How Pacific Rim’s Sci-Fi World Turns Into Netflix Anime

Yuki Moriyama is still seen for the first time Pacific Rim. He came a little late, and he caught it in theaters with some friends who had already seen the film several times. It was not long before Moriyama – an art director at animation studio Polygon Pictures – was well accustomed to. “It’s the type of film that, once you get into it, it becomes quite addictive,” he says directly about the mech vs kaiju fight.

Now, the team of Moriyama and Polygon are releasing their own on the franchise. Created in collaboration with legendary television and writers Greg Johnson and Craig Kyle, Pacific Rim: The Black There is an animated series on Netflix that explores a new time period. It is set after two films and takes place in a version of Australia that has largely been abandoned and now erupted with terrifying kaiju. The series had to change in some ways – but the action-heavy core that first inspired Moriyama still remains. “Every fight is an unrefined, unreliable, fist fight,” he says.

Polygon is a stunning studio, known for its 3D anime style. The studio has worked on the conversion of everything Ghost in the Shell To Star wars To Transformer. The team also has experience with giant monsters, who have created a trilogy of animated Godzilla Movies on Netflix. For Moriyama, there is one thing in particular that makes Pacific Rim stand out from many other franchises about mechs and / or kaiju: the weight and scale of the world.

“First thing when I think it comes Pacific Rim It is that robots are very huge and heavy, and so they move very slowly, ”he explains. “To pilot these huge machines, human pilots need to use an unusual drifting technique. I think it is very limited for pilots, but that is what makes Pacific Rim Universe is what it is I can fully feel the persistence of mankind as they fight again and again for the time being, taking out the cashews each time. “

Is one of the challenges for Black It was to find out how to turn Enith into an anime from live action, as well as to carve out a different place. Pacific Rim Universe. The show takes place in the future, but due to an almost post-apocalyptic setting, it is not necessarily a more advanced world. Similarly, while films focus on well-trained pilots, Black Two siblings who stumble into a training make – say Jazzers in Pacific Rim Universe – that they learn to make pilots. Put these aspects together and you have a very bleak vibe story.

“in Pacific Rim The world, mankind, has succeeded in thwarting attacks by ex-servicemen. However, there is no doubt that people have ended up at this point, ”oversees director Hiroyuki Hayashi. “We came up with the idea that the social divide between different groups would widen under these circumstances. Especially the frontline areas left behind, people will only see advanced technology when it is necessary. People in Pacific Rim: The Black There are survivors who have been abandoned by the magic of advanced technology. If anything, they have a technology level closer to what we have today, except for the Jagger technology. “

Picture: Netflix

Concept artist Yuki Morita’s new creatures are the highlight of the show. But he also presented a challenge, as the production team had to find a way to work out those more realistic designs with anime visuals. Says Moriyama, “I remember trying to design our brains for racking how to apply colors within boundaries with an anime-style look, yet Morita created a highly detailed one for us. The shapes are retained. “

Hayashi says that, due to collaborative efforts between Polygon in Japan and Legendary in the US, the design also has a somewhat international flavor. “It was interesting and gratifying to see that the concept of cashew originated in Japan – although some may disagree – has diversified and developed in different parts of the world. This is what makes it really interesting for artists from diverse cultural backgrounds to come together to do the same thing. “

Pacific Rim: The Black Now available to stream on Netflix, and the seven-episode series represents a way for fans to dig a little deeper Pacific Rim Mythos – Including fans who worked on it. It is still filled with giant robots, but for Moriyama, it was a chance to expand on the ideas that inspired him so much. “It’s good that we’re able to tell a story about characters and villains that isn’t overstated Pacific Rim The universe, and this has led to a greater understanding and expansion of the world in my mind, ”he says.