Every year, Studio Trigger visits Otakon to discuss their newest and upcoming projects. More recently, the studio has started bringing its young talent to the convention to meet international fans. This year’s roster included animators Ichigo Kanno and Kazuki Chiba, who both joined Trigger around the same time. Kanno is responsible for the 90s-style character designs and chief animation direction of Trigger’s upcoming Cyberpunk Edgerunners II, a show that is set to melt everybody’s faces off this October. He also previously contributed to some series I love, like SSSS.Dynazenon. Chiba on the other hand is credited for Edgerunners II’s ending sequence. He’s credited as animation director for several episodes of Delicious in Dungeon, and has also drawn animation for Mari Okada-affiliated films Maboroshi and Fureru.
The two were joined by Hiromi Wakabayashi, a creative producer at Trigger who has been involved with the studio since its founding. I found out in an interview last year that he’s a fan of American comics, so you’d better believe that’s the first thing I asked him about at Otakon when I had the opportunity. This is Comics Beat, after all!
Are you a fan of Vertigo Comics?
ADAM WESCOTT: Last year at Anime NYC, you said that your favorite American comics character was Death, as drawn by Chris Bachalo. Does that mean you’re a fan of Vertigo Comics?
WAKABAYASHI: I’m actually more of a fan of Chris because when I was a kid, I bought the comic Generation X from the X-Men series when coming over to the States. I’ve kept it ever since then; it is my prized possession.
WESCOTT: Kanno-san and Chiba-san, do you also have a favorite American comic? If so, what?
ICHIGO KANNO: I too go more for the person rather than the title. In my case it’s Simon Bisley. I’m influenced by the director Hiroyuki Imaishi, who said, “anything by Simon Bisley, get it!” So I bought the Simon Bisley art book and went through it. Very good stuff.
KAZUKI CHIBA: I don’t actually read too many American comics, but I do watch movies. I like Iron Man because his design is really cool.
WESCOTT: For the films, do you prefer Iron Man 1, 2 or 3?
CHIBA: 1!
I wish I could eat this tart
WESCOTT: Kanno-san and Chiba-san, did you both start work at Trigger at around the same time? If so, what memories do you have of working together?
KANNO: As you say, we came into the company around the same time. The same year, the same month. I have a fond memory of working on the same project with everyone, it was a very nice group. At the same time, we have a unique memory of cooking rice with the group. We got a rice cooker from the company, and we ate from that same cooker, cooking the same rice.
CHIBA: My background isn’t from an animation school. I came into this industry from a completely different field. I remember seeing the other people around me who came in at the same time, looking at their drawings, and thinking, “wow, these are so much better than mine!” I felt depressed.
WESCOTT: Chiba-san, what was your favorite episode of Delicious in Dungeon to work on and why?
CHIBA: What I remember most fondly from Delicious in Dungeon is the cooking scene with the tart in the first episode.
WESCOTT: Did you think, “I wish I could eat this tart” while you were drawing?
CHIBA: Yeah, I do want to make it so it looks delicious. As such, I did really want to eat tart after that.
Drawing is enjoyable for me
WESCOTT: Kanno-san, you made a student film called Tsukushi no Mook. What did you learn while working on it that you brought to your current work at Trigger?
KANNO: Tsukushi no Mook was based on a song. It was something I worked on with my friends. There was a specific aesthetic during this time that we all liked, that you can see in My Neighbors the Yamadas. Sketches colored directly without line art. We wanted to do something in this style.
When working for Trigger, you need to be able to make things in the style of the directors, their senpais, and the authors of original source material. You also have previous works [like Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt and Delicious in Dungeon.] You have to be able to match those styles.
As for how making Tsukushi no Mook is helping me right now, I was able to learn from the experience of enjoying what I am drawing. Drawing is enjoyable for me.
WESCOTT: One more question for Chiba-san. At the Trigger panel at Otakon this year, you said that you had made the ending sequence for Cyberpunk Edgerunners 2. What was your process for making the ending sequence?
CHIBA: This is something I mentioned at the panel too. But when I heard the music, I had an image in my mind. Being able to put that image on the screen is the biggest part.
