Compilation and details to all the livestreams Studio Trigger has hosted for Patreon patrons and the public.
I found it difficult to look back for old streams so I decided to write this guide. All the streams are publicly available on their Twitch and Youtube channels.
Note: All links to the final artwork are locked behind Patreon tiers and only accessible by donors.
Please support Studio Trigger on Patreon: Invite Link
1. Live Drawing 1 - Yoshinari Yoh drawing Akko from Little Witch Academia (hand camera/full version)
Date: Sep 28, 2018
Artist: Yoh Yoshinari (director/animator)
Description: Akko from Little Witch Academia
Guests: Hiromi (producer)
Tools: Wacom Cintiq 14(?)/Photoshop CC
Finished artwork: .JPG Link | .PSD Link (patron access)
Timelapse videos: Hand cam/10 min vers | No cam/10 min vers | No cam/full vers
Notes:
- Q: What's an easy way to get better at drawing? Yoshinari: If there's an easy way to get better at drawing, I'd like to know this too.
- Q: Who do you look up to? Y: I have too many people I look up to. If I were to say one, it'd be those youngsters that stream these drawing events. (00:07:50)
- Hiromi + Yoshinari: Little Witch Academia doesn't technically go to space. (00:10:11)
- Q: How can I support animators directly? Yoshinari: The only way to directly support animators is directly buying their doujinshi/artbook. Hiromi: The only way is if animators themselves open ways for fans to support them through outlets like streams. Other than that, the studio can only give them more work.
- Q: How much do you outsource? H: For Kill la Kill, more than half was probably outsourced because we don't have the staff. (00:29:00)
- Hiromi: I would like to animate Fast and Furious.
- Q: Favorite pizza toppings?? Yoshinari: tomatoes Hiromi: mozzarella Tattun: sausage
- Yoshinari said he will direct the second season of Inferno Cop.
- Yoshinari's favorite thing to draw are effects like explosions.
- Q: Is there anything you think of before you make characters? Y: I usually don't think of anything when I'm drawing characters. I draw then, then think afterwards. I draw whatever comes to my mind. If you think you can get better by looking at a reference, you're wrong. Don't rely on items or equipment.
- Yoshinari said right now he's in the mood to draw Jasminka but he's forced to draw Akko.
- 59:18
Date: Dec 1, 2018
Artist: Akihiro Satoi (in-between animator)
Description: Ryuko from KILL la KILL
Guests: Hiromi (producer)
Tools: Mobile Studio Pro 16 Tablet/Medibang Paint
Finished artwork: .JPG Link | .PSD Link (patron access)
Timelapse videos: Timelapse videos: Hand cam/10 min vers | Hand cam/long vers | No cam/10 min vers | No cam/long vers
Notes:
Date: Feb 20, 2019
Artist: Tetsuya Sakurai (in-between animator)
Description: Satsuki Kiryuin from KILL la KILL
Guests: Hiromi (producer)
Tools: Intuos 5 Medium Tablet/Paint Tool SAI Ver. 2
Finished artwork: .JPG Link | .PSD Link (patron access)
Notes:
- Sakurai eventually wants to become a key animator and try being an episode director.
- He's using an Intos 5 tablet medium size, his own personal equipment.
- Put in a request to draw a girl. He likes drawing human characters and not mechanical objects.
- Q: Would Trigger hire more foreign animators if the language barrier is solved? Hiromi: There are a multitude of reasons we can't hire foreign animators, like visas, etc. We do hire several overseas staff. It's more of a financial issue for Trigger, like sustaining visas are expensive.
- In terms of animation, Sakurai watches a little of Disney, Pixar, and looking forward to the Spiderverse film.
- How much say do producers have in the creative decision? Hiromi: It depends on the project, sometimes producers have the idea and look for directors, animators to execute the idea or sometimes they just help the directors out. With studio trigger, it’s a lot more flexible who has creative input.
- Sakurai likes kyo ani, but only applied to trigger and not kyo ani because he wants to keep kyo ani sacred and enjoyable as a hobby.
- Hiromi: Promare’s genre is Super lit mega action rescue human drama.
- Sakurai wants to see Powerpuff Girls done in Yoshinari’s style.
- Q: Are there certain anime seasons that are easier for studios. Is there a laidback season? A: They don’t have a laidback season, usually a period of time after they finish a series, between series. Hiromi wants to work on a project where the work doesn’t carry over New Year’s Eve.
- Q: Will trigger ever do isekai? A: They’re too busy with other ideas and don’t have a plan. But if they do isekai, it will be original and not an adaptation
- Q: How is OP/ED determined for a series? A: If a creative staff for a series wants to throw in an opinion, they might make a request to the production committee which has a production label company what kind of soundtrack, etc who will try to accommodate. In the case where it doesn’t have a preference, the music production company chooses fully. For trigger, it depends on the production group for Imaishi/wakabayashi team they do make requests for the label companies. And generally for the director, the director is interested in choosing who is in charge of the soundtrack for series. 2:06:00
- Sakurai‘s favorite manga is Dungeon Meshi. Sakurai likes Zelda.
- Switch is popular at Trigger. Everyone is playing Smash Bros.
- Tattun: one of my favorite titles was ruined by app games. (Not Diablo)
- Tattun: Yoshinari: when I was younger, I don't think animators were this good. Just like Olympics, nowadays young animators have improved so much.
- Comment: Animation budget was so much higher in the 80s H: that's not really true. Budget != Quality. Pretty much similar budget between now and then. There are a lot of factors. More staff now compared to the 80s. Passion of creators determines the quality more than budget. However, more budget will help.
- Q: what does trigger have in their snack pantry? H: they don't have a bar pantry. They do want one. But when they do receive snacks from fans and gifts they do share it together communally. All oversea studios they tour had some food pantry and trigger wants one too. Personally, knowing myself if we had a bar, kitchen, I would've gotten bored of the menu quick or use it once or twice. T: I know he would use it frequently, he guzzles coffee a lot.
- They can't do a studio tour stream. They would have to tear down the entire studio to avoid leaks. Too much risk.
- Q: Trigger documentaries focused more on the voice actors than artists. Why focused on voice actors more? (2:59:00) H: It's more straining for the studio, detrimental to studio, productivity, etc. A lot of our staff don't like being photoed or recorded. Docs are more entertaining when the camera crew ignore privacy and barge into personal space. They can't do that anymore because they're delicate people. Personally hiromi wants to do more documentaries on the creative process.
Date: Mar 13, 2019
Artist:Mago (Character design)
Description: Luluco from Space Patrol Luluco and Trigger-chan
Guests:Hiromi (producer)
Tools: Wacom Cintiq 16 Tablet/Paint Tool SAI Ver. 1
Finished artwork: .JPG Link | .PSD Link (patron access)
Artist's twitter: @magodesu
Notes:
- Mago is a manga artist.
- Hiromi: I can't comment on the ending plot of DarliFra, but I was satisfied with the DitF ending animation sequence. (which he produced)
- Many Japanese studios/production committees don't put much thought/look into the dubbing process from overseas distributors; Trigger would be interested in directing the dub if the opportunity arises. (00:35:00)
- Mago doesn't use a sketch book. She draws digitally, and tosses it on her Twitter.
- Q: Does piracy hurt the industry? H: Nowadays you can watch whatever you can see in Japan. In the past, you couldn't and had to illegally download. Those were the people who supported the community. It used to be a necessary evil. Even if you do watch our stuff illegally, and enjoy it, please watch it legally because it leads to the success of the general industry. (00:48:00)
- Favorite character outside Trigger? Pirate character (Atoi) in Nintama Rantaro.
- Mago likes Gary from Spongebob and Gwen in Spiderverse.
- Q: Did you know Luluco will become Trigger Chan when you designed it? H: For an April Fool's joke they were making a new anime series with mascots (Trigger Girls), which Mago drew, then Hiromi made a special request to connect it with Luluco to Imaishi to get Mago to be the designer. He also requested at the end for Luluco to transform into trigger chan. (1:06:00)
- H: In all of Imaishi's works, his main characters have their hair spiked up. Maybe it's because the characters are rebelling what's oppressing him.
- Luluco is short hair because usually short hair girls are perceived as more energetic.
- Q: Was it hard to adapt Kaiju for chibi line art stamps. A: It wasn't at all, the mechs were harder.
- Mago's favorite accessories and things to draw? She loves to draw sneakers and draw AF-1's. She owns most are Air Jordan's.
- Mago prefers drawing girls over guys. She especially doesn't like drawing old guys. Luluco's father was designed by another animator.
- Mago doesn't feel tied to drawing, she thinks she can pivot to another job. Last year, mago part timed at a shoe store because she felt like she needed a break from drawing.
- Hiromi's into building Legos recently. Eventually he wants to build mechs from Promare with Legos when he has time.
- Mago plays Fortnite on iPad.
Date: May 28, 2019
Artist: Kazuki Chiba
Description: Sucy from Little Witch Academia
Guests: Hiromi (producer), 2 new PAs (00:24:20)
Tools: Wacom Cintiq 16 Tablet/Photoshop CC 2014
Finished artwork: .JPG Link | .PSD Link (patron access)
Notes:
Part 1:
- Staff experience ranges from half a year to 30 years (the president).
- When do you hire PAs? Trigger starts looking for PAs from late summer to fall, but people come in as part time or intern prior to graduating college.
- KLK is the most valuable IP, original rights for Gridman lie between Subarai(?, creator of Gridman) and Trigger, so they do see some of the royalties when merch is sold.
- Sushio likes paper and pencil over digital.
- Chiba doesn't really have a preference in drawing, mechs or people, guy or girl, etc. But he does like drawing Muzzle from Trigger girls.
- Anohana was the first anime Chiba watched. He didn't watch anime that much but still drew a lot.
- Chiba's favorite character is Mako from KLK, he likes her look at personality.
- He used to work in media oriented work, and never worked on anime before Trigger.
- Hard to get a job for chara designer or illustrator? H: no clean cut answer for this question, Shigeto Koriyama is character design/illustration, but he also provides input to story and project, if you can add more than just character design, then you’ll be fine in the industry.
- Hobby: Chiba likes listening to radio.
Part 2:
- Sushio-san and Tanaka-san was mentor especially for Kill la Kill and Anohana. Sushio worked as an in-between animator for DitF and Chiba got to meet Tanaka-san. (00:03:00)
- He wants to first become a chief animator, he wants to become staff and fill in spots, and experience various aspects (00:06:00)
- Most memorable work? He recently became a key animator form Promare, and he was able to work with Sushio. That's why it was so memorable, and more pressure. (0:09:00)
- H: The more we use CGI in a show, the more cost effective it becomes. If it's only for 12 episodes, traditional animation is cheaper. For > 12 episodes or more seasons, CGI is cheaper. The more you use it the cheaper it becomes. 00:13:00)
- He grew up with Yuusha series and Digimon. Hiromi grew up with Ghibli, Disney, Doraemon.
- Currently the live-streams are held in an empty room and it takes 3 hours to move the gear. Trigger is planning on moving and soon. Once they move, Moving out of Ogikubo, Integral Tower. Tattun gets his own streaming cubicle. (00:21:00)
- Best comedy series says Tattun and Hiromi. Oremonogatari, アゴなしゲンとオレ物語. You should learn Japanese just for this. The OG Prison School. Link (00:26:00)
- Shiba was still an intern at Trigger when they were doing LWA (TV), but he was involved in the game(?) for LWA.
- H: Last year at the cons, a lot of overseas fans are very keen on Q&As, they know how to push buttons, all the questions he wanted to answer were asked within the first few minutes. Overseas fans have an interesting perspective and he enjoys the unique questions he's never thought about.
- What studio or what director would you like to work with? Chiba is currently learning under Director Amemiya, so he is amemiya's padawan. he's interested in working with him next.
- Comments: Studio Trigger is a whore to working with anyone. T: We don't take any shame in that
- Favorite US restaurants? Hiromi really loves IHOP, which is why there are so many in Promare. In LA, Hiromi loves Sap (Thai food). Most likely this restaurant: Sapp Coffee Shop
Date: Jun 28, 2019
Artist:Akira Amemiya (director/animator)
Description: GRIDMAN Mecha Shikishiki for Anime Expo
Guests: Hiromi
Tools: Shikishi board/Mechanical pencil, Magic pen
Finished artwork: N/A
Notes:
- Amemiya: you gotta pray before you illustration. Visualize in your head and when you get a good image, then pick up the pen.
- Amemiya: using a random mechanical pencil he found on the floor the other day to draw. You can't put your soul in it through digital devices/electronics. Praying is most important, doesn't matter what utensil you use.
- Amemiya: I've never screwed up in my life before so I don't know failure. Link
- Amemiya is known to be the fast animator in Trigger and did 40 cuts for GRIDMAN.
- When he was in college, he was in the animation club with his senpai. They were all interested in producing anime and where his career started. Normal college.
- Amemiya: I never intentionally practiced human anatomy, but the book 'Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain' by Edwards helped with learning anatomy for animation (1:21:01)
- Alexis in Gridman was designed by Koyama, chara de for Promare.
- Hiromi really wants to do a Baywatch anime.
- Anno and Eva impacted on his life, not just Gridman.
- A: Doing more illustrations means you'll be faster. I may be fast, but Yoshinari is 5x faster.
- Q: Is it possible to be in the industry without animation school experience? A: I'm self taught, but being in the industry it does help to come from the schools. But at the end, it all boils down to if you're good or not.
- Gainax motto: it doesn't matter how much experience you ahve in the industry, just if you're good or not. Gainax style: just get good.
- Everything went smooth and well because I prayed.
- Can you become an episode director from a PA? Mr. Mizushima did this, started from PA to director, Full Metal Alchemist.
- What separates a pro from an amateur animator? H+A: There's no license in Japan for a "pro" animator. Professionals would be ones who receive a commission or request from a client. Amateur are people who do art for fun.
Date: September 13, 2019
Artist: Shigeto Koyama (designer)
Description: Galo from PROMARE
Guests: Hiromi (producer)
Tools: Apple Macbook Pro 2015, Wacom Cintiq Pro 16" Tablet, Clip Studio Paint, Adobe Photoshop
Finished artwork: .JPG Link | .PSD Link (patron access)
Timelapse videos: 10 minute version | full version
Notes:
- Hiromi oversaw the selection for the dubbing voice actor of Galo.
- Koyama doesn't have that much free time to draw for fun, used to, but not now. But he doodles from time to time on towels or napkins. Like trump doodles.
- Q: Any advice for aspiring animators? K: Not much he can comment, young people are really talented these days. If I could say anything, I want all talented people to jump off a building with their arms spread so they can't draw anymore. Link (00:40:00)
- K: Lio is my favorite character but he also likes drawing Ignis.
- Koyoma has a PS brush preset called pubic hair brush.
- Hiromi specifically requested the tiny tail on the back of Lio de Galo.
- Q: How many episode runners (PAs) do you hire per year? A: About 3 PAs per year, usually when they get experience, they'll go up to episode director or producer. That's why they're always in a deficit per year.
- For the CG, they used Software is 3ds max , sangigen did 3D for promare
- For Nakashima’s works, he doesn’t want to have birthdays so people aren’t concerned about the tiny details.
- How do you determine which scene gets revised for blu ray release? (retake) It’s usually if a certain scene isn’t executed as intended, color was off, very technical details. Requests come from both studio and sponsor.
- What would you do if you were a civilian or promopilis? K: They wouldn’t be eating the pizzas for sure, but they’ll probably try to overthrow the governor or become a bro with the governor.
- Hiromi fireman jacket.png (1:32:00)
- We made a lot of requests for the dub with Galo. We want zac efron plus Channing Tatum for galo. (1:37:00)
- If there is a promare manga, it has to be full color.
- It takes three times more effort to draw promare than other anime. Normally they use one outline color black/brown for outlines, for promare, they used self colored lines, outline color for hair, clothing, and third one for skin tones. It takes 3 times more effort to execute. It was not the colorists on their own, request from director.
- The G on the Matoi tech stands for Gaian gear, manufacturer in the Promare universe.
- Hiromi chose pizza because it’s something you share with family or friends/communal type of food, symbolize burning rescue as a team.
- They tweaked and messed around with the kanji for the tattoos in promare and made a common mistake they see people in America with kanji/Chinese tattoos.
- Yonkers fire station in New York, idea came from the captain who had his own jacket but customized to be like a staff which is where they got the ideal for differing uniforms. 2:20
- To respect Nakashima, they can't be too liberal with their Geek Boat universe stories they have to check in once in a while. H: according to the last stream, Nakashima said.
- H: they were pretty finished before they received the main theme track/song, so they made requests to stretch out parts of the music etc to fit the scene better.
- Q: How did you get started as character designer and starter artbooks? For artbook, Koyama suggests Sushi Encyclopedia/すし図鑑. Reasoning is if you don't eat good food, you won't get better at drawing. You have to start from knowing which food is delicious. (2:35:00)
- Drawing illustration was always something Koyama did but he became aware when he worked for Diebuster the joy of designing instead of illustrating.
- The PC, mics, streaming equipment was all supported by Patreon funding.
- Usually Amemiya is the lewd police and doesn't allow anything lewd in the series.
- Hiromi and Koyama are eating shogayaki (ginger pork) bento, popular comfort food.
- Squid sushi = Klay, Tuna = Galo, Lio = seaweed sushi
- In Nakano, Tokyo, Satou Kichijōji (butchery) (the place they got their bento from) has really good bento.
- Narichi Furu drew the logo for Promare, also Kill la Kill, Evangelion, etc.
- Inferno Cop is Koyama's favorite character.
Date: Oct 25, 2019
Artist: Shunpei Gunyasa (key animator)
Description: Lio from PROMARE, Halloween-themed
Guests: Hiromi (producer), Mami (1:31:37), Koyama/co-workers in chat
Tools: iPad Pro 3rd Gen. and Apple Pencil Gen 2/Procreate
Finished artwork: .JPG Link | .PSD Link (patron access)
Timelapse video: 10 minute version | full version
Notes:
- Hiromi: For all Imaishi/Nakashima works, they don't like settling birthday/zodiac symbol. Most characters in their series don't have publicly disclosed birthdays or zodiac symbols. According to Nakashima, he doesn't want his character to be swayed by their birth dates/zodiac symbols and wants viewers to judge how they are portrayed in the story. (00:16:30)
- Halloween isn't big/relatively new in Japan, except for nightlife in Shibuya recently the past 5 years (00:25:49)
- Shunpei is using the dry ink brush (profile) which has a pencil stroke/texture to it, very popular among other staff (00:28:35)
- Sushio was ego-searching/looking up his name on Twitter for Promare(?) (00:46:30)
- The artist for the live drawings are chosen randomly with a raffle so it's more fair. That's why Sushio hasn't been chosen. (00:53:00)
- When they were transitioning to digital, Yoshinari said Imaishi was better with traditional paper/pencil (00:51:30)
- Fans are embarrassed where original creators view their fanwork in Japan. (1:00:00)
- Hiromi likes criticism. He has a strong mind and steel-like fortitude, he doesn't get withered by criticism, so does Koyama. A long time ago they went on 4chan, and they accepted the toxicity as the culture there. There was a comment saying these dudes have balls of steel, and Hiromi likes that comment and thinks he does have balls of steel.
- Going from in-between to key animation is a delicate matter. The conditions for that step up changes frequently. Trigger usually accepts in-betweeners as key animators and train them. (1:27:00)
- There is going to be a workshop event where they learn how to make a pizza. Hiromi and Koyama are going to participate as well and excited to make them with fans. Hiromi is making a spicy one. (1:36:00)
- Gunyasa's old teacher/professor is watching the stream too (1:46:00)
- Gunyasa appreciates Honda who made Eva.
- His older sister used to draw. He started drawing when he was young but started taking it seriously in high school, where he was thinking about his future and wanted to work a job he enjoyed. He doesn't think he can draw better than his sister, his sister draws traditional Japanese artwork
- Who has the most toys Undisputed Amemiya has the most, his is the most messy. Sakamoto has the next most. Sushio and Imaishi have a lot but no where near those two. (2:25:00)
- Trigger is open to fan letters. Send to the Trigger president (2:27:30)
- How does Gunyasa apply shadows? Gunyasa uses a blend mode called "Multiply blend mode" to apply them.
- Promare had a gyoza collaboration. (2:49:50)
- Hiromi would do a collaboration with Coca-cola, McDonald's, Apple, Windows, Nike, Netflix. (2:51:00)
- Q: What is your favorite food to put in oden? Gunyasa likes dikon radish, Hiromi likes kombucha, Tattun likes eggs.
- H: In regards to collaborating with restaurants etc, We don't really think with benefits us or not too much. Usually they care if it's entertaining or not. Though they are more concerned about the quality aspect.
- How do you like your eggs? H: He likes scrambled eggs, kind of raw. Gunyasa likes boiled eggs. Tattun likes eggs in general, and can drink them raw.
- Gunyasa is a fan of the MCU, but doesn't read the comics.
Date: December 25, 2019
Artist: Hiroyuki Imaishi (director/animator)
Description: Animation sequence with Galo, Lio from PROMARE
Guests: Shigeto Koyama, Hiromi Wakabayashi, Mami, Otsuka (president) (00:58:00), Amemiya (1:12:50)
Tools: Wacom Cintiq 22" Tablet (non-pro), Windows 10, TVPaint Animation (program)
Finished artwork: Patreon Link
Notes:
- I: I learned anime on paper and pencil so I believe I am much faster/proficient on old fashioned method still. However, that is a very selfish answer. If i were to think about the entire process animating like compositing and coloring, digital medium makes the whole process seamless and less stressful (00:44:00)
- Q: What made you good in drawing, talent or hard work? I: You can get to a certain level with hardwork. However, in order to really shine in the industry, you need the talent. Also it's complicated because the folks that are talented don't last in the industry long. That's a good question, but a very difficult question. I believe I remained in the industry due to hard work. The saying to keep practicing holds true. I'd like to think myself as a man who maintained and got up through hard work. (00:45:00)
- The only educational assets I ever referenced were the animation works from Kogawa Tomonori. I self taught myself through other animators. (00:49:00)
- I: I used to like the drumsticks when I was younger but I found somewhere down the line that the breasts and wings taste better. Now I like the breasts. (00:50:00)
- Imaishi has an easier time drawing robots and mechs than human characters.
- Koyama: Basic advice is to not use a white canvas for color. White canvas is the brightest setting you can use. Darker color like gray it's easier to pinpoint or notice where you spot a mistake. (01:18:00)
- It would be convenient to have a 3D animator because Trigger is a very 2D oriented studio, so it would definitely be a luxury. We can't rpovdie the 3d animator with enough work to warrant the expenditure of hiring. Having a colorist, etc in house is ideal, but the cost can't be justified. (1:21:00)
- I: In the original storyboard for PROMARE, when Lio and his boys are escaping the prison. Theere is a scene where Lio confronts Vulcan and there was an aerial combat scene. I even had that scene cleaned up by Yoshinari but unfortunately we never used it. If we had it, there would be too many fight scenes. It was a balance issue, we omitted it for. (1:30:00)
- We really don't know why PS&G is popular overseas because we never really did any promotion there. We do believe that visiting various anime conventions, PSG would be more overseas than Japan, but we do know there are a few hardcore fans in Japan (01:39:00)
- If we ever get to do s2 psg, we want to do the ghost explosion scenes overseas. we want to go to a place with liberal firearms laws like texas or russia. Find some old guy with actual explosives, like rpg's. Ask him to shoot our props and blow them up and place that in instead of explosion scenes. (1:42:00)
- Q: Animators you're interested in, in house and overseas? I: In house, I'm very interested how Ikarashi and Kaneko will turn out. We have some newcomers like Nakamura, Dohee, and Kano who are good at single character illustrations. (1:52:00)
- Q: Waka said you review everyone you hire. What do you look for in a new employee. Would you promote a PA or someone who's not an animator to ach-tsu(?) A: So we definitely do, we have few PAs that become achstu or episodic directors. So it's definitely possible. We defintiely do have to check an animator's skill and prepare a curriculum to teach or train that individual. (1:59:00)
- Imaishi wants to go to Russia. Find an event willing to fly them out because Trigger is interested. We want to try out some borsch(?). (2:00:00)
- Artists don't share brush presets because once at a high level, it's hard to distinguish good art from each other. Artists then tweak brush presets to be unique, (02:08:00)
- During the Gainax age, Imaishi owes most to Tsurumaki or Ono-san as inspiration. (02:10:00)
- Q: There should be a Trigger convention. A: We would have the staff hold up platform with Imaishi in his underwear like Xerxes from the 300 and throwing Trigger dollar bills (02:16:30)
- Q: Is Galo drawn with smaller hands with gloves off? A: They got to try on firefighting equipment (in NYC for location scouting, Promare), like gloves that are big and thick. Galo's hand is portrayed a lot smaller without his gloves on. (2:18:00)
- Imaishi tries to pose himself/reinact scene to draw a more dynamic pose. Tattun took Imaishi to a shooting range recently and it was his first time shooting several pistols. Imaishi says it didn't change much but it gave him a whole new perspective on the weight, recoil. (2:24:30)
- 4DX: Imaishi: To emphasize on the Lio reveal (his feminime look in contrast with his suit) in the scene where his mask cracks, they added a smell there.
- They didn't expect PROMARE to have such a good reception and long screening time in Japan.
- Hiromi: Since a movie takes so long to produce, it's unresting you don't know how it will be perceived until it's released. Generally movies are screened for 4 weeks. If it doesn't do well in the first release, it's detrimental. A short TV series will be broadcasted for 3 months so there's good and bad for both projects. Hell is usually around delivery date. For TV series, the hell repeats every episode while a movie is one really rough hell. Pick your poison. (02:41:00)
- Q: I love Imaishi's design, but he rarely uses his own designs and has character designers. Will he use his own character designs for an anime again? I: My designs are really strong for very manga, comic-like energy for the characters, but for dramatic scenes, they don't translate very well. When my design has to work with an actual script, it doesn't do the script justice. If there's a project where my designs suit the content, atmosphere of the series, he wouldn't mind doing the character designs. (3:53:00)
Date: May 27, 2020
Artist: Yusuke Yoshigaki (BNA character designer)
Description: Shishiki of Michiru, Shishiki of Jackie and Shirou driving
Guests: Hiromi (producer)
Tools: Copic markers, pencil, shishiki board, air in soft eraser(?)
Notes:
- Yoshigaki is using a lead holder to draw.
- Q: Did you do any research at a zoo for BNA? Y: No, but Yoshinari provided a heavy photo book of animals to use.
- (00:26:38) @spoons Does michiru have 4 ears? Tanuki + human ears? A: There are only beast ears when she's in her beast form (He shows the character sheet)
- (00:28:00) @addmaki10#3907 What pens/pencils does he use for his picture diary? A: Sharpie like pen called maki, he's using a thin version of what Hiromi just shared. He was supposed to sell his picture book at summer Comiket, which got cancelled. Hopefully he can sell it next event.
- Q: Who is the character you're most comfortable drawing? A: Jackie.
- Q: Would Yoshigaki sell BNA concept sketches like with LWA? A: Initially BNA was supposed to get out of production before golden week, Yoshigaki was supposed to have time to prepare for his comiket book. But production stretched past and he didn't have time. Next book depends if he can come up with enough illustrations to make a book. Hiromi: it's impressive how he draws new illustrations per book.
- Hiromi: Yoshigaki draws interestingly. He drafts on a separate paper, then cleans up on a separate medium. Yoshigaki: I'm doing this because shishiki is a delicate surface so he can't erase too much.
- Q: If you were able to become friends with one of the BNA characters, who would it be? A: I don't know if I could because I'm an old man, but I would be friends with everyone.
- (00:43:46) @Accipiter PC#8338 Q: if you where a beastman, what animal whould you be and why? A: I would like to be a sloth. They look like they're enjoying life.
- 1994 Yoshigaki got into industry (25 years so far) same year as Imaishi. Former Gainax animator as well. Pretty common story between colleagues, Yoshinari was always talented, worked on image boards for Uru in Blue.
- Q: How does pitching work for movies/shows? Hiromi: The committee/sponsor usually approaches Trigger wanting to make a Trigger show. Usually they have a lot of creative freedom after the initial meeting. Usually they just get an opportunity after an anime. They don't usually have to pitch. There is a time when they come up with a project pitch and throw it at a potential sponsor. Depends on the project.
- (00:54:15) artmark88 kinda?? Yoshigaki: yeah I like making pixel art. Hiromi: Some of the pixel animation are playable games. The LWA and Luluco one was playable, complete original game with an animator like Sushio will be drawing and Tsutsumi trying to retrieve the deliverables, and as the player you try to intervene.
- What kind of eraser does he use? A: I use Air in Soft (small pebble eraser). They're malleable (kneaded) erasers.
- THey were fortunate to visit Blizzard. Employees get swords, shields, crowns after working 15 years at the company. If they had the money, they would have model gas airguns.
- (1:04:08) @Krokahn#6244 Q: What sort of direction were you given for designing the characters, and from where did you get inspiration? A: There was a really rough idea provided by the director, then Genice chan explored it further more from that idea and provide a concept design. Then, Mm task was to interpret that design and idea so that animators can easily replicate. That's the entire procedure for my job as character designer.
- Hiromi: if you're curious about concept art, they post concept art designs on their official twitter before each episode.
- Tattun: Why is it always baseball in Japanese anime? Hiromi: Baseball is still considered to be one of the mainstream sports in Japan. It's always naturally baseball. Some of our staff are big fans of baseball. Our president is a big fan of it. Gainax had more baseball fanatics. Animators/episode runners tried not to bother an in between supervisor when their favorite team lost. They would get into a really bad mood. They're a pretty big figure in Gainax as all newcomers grew up under them.
- (1:16:20) @FierceAlchemist#7425 Did Yoshigaki design the human or animal first? A: He worked on finalizing the human versions first. With the exception of Michiru. They had the designs of the beast form first.
- Y: I would like to visit a haunted location. When he was in high school, he grew up in a local haunted location. He's never experienced anything interesting to this date.
- Q: What kinda bicycle does Yoshigaki ride? Y: Very common Japan Cycle Asahi(?) popular foldable bicycle. Paratrooper (American) replica bicycle.
- Yoshinari used to be difficult to manage during the Gainax years. Hiromi: 10 years ago nobody believed Yoshinari would be directing. Yoshinari's changed quite a bit over the years. Y: Since he's faster and better than most people, Yoshinari can do everything himself. They couldn't see why he would be interested in directing.
- Q: Are there different teams in Trigger? H: We share the same production team, but we have separate creative leading team. Same body, different head/minds.
- H: Is Chip & Dale considered furry? Ninja Turtles? X-men?
- For 5 years, Hiromi has been saying he wants to do sometihing like Space Jam where they fuse animation and live action.
- When Akame takes off her tights, Amemiya (director) bought actual tights and took them off in video to use as reference for animators. (02:03:30)
- Yoshigaki designs a lot of the transformations for Trigger characters, like Luluco's judgment gun morphing. Yoshigaki used a punisher(?) toy as a reference.
- Q: What anime do you like watching/currently watching? Y: Oshiri Tantei (Butt Detective). Similar to Dora the Explorer. He likes it because it's very interactive.
- (02:25:59) @VideoClubFanatic#8545 Q: We had red team from LWA in beast man form, how would you think green or blue team look in BNA? Y: I was not aware LWA made a cameo in BNA. I guess we have no comments.
- Q: Are you ever going to make an all age appropriate kids show? A: We thought LWA was one. T: I thought Luluco was all ages. H: Luluco was for teenagers and a coming of age story.
- Yoshigaki didn't work on the key animation for BNA. For key animation, he only helped out on a gorilla arm and Michiru bird scene.
- H: Sex & Speed is my take on a detective story. SPL is my take on shoujo, love story.
- Yoshigaki did the character for the short of Gridman for Animator Expo.
- H: We are a sister studio to Khara because we both branched from Gainax.
- Koyama and Hiromi's current addiction is Fortnite.
Hiromi + Koyama + Imaishi
Part 1:
- It took at least 2 years to decide the style of the flames.
- Koyama hadn't watched the movie since he worked on the BD revisions.
- Part A > Always Imaishi, always an action scene.
- Waka finds cool the moment Galo freezes Gueira’s flames, and they call the following cuts (Gueira and Meis put in blocks of ice) the « stupid moments ».
- Also cool: the sound of Galo’s foot that concludes the capture of Gueira & Meis, Waka finds it satisfying.
- Talking about 3D and the freedom it gives to have fun with camera movements.
- The storyboard pages uploaded on Twitter in real time were either from Imaishi or from Yoshinari.
- Apparently the colours are particularly pretty on a Mac screen (Waka).
- They find the thing that catches Lio very cute and would like to see merch done out of it. And also, it looks like a bottle of whisky.
- Sushio is always involved in the A parts of Imaishi’s works.
- Talking about the fact that there's no Vulcan figure yet (and laugh about it).
- Prison scene : storyboard by Yoshinari / serious way of drawing / he put a realistic touch on the storyboards compared to the B part (done by Michel Sugimoto and Mayumi Nakamura) who have a more kawaii way of doing things.
- NB: for the full names, I looked into the Special book of the BD limited edition, but they just said Michel and Nakamura in the stream. Also, in my 1st post I said something like the fact Lio was pretty was done on purpose in that scene, I totally mixed up what I heard and reported, I fully acknowledge it (Lio on the screen + the word kawaii on the stream, my brain made a wild translation on its own)
- Pizza > Yoshigaki’s sequence.
- *They made heavy corrections on the pizzeria scene with Vulcan and the pizza chef (the first on they did correction on?) > gradients, colours of the ice, colours of the shades. They are happy they could reproduce the visual ambiance of the interior of a restaurant like the ones you can have in NY.
- Prison break > Waka said something like « when there’s a chase scene, there’s Imaishi somewhere for sure » (but is it because he likes them or because he’s always the one to make them, I couldn’t understand)
- Lake scene : That’s the « world of Shigeto Koyama », visually speaking. They talk about Aina’s white breath puffs, and say that because Galo is a guy, it’s not needed for him. Actually it was a question asked by fans (why does Aina’s breath is white and not Galo’s?), and they made up a reason. And apologized for it ^^
- The visual upgrades on that scene were interesting to do, technically speaking
- Storyboard book > there will be the storyboard of the deleted scene between the moment Galo leaves on his bike to pursue the falling burnish light and the moment he arrives at the cave.
- In the book interview, Imaishi is talking about how he chose what scene to keep and what scene to delete (then something about CG / easier to delete because it’s quicker to only do a preview / or something > not sure about this bit)
- The interview for the book lasted 5 hours.
- Waka loves Thyma’s character design / if it was a TV series, she would have been made a main character.
Part 2: (starts after Galo gives the medal back)
- Imaishi tries to make the « reveal » / « explanation » scenes interesting by making stuff happening on screen, it makes things easier to understand
- Waka points that they managed to cram two of this kind of scenes into a 2h movie
- Praising Tomotaka Kubo’s super cool backgrounds
- Heris appearing > Koyama: talks about how difficult it was to balance the green color in the lab scene with Heris, because either it would look dirty onscreen or it was clashing too much with the other colours. Maybe it was the most difficult sequence for him to work on in terms of colours. He used gradients as a trick on some places.
- some things differ from the storyboard around here
- They like the way how the moment Kray punches Galo is animated, with a one-motion hit
- They talk about the fact that from the moment he has been hit, Galo stops calling Kray Danna/Gov’, and that aaaw, Galo does what it told to, he's a good boy (translator’s note: that sounds like something out a fic from AO3…)
Part 3 (burnish camp / arrival of the Freeze force)
- Waka likes the change of colours, from green in the previous sequence to something more earthy
- Kai Ikarashi’s second part (tn: ?) / Gueira and Meis looks huge... especially Gueira
- Overall, most things that have been actually drawn in the storyboard have been used, the rest has been left to the state of sketches
- During the BR scene where everybody is wondering where Galo is, Waka wants to talk about Newtype (the magazine) but says New York instead, the others laugh at him, he answers that it’s because NY was too good.
Guests: Hiromi, Koyama, Mami
Description: Building Galo Kamina nendroid,Galo, Lio, and Frag plushies. figure stands, BD jacket
Notes:
- 21:16 Koyama sticks a nendroid stand up nose.
- 25:50 Koyama reviews banana chips and spills them.
- 33:50 Koyama penguin doodle (icon). In any Geekboat stream, if anything entertains them or helps them out, they gift you with an icon (penguin).
- 38:20 Hiromi: real fans will sense when a stream is coming, you don't need announcements.
- 1:00:00 Galo with Kamina's cape.
- 1:04:00 Plushies: Plushies: Frag (grenade) from the mascot (designed by Koyama), Galo, Lio.
- 1:05:53 GALO INTENSIFIES, Koyama playing with Galo plushie.
- The reason why Nendroid for Promare came out so quick is because Koyama is part of the review process for Good Smile Company. He reviewed for SAO and FSN figures in the past. He reviews 100 figures in a year, 40 titles. He was also heavily involved in the figure making process for Promare. (There's an article somewhere with Koyama and nendroid making).
- Koyama used to work as a radio station script writer a long time ago.
- 1:27:33 Koyama and Hiromi playing and making the plushies move.
- 1:30:30 Lio and Galo's plushie ears are nice to touch.
- 1:32:00 Limited edition BD with interchangeable jacket cover.
- 1:35:20 Promare character pop quiz (winner gets Koyama icon).
- TBA
- TBA
Guests: Hiromi, Koyama (later)
Description: Builds plastic Gridman toy
Notes:
- H: If Tattun is accepting foreign interns, then Trigger is accepting foreign interns.
- Hiromi recommends going to Japan shibuya for Halloween. You can drink in public unlike in USA. There's actually a DJ police in the streets that hiromi wants to see. (1:03:00)
- 1:31:40 staff watching behind the camera are revealed.
- If you tell an interesting story Iiromi and Koyama will give you an icon.
Streams where he's flipping through in-betweens and answering questions
Date: Aug 21, 2019
Note: (1 hr)
- In between frame packs are $30. Tattun tries to make sure there's at least 1 worthy frame in each one, because he hates lootboxes/surprise mechanics.
- Only Tattun sorts the in betweens, he doesn't know why, because there are more capable people at the studio.
- Can't sell the frames individually. Tattun doesn't know what happens to the unused ones, he puts them in a box and a green elf takes them away.
- They sell out in 30 minutes, even though they sell them in quantities of 1000 units.
- Trigger autograph sessions are personalized to deter them from being sold on Ebay.
- Used to live in Laguna Beach, CA.
- There's a total of 4 PR staff.
- T: I believe Studio Trigger is called Trigger because the directors wanted to call their series/projects films a 'bullet' and the studio will be the trigger that fires the munition out to the viewers.
- The way to tell key and in between frames: Lines are more rough on key frames, whereas they're more fine on in-betweens. Fine lines are easier for artists to color digitally and fill in. In betweens have a number on the top right.
- Italy is the best country he's visited so far.
- Tattun reads more manga than watch anime. He goes to the bookstore and if it's interesting, he'll get it.
- Shikishi cost breakdown, sold 30USD/unit (est.): $30-40 altogether for shipping, $10 altogether for wooden sheets (have to get them cut at local hardware store - $2/unit bulk). Usually have $30-40 lying around after that process. Money doesn't go individually to the person who drew, too complicated, but a portion of the Patreon money goes to the people that draw them. >80USD per person. (1:06:00)
- Tattun is hoping to share information and breakdown of the donation money, but he's waiting for word from the executives. It's been a year. None of the money is going to the actual studio. (1:07:00)
- I first encountered the furry community quite recently. 4-5 years ago, Tattun used to post Yoshinari's artwork on Deviantart, asked by his wife to. He was kinda interested what kinda people were interested in yoshinari's art, and a lot of people were furries. I don't judge kinks, I love those things too. A lot of interesting, kinky stuff they follow. (1:13:00)
- Patreon has been getting hate since the beginning. People are always going to hate. If I can get 60% of the patreon supporters liking the content and 40% disliking, that's okay in my book.
- Tattun doesn't like isekai or OP main characters.
- Mako is his least favorite KLK character.
- I like Satsuki's eyebrows. They're like rottweiler eyebrow patches. At least for Rottweilers I like touching them.
- Not a sweet tooth likes salty spicy stuff. Big fan of Mexican and Korean food. Chigae, soondubu
- How's turnover rate at Trigger: If they last the year, they'll probably stick around for at least a couple years. It's the first year I'd they'll stick around or not. 3:06
- Archive is insane. Each episode yields 4-6 boxes of frames. 2 seasons of anime = 40+ boxes. They usually ship them to a countryside storage space. (1:57:00)
- Pigmalio and Birdie are series that he likes that are underappreciated.
- Work and sick hours at Trigger are pretty flexible (for PR). At least the unspoken impression.
- Busiest time for Tattun is during the mid-summer con season. Also when he has to review subs for English, which is stressful (he doesn't usually do).
- Younger animators like doing the live drawings because they get extra spending money. Not sure about the veteran animators. Shishiki's artists get a small cut. (2:36:00)
- Coffee at Trigger is instant type.
- Trigger only has 2 composite staff.
- For anniversaries, they usually order a bunch of food and have an in house party.
- There are rumors fans go dumpster diving near popular studios, at least the creepier fans. I think we burn them [the in betweens] though, I've never seen the these stuff thrown away.
- Hiromi likes playing Gran Blue Fantasy.
- Nakaniku ATK one of Tattun's favorite illustrators.
Date: Jan 8 2020
Note:
- Eji Tsuchida is the composite/tech guy at Trigger that helps out with the streams.
- Hiromi is the OG author and created the idea for Panty and Stocking. Also Tattun's boss. Used to be an animator.
- 1st day is shonen and BL. 3rd day of comic market in the summer is the most toxic day. It's the lewd day. The walls are dripping with sweat and you're walking through 70% humidity of dirty man juice. (00:44:30)
- Mami looks like a mugger, rocking a neon beanie, sweatshirt, and mask. (00:48:30)
- Actual Luluco cut-outs used to film the ending of Space Patrol Luluco. (00:51:00)
Date: Mar 13 2020
Note:
- TBA
Date: Mar 27 2020
Note:
- If trigger goes in quarantine and self isolation, BNA will not finish. Link
- Tattun hates the concept of time and deadlines.
- T: You think AX is sweaty and smelly? AX is a breeze compared to comiket.
- I was going to say K-on was for old creepy dudes, but people would've been mad. K-on is for...everyone
- Before people would visit the Trigger office and they would let them have a peak of the studio. It was cool when people said they were from Mexico. Biggest reason for stopping people from visiting the studio was the Kickstarter studio tour tier prize. (1:10:00)
- Tattun lives with his grandmother.
- Tattun's cat will piss on him out of spite in the morning if he doesn't wake up.
- Next favorite gun, M1 with an EBR custom.
- Luluco and Diana are Tattun's favorite Trigger characters.
- He loves 24 hour street taco stands in LA.
- BNA staff are busy but expect a BNA related Q&A in May.
Dates: March 31, 2020
Notes:
- Q: Do the staff ever ask you to translate for leisure? All the time, for movies they would take him to Star Wars and Solo to as him.
- He fell asleep for Solo and Black Panther, he had to watch Black Panther 3 times and Solo twice (they were visiting in the states)
- Whiplash was the lat moving he really enjoyed. And Rush (car movie).
- He also likes Narcos.
- Tattun was a bad kid and mom gave up teaching him japanese, he didn't know how to write his name and wasted time at Japanese school. He eventually learned Japanese from adult games.
- Only time they've done April Fool's was when they've announced Trigger girls on April 1st but they actually revealed them.
- 1st episode took several months to make while last episode was relatively quick (a few weeks) for KILL la KILL.
- Mago draws Tattun with large pupils and as a bird.
- I have never taken drugs in my life. I'm super lightweight.
Date: April 1, 2020
Notes:
- Q: Do the staff ever ask you to translate for leisure? All the time, for movies they would take him to Star Wars and Solo to as him.
- For an internship with Trigger, you need to get a Japanese Visa yourself, be able to speak, write in Japanese, baseline requirements. (01:51:00)
- T: Hot take: Gaming journalists are all fake news, it's exactly the same with anitubers. Nevermind, I take it back. I would like to apologize. If you're really curious about a question, ask the folks who make it, not "experts" on the subject. (02:12:42)
- Q: Favorite BNA character? T: I really like Jackie, she's like the ugly raccoon bear. I don't like Nazuna or Michiru. Nazuna and Michiru's personality is icky, I don't like it. (02:23:15)
- T: When I praise this figure [his bunnysuit Ryuuko figure], I really mean it. This figure is super good quality, like 200 bucks, but it's worth the 200 bucks. (02:29:00)
- T: Most I've gotten in trouble for was disclosing the cost for an anime episode in the past. The exec folks were super mad. (02:38:34)
- T: I'm the studio's PR. They call me Tatsun, I don't know why they call me that. My real name is Tatsuru. It started when a certain celebrity said Tattun's name was boring and she would call him Tatsun from that point. Then it stuck. (02:48:00)
- T: I am treated as the clown and joke of the studio. Oh that dude's doing some random crap that isn't gonna go well, wasting everyone's time. (02:52:00)
Date: June 4, 2020
Notes:
- Tattun doesn't care if we talk about proxy services.
- Sushio's been pulled like 7 times for the live drawing raffle but Sushio's too busy and can't do them. Producers would get angry using Sushio's free time for the live drawing. He's one of the most valuable assets to the studio.
- Who's my favorite hentai artist, mister inoway(?) Trigger girls are commissioned by outside artists, look for the artists if you want to know Tattun's favorites.
- What's the weirdest food you've seen sold at a japanese vending machine? red bean paste.
- For PR, Hiromi goes out and finds people. He found Tattun, Mami. They haven't hired a PR person based on an application.
- They had a game console in the old office, not sure where it went in the new office.
- Tattun really loves Fentiman's Curiosity Cola (British coke), and brought some to work to share with a co-worker, who ended up disliking it. Now he's wary with sharing food he likes.
Date: June 11, 2020
Notes:
- I used to visit Hawaii every summer. I've been kicked out a beach for digging a hole, digging for a week, depth twice his height, covered it with beach towels and security guards counted it as a booby trap. He also used to catch wild chickens at a parking lot.
- He really likes wandering around, getting lost, and eating. When he went to Italy, he didn't go to any tourism places.
- Hiromi low key wants to start a Trigger economy based on Trigger dollars.
- Trigger dollars is what Tattun initially proposed, but the idea changed from the initial. Hiromi and Koyama really like Supreme and bought a money gun and wanted to shoot money at conventions. They do Q&A and they should hire a stripper to move the mics, and they use the dollars for the fans to give it to the stripper and exchange for the mic. Tattun wanted the explosive presentation compared to other companies.
- Enjoys Japan weather more. California has 1 season through the year, Japan has 4 seasons. If I could cut out summer, I hate hot places. Snow's interesting, Fall and Spring were interesting as well.
- Mexican coke is like the super saiyan of cokes. Usually if there's mexican coke available, there would be horchata which I love as well
- They did a trigger expo 6-7 years ago and had a t-shirt sale and only one chubby character remained.
Date: June 12, 2020
Notes:
- Initial idea for muzzle is that she can't speak. She can only speak gibberish, never takes off her mask, only uses blunt knive
- Muzzle was general onee-san vibes, big chesticles, thick thighs, thick waifu
- Emote plans are squared away, get the donation goal. Yoshigaki (BNA chara de) is planned as the first guy to commission the emotes
- Good Smile Company is our big daddy. We don't have the manpower, logistics to sell our stuff so that's what the parent company does.
- Favorite kind of sushi? If the sushi chef is great, then nigiri.
- Good Smile has always been the big grand daddy. If I do, it's usually me getting scolded. Company is getting more pseudo-business professional, moreso than 5-6 years ago. But it's still lax.
- In Europe, he was taking a bus and thought it was back to the hotel but it went to a totally random place. It was quite the adventure
- It was Tattun's idea to have the detachable glasses the Lotte nendo has.
- Pocari sweat tastes like sweet salt water.
- We know a few people at Pixar. Worked on a show called Battle Saurs, a toy story short for a christmas episode. this particular personfrom pixar was open to working on promare. he did a few image board on the volcano.
- Last year, 1 week away at AX, cat wouldn't leave him alone after 3 weeks.
- Two most freq dreams, forgetting something for class or falling off an escalator.
- My cat gets treats if she poops right, that's the extent of her responsibilities.
- My phone is full of videos of my cat pooping
- Tried getting her a custom harness to take her on a walk
- Said this on 4chan, but I always wanted this episode of Hannah and Barbara pulling a coup on Diana. Diana isn't popular anymore because of the two. But Hanna and Barbara screw up and she's back to queen bee.
Date: June 18, 2020
Notes:
- Sushio like using the yellow correction paper. Usually colors are designated to different people, like green for director, pink for supervisor, etc.
Discord: Erens-Basement#4074
Reddit: Erens-Basement
Twitter: @erensbase
In Progress:
- in between (3/13) 0:20 https://www.twitch.tv/videos/566403126?t=0h20m7s
Completed:
- 3rd
- 4th mago
- 5th chiba
- 6th amemiya
- 7th koyama
- 8th 50:14
- 9th imaishi
- Mar 21 tatt
- April 1 Tattun
- March 31 Tattun
- Shikishi (1/8/2020)
- first in between one 8/21/19
- Merch unboxing