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AnimeNYC 2019
We’re talking everything AnimeNYC 2019. Patrick and Tom are joined by Doug of AnimeCons TV. Creator of Gundam, Yoshiyuki Tomino, was back in the US after 10 years and we’ve got a run down of all the events including a lengthy discussion of the first G-Reco movie, Go! Core Fighter. We also discuss everything else that went on at the con.
Be sure to subscribe to the show on iTunes and Soundcloud!
Otakon 2019: Studio Trigger Interview
Patrick and Tom were fortunate enough to sit down with Hiromi Wakabayashi, Shigeto Koyama, and Hiroyuki Imaishi at Otakon this year to discuss PROMARE and our collective love of robots. As a heads up this interview was conducted before we had seen PROMARE
Patrick: Let’s start with something very simple – we like robots. I know you guys like robots. I’ve heard this about everyone from Trigger, when they come to America… have you guys done any toy shopping yet while you’ve been here? Have you been looking for anything fun?
WAKABAYASHI: Target. If you have any local suggestions, any toy stores, we’d be more than interested to hear your take.
Patrick: All the good toy stores keep disappearing. No more Toys ‘R’ Us.
WAKABAYASHI: Where can American nerds even get their toy fix anymore?
Patrick: Internet, conventions, <laughs> ...Target. Wal-Mart has been reissuing Transformers, so if you’re looking for that stuff, they’re all there.
WAKABAYASHI: That’s very helpful. I have high hopes for this interview.
Tom: PROMARE is, of course, a CG work, the first of its kind for Trigger really. SSSS.GRIDMAN also had a good amount of CG elements in it. How did work on Gridman help prepare Trigger for PROMARE?
IMAISHI: Gridman’s production team is separate from PROMARE, so we didn’t actually use Gridman for experimentation. The foundation or main concept of each project is completely different to begin with. For PROMARE, the idea was to incorporate both 2D and 3D animation. However, for Gridman, the idea was to replicate the tokusatsu feel. So what the Gridman team did was, any place a tokusatsu production would use miniatures they would instead create that with CG animation and models.
Tom: What do you find are the challenges and limitations of CG as opposed to 2D? Or do you find that the two are good enough at different things that it doesn’t really matter?
IMAISHI: I feel, in the Japanese CG industry at least, that there’s a limitation of expression with CG animation. This doesn’t just mean characters – both characters and mecha I feel there’s a limit to what we can express with CG animation. For example, let’s say there’s a very close-up scene of a particular character’s arm, and part of that arm gets damaged. We would have to make a completely new model for that damaged arm. If it’s 2D, we just draw a little bit over it and it’s done. There’s good and bad with both 2D and CG. CG animation has to be planned out very well prior to execution. I can’t just make a change or fix on a whim, where that would be easier with 2D animation.
Patrick: To follow up on that with both you and Mr. Koyama, how does using CG more heavily inform your approach to design – character design, world design, any of that? Does it change how you approach that or is it largely the same?
KOYAMA: It definitely feel it affects design, be it characters or any models in general. I knew PROMARE would be a project that heavily used CG animation, so I kept that in mind when designing characters in accordance with how it would be executed within the film.
Patrick: Do you feel like it was at all liberating to work knowing it would be animated in CG, or not?
KOYAMA: Knowing it would be in CG, I avoided designing things that would be hard to execute, but I didn’t feel like it held me back. More angular designs like the Rescue Gears are usually harder to animate when it’s hand-drawn, so I was able to incorporate that kind of design more freely for PROMARE. You can see the pilot in the chest portion of one of the Gears – that kind of thing would be hard to execute if it was hand-drawn. If there’s any kind of drawback to designing for CG animation, it’s that I have to make the designs very detailed. When it’s hand-drawn, the animators can help fill in the blanks on the angles the model sheets don’t show. That doesn’t happen when it’s CG.
Patrick: That’s interesting, since I feel like a lot of your design sensibility tends to be very rounded, with less hard angles. Seeing CG as an advantage for more angular design is an interesting shift.
KOYAMA: It’s actually harder in CG animation to show round objects, especially in terms of shading. It’s hard to make the shadows fall in a way that feels convincing. That’s a reason I avoided my more traditional, round design.
Tom: What do you feel it is about Studio Trigger’s work in particular that resonates so well with international audiences?
WAKABAYASHI: This isn’t me speaking for everyone at Trigger, but I personally feel that it resonates well with the international fans is because, at least in the projects I’m involved in, I don’t have a particular demographic in mind. I make a project or get involved in one with the mindset of executing an interesting idea that I wanted animated. I just put in what I think is interesting, that I want everyone to see. That’s my motivation. Maybe that’s why it resonates so well with the fans, the nerdy types across the globe.
IMAISHI: I feel similarly, where I don’t have a specific demographic in mind, but I do feel like I pay a little closer attention to make sure the Japanese audience understands what I’m trying to get across. The international fans seem to be more open-minded; I can get away with more.
KOYAMA: I also agree. I basically put a concentrated form of what I like into the work. It’s entertainment, and what I want out of entertainment is what I put into what I create. Hopefully the people watching my stuff are entertained by the same things.
Patrick: You’ve found an audience of people like yourself that want to see the same cool stuff.
KOYAMA: That’s probably it. We’re not too bright, and maybe our audience is similar. <laughter> That’s a compliment, by the way. We’re all family.
Tom: SSSS.GRIDMAN represented a different kind of work for Trigger in that it was based on a licensed property. What would be a character or IP that you’d personally want to work on given the chance?
WAKABAYASHI: Before we answer, I’d just like to note that although Gridman was an existing property we feel like it leans towards being original content as well. We only borrowed the idea, taking Gridman as a concept. Usually when we say “adaptation” it’s like a manga or comic being adapted to animation with the same or similar story and the same characters. I don’t feel like Gridman followed that method. Among us at Team Imaishi, we generally like doing original work. But if we had to choose, it would probably be along the lines of Transformers or Marvel.
KOYAMA: <laughing> I’d like to do Steamboat Willie.
WAKABAYASHI: Maybe the steamboat could transform into something.
Tom: Sounds like a good idea for a toy. For our last question, since we are a robot anime-themed podcast: I have to ask, what’s your favorite robot?
<Wakabayashi, Imaishi, and Koyama all agonize over their decision>
WAKABAYASHI: This changes quite often, but as of right now, July 27 at 11AM, it’s Hot Rod from Transformers: The Movie. Tomorrow it may be something else.
IMAISHI: I recently bought a soft vinyl toy of Zambot 3, so that’s my current favorite.
KOYAMA: I was just browsing through Twitter and I’m heavily influenced by my feed, so I don’t know if I can give a pure, honest, unbiased answer. Right now I feel like Tetsujin 28. I like Black Ox too – I can definitely say Tetsujin 28 isn’t my usual favorite as I’m very influenced by my feed.
WAKABAYASHI: What about you two? What’s your favorite?
Tom: Oh boy. Probably Gundam Mk. II.
WAKABAYASHI: Which one? AEUG or Titans?
Tom: AEUG colors.
Patrick: What? No! Titans colors
<Everyone Laughs>
Patrick: My answer is super-basic, but it’s always Optimus Prime. I have about fifty Optimus figures.
WAKABAYASHI: I’m not too far behind with my own Optimus count.
Patrick: Who in the office has the most Transformers?
WAKABAYASHI: It’s either me or [Akira] Amemiya, the director of Gridman. It’s a close call. We’d have to actually count them up.
Patrick: Thank you all for taking the time to speak with us today and we hope you find some cool toys this weekend.
Thank you for reading and stay tuned for our discussion of PROMARE coming soon!
Otakon 2019
Patrick and Tom are here with their Otakon 2019 Con Report! It was another fantastic year at Otakon and we’re here to talk all about it!
Be sure to subscribe to the show on iTunes and Soundcloud!
Toru Furuya Interview at Otakon 2019
Patrick and Tom are back with a special interview with legendary voice actor Toru Furuya, best known as Amuro Ray in Mobile Suit Gundam, straight from Otakon 2019!
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Gundam Narrative
Your hosts Patrick and Tom are back with special guest Dave Cabrera to talk Gundam Narrative! We all saw the movie together last month and finally sat down to talk about it. Narrative was kind of a mess but we still had a ton to say about it, both good and bad.
Be sure to subscribe to the show on iTunes and Soundcloud!
SSSS Gridman
Your hosts Patrick and Tom triumphantly return with Mike and Lew in tow to talk SSSS Gridman! This is an in depth breakdown of the franchise, where SSSS Gridman came from, and what we thought of the show. Give it a listen and let us know what you thought too!
Be sure to subscribe to the show on iTunes and Soundcloud!
The Cockpit at Anime NYC 2018
Patrick and Tom were at AnimeNYC 2018 and you can hear all about it!
Copilot Episode 2: Space Sheriff Sharivan
Welcome to the second episode of The Cockpit Copilot where Patrick will be joined by Tom, Grant, and Mike to sample some of the finest is Japanese children's television. Episode 2 continues our Metal Hero Sampler series where we'll be taking a look at the first episode Space Sheriff Sharivan!
We’ll be back next time with episode one of Space Sheriff Shaider!
Kanetake Ebikawa Interview - Otakon 2018
We have a special episode this week as Patrick and Tom had the opportunity to interview mechanical designer Kanetake Ebikawa at Otakon 2018! Ebikawa is most famous for designing the Exia from Gundam 00, a number of robots from Gundam Build Fighters, and basically everything from Full Metal Panic.
Give it a listen and let us know what you thought!
Be sure to subscribe to the show on iTunes and Soundcloud!
Otakon 2018
Patrick and Tom are back to talk about all things Mecha related at Otakon 2018. That includes some incredible guest panels, our own panel experiences, and some crazy announcements.
Be sure to subscribe to the show on iTunes and Soundcloud!
Anime Expo 2018
The Cockpit is back as Tom and Patrick are joined by Kyle from Anime News Network to discuss all the mecha related news from Anime Expo including the premiere of SSSS.Gridman and much more.
Be sure to subscribe to the show on iTunes and Soundcloud!
Copilot Episode 1: Space Sheriff Gavan
Welcome to the very first episode of The Cockpit Copilot where Patrick will be joined by Tom, Grant, and Mike to sample some of the finest is Japanese children's television. Episode 1 kicks off our Metal Hero Sampler series where we'll be taking a look at the first episode of each series in the franchise. And that means we're kicking things off with the first episode of Space Sheriff Gavan!
We’ll be back next time with episode one of Space Sheriff Sharivan!
Be sure to subscribe to the show on iTunes and Soundcloud!
Pacific Rim Uprising
Pacific Rim Uprising has arrived which obviously means we need to talk about it! Patrick is joined by Tom and Vinnie from All Geeks Considered to give a our full impressions of the movie. What we loved about it, what we weren't too fond of, and how we felt about Scott Eastwood. Did you see the movie? Be sure to let us know what you thought!
Be sure to subscribe to the show on iTunes and Soundcloud!
Robotech RPG Tactics
We're back and this time Patrick is joined by returning champion Grant from Blade Licking Thieves to examine the long and unfortunate story of Palladium Books' Robotech RPG Tactics, which recently announced would not be receiving it's planned second wave and that the company is losing the Robotech license.
Be sure to subscribe to the show on iTunes and Soundcloud!
Mazinger Z: Infinity
Did you Mazin Go to the theater to see Mazinger Z: Infinity? Whether you made it or not we're here to talk all about the brand new movie from Toei. We had a pretty fun conversation with a run down of the movie and what we loved about it and it's flaws. We also discussed where it stands as part of Mazinger lore and how some of the classic characters have been handled in recent versions. It was a great time and I hope you enjoy it!
Be sure to subscribe to the show on iTunes and Soundcloud!
Mecha in 2017
It's time to take a look back at 2017. Patrick is joined by Tom and new guest Grant from Blade Licking Thieves to look back at everything Mecha in 2017. There was so much Gundam that it was almost too much to keep track of but also other things like The Watch that Killed Hitler and ugly Power Rangers robots. The show was a ton of fun so give it a listen!
Be sure to subscribe to the show on iTunes and Soundcloud!
AnimeNYC 2017
We're back to discuss AnimeNYC 2017! I'm joined by Tom as we break down all our wild and crazy experiences at the con. This included the special Gundam Thunderbolt Bandit Flower screening and concert on Sunday featuring composer Naruyoshi Kikuchi.
Be sure to subscribe to the show on iTunes and Soundcloud!