Reddit AMA Recap: Maxime Simonet

Recently, Maxime Simonet. French Native and creator of Gemusetto: Death Beat(s), and Machu Picchu did a Reddit AMA about his recent works, the creative process of certain character names and character death choices, along with clearing up any misconceptions about how Mike Lazzo really feels about anime as a whole.


On the motivation behind this whole cartoon/live-action/surreal show business? And is Adult Swim CEO Mike Lazzo secretly a weeb considering that it’s said he “hates anime”?

He is not secretly a weeb but he has said Machu Picchu is the only anime he’s watched multiple times all the way through. though I’m sure he’s watched FLCL a few times.

IDK- I like making people laugh and make them like me and my ideas. and I like nerdy world-building. so I put them together and see what happens.

On where the name Makasu came from? and if it just something he made up or is there some deeper meaning?

Makasu is both a weeb-ification of my own name max and also similar to my dad and his wife (who are French) calling me Maxu.


On the anime inspirations/influences behind the show.

I was very pumped. I remember (Mike) Lazzo specifically told me to not make it about sports and he thought my outline read “too serious” at first and I said “no no no the script will have jokes.” (which, you know, is subjective. jokes to me might just be ass vomit to others)

but I guess the show itself is inspired by stuff like Jojo’s bizarre adventure and Fullmetal (alchemist) which is why an outline reads seriously. I was into making a melodramatic epic fantasy adventure with my own sensibilities in it to hopefully make people laugh or think too much about the canon and logic of the world. so yeah, shows like that with big complicated fantasy and sci-fi arcs and stupid twists and lore. the specific influences are too many to list.

edit: I meant LAZZO ty is giving me shit for saying LAZZ LMAO

On How much of the dialogue in Machu Picchu was improvised? And if not what was the writing process like?

Machu Picchu was done quickly. I did the bulk and assigned out specific parts to some people (Kim manning actually wrote the first pass at the Jesus bowling scene.) however when I get in the VO booth I liked to shoot the shit and say things until I laugh and so I have options when I editing. I also liked keeping in my mistakes and use other peoples’ mistakes and edit moments that weren’t really in the script to keep it fresh sounding to me.

On what’s been the favorite thing he’s made/released since working at home aside from Gemusetto and Tender Touches, anything from Bloodfeast to the brackets?

God, it’s so big there are moments I forget. if anything I feel people might not get to the end when the show reveals its “heart” and ties together the arc because it’s so abrasively janky and annoying at first hahaha.

my favorite thing I’ve made is the RPGMaker game we’re releasing during the rewatch tonight. it’ll be at gemusetto.com iDK it’s also jank as fuck I’ve never made a video game before but it was very fun.

On his favorite thing about the character Dave?

His ability to shut down and change a premise to a fault.

On Machu Picchu’s wildly different animation styles and the process of putting them together.

I was told at dragon con that year to take the idea I had for Machu Picchu and make it go from midnight till six am for April fools. so we had a short amount of time and a small budget to make a lot. it was a fun challenge and I wanted to seem resourceful and needed to people and have something cool in my portfolio.

when awesome inc. was organizing the animation team they contracted some people they found online and farmed out work. I had outlined/written the show as 3-minute segments, each being a mini-episode. so it was assigned one episode per animator.

I had said I didn’t want it to be “stage-y” in look, the aspect of anime I wanted to capture was like the melodrama of different camera angles and shots that you don’t often get in something like aqua teen or family guy. I said early on just draw the characters however to get us lots of drawings and varied shots.

that turned into the myriad of animators fucking around and making their segments in their own styles! it was a fun byproduct.


On How he managed to get Tom Green to act in Gemusetto and have him make fun of how old he is for 20 mins?

Tom was around for some tests, we had him do his president listing bit on bloodfeast even, and I said “hey can you do it!” and he said okay and it was a thrill directing someone who fuckin was part of my childhood? I still remember is oddly turned on by the scene in Freddy got fingered when he hits his paralyzed girlfriend’s legs with a cane and she moans? something like that.

On anything in particular Maxine wanted to do that wasn’t allowed when working on Gemusetto or Tender Touches but couldn’t due to certain circumstances?

“Certain circumstances”? like what, some banana republic abducted one of my voice actors and I couldn’t finish a story?

I was told I can’t call woody Allen “god of pedophiles.” I love Annie hall, just not as much as woody loves his stepdaughter.

On his favorite segment in Gemusetto Machu Picchu and how was it researching all the god-stuff or any historical inspirations?

I liked doing the research. I had a bunch of dumb epiphanies about how polytheism worked. I also liked learning the stories and shit and solving the puzzle of “what would this gods MOVESET be”

my favorite segment- might be the god of tennis explaining his origins. or bendy rivers live action. or when makasu burns to death. a lot of the merged kon fight I think looks super cool.

oh, actually it’s probably the reveal that the character “Suplay” has tiny eyes hahaha.

On what his favorite aspect of the show that he personally worked on?

I mean I love editing it and finding those weird moments to repeat words and take an off-take and put something weird in. but I especially like when it gets super melodramatic and borderline emotional. it’s both funny and moving. I also just like being able to explore a dumb idea that makes me excited- like going beyond just parody and doing the world-building and finding it out while writing. getting excited about my little nerdy world.

I know Lazzo accused me of getting too nerdy about the premise but I think that’s part of the charm too.

On the of going from 40-minute to 11-minute episodes and if they can expect more “Tender Touches” in the future?

we’re working on maybe making more tender touches. it kinda was Lazzo’s little inside house pet project he helped make happen so we’re having to rejigger things a bit to clarify to the new guard what’s up.

I feel the 11-minute format is more deliberate. they feel more like 22’s what with two airing per weekend and they lead into each other in a serialized manner. but it’s definitely tighter. the first season was long meandering epic and had filler of stream of consciousness so this season is definitely denser. I sometimes worry people will miss how free season one was, but I think this feels more like a “show.” it has moments of wandering off into thoughts and memories.

But also, I learned a lot from making season 1 which started with a huge outline and I was filling holes and sometimes assuming a non sequitur might work. but in the end, the input I got was focusing on the world and the story worked better than going to weird “artsy” places to fuck around. so I took that into account in this season even more. I knew what I liked and focused on that.

On what show could he make if he didn’t have any kind of financial limitations?

I’m very interested in a story about California, robots, the internet, and what memory is because I have lots of separation anxiety and obsession over memories. I’ve always been moved by those summer stories you see in movies or stuff where people move on and never see each other again. it makes me sad as fuck. also, I’m afraid of dying.

Anyway, the show would be insanely complicated science fiction with crazy fight sequences and machinery and new San Francisco cityscapes. and one person would have an arm made out of

I have this idea wherein maybe memories are stored in a BlackBox of sorts. probably be done. reminds me of SOMA in away. what makes us who we are? human? what is memory but maybe chemical impulses? y’know weird solipsistic schizo shit.

and what if someone loses those memories and obsesses over them and wants to figure out what they even were but nothing is the same. that might not be the take in the end but ideas all start somewhere.

On the possibility of continuing Gemusetto after Death Beat(s) if there’s interest/money, or to ideally want to work on a different project?

I have an idea for a third season and a special that are not mutually exclusive so yes haha. I also have a premise in mind for the fourth season.

And finally, Hhs favorite thing about making the show.

I like it when people get excited about it and laugh. I like editing it and making myself laugh. I like having fun with the actors and finding new things. and it’s fun but stressful to bring it to life.