Close Menu
  • Login
  • Support Us
  • Newsletter
  • News
  • Features
  • Interviews
  • Reviews
    • Video Games
      • Previews
      • PC
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X/S
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Xbox One
      • PS4
      • Tabletop
    • Film
    • TV
    • Anime
    • Comics
      • BOOM! Studios
      • Dark Horse Comics
      • DC Comics
      • IDW Publishing
      • Image Comics
      • Indie Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • Oni-Lion Forge
      • Valiant Comics
      • Vault Comics
  • Podcast
  • More
    • Event Coverage
    • BWT Recommends
    • RSS Feeds
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
Support Us
But Why Tho?
RSS Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube
Trending:
  • Features
    Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Co-Op and weapon kit promotional image from Treyarch and Raven Studios

    Sharing Gunsmith Builds in Black Ops 7 Is About To Get Much Easier

    08/19/2025
    EA Sports Madden NFL 26 Head Coach But Why Tho 5

    Dear EA Sports, Why Can’t I Make A Hot Coach?

    08/14/2025
    Blade in Marvel Rivals Season 3.5

    Blade Can Shut Down The Other Team In Marvel Rivals Season 3.5 If You Know How

    08/08/2025
    John Cena and Cody Rhodes during Summerslam 2025

    The SummerSlam 2025 Main Event Was A Fever Dream We All Needed

    08/08/2025
    Street Fighter 6 Sagat

    Sagat Brings Depth And Approachability To ‘Street Fighter 6’

    08/07/2025
  • Indie Games
  • K-Dramas
  • Netflix
  • Apple TV+
But Why Tho?
Home » Interviews » INTERVIEW: Diving into ‘Josee, The Tiger, and The Fish’ with Director Kotaro Tamura

INTERVIEW: Diving into ‘Josee, The Tiger, and The Fish’ with Director Kotaro Tamura

Kate SánchezBy Kate Sánchez01/23/20226 Mins Read
Kotaro Tamura - But Why Tho
Share
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Reddit WhatsApp Email

Kotaro Tamura - But Why Tho

Josee, The Tiger and The Fish is an animated drama based on the 1985 short story written by Akutagawa Prize-winning author Seiko Tanabe, the film is animated by studio BONES, directed by Kotaro Tamura, and features a screenplay by Sayaka Kuwamura. A story about love and finding yourself, Josee, The Tiger and The Fish is a film that has a power in its story, but more importantly, its ending. We got the chance to talk with Director Tamura about the film, the importance of disabled representation in animation and film, and how Josee, The Tiger and The Fish came to life.

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here

BUT WHY THO: Josee, The Tiger and the Fish is one of a few adaptations of Seiko Tanabe’s writing, it’s also the only one suitable for all ages. Why did you decide to make it a feature that is accessible to all ages?

KOTARO TAMURA: I hadn’t planned to make it for all ages at the start. It’s more like it turned out that way as I was working out the plot. I was aware of the recommended age range of the original story. Most animation in Japan depicts adolescents from around 12 to 18 years old. But Josee is 24 and Tsuneo is 22, so they’re young adults. They’re adults by age, but it’s hard to say that they stayed at home or in school and then fully entered society. I wanted to weave the themes of the story into that ambivalent period in their lives.

The original story does include depictions of sexuality to show the culmination of their relationship, but it doesn’t really add to the drama at all so I left it out of the film. I didn’t consider it taboo just because it’s anime, though. In animation today, there still aren’t many stories that deal seriously with people in wheelchairs. There aren’t many that deal with sexual motifs, either. I thought the movie might appear too unorthodox if I tried to combine both of those things. Representation can only take the next step forward once a genre has matured. I hope we start to see more stories dealing with wheelchairs in the future, and I intended Josee to build a foundation for that to happen.

BUT WHY THO: What was one of your favorite scenes to direct in the film and why?

KOTARO TAMURA: One scene where I really wanted the characters’ emotions to come through is when Mai talks to Josee from the other side of the door. Their intentions and their actions are all mixed up in that scene, so some viewers might come away with a bad impression of Mai. Up to that point, Mai and Josee hadn’t said much to each other in the film, but I wanted to show there is a kind of trust between them, something similar to friendship because they both like the same person. It is a love story, but I believe I was able to make the movie a little deeper by showing something that went beyond just the workings of male-female relationships.

BUT WHY THO: They each seem to have their own color palette and identity visually, which come together in the third act. It’s clear how different the characters are just by looking at them and the world around them. How did you craft the stark differences between Josee’s world and Tsuneo’s?

KOTARO TAMURA: It’s a common trope in “boy-meets-girl” stories for two people who have nothing to do with each other to cross paths and be introduced to a new world. That’s emphasized even more in this movie because Josee is in a wheelchair. Once their backgrounds and personalities were set in the plot, the differences in their appearance came naturally.

Tsuneo wears the “silhouette” style of clothes that’s popular today, but he lives really cheaply so his wardrobe is as basic as you can get. He also likes to go diving, and for a researcher he dresses pretty sporty. The watch he’s wearing is a dive computer. Josee dresses like a daydreamer, a little childish, but gradually gets more stylish after she meets Tsuneo. Her short bangs let her clearly show her expressions, and she changes her hairstyle depending on her mood. You should notice her earrings at the end too. Neither one of them are wealthy, so we had them cycle through the same clothes.

BUT WHY THO: Were there scenes that were harder or more emotional to direct than others? 

KOTARO TAMURA: I struggled with the scene where Josee visits Tsuneo at work for the first time when storyboarding. The music there isn’t emotional and the colors are very plain. It just looks like a normal day where nothing special happens, but it becomes a really important turning point for the story. We needed the viewers to be able to understand Josee, Tsuneo, and Mai’s state of mind better than the characters themselves.

BUT WHY THO: Do you relate to any of the characters in the film and why?

KOTARO TAMURA: I feel like of all of the characters are parts of me, but if I had to pick just one, it’s probably Mai. I think about how she must have felt when she was deceiving herself for the sake of the person she liked. Her behavior might appear to be hypocritical from the outside, but to her it makes sense.

BUT WHY THO: What do you hope people feel or think when the film ends?

I always felt that disabled people in stories are usually burdened with tragic roles. They still must have their own unique perspectives on life, so why aren’t there more stories that talk about their hopes and dreams? In this movie, instead of dwelling on a disabled person’s physical limitations, I wanted to put the emphasis on her freedom of spirit. I’m sure that even so-called able-bodied people would be able to empathize with someone like that. Nobody really thinks that they’re totally “complete” anyway, so in that sense we are all Josee.


When we talk about the best animation of 2021, we need to talk about Josee, The Tiger and The Fish. Released in July by Funimation in the United States, this is a feature film I can’t wait for folks to stream at home. A beautiful story about growing a connection with someone and also growing outside of it, this a film that brings beauty and heart in spades.

Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Email
Previous ArticleREVIEW: ‘Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon,’ Episode 40 – “The Three Princesses Escape”
Next Article REVIEW: ‘We Have Demons,’ Issue #3
Kate Sánchez
  • Website
  • X (Twitter)
  • Instagram

Kate Sánchez is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of But Why Tho? A Geek Community. There, she coordinates film, television, anime, and manga coverage. Kate is also a freelance journalist writing features on video games, anime, and film. Her focus as a critic is championing animation and international films and television series for inclusion in awards cycles. Find her on Bluesky @ohmymithrandir.bsky.social

Related Posts

Call of Futty: Black Ops 7 Endgame promotional image

Black Ops 7’s Campaign has an Endgame?? Yes, It Does

08/19/2025
Sword of the Sea promotional key art from giant Squid

Giant Squid’s Creative Director Talks Leaving The World A Little Better With ‘Sword Of The Sea’

08/18/2025
Nuestra Magia Secret Lair Art

EXCLUSIVE: How The ‘Nuestra Magia’ Secret Lair Found Its Identity And Raised Over $1M

08/15/2025
Dungeon Crawler Carl interview with Matt Dinniman and Jeff Hays

Building The ‘Dungeon Crawler Carl’ Universe With Matt Dinniman And Jeff Hays

08/06/2025
Key art featuring The Fantastic Four in Marvel Contest of Champions

INTERVIEW: ‘Marvel Contest of Champions’ Is Geared For Fans New and Old

08/06/2025
Invincible VS key art for our interview with RObert Kirkman

Robert Kirkman On ‘Invincible VS’ And The Future of Fighting Games

08/05/2025

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here
TRENDING POSTS
Still from Shin Godzilla
8.5
Film

REVIEW: ‘Shin Godzilla’ Is More Relevant Than Ever

By Sarah Musnicky08/16/2025Updated:08/17/2025

It is understandable how Shin Godzilla succeeded at the box office nearly a decade ago. The strength of its story still stands today.

Botanical Bliss Update Palia But Why Tho 5 News

Palia’s New Botanical Bliss Update Brings New Flora, Decorations, And Quest Mechanic

By Matt Donahue08/18/2025Updated:08/18/2025

The Botanical Bliss update adds new event, more plushes, and a host of quality-of-life improvements and more to celebrate 2 years of Palia.

BOOTS Netflix First Look promotional images News

First Look at Coming-of-Age Story BOOTS, Coming to Netflix This October

By But Why Tho?08/17/2025

Netflix is reporting for duty this fall with the new eight-episode series BOOTS, a comedic drama starring Miles Heizer and Vera Farmiga

Nuestra Magia Secret Lair Art Interviews

EXCLUSIVE: How The ‘Nuestra Magia’ Secret Lair Found Its Identity And Raised Over $1M

By Kate Sánchez08/15/2025Updated:08/15/2025

We spoke with Ovidio Cartagena about Magic: The Gathering’s Nuestra Magia Secret Lair drop, its impact, and the real treasure within.

But Why Tho?
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest RSS YouTube Twitch
  • CONTACT US
  • ABOUT US
  • PRIVACY POLICY
  • SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER
  • Review Score Guide
Sometimes we include links to online retail stores. If you click on one and make a purchase we may receive a small contribution.
Written Content is Copyright © 2025 But Why Tho? A Geek Community

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

But Why Tho Logo

Support Us!

We're able to keep making content thanks to readers like YOU!
Support independent media today with
Click Here