George Wada: Producing the Mega-Hit "SPY×FAMILY"

I am very grateful. The moment I truly felt its popularity was seeing the merchandise expand even to daily necessities at convenience stores. Seeing it become cup noodles and enter people's daily lives made me realize it has become a national phenomenon.

Originally, my parents had a big influence, and I watched many Disney and Ghibli films. Also, during elementary school, I took piano lessons, but I hated going. I remember my mother taking me there by saying, "I'll buy you 'Weekly Shonen Jump,' so let's go to piano" (laughs). So, I'd say Shonen Jump works, Ghibli, and Disney.

I watched "Neon Genesis Evangelion" right when I was a university student. Renting and watching works like "Neon Genesis Evangelion," "GHOST IN THE SHELL," and "Mobile Police Patlabor: The Movie" repeatedly at TSUTAYA was what triggered my return to anime.

I watched all of Director Mamoru Oshii's works, as well as everything by Director Hideaki Anno and Director Hayao Miyazaki.

At the time, it was the IT bubble originating from America, and I admired the idea of joining a foreign consulting or IT firm. I wanted to work for an American company, so I joined the Japanese subsidiary of a foreign firm.

The trigger was participating in the "Content Creation Science Industry-Academia Collaboration Education Program," a course primarily for working professionals led by the University of Tokyo's Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies. In this course, many people from entertainment companies were invited as guest lecturers, and I was able to hear them speak directly.

One of the central figures of that course was Professor Yasuki Hamano, who was an outside auditor for Production I.G (hereafter I.G) at the time. Through Professor Hamano's introduction, I met Mitsuhisa Ishikawa (current Chairman of I.G), who came as a lecturer. Meeting them led me to join I.G.

Initially, I started as the person in charge of the internal website. Managing an internal website is a job you can't do without interacting with key members of the company. I still think it was great that this job allowed me to build connections with the main people within I.G.

After that, as a result of doing everything I could at I.G, I was fortunately recommended by those around me to become an assistant producer.

Never. Because of that, I conversely have immense respect for creators, seeing them as people who do things I cannot. Therefore, I decided to prepare the environment by gathering money and people and starting a company. I felt that creating an environment where creators can thrive consistently was what I could do.

Since it's something I can't do myself, I've clearly divided the roles, and I take pride in the work I do now.

At the time, the discussion for anime adaptations from "Shonen Jump+" used an open competition format. "SPY×FAMILY" was also adapted through a competition where we presented how we wanted to develop it, and that was selected.

Currently, the cycle of animation consumption is becoming shorter and shorter, requiring speed and timing. Within that, having two cours of a TV series in 2022, followed by one cour and a theatrical film the next year, is, I think, the fastest possible pace.

Being conscious of speed was part of the project concept from the beginning. In the era of digital distribution like "Shonen Jump+," where transitions happen faster and faster, the concept was to "be conscious of speed if it becomes a hit," whereas it usually takes four or five years to reach a theatrical release.

The division of production companies was simple: for the first TV series, we split it into odd and even episodes. For the second year, we organized it so that CloverWorks mainly handled the TV series and WIT STUDIO handled the theatrical film.

As a rough guide, completing the script takes two months. Storyboarding takes about two months, making it four months so far. The remaining animation takes four to six months, so you can think of it as roughly nine months.

However, this is the pace of WIT STUDIO. Among the hundreds of animation studios in Japan, there are certainly companies that produce with different philosophies. It depends on the policy and values regarding what to spend time and people on.

Yes. But the animation industry as a whole has really changed compared to the past. Now, it is fundamental to keep overtime within 45 hours per month. We are becoming mature companies. We take proper holidays and weekends. After all, we are a major subsidiary of a listed company, IG Port.

That's right. That has become a truly massive trend now. With high demand and the supply side unable to keep up, ultimately, "people" are what matter.

For companies of a certain scale, everyone has realized that training is the top priority.

It feels like, "I can't believe we've come this far."

TV Tokyo had done "NARUTO," so they had expertise and relationships regarding late-night and Jump anime, and they had been actively working on animation from an early stage.

Isn't it thanks to the anime fans? (laughs). There is a strong demand to watch it. We have several strategies for that, but since "SPY×FAMILY" takes an omnidirectional strategy, we don't let a single streaming platform have exclusivity.

While it won't air on other terrestrial stations, we are doing everything else omnidirectionally.

Too many to count. The platforms carrying the "SPY×FAMILY" TV anime probably account for over 90% of animation streaming platforms worldwide. Representative Japanese anime like "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba" are the same.

That's right. The reality is that actual viewership numbers are not disclosed by streaming platforms. This was one reason why Hollywood went on strike—platformers don't disclose data.

We share that same feeling. Since some kind of settlement was reached between Hollywood and the platformers this time, I expect the platformers to present some kind of response to the creators as well.

I want everyone to have the perspective that the Hollywood strike is connected to the front lines of Japanese anime production. They are fighting to protect visual culture, and that connects to us too.

Manga has various techniques like paneling or double-page spreads. In contrast, while anime has a fixed screen size, it has various means like "ma" (timing/pacing), sound, music, and the acting of voice actors.

The scriptwriter deciphers the manga and turns it into words, and the storyboard organizes that into animation. How to express the intention of the original manga or the impact received from it is exactly where the skills of our anime team are tested. This is the part that changes depending on which company makes it and which creators do it.

It depends on the situation of the work, but the production team for the "SPY×FAMILY" TV anime intends not to do that.

Since works loved across generations like "Detective Conan" and "Doraemon" already exist, we have to raise the quality another level and construct it as a unique worldview to differentiate it.

Something that feels like a watered-down version of the original manga will be ignored by today's teenagers who aren't necessarily anime fans. People around the world can tell the quality of anime, so such TV series aren't watched globally.

On the other hand, for the "SPY×FAMILY" TV anime and "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba," we intentionally raised the quality and built the worldview together with the original authors to make them works that people all over the world watch.

If the position of anime studios were weak like in the old days, these discussions might not have happened, but now the anime business has changed into a character business with a global perspective, not just domestic. The point of emphasis in the competition has changed.

Yes. We spend money and time on those parts. Since we create a significant portion using a combination with CG, I feel it's becoming closer to Hollywood movies.

We meticulously create the storyboards, decide first what to make with CG, and then think about what the hand-drawn animation will do in that order.

It is. In the stage following the script, the storyboard is drawn including the direction, so all such intentions are already established on the storyboard.

Yes. As you say, for a while, the method for anime songs was "'Doraemon' is this song," but now, short-form content with music attracts people in their teens and 20s.

For example, YOASOBI sang "Idol" in "Oshi no Ko," which got over 100 million views on YouTube and hit number one on the Billboard Global Chart. When Japanese animation spreads worldwide, the combination of music and visuals gets a lot of attention.

In the form of a collaboration, it reaches fans of Gen Hoshino, for example, and it's also perceived as a major work because it's an anime Gen Hoshino is singing for. It feels like we are giving an impact to the market and creating a "Buzz."

The person who made this opening is Masaaki Yuasa, an animated film director who has won awards at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival and elsewhere. I thought it was a wonderful opening that captured one facet of the essence of "SPY×FAMILY."

Yes, I think we were able to achieve the best form we initially envisioned. I intended to make the theatrical film with an original script if we were going to do it from the start.

I believe things watched in a movie theater are different, so I hope people will go see it.

Until now, my involvement in live-action was with the consciousness of participating according to conventional live-action film methods. But from now on, I intend to redefine live-action films in my own way of fighting.