating the privacy of the people involved).
If Harada had refused all the proposals from those around him at the time and continued to work on his own, both "Horizon Blue" and "Zashikiro" might have been completed a little sooner.
However, in 2000, the performance of computers and video editing software was still poor, and Harada was more tech-illiterate than most people, so he avoided learning how to use a computer.
So he accepted an offer from those around him to "create a different subculture work that would generate revenue in order to raise production funds for Zashikiro."

It took Harada about six years to practice using computers and video software. Eventually, he was able to create his works completely on his own.
If Harada had been born in an era when computers with today's specifications, video software, and audio software were available, he might have been able to live a different life.

The proposal for "The Laughing Vampire" submitted to a French producer.In case "Dr. Caligari," which is closer to Harada's political and experimental style, did not meet the producer's expectations, "The Laughing Vampire" was a simple proposal that followed the original novel.