The idea for this grand joke was inspired by the realization that the sounds of the Kansai dialect "iruka (Do you need it? Do you want it?)" and mammals' "iruka (Dolphin)” are the same, but it is also a question to myself and the viewer: "Have I, have you, made a 'choice'?
The film was shot in Amagasaki, my hometown, where redevelopment is underway in the wake of the earthquake and the Coronavirus disaster, and at certain aquariums.
High-rise residential buildings and commercial facilities (such as the Amagasaki Castle in the film) are being built as a result of redevelopment. Kannami Shinchi (red light district) being torn down. The shuttered shopping street of Sanwa being left behind. It is we who have created this landscape. And although I do not have the slightest animal rights spirit, the dolphins at the aquariums have no "choice".
- Osamu Matsuda