The 3DCG anime series KamiErabi GOD.App has been stealing the attention since its first reveal in March. And it is not hard to understand why when you find out the big name that tags alongside–Yoko Taro (creator of the NieR franchise), Atsushi Ohkubo (author of Soul Eater and Fireforce), Hiroyuki Seshita (Director of Knights of Sidonia), and Jin (creator of Kagerou Project).
Taglined “God, the world today is also going crazy,” KamiErabi GOD.App takes place in a high school setting, where characters are faced off against each other in a suspenseful battle royale to become a god. At first sight, the plot seems to be a bit déjà vu for a typical survival anime series. But when it comes from the hands of these legendary creators, there is always something to expect for. At a panel held recently at Anime Expo 2023, the four creators shared more about its creation process and more important, how crazy KamiErabi GOD.App is.
“It really is crazy. The world we’re in is already crazy. I mean, it’s super crazy. And what we’re doing is we basically just matched perfectly the world that we’re living in,” said KamiErabi’s director Seshita soon after he greeted the audience at the stage event. “From the very beginning, we were saying, ‘Okay, let’s make it so that (the anime feels like) there’s weird going on from the get-go. And every single time we worked on this, we tried to make sure that we infused it with some craziness because that matches our world.”
The famed Knights of Sidonia and Godzilla anime trilogy director has been using 3DCG animation for his work for over 30 years and he thought that the uniquely distorted image of 3D animation was the best way to manifest the craziness of KamiErabi GOD.App.
“Compared to hand-drawn anime, there are a lot of flaws in 3DCG animation and it is really hard to handle the technique. But even with the defects, you’ll easily fall into it after using it as a tool to tell a story,” he added.
Speaking of creating a story, the story-telling master Yoko Taro explained that there’s no point in creating the same things as the mainstream work even though that means he sometimes had to present something that makes the audience uncomfortable. “It’s never about the emotions itself. It’s more about provoking a new and significant experience for the viewer. When all of these (positive and negative feelings) comes into the story, that’s what makes it different from other works,” the creator said.
However, the creating process of KamiErabi GOD.App was not as smooth as he would have thought when he first approached Jin for the scenario writing. “When I first sent the draft to him, he literally change everything about it. I was like ‘ok’, rewrote the plot and sent it to him again. And the next day, he destroyed everything I made again! The process went over and over again, and I started to think that he simply hates what I’m doing here!” cried Yoko.
“I guess breaking everything makes it interesting,” laughed Jin, who was asked to defend himself after the accusation. “And I think rewriting and rewriting over, over, and over again, I finally come up with something that we all like.”
And because of this neverending process, director Seshita thought of quitting the project several times. “But after Jin rewrote the story multiple times, Yoko-san and I got intrigued by his idea and started to feel that we are creating a world together, something that never exists before. The anime has strong characteristics that are different from what I’ve done before” he expressed.
For the anime’s character designer Atsushi Ohkubo, who you may know him for creating the popular manga Soul Eater and Fire Force, he mentioned on stage that he still wasn’t sure he was the right person for this job. “I was the last member to join the team and I try hard to keep up with everyone else. But when the director told me not to be too serious in drawing the characters, I was like ‘what!?’ I’m still in the situation in questioning whether I’m competent for this project or not,” he joked.
Ohkubo manifested that his character KamiErabi GOD.App are all good boys and girls. “But the fact that they are involved in such a dire situation also makes it very interesting. All I can say is that they are good in nature, but as every coin has two side, they too has a complicated side to show as the story develops.”
Unlike what he has experienced during various game project, Yoko Taro expressed that this talented team has inspired him a lot as a creator. “Having worked as a director on so many games, the veteran staff just ended up saying ‘yes’ to whatever I say. And this time I’m grateful to work with the young and passionate talents, who pushed back like Jin did. It has been a long time since I felt the clashes of ideas and I love it,” he expressed.
And to thrill visitors with the dynamic CG animation of KamiErabi GOD.App, the panel was finished with an exclusive new clip of the show! KamiErabi GOD.App is slated to release on Crunchyroll in October 2023.
▍KamiErabi GOD.App Staff & Production
Original Work: Yoko Toro
Director: Hiroyuki Seshita
Series Composition/ Screenplay: Jin
Character Design: Atsushi Ohkubo
Music: MONACA
Animation: UNEND
Planning/ Produce: Slowcurve