REDDIT AMA RECAP: Hiroyuki Imaishi

Anime Director Hiroyuki Imaishi from Studio Trigger producers of such iconic and colorful works such as Kill La Kill, Gurren Lagann, Promare, and Panty & Stocking, recently did a Reddit AMA interview in regards to his most recent work on directing the 2022 Netflix anime Cyberpunk: Edgerunners (with the show’s producer Saya Elder being a translator). In it,he discusses the thought process behind anime’s creation, the inspirations behind certain mech designs and unusual ideas that didn’t make the cut.

To what extent was playing Cyberpunk 2077 a part of the production process for the show?

Imaishi: If we hadn’t considered that part important, the final production would have ended up as a seriously weird anime.

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners is a Japanese anime in collaboration with a Polish studio/developer for an American-made universe. Was it interesting to collaborate on such a project with people across the world and is there any noteworthy experience you would like to share from it?

Imaishi: It was very stimulating to interact with so many people who have different backgrounds & preferences from Japanese people.

When producing the anime, did you pay any specific attention to how it would sound with an English voice cast? Many English dubs feel tacked on and lack quality since most anime is produced with the Japanese language in mind, but the English dub feels more natural than the Japanese in Edgerunners, in my opinion.

Imaishi: I entrusted the English version completely to CDPR, so it was a testament to the hard work of CDPR’s localization team.

How do you think these video game adaptations would affect the anime industry in the future? On Netflix we had Castlevania and now Cyberpunk 2077 both successful. Do you think this is possible to be repeated in the future with another game?

Imaishi: The adaptation of Cyberpunk 2077 was made possible by the fact that it was an open-world game. If the base game is different, I think it would be difficult to repeat or copy what we did with Edgerunners.

Are there any stories that you & the team thought about, but didn’t have time to tell? There’s so much packed into 10 episodes, so many little details and hints. It really felt like 20 episodes of stuff in mind.

Imaishi: We tried to focus on telling David & Lucy’s story, but some early scenarios involved more gang warfare, which I personally enjoyed.

How much of an influence was other series like Akira, Ghost in the shell, Serial Experiments Lain, and Neon Genesis Evangelion to creating the dynamics and world-building of Edgerunners?

Imaishi: I think all cyberpunk works of the past have influenced me in some way. Evangelion has influenced me on a personal level, regardless of Edgerunners.

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners involved a lot of digital animation. Despite this, the anime still retained Imaishi’s signature style of animation that has been present in his previous directed works. Is it challenging to maintain that style as more of your projects become digitally animated rather than traditional?

Imaishi: I started drawing in analog, so it’s difficult for me to work with digital & 3D art styles. On the other hand, I enjoy it because it allows me to express my work in new ways.

As you and Hiromi Wakabayashi were the music selectors for the show, how did the process of selecting “I Really Want To Stay At Your House” that made you want to use it as what was essentially the theme song for David and Lucy’s main love theme come about?

Imaishi: As we were looking for a song to play at the end of EP2, “I Really Want to Stay at Your House” just stuck with me. Even within the radio music line-up for Cyberpunk 2077, this song evoked emotions that I thought would fit the show.

What are your views on the large amount of “copium” content created by fans? I really enjoyed the show and thank you for giving everyone here this amazing opportunity to have a deeper look into the making of the show!

Elder: We were unfamiliar with what ‘copium’ was & received the following definition: To “cope” is to deal with a sad situation. “Copium” implies there’s some substance to make you cope from a situation.

Imaishi: I admire everyone’s persistence in wanting a happy ending. Please continue creating as much ‘copium’ to your heart’s content.

How do you personally feel about the ending? Did it accomplish what you wanted?

Imaishi: In my opinion, that ending was inevitable. I feel that I’ve accomplished what I wanted to do in the cyberpunk sandbox.

As a director, what was your personal favorite episode and why?

Imaishi: EP8. It didn’t have as much action as the other episodes, but I still liked it.

Who was your favorite character? And favorite guns?

Imaishi: Kiwi. And My favorite guns are The Carnage and the Zhuo.

On learning about a Wiki that Lucy has a “Midnight Lady” and if there’s truth to that claim.

Imaishi: It’s hard to stop thinking about those things once you start, so I did my best not to. I’ll look into it.

The rim lights are very impressive, but are there any meanings or rules for each rim light color?

Imaishi: There are no rules, but I match the emotions of the scene.

In designing the last power suit David used in Edgerunners and the rescue suit for Promare, how does Director Imaishi plan the design plot? Also, how do you get your design ideas?

Imaishi: I often refer to old Japanese animation and American toys.

What did Adam Smasher mean when he asked David, “You know, you could prove an interesting construct.” ?

Imaishi: He meant exactly what he said, but a ‘construct’ is a concept taken from the game, so please refer there for more info.

Was your plan from the beginning to include the dream of reaching the moon? I loved that touch and felt it really made this project special, especially with the ending.

Imaishi: Thank you, but no. Once we received the final draft of the scripts, we staged the episodes to move towards those scenes.

Also, what happens to Lucy after the show? does she ever recover from David’s passing?

Imaishi: I, personally, haven’t decided on anything that happened after the ending.

What were Imashi’s thoughts going into this project? Since it was an already well-established setting, is there anything you had to change from what you initially wanted to do? And Was there any content that was cut for being too violent or explicit?

Imaishi: Nope! Speaking of things that we wanted to do, but didn’t… we couldn’t draw David’s dick in the show.

And finally “Why do you hurt us?”

Imaishi: Sorry…<3

Thank you to everyone for coming to the AMA! There was a lot of interesting questions and answers. And from the community, thank you everyone at CDPR and Trigger! This has been an amazing opportunity!