[CF 2023] Studio TRIGGER Shows Off Their Trigger Magic at Comic Fiesta 2023

One of the highlights to this year’s Comic Fiesta was a Q&A panel by none other than Studio TRIGGER, hosted by animation director Yoshinari Yoh and Animation Producer Naoko Tsutsumi.

As an introduction, Yoshinari Yoh is a famous animation director, illustrator and character designer at Studio TRIGGER. Making his debut at GAINAX, Yoh was best known for his work as the mechanical designer for Gurren Lagann, concept design for Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt and Kill la Kill, and is currently one of the main figures at the studio. Some of his more notable projects include Little Witch Academia, BNA, and most recently Cyberpunk: Edgerunners.

Meanwhile, Naoko Tsutsumi is an animation producer and production supervisor at Studio TRIGGER, who started as a production assistant at GAINAX on shows like Gurren Lagann and Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt among others. At TRIGGER, Tsutsumi served as Production desk for Black Rock Shooter and later, being the animation producer for Little Witch Academia. Some of her contributions include “The Twins” and “The Elder” episodes from the Star Wars: Visions animated series, as well as Cyberpunk Edgerunners.

Development of Little Witch Academia

One of the questions raised during the panel was about the story for Little Witch Academia, where it was different compared to the animation as well as the movie. Fans were curious to know which parts to pay attention to between the story and the animation.

To which, they replied by saying there were three projects on Little Witch Academia, one being the Kickstarter, the other was the movie, and lastly the animation series. The first one, which was about 30 minutes, was more of a project to train younger animators.

The project was not initially placed as the main focus, but thanks to the support of the fans, it received a very positive response. Everyone liked it, and it became popular enough that many were eager to see more from the series. From that positive response, they made the movie and then the animation, which they had a lot of fun expanding the Little Witch Academia universe.

Dungeon Meshi and Malaysian Food

Dungeon Meshi is an upcoming title by Studio TRIGGER that’s set to release in January 2024, and it’s the first time that the studio has done an adaptation from a manga. Hence the question, what makes this series so special to them?

They shared that when Chapter 8 of Dungeon Meshi first came out, the studio had created a commercial for it that aired in Japan. Everyone loved it and was quite impressed with the animation.

The director who worked on the ad was also involved with SSSS. Gridman and Little Witch Academia, and he really liked the manga, so when he found out about the Dungeon Meshi project, he personally went to the higher-ups and basically asked for permission to manage the project, which turned out to be a success.

Due to his passion and love for the manga, Studio TRIGGER decided to choose the specific series and turn it into an anime adaptation.

On the topic of food, the panel had asked the audience what food they should try in Malaysia, and of course they replied with the national dish – Nasi Lemak. To which Yoh had mentioned that he actually once ate Nasi Lemak before and said it was delicious but too spicy for him, while Tsutsumi said that he really likes Chicken Rice.

The Future of Studio Trigger

Out of all the anime that Studio TRIGGER had made, a majority of them had not received a Season 2 before. If given the chance, which anime would they want to be renewed for a second season.

Tsutsumi mentioned that wanted all of the anime under Studio TRIGGER to get a Season 2 if possible, but that can’t be done so easily. They need fans and supporters for help, so if you really want to see a Season 2 for a certain anime, show your support to them 100%.

At the same time, one of the audience asked Yoh whether he was doing a new project or continuing an old one. To which he replied “Yes, I’m working on a new project but we can’t tell you anything yet.”

Last Words

During the Q&A session, Yoshinari Yoh was actually drawing the main character of Little Witch Academia Atsuko “Akko” Kagari live, as celebration of the anime’s 10th anniversary. In the artwork, it features the main character flying over the iconic KLCC along some moving stars as special effects.

Yoh was surprised that Kuala Lumpur is so big and said, “I like the culture and everything is really fun to interact with”, thus the theme of the live drawing.

At the end of the panel, they gave away 12 random prizes to the audience where the first prize was an exclusive autographed Little Witch Academia Blu Ray CD.

Yoh said he enjoyed drawing in front of everyone and his work of Akko and the KLCC. He was really happy to see fans in Malaysia and just wanted to say he was really grateful for their support.

Tsutsumi also said her thanks and says that Studio TRIGGER will be making more projects in the future, so please support them.

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