Highlights: more talk about new Gainax projects, including a movie based on an unnamed shoujo manga, and another TV project that’s really deep and heavy, and a third that’s more light-hearted. No dub cast yet though! The full writeup is after the jump.

Marketing director Rob Napton and Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (US version) producer Toshifumi Yoshida are presiding over the Gurren Lagann panel, along with the producers (JP version) Hiroyuki Yamaga and Yasuhiro Takeda, from Gainax (Yoshida is translating). Hiroe Tsukimoto from Aniplex of America is here and says she’s in charge of the English localization. Two reps from Aniplex are also here, but I wasn’t quite able to catch their names.

Opening up with the first OP of the series, to get us in the mood (and move past the requisite technical difficulties), then introductions. Yamaga says that his job on the show was to come up with the concept, so his job was more or less over when they came up with the title. He enjoys being able to enjoy it officially with Japanese fans. Takeda is the “real” producer on the show, and his job was to set the tone and unite all the internal workings, get the money, etc. He also had to consider the final product of the show and decide how it gets marketed in and out of Japan. So even though it’s done airing in Japan, his work on Gurren Lagann continues and he looks forward to our support.

One of the Aniplex reps says that there will be a big Aniplex event this July (TTGL related? I’m not sure.) Rob Napton confirms the Sci Fi Channel deal (which WILL be dubbed), and also notes that the TV license is being held by Starz Media.

Moving right on to the Q&As, so I’m guessing no dub cast announcement yet. Someone asked if there’s going to be a Blu-Ray release, no info yet. Someone just whined about how they were supposed to announce the dub cast, and Yoshida is offering up his head for jumping the gun on the blog post, so definitely no list yet, but hopefully soon. So we’re on our toes for it! Yoshida keeps getting texts from one actor who is at a different con this weekend, apparently.

Another question about the “strange” licensing of the series (ie the swipe from ADV), which I’m sure we’ll hear the same response on from Bandai, that it was a mutual Aniplex/ADV decsion…but Aniplex is actually tackling it themselves. I wonder if Gainax has any thoughts on it? An Aniplex rep says that it was a mutual agreement to cancel the license and that’s pretty much it.

Someone just asked if soundtracks are going to come with every limited edition DVD for TTGL, and Yoshida answers that there will probably be a box and goodies, but he doesn’t have anything specific yet.

Next question, finally for Yamaga and Takeda: how did the TTGL concept come about? Yamaga says that a “certain person” wanted to make a Gundam-like anime, This person said that the show is great because it appeals to young kids as well as oldschool fans, so the shows sell well. Yamaga said, well, wouldn’t that be nice? But as a creator thinking it can’t be done, that’s a hard pill to swallow, but he thought it just wouldn’t happen and he went to apologize to the person who requested it in the first place. So when he went, he ran into the president of a toy company, who also suggested a giant robot as an eternal concept. Being a creator, and having been told these things, Yamaga thought okay, here’s a challenge: let’s take it on. Yamaga told the first guy that they can’t make Gundam because Sunrise already makes Gundam– lots of it. But they decided to do a giant robot show that would appeal to kids and adults, and that’s where it came from.

Someone asks how much stuff from previous Gainax works influenced TTGL. Yamaga says he’s not entirely sure what the asker means, but of course they have a history of titles like Evangelion, which they of course weren’t cloning because they’ve already done Eva (…never mind that they ARE doing it again…). But their entire history is like one great creation but they’re not just taking ideas from past series.

Yet another person jumps in to try and help that last question, asking if anything from previous shows “helped” with the new show. Yamaga says maybe we’re better judges of what carries over from previous shows. Takeda says yes, sure, they’re Gainax so they’ll parody themselves sometimes.

Someone asked if the Razengann, the Spiral King’s mech, was made to look like an EVA unit intentionally. Yamaga says, no clue.

Back onto western stuff, someone asked what age rating they’re looking for on TTGL, they’re looking for a similar group to Adult Swim, like 15 or 16+. Yamaga says that meanwhile, they barely got by the censors in Japan.

Someone just asked if they’ll mass-produce the hug pillows, which Napton says he’ll think about it and I tell them to do a Simon one.

Next question is Gurren Lagann video game stuff in the US. Takeda says he doesn’t know…but then he says he’s been instructed not to say anything.

Next question was asked at the Gainax panel, what their favorite work that they did. Yamaga says he has no favorite Gainax work, and Takeda doesn’t get to answer.

How has Gainax been keeping the volume of anime consistant because it looks so good…I think he means how they keep the quality of the anime consistant. Takeda says they walk a tightrope of bankruptcy and shave the pay of the employees. Yamaga says the reason no shows go past 26 episodes is that if they go further then they WILL go bankrupt.

Someone asked if Simon’s name will be pronounced in an English fashion (sai-mahn) or Japanese style (shee-moan), and it’ll be the Japanese way.

Next question is if “Gurren Lagann” means anything in particular. Yamaga answers that yes, when they name a show they have lots of descriptions of what the title means, so there’s a lot he could talk about, but since it hasn’t been released yet he’ll keep quiet. But they did sort of thing, well, it sounds Japanese but it also sounds kinda foreign, which was a goal in coming up with the title. Takeda chimes in, saying that the title meeting was three minutes long.

I’ve heard the answer to this question before: why drills and spirals? They pass it on to the director, who insisted and said, “we gotta use drills.” So the screenwriter said “okay, I’ll figure something out.” Takeda says the important thing is that for every revolution it takes it moves forward, and that’s the power of humanity to evolve and move forward, or at least that’s what he came up with.

Updates on the Gurren Lagann movie, but they’ve been told to keep quiet on that topic. Should have been at the panel yesterday!

Someone asked if the Sunday morning timeslot was intentional or if they were hoping for a more primetime slot. Since they were talking about appealing to kids as well as adults I assume it was intentional. Yamaga says that the afternoons were the primetime slot for anime in the old days, but things changed so it’s not the best time anymore. So it came to light that the Sunday mornings are a really GOOD time where anime is thriving, so they aimed for it and managed to get it.

Favorite character? Yoshida says Boota. Aniplex reps pick Viral and Kamina, Yamaga picks Yoko (a man after my own heart), and Takeda picks Lord Genome. Silly question about whether the subtitles shown in the screening earlier were the dub script, which of course it’s not, it’s the actual translation.

Will there be more of these 9-episode boxes on Bandai’s part is going to be something to expect from Bandai, and Yoshida says when he got there he was handed TTGL and told he was three months behind schedule. Heehee.

Another man after my heart for the manga: but Yoshida says there’s a bidding war for the manga, unsurprisingly. They’d like to do it! Stay tuned.

How did they come up with the idea of the giant robot heads running around? Takeda says it was the director’s idea, he wanted to do robots “with faces.” Because it’s strange, we do it, Yamaga says.

I asked whether Kamina was born (mentally) as a larger-than-life character or if he developed that way. Takeda says Kamina was that full speed ahead character right from the start. But they had to watch out for the fact that Simon is the main character, so they had to try not to overshadow Simon too much. So they had to have Kamina exit stage left early on. (Someone in the back yells “SPOILER!” and Takeda says he’s just talking “in general.” But if you ask him questions, he doesn’t care if it’s not out yet, he’ll just answer, so don’t ask him questions. Especially those 40 or so Gainax employees sitting in the back, who are just waiting for him to slip up and say something he shouldn’t. Much love! We all applaud the Gainax members in the back! The animators and episode directors of TTGL, we’re told, as well as other departments.

Someone asked why Yoko wears a scarf. Dumbest question of the panel award for sure, but Yamaga says they don’t have the designer here to pin for that question. He’ll ask next time he sees the designer. Maybe her neck is just cold.

Is there any significance that Simon turns the drill to the left instead of turning to the right when he turns on the Lagann? Wow. This is getting kind of goofy. Takeda and Yamaga kinda talk about it for a minute, and then says it’s because that’s how a fist goes when you punch them. Which is something they just thought up.

How old is Yoko? Himitsu desu! It’s a secret. Her measurements are also a secret.

Will we get the alternate bathhouse episode (the uncensored version of ep6), which they just showed before the panel. Which they’re going to include on the DVD, but I think Yoshida just said they’re thinking of including both in the full (dub) DVD later. On TV they’ll show the TV ep6, I think.

The first few minutes of the first episode were really stellar animation, leading to expectations of Captain Harlock, which was also talked about yesterday…now Gainax sees why they should publicize their panel. Takeda says that they did it as a possible setting for later episodes, but nothing set in stone.

Next question is the OVA episode (5.5), which were released with games in Japan (and which were terrible, by the way), and Yoshida answers that he asked about it. Aniplex says they can’t say at this point because it was exclusive with the DS game in Japan.

Are there any plans for digital distribution of TTGL. Yoshida notes that the Starz/SciFi deal includes some kind of digidistro but they’re not sure quite what.

A follow-up to the talk yesterday of the Japanese anime market declining, but still being profitable: is that in any part to foreign markets? I guess the question really is: do foreign markets do diddly squat for you guys? Wish this’d been asked when Bandai Entertainment wasn’t sitting at the table with them, but Takeda says that a show that sells very well in Japan will sell pretty well in the US but that a show that doesn’t do well in Japan generally won’t do well here either.

Someone asked about some specs for the sub-only which we already know; three sets of 9 episodes, two discs for each set.

A question about the Gurren Lagann score, which is of course completely badass. How did they decide to mix rap and opera, and on another note, where did the decision for Boota’s brief transformation into being a huamn come from? Takeda says the music was all Iwasaki, the composer. Iwasaki really didn’t want to work on a robot show, and was really reluctant about it, but the director told him to do it completely as he pleased, and that’s where TTGL’s music came from. (He also works on Soul Eater now.) But it’s true that when the staff heard the first track they thought, “how the heck are we going to use this?” But in the end after they got the animation together with the music they thought it meshed really well. I agree! So, should the soundtracks be released over here, you will see everything going through Iwasaki’s head when he wrote the music– apparently he made extensive (and funny) notes for the booklet in the Japanese release. Takeda hopes the whole thing gets brought over.

Only time for a couple more questions…Which non-Ganmen character design was most difficult? They didn’t do character design so Yamaga and Takeda can’t really answer it.

Last question: are Simon and Kamina an apology for Shinji and Ikari? I can’t believe somebody asked that. Takeda asks, “what do you mean apology?” The asker says because they’re opposite characters (it’s called a foil, dude). Takeda says that it is in no way an apology, and Shinji is a great character!

Rob says we have time to squeeze in one more. What’s Gainax working on next? Yamaga says that they have one movie in the works and one TV series…not sure if the movie he refers to is the TTGL flick (or rather, the first). The TV series is pretty far along, he thinks they can release info on it fairly soon. It’s sort of a pop, light-hearted story. There’s a second TV series that Yamaga and Takeda are working on that’s really serious and heavy. For the movie he can’t talk about it at all because it’s in development but it’s based on a shoujo manga. There are also a couple of other original stories in development. Takeda says that he really wants to talk about it but he’d get in big big trouble.

Tags: Bandai-Entertainment, fanime08, gainax, Gurren-Lagann

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