In anticipation of the 2025 anime release of Gachiakuta, collaborators Naoki Amano (anime producer at Bones), Megumu Tsuchiya (editor at Kodansha), and Horitsugu Ono (producer at Apex) appeared at Anime Expo 2024 to discuss the upcoming series. Notably, the three companies came together to collaborate on the Noragami anime series 10 years ago, and they shared that they were happy to partner again for Gachiakuta. Amano shared, “When the three companies, the same three teams that worked on Noragami gathered together, we discussed which Kodansha titles we were interested in working on, and I thought that Studio Bones could really use its strength on a series like Gachiakuta.”
Gachiakuta follows the story of Rudo, a young boy who lives in the slums. In this society, the wealthy throw all things deemed as trash, including criminals, into “The Pit.” Accused of a crime he didn’t commit, Rudo is dumped into “The Pit.” There he awakens and learns of his power as a “Giver,” that helps him hunt the trash beasts. With revenge in his heart, Rudo strives to do whatever it takes to find whoever threw him into “The Pit.”
On what makes the series so appealing, Tsuchiya shared, “Creator Urana’s art is cutting edge, Andou’s graffiti design is very stylish, and the dialogue is really powerful.” It’s not often that graffiti art by a professional is seen in manga, but Tsuchiya said, “Urana and Andou have been longtime creator friends, and they resonate with eachother on a deep level. They both have a passionate desire to create something new.“ He added, “When Urana expanded the concept of Gachiakuta and it got selected for serialization, she got the idea of adding Andou’s graffiti to make the work even more amazing.”
When it comes to adapting Gachiakuta, Amano shared that they’re mindful of how to incorporate the denseness of the manga illustration into the anime. Considering the various elements from the original work, he revealed that the team works quite closely with Andou: “He advises us on how to depict places that aren’t visible in the manga.”
“I want to use different technologies, including 3D to give the animation the depth of the original artwork,” he began. “We actually just started working on this, so we’re still experimenting with various methods to keep the animation style true to the manga.” To give fans a sneak peek, a brief video showcased how 3D is used in the creative process at the studio.
At the forefront of the project are director Fumihiko Suganuma and chief animation director Satoshi Ishino. At first, the team was unsure whether Suganuma would be interested in directing Gachiakuta, given how different the genre of his past works were like The First Slam Dunk and Shirobako. However, Suganuma found the project interesting and accepted it right away. Meanwhile, Ishino’s wide range of experience from “mecha and action to beautiful girls” made him the right person for this project.
At this time, no date for the anime premiere has been confirmed.
