© TRIGGER・Hiroyuki Imaishi
At this year’s Anime Expo, Studio Trigger gave the world a taste of their upcoming projects. Whether it’s the Delicious in Dungeon premiere ahead of the series’ January debut on Netflix or details about the 15th anniversary screening of GURREN LAGANN THE MOVIE, there’s a little something for everyone. People. What caught my attention was the announcement of the trailer for the studio’s new NEW PANTY & STOCKING project.
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Having recently rewatched the original Panty & Stocking anime series, I was excited to have the opportunity to sit down with Studio Trigger president Masahiko Otsuka at Otakon 2023. His involvement with Panty & Stocking and many other projects in the works His long career made me even more ecstatic to talk more about work with him. While we talked, animators Shunpei Gunyasu, Takuya Saitō, and the studio’s dedicated YouTuber Kenta Kawahara accompanied him. We were all a bit nervous at first, but once we started discussing anime, our shared smiles and occasional giggles made for an interesting conversation.
At Anime Expo 2023, Studio Trigger revealed the announcement trailer for the NEW PANTY & SOCKING project. The team addressed this a bit during the panel, but as someone closely involved with the original series, what are your thoughts on returning to PSG more than a decade later?
Masahiko Otsuka: When we were at Gainax, we talked about Panty & Stocking and said: “Wouldn’t it be great if we could create a series of Panty & Stocking products in the future?” However, we I founded Trigger when I left GAINAX to start a new company. Because the rights to Panty & Stocking belonged to GAINAX, we probably wouldn’t have had the chance to create something new so we gave it up. However, we were quite surprised to be able to acquire the copyright by a stroke of luck as we did not expect to be able to produce new Panties & Socks at TRIGGER. It makes us all happier. Because when something happens that you don’t expect, it’s even sweeter. Since we have a diverse staff at TRIGGER—new blood—I’m looking forward to seeing what new things come out of this, and I’m looking forward to the NEW PANTS & INVENTORY that the original staff and our new employee will produce together.
© 2010 GAINAX/Geeks
There’s a lot of audience parody in Panty & Stocking, so I’m curious how you walk that delicate legal tightrope as an artist. When rewatching the series recently, the title card “High School Nudical” made me say “Oh my god, the rat is coming.”
OTSUKA: chuckles We thought we wouldn’t have rats knocking on our door, but we were careful not to make it too legally dangerous. But at the same time, we were like, “Well, making tame things isn’t always the most appealing to viewers, right?” So we wanted to make things that other people weren’t making.
© 2010 GAINAX/Geeks
Throughout your career, you’ve used a lot of mixed media in your projects, whether it’s the manga scene, the outing at FLCL, or the various scandals at PSG. As a tokusatsu fan, one of the things I loved most about those PSG shockers were the exploding ghosts. After watching the documentary [có trên đĩa Blu-ray Panty & Stocking] Yourself, Imaishi-san, Koyama-san and the rest of the team blew those models away in a few sweltering days in the woods, I’m very curious. What was that experience like for you? Imaishi-san mentioned that it’s a bit stressful because you only get one chance to get each model and background right. Are there any pieces of the model left in the TRIGGER office?
OTSUKA: Hmm… So, regarding the explosion scene. Since we specifically assigned staff to handle explosions, I thought we would get it right and maybe we could get through it. But regarding the ghost parts, many staff members came and picked the parts they liked the most… and maybe they’ll take them home. So if you look into some of the employees’ homes, you might see some of those ghostly parts still lying around.
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While we’re talking about tokusatsu, I’m curious to see what the reaction was in the studio when you received the news from Tsuburaya that they would be making costumes for Gridman and Alexis Kerib. How did director Akira Amemiya react?
OTSUKA: Since we made SSSS.Gridman as an animated series, the design went from tokusatsu to animation and back to the costumes. So when we heard this news, we really couldn’t believe it. We were very happy but said: “Really?” in surprise.
On the subject of SSSS.Gridman, here is the question I posed to Gunyasu-san and Saito-san during the previous Studio Trigger press conference: During your time working on Gridman projects as animator figure, I would imagine you’ll have to go back and refer to Gridman’s original tokusatsu series from time to time. Is there anything you were looking for specifically when you look back on it?
Shunpei GUNYASU: There is a specific note from Amemiya-san saying “this scene is based on the episode here. Check out these movements.” They are exact notes on what to reference from the original Gridman series.
Takuya SAITŌ: I was really happy to work alongside someone who was a fan of the original series. So when I leaned over and asked, “Hey, what do you think about this scene?” The person gave me a detailed analysis and said, “This is based on this particular episode of Gridman.” After hearing that, I was able to look at things from a different perspective and say, “Wow, that actually makes more sense now.” Those are some of the benefits of knowing people who have the know-how about Gridman .
© 2003 GAINAX/TOP 2 PROJECTS
Otsuka-san, I mentioned earlier about the passage of time with your projects and the upcoming 20th anniversary of Aim for Top 2! Diebuster comes to mind. As a sequel to a series that initially appeared to be a parody of Aim for the Ace! Before gradually becoming its own thing, Top 2 did the same with an homage to Aim for the Top! Shoots. How did you try to best balance the love for Top 1 in your episodes while also giving Top 2 its own identity? Especially when you consider that episodes one and four are structurally most similar to the episodes in Top 1.
OTSUKA: It was difficult because before that, I was working on FLCL and was there to animate episodes one and four, as you mentioned. But when I was making Diebuster, I often listened to the director [Kazuya Tsurumaki] said: “Hey! This is not FLCL!” giggle They expect something new to make a difference The goal is to get into the Top 2! from Gunbuster. However, while I was working on my new Top Goal, I didn’t really know how to do it. So after mulling it over, I said, “You know what? I will do something that I think is best.” When I did it, the director really seemed to like it. So I believe that maybe that’s the answer I’m looking for.
Finally, is there anything you’d like to say to fans who are eagerly awaiting the upcoming Panty & Stocking revival?
OTSUKA: I know that now that we can work on Panty & Stocking, we can create the best Panty & Stocking possible. So for fans of the original, stay tuned for our new project, NEW PANTY & SOCKING.
Special thanks to Otakon’s on-site interpreters for their language expertise and support throughout the interview.