Studio Trigger

“	If a work was a bullet, we want to be the trigger that launched it, this is where the studio's name came from.	”
—Studio Trigger's possible motto, which was also acknowledged by Tatsuru Tatemoto. ^[1]^[2]

Studio Trigger, also known as Trigger Inc. (株式会社トリガー, Kabushiki kaisha Torigā^?) is the studio responsible for the animation prssoduction of the initial short film Little Witch Academia in 2013, its sequel The Enchanted Parade in 2015, and the Little Witch Academia anime series in 2017.

It was founded by former Gainax employees Hiroyuki Imaishi and Masahiko Ōtsuka on August 22, 2011^[3]^[4]^[5] and its establishement was publicized on October 7, 2011.^[6] The studio is known for producing other anime series such as Kill la Kill, Inferno Cop, Space Patrol Luluco, Kiznaiver and Darling in the Franxx. Yō Yoshinari is a key employee that joined soon after who was instrumental in the character design and direction of the Little Witch Academia animation franchise.

Studio Trigger is the main animation partner in the joint holding company Ultra Super Pictures, which in charge of the management and presentation of the work while the studio itself handled the production.^[7]

As of 2022, this studio have employed over one hundred staff.

Formation & Purpose

As explained by Masahiko Ōtsuka in an interview, the decision to form Studio Trigger was in response of a paradigm shift concerning the method of production and management and the search for an ideal environment for the production of animation due to the same reason. Most notably, the method of watching animation is gradually shifting from buying the content on Blu-Ray or DVD to watching it on the internet via streaming and therefore viewers have a wider selection of platforms such as PC, smartphones, etc., hence the method of doing business has naturally shifted in line with such modern changes. This was also done with realization of a production studio must engage in both phases of animation and promotion, especially the way to present its work to the fans. Of course, such thing only made possible through agreement from everyone in the studio outside of the production section. Around that time, he and Hiroyuki Imaishi are joined by Kazuya Matsumoto who initially had some doubts until he tagged along under the condition where the new company would be able to make a 2-hour long original movie with Imaishi as its director. In principle though, they wouldn't change the arrangements for production that most animation studios in the Tokyo area – including Gainax – choose, bringing in together a team of independent animators for each work. Though it had come up with an original animation project at the time, Studio Trigger participated in works by other studios during the preparation phase before eventually capable of producing an original and ambitious animation on its owners^[7]^[8]^[9]^[5]

The studio's laser-like focus on taking creative risks proved that being part of a larger holdings company was a smart idea. To elaborate, during its foundation in 2011, Studio Trigger, along with the likes of LIDENFILMS, Sanzigen, and Ordet, formed a holding company named Ultra Super Pictures, which would manage their licenses collectively.^[9]

Despite being a separate animation studio, Studio Trigger nevertheless retained some of Gainax's ideals since majorities of its members were former Gainax staff, Hiromi Wakabayashi included.^[10]

During its early days, Studio Trigger was involved in animation for Project X Zone with Hiroyuki Imaishi being the director for his talents and Akira Amemiya, who have joined the studio at that point, worked on much of its several aspects (direction, character design, animation, etc.). Bandai Namco enlisted the Studio into this collaboration after being impressed by Imaishi's works, which helped by Akira Amemiya entrusted him the endeavor of directing it. Studio Trigger also collaborated with other notable animation studios such as (Ebichû (エビ中) and GIZMON) during which Atsushi Nishigori worked on its behalf.^[11]^[12] The studio's establishment was also done through trial and error process not only because majorities of its starting members were still new in business management, but also found themselves often seeking advice from other studio managers. For the same reasons, the legal work for the studio was handled by Ultra Super Pictures.^[9]

Studio Trigger also made good use with social media as means of promoting its work, notably Twitter and Facebook.^[11] As of during the interview in Anime Matsuri Hawaii in 2015, the Studio still considering which streaming platform to put its anime online, though they already used Netflix in Japan.^[13]^[14]

According to Masahiko Ōtsuka during an interview during Anime Matsuri Hawaii in 2015, Studio Trigger had a "hiccup" during the development of Kill la Kill. Though unconfirmed, this may be referring to its staff's struggles in ensuring the series surpassed Gurren Lagann prior. At that point however, they had easier time thanks to being more experienced, spending more time in completing character designs for Kill la Kill than while working on Gurren Lagann. Same went to the entire visuals of the work; the coloring, the background touches, and directional approach. It helped by Nakashima and Imaishi settled with the idea of Kill la Kill to be the most interesting story they could think of instead of just to surpass Gurren Lagann alone, taking notes from school resistance-themed shounen manga and 1970s Toei Pinky Violence as well as Delinquent Detective and Fist of the North Star for reference. Moreover, Studio Trigger intended the series to be its flagship title from a business standpoint and represented the studio's core belief (if its staff cannot enjoy their creative process, then the audience will not be able to enjoy it as well).^[15]^[16]^[17]^[18]^[19] The success of Kill la Kill, as well as Inferno Cop and Little Witch Academia shorts saw the growing interest of fans outside Japan.^[20]

In stark contrast of other studios, Studio Trigger focuses more on original works rather than adapting pre-existing works such as ones from manga and light novels. Notable exceptions are Delicious in Dungeon, Cyberpunk Edgerunners, and two of shorts of Star Wars: Visions (The Elder and The Twins). Metaphorically speaking, their difference is not unlike a restaurant being content with decent burger instead of finest foods its rivals worked on. As Shigeto Koyama pointed out, the name of the studio sounded violent owing to the word 'trigger' being associated with firearms compared to those of other animation studios he worked on, though he admitted it sounds very lofty while saying it in a normal conversation nonetheless.^[21] On a related note, Wakabayashi confirmed the studio had complete control over its works with Cyberpunk: Edgerunners being among few exceptions.^[22] Nevertheless, the studio realized it must balance between original titles and adaptations of pre-existing ones as the former proved more costly. Not to mention works such as aforementioned Cyberpunk: Edgerunners and Gridman Universe series had original IP thus mainly featured original titles and characters thus as costly as wholly original works. Regardless whether it's collaboration, original work, or adaptation, Hiromi Wakabayashi believed that passion in such work was essential.^[19]

The development of Promare saw the second time of Studio Trigger working alongside Hiroyuki Sawano in a soundtrack, preceding Kill la Kill. In this case, the studio provided him very specific requests for the soundtrack of Promare (specific lyrics, emotions meant to be invoked with a particular track, and intended amount of songs with lyrics). While this resulted the film being akin to music videos in some respects, it was attributed to Hiroyuki Imaishi's distaste for emptiness, specifically a moment of peace in his work. For mechanical designs in the film, they were developed mostly by Shigeto Koyama, Hiromi Wakabayashi, and Hiroyuki Imaishi instead of more staff as usual but that's not it all; Shigeto Koyama intended them to have Japanese feel which reflected by Matoi Tech — specifically Galo's — which inspired by hikeshi firemen from Edo Period at the beginning before more of featured technology leaning to proper science-fiction.^[19]

Thanks to Studio Trigger and CD Projekt Red's collaboration in developing anime spin-off of Cyberpunk 2077, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, the interest in said game had since renewed. In an interview pertaining such collaboration with Shigeto Koyama and Hiromi Wakabayashi, they elaborated how the decision of using "This Fffire" by Franz Ferdinand as the anime's intro song was made easier by Hiroyuki Imaishi being the fan of song in question and the song's stylized and minimalistic music video not too different with his animation style. The collaboration was quite challenging as the director lacked the capacity to work on the opening sequence until the very last moment. By that point, the ending sequence featuring Lucy had been complete with Mai Yoneyama being in charge of it. Unlike the opening theme that meant to portray how Night City "consumed" its citizens (the characters included), the closing theme had a more design-based approach as well as featuring Night City as whole in addition of Lucy as per Shigeto Koyama's suggestion. The music selection of the series was a mutual decision between Hiromi Wakabayashi and CD Projekt Red, something which helped by the source material's already rich library of soundtrack to chose from in addition of a new soundtrack specifically for Edgerunners. Among utilized soundtrack which made it to the animated spin-off was "I Really Want to Stay at Your House" by Rosa Walton which Hiromi Wakabayashi specifically chose to be Lucy and David's theme, and even had it played during the grim conclusion of Edgerunners. Hiromi Wakabayashi and the others also played an early alpha version of Cyberpunk 2077 to attain some insights of its settings and even provided access to the test kit which allowed them to do anything along the way. Although Cyberpunk 2077 possessed such expansive setting (Hiromi Wakabayashi stated the game had "a whole lot of expandability") which indicated there were more stories to tell, it would be likely another director's turn and possibly not so much "on the edge" as Studio Trigger; once he had a solid plan of execution, Hiroyuki Imaishi liked to strictly abide by it (ex. just as he intended Gurren Lagann to be 24-episodes long he intended Cyberpunk: Edgerunners to be 10-episodes long).^[19]

Regarding Studio Trigger's share of collaboration with Disney and Lucasfilm as part of Star Wars: Visions, Hiromi Wakabayashi and Shigeto Koyama acknowledged the guideline they must follow wasn't as strict as they feared. Most notably, they should come up with original characters as opposed to ones who previously featured in films such as Darth Vader or Luke Skywalker. Both companies appeared to be intrigued by ideas Studio Trigger proposed, such as how Karre and Am dangerously brought their climatic duel to the outer space without their helmets and other life-support systems on and continued fighting without much issue for the extended amount of time in The Twins to show the full extent of their potent Force-sensitivity granted by advanced cloning technology and the dark side of the Force used to create them. Shigeto Koyama further added that Disney and Lucasfilm were open to the idea of B-2ON — Karre and Am's droid caretaker — using oxygen mask-like apparatus while evacuating Am after the battle rather than criticizing it given the droid's mechanical nature should render the apparatus unnecessary unless it served different purpose.^[19]

Upon being inquired regarding the upcoming new installment of Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt, New Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt, Hiromi Wakabayashi clarified that it wasn't a second season like people erroneously assumed; whether New Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt being a proper sequel would be confirmed in future updates of both Studio Trigger's social medias and future panels now that the studio attained the series' rights.^[19]

As confirmed by Hiromi Wakabayashi and Shigeto Koyama, Studio Trigger would focus on training new generations of animators and even project managers, something which would be beneficial in its future projects and helped by the fact some of other animation studios had fewer younger staff than they used to be. Notably, Delicious in Dungeons was developed by younger staff instead of veterans such as Yō Yoshinari, Hiroyuki Imaishi, and Akira Amemiya. As expected, said new generations of animators and project managers worked under the supervision of their seniors.^[19]

According to Hiroyuki Imaishi, the essence of TRIGGER is that the directors and the teams make what they think is fun and interesting^[18]. He also stated that the goal which shaped it is the ability to take risks. Masahiko Ōtsuka added that while freedom of creativity is said to be the greatest environment an animator or creator wish for but, he worried it would lead to them becoming indifferent to taking risks^[9].

As stated by Yoshinari and Wakabayashi in an interview, they aimed to make Studio Trigger as accomplished as the likes of either P.A. Works, Pixar, or Kyo-Ani.^[23]

List of Works

Inferno Cop (2012; ONA shorts)
Little Witch Academia (short film; 2013)
Kill la Kill (2013; first independent project^[24])
When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace (2014)
Space Patrol Luluco (2016 shorts)
Kiznaiver (2016)
Little Witch Academia (2017)
Darling in the Franxx (2018)
SSSS.Gridman (2018)
BNA: Brand New Animal (2020)
SSSS.Dynazenon (2021)
SSSS.Dynazenon Movie (2023 recap movie)
Delicious in Dungeon (2024)
New Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt (2025)

Other Productions

Project X Zone (2012; game) – Opening animation production
Inferno Cop: Fact Files (2012; ONA shorts)
If I don't successfully pick up 420 girls, I am going to die in a lot of different ways. (aka Yonhyakunijuu Renpai Girl; 2013; PV) – Promotional video for light novel published by Enterbrain
Turning Girls (2013; ONA 7 ep shorts; released on YouTube's Anime Bancho channel)
Hacka Doll (2014; PV) – Promotional videos for mobile news app by DeNA
Bishoujo Mobage: Mobami-chan (2014; PV) – Promotional video for mobile game by DeNA
Black Dynamite (2014; TV) – Season 2 opening for mostly non-Japanese animation production; co-production with Sanzigen
Hacka Doll the Animation (2015; TV) – Animation assistance
Ninja Slayer From Animation (2015; ONA shorts) – Manga adaptation
Battlesaurs (2015; OVA) – Opening animation production for Toy Story That Time Forgot
Chunithm (2015; MV) – Music video animation production
Fire Emblem Fates (2015; game) – Live2D illustrations
Hyoketsu (2016; CM) – TV commercial animation production for beverage by Kirin Company
Steven Universe (2016; TV) – Animation production assistance for S4E4, "Mindful Education"
OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes (2017; TV) – Opening animation production
Chamber of Time (2017; game) – Cutscene animation production
Kill la Kill: The Game: IF (2019; game) – Development supervision
Shantae and the Seven Sirens (2019; game) – Opening animation production
Delicious in Dungeon (2019; PV) – Promotional video for manga published by Enterbrain
Indivisible (2019; game) – Opening animation production; co-produced with Titmouse, Inc.
Idolish7 (2020; MV) – Music video animation production
Metallic Child (2021; PV) – Promotional video for video game published by Crest
RRR (2022; film) - Promotional Illustration for 2023 release in Japan.^[25]
Omega Strikers (2023; PV) – Promotional video for video game published by Odyssey Interactive

Trigger in-house staff

This section is a stub. You can help the Little Witch Academia Wiki by expanding it.

Employees who worked on the Little Witch Academia franchise:

tw*Rie Ishige

Syūichi Iseki (Moved to Khara)
Shiori Miyazaki
Akira Amemiya
Arai Hiroki
Naoki Takeda
Yoshihiro Miyajima
Sushio
Hisao Dendō
Akitarō Daichi
Masaru Sakamoto
Ryouji Masuyama
Hiroshi Kobayashi
Daizen Komatsuda
Hiroaki Sakurai
Makoto Nakazono
Masayuki
Yūto Kaneko
Shunsuke Shida
Kumiko Sano

What some look like

Freelancers

This section is a stub. You can help the Little Witch Academia Wiki by expanding it.

Freelancers hired to work on the Little Witch Academia franchise:

Ryouta Hayatsu (Ryota-H)
Masamichi Ishiyama

Others

Shigeto Koyama
Bahi JD^[26]
Kazuki Nakashima

Collaborators

Alexander Grant (Setting Assistant of "Don't Stop Me Now" and "Sleeping Sucy").
Hiroaki Otsuji (Key Animation of "The Fountain of Polaris (episode)", "Samhain Magic", and "Chariot and Croix").
Toyonori Yamada (Director of Photography of 2013 Little Witch Academia film)
Kazuya Tsurumaki (Key Animation of "Tree of Leaves"^[27])

History

This is a table displaying a comprehensive timeline of various events and occasions Studio Trigger in-house staff and affiliates either participated in or organized over the years. It is a nonexhaustive list as Studio Trigger might continue to partake in or orchestrates more events as time goes on, and the list might be missing past events due to lack of awareness or information availdable. Comment below the article if you know of any details that can be added to this table.

Events	Start	End	Participated Members
AnimeNEXT 2014	Jun 6, 2014	Jun 8, 2014	Hiromi Wakabayashi, Shigeto Koyama, & Tatsuru Tatemoto
AnimeExpo 2014	Jul 3, 2014	Jul 6, 2014	Hiromi Wakabayashi
Anime Matsuri 2015	Apr 3, 2015	Apr 5, 2015	Shigeto Koyama, Michiyo Murase, Sushio, Hiromi Wakabayashi, & Yoh Yoshinari
AnimeNEXT 2015	Jun 12, 2015	Jun 14, 2015	Shigeto Koyama, Sushio, Hiromi Wakabayashi, Takafumi Hori, & Tatsuru Tatemoto
AnimeExpo 2015	Jul 1, 2015	Jul 4, 2015	Hiromi Wakabayashi, Yoh Yoshinari, Naoko Tsutsumi, Tatsuru Tatemoto, & Masahiko Otsuka
STGCC 2015	Sep 12, 2015	Sep 13, 2015	Shigeto Koyama
TRIGGER ANIMATION EXPO	Oct 14, 2015	Oct 25, 2015	Sushio & Yoh Yoshinari
MCM London Comic Con 2015	Oct 23, 2015	Oct 25, 2015	Shigeto Koyama
Anime Matsuri Hawaii	Nov 27, 2015	Nov 29, 2015	Masahiko Otsuka
Kawaii Kon 2016	Apr 8, 2016	Apr 10, 2016	Hiromi Wakabayahi, Shigeto Koyama
AnimeNEXT 2016	Jun 10, 2016	Jun 12, 2016	Akira Amemiya, Shigeto Koyama, Hiromi Wakabayashi, & Tatsuru Tatemoto
Anime Matsuri 2017	Apr 7, 2017	Apr 9, 2017	Megumi Han (seiyū; not Trigger staff)^[28] & Mago^[29]
TOHO Cinemas Shinjuku (Tokyo) Monthly Screening of the TV Anime Little Witch Academia Episode 14-17	Apr 28, 2017 20:00	Apr 28, 2017 22:10	Arisa Shida (seiyū; not Trigger staff), Rie Murakawa (seiyū; not Trigger staff), Reina Ueda (seiyū; not Trigger staff), YURiKA (anison singer; not Trigger staff), & Yuiko Ōhara (anison singer; not Trigger staff)^[30]
TOHO Cinemas Shinjuku (Tokyo) Monthly Screening of the TV Anime Little Witch Academia Episode 18-21	May 26, 2017 20:00	May 26, 2017 22:10	Megumi Han (seiyū; not Trigger staff), Fumiko Orikasa (seiyū; not Trigger staff),^[31] Michiyo Murase, Yōko Hikasa (seiyū; not Trigger staff), YURiKA (anison singer; not Trigger staff), & Yuiko Ōhara (anison singer; not Trigger staff)
AnimeNEXT 2017	Jun 9, 2017	Jun 11, 2017	Yoh Yoshinari, Shuhei Handa, Shigeto Koyama, Hiromi Wakabayashi, Tatsuru Tatemoto, Reina Ueda (seiyū; not Trigger staff), & Noriko Hidaka (seiyū; not Trigger staff)
TOHO Cinemas Shinjuku (Tokyo) Monthly Screening of the TV Anime Little Witch Academia Episode 22-25	Jun 23, 2017 20:00	Jun 23, 2017 22:10	Megumi Han, Yoh Yoshinari, Shuhei Handa, Naoko Tsutsumi, YURiKA (anison singer; not Trigger staff), & Yuiko Ōhara (anison singer; not Trigger staff)
AnimeExpo 2017	Jul 1, 2017	Jul 4, 2017	Hiromi Wakabayashi, Yoh Yoshinari, Shigeto Koyama, & Takafumi Hori^[32]
Trigger Night Vol. 6	Aug 9, 2017	Aug 9, 2017	Yoh Yoshinari, Shuhei Handa, Masahiko Otsuka, Naoko Tsutsumi, Hiroyuki Imaishi, Hiromi Wakabayashi, etc
Comiket 92	Aug 11, 2017	Aug 13, 2017	Kengo Saito
MCM London Comic Con 2017	Oct 27, 2017	Oct 29, 2017	Yoh Yoshinari
Comic Fiesta 2017	December 16, 2017	December 17, 2017
AnimeExpo 2018	Jul 5, 2018	Jul 8, 2018
“The World of Hiroyuki Imaishi” Exhibition	May 29, 2021	Jun 27, 2021	Hiroyuki Imaishi, Shigeto Koyama, & Hiromi Wakabayashi
AnimeExpo 2022	Jul 1, 2022	Jul 4, 2022	Yoh Yoshinari, Shigeto Koyama, & Hiromi Wakabayashi
Otakon 2022	Jul 29, 2022	Jul 31, 2022	Yoh Yoshinari, Hiromi Wakabayashi, & Tatsuru Tatemoto
Trigger Night Vol.11 & Vol.12	Oct 10, 2022	Oct 10, 2022
AnimeExpo 2023	Jul 1, 2023	Jul 4, 2023	Masahiko Otsuka, Hiroyuki Imaishi, Sushio, & Shigeto Koyama
Otakuthon 2023	Aug 11, 2023	Aug 13, 2023	Yoh Yoshinari & Naoko Tsutsumi
Comic Fiesta 2023	Dec 23, 2023	Dec 24, 2023	Yoh Yoshinari & Naoko Tsutsumi
Sakura-Con 2024	Mar 29, 2024	Mar 31, 2024	Shigeto Koyama & Hiromi Wakabayahi
Convention Jonetsu 666	May 4, 2024	May 5, 2024	Yoh Yoshinari & Naoko Tsutsumi
Animazement 2024	May 24, 2024	May 26, 2024	Noriko Hidaka & Erica Mendez (voice actress; not Trigger staff)
Otakon 2024	Aug 2, 2024	Aug 4, 2024	Masahiko Otsuka, Aoi Abe, & Sae Ōtani
Star Wars Celebration JAPAN 2025	Apr 20, 2025	Apr 20, 2025	Masahiko Otsuka & Hiromi Wakabayashi
Otakon 2025	August 8, 2025	August 10, 2025	Hiroki Arai, Hiromi Wakabayashi, & Sushio

Trivia

Official Studio Trigger Streams

As revealed by Hiromi Wakabayashi during TRIGGER live drawing 03:^[33]
- Financial constraints prevent Studio Trigger from being able to hire foreign animators that it had to make due with overseas staff instead, even though language barrier being the least of its worries.
- The studio is much more flexible regarding whoever had creative input among its staff, though the extent of it still relative to project they work on as with other animation studios; depending on project in question, they may look for either directors to provide the idea to, or having animators to execute it, or simply assisting the former.
- The studio had no laidback seasons. In fact, Hiromi Wakabayashi had no intention of working on a project which ended up extended to New Year's Eve during the time of live drawing 3.
- The studio was too occupied with other ideas to develop an isekai series, though if given a chance, the series in question would be original work as opposed of adaptation of pre-existing ones.
- A series' opening and closing themes are relative to creative staff's request to production committee which has a production label company as well as those who able to accomodate them; the music production company is given reins if it has no preference. In Studio Trigger's case, it's up to production group who works for Hiroyuki Imaishi and Hiromi Wakabayashi in making requests for the label companies while the acting director being the one who chooses whoever in charge of the soundtrack of series developed at the time.
- Nintendo Switch is a favorite video game console among the staff. In fact, they use it to play Super Smash Bros..
- The studio lacked a snack pantry unlike other animation studios at the time of live drawing 03 and that both Hiromi Wakabayashi and Tetsuya Sakurai wanted one; so far they received snacks and other gifts from dedicated fans which they shared communally. Although, the former felt its menu would be boring if the would be snack pantry merely consisted of bar and/or kitchen, while the latter remarked Hiromi Wakabayashi would use it often because he loved coffee.
- The staff of Studio Trigger couldn't conduct studio tour stream due to the risk of spoiling fans and audience of ongoing projects, even if the whole place is torn down for such occasion.
- Studio Trigger's documentaries focused more on voice actors because of they were rather straining for the studio; many of its staff members are not comfortable to participate in it while working. Even so, Hiromi Wakabayashi was interested in having said documentaries tackling the studio's creative process.
According to TRIGGER live drawing 04:^[34]
- Unlike many Japanese studios/production committees which thought little regarding the dubbing process from overseas distributors, Studio Trigger is keen in directing the dubbing process if the opportunity arises.
- Hiromi Wakabayashi explained how Luluco became Trigger-Chan; "For an April Fool's joke they were making a new anime series with mascots (Trigger Girls), which Mago drew, then Hiromi made a special request to connect it with Luluco to Imaishi to get Mago to be the designer. He also requested at the end for Luluco to transform into Trigger-Chan."
  - On related note, Luluco/Trigger-Chan's short hair was deliberate as short-haired girls were perceived as energetic.
According to TRIGGER live drawing 05:^[35]
- Staff experience in the studio ranges from half a year to 30 years, latter which found in its president.
- The studio normally begins hiring PAs from late summer to fall, though part-timers or interns who yet to graduate from college may filled the position as well.
- Kill la Kill is the studio's most valuable, unlike Gridman Universes series which original rights shared with Tsuburaya Productions. As such, they saw some of the royalties when merch was sold.
- As explained by Hiromi Wakabayashi, the more Studio Trigger used CGI in a show, the more cost effective it could be; while the production cost of a 12-episodes long show with traditional animation was already cheaper, longer and/or multiple seasons ones were manageable thanks to CGI even more cheaper.
- The studio's live-streams were currently held in an empty room and that it took 3 hours to move the gear. Tattun would also attain his own streaming cubicle as well.
- As assured by Tattun, Studio Trigger isn't above working/collaborating with anyone.
According to TRIGGER live drawing 07:^[36]
- Studio Trigger utilizes 3ds Max for its CGI animations, though Sanzigen Inc. assisted the studio in the endeavor during the development of Promare.
- The studio and the sponsors involved were the ones who requested revisions on some scenes for Blu-ray releases should they didn't executed properly and had other issues such coloring errors and technical details which needed to be fixed.
- The studio made several requests concerning Galo's dubbing voice actor for Promare. Notably, among considered actors for the endeavor being Zac Efron and even Channing Tatum.
- The development of Promare involved three times more effort in drawing than other animes thus three more efforts to execute (the film uses three different outline colors for hair, clothing, and skin tones respectively), something which requested by the director.
- The G on Matoi Tech in Promare is short for Gaian Gear, manufacturer in the film's universe.
- Working on the kanji for the tattoo in Promare was challenging because the filmmakers involved made a common mistake often made by people in America with kanji and Chinese tattoos.
- The idea of Burning Rescue's uniform which customization varied among its members in Promare came from a certain captain of Yonkers Fire Department (YFD) whose personal jacket customized into resembling the organization's standard-issue ones.
- Studio Trigger couldn't get too liberal with its Geek Boat universe stories out of respect toward Kazuki Nakashima thus had to check in once a while.
- The filmmakers managed to finish much of the film that, by the time only main theme track/song was left, they simply requested some adjustments to make said track/song fit better to appropriate scenes.
- Some, if not all of Studio Trigger's assets such as PC, mics, and streaming equipment were supported by Patreon funding.
- The logo of Promare was made by Saishi Ichiko who also involved in Kill la Kill and Evangelion.
According to TRIGGER live drawing 08:^[37]
- Artists chosen for the studio's live drawings were chosen with raffle to make it fair for fans, though Sushio had yet to be chosen at the time of TRIGGER live drawing 08. That didn't help by him busily looking for his name on Twitter for Promare.
- It was mentioned in the live drawing 08 that fans couldn't help but be embarrassed when original creators reviewed their fanwork in Japan.
- As going from in-between to key animation was a delicate matter (conditions for such step up changed frequently), the studio usually acceoted in-betweeners as key animators and trained them.
- At the time of live drawing 8, there would be a workshop event in which the studio's staff were learning how to make a pizza. Hiromi Wakabayashi and Shigeto Koyama were going to participate as well, excited to make pizza with fans with the latter wanting to make a spicy one.
- Four of Studio Trigger staff, Akira Amemiya, Masaru Sakamoto, Sushio, and Hiroyuki Imaishi were revealed to have collection of Undisputed toys. Amemiya's happened to be most numerous, rivaling those of Sakamoto albeit messier. Sushio and Imaishi's own collections were nowhere as vast as the other two.
- The studio is open to fan letters, which are sent to its current president.
- Promare had a collaboration event with Gyoza at the time of Live Drawing 8.
- When it comes to collaborating with restaurants and/or similar establishments, the studio doesn't think much about benefits from it, though they were aware of the latter's concerns regarding quality aspect and entertainment from it.
Interesting info from the Christmas Live Drawing Special:^[38]
- According to Imaishi, the idea of having a 3D animator for the studio would be a luxury since it's oriented to 2D animation, though providing a 3D animator with enough work to warrant the expenditure of hiring was easier said than done.
- As shown in the original storyboard of Promare, there was supposedly an additional battle scene during the prison-wide breakout that Lio and his fellow Mad Burnish instigated to free as many Burnishes as possible there. The battle scene in question involved Lio engaging Vulcan in aerial combat with Yoshinari even completing it only to be unused due to balance issue (the film already had sizable amount of fight scenes at that point).
- None of the staff knew how Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt garnered such popularity overseas since the studio didn't do significant promotion there, though they were aware the series had its few hardcore fans in Japan.
- For what would become New Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt, the studio planned to work on ghost explosions overseas. For that, its staff would set out for states or countries with liberal firearms laws such as either Texas or Russia, finding those who skilled with actual explosives such as rocket-propelled grenades, ask them to shoot their props, blow them up, and place that in instead of explosion scenes.
- A joke concerning a planned Trigger convention would involve the staff holding up platform with Imaishi in his underwear like Xerxes from the 300 and throwing Trigger dollar bills.
- As confirmed during the development of Promare, Galo's hands being drawn bigger while his Burning Rescue-issued firefighter gloves were on was to reflect similar gloves utilized as part of firefighting equipment in real-life had bulky design. Akira Amemiya mentioned research he and his peers had partaken for the film which involved trying firefighting equipment in addition to scouting New York City.
- To emphasize Lio's reveal scene as his helmet cracked, a scent was added into the scene for the 4DX release. Said scent being roses.
- The studio didn't expect the good reception Promare attained as well as its long screening time in Japan.
According to TRIGGER live drawing 10:^[39]
- The studio used a heavy photo book of animals provided by Yoshinari as the reference for beastmen's designs.
- Michiru's human ears are confirmed to be transformed as much as the rest of her body while in her beastman form as opposed of retaining its normal appearance and attaining animalistic extra ones on the same vein with some works featuring kemonomimi such as Blue Archive.
- The plans to put concept sketches of BNA: Brand New Animal on sale prior to the golden week of comiket by Yoshigaki at the time as with those of Little Witch Academia unfortunately came to hat because of the former series' production stretched past the time it intended to. As such, the subsequent book relied on whether he could come up with sufficient illustrations. Hiromi Wakabayashi found his ability to draw new illustrations per book impressive.
- When it came about pitching movies and/or shows, it was relative to project at hand. Notably, the committee/sponsor usually approached Studio Trigger wanting to work on a show, having a lot of creative freedom after the initial meeting. In normal circumstances however, Studio Trigger got an opportunity after an anime and didn't usually have to pitch. In fact, there was a time the studio came up with with a project pitch and showed it to a potential sponsors.
- The staff of the studio were fortunate to visit Blizzard Entertainment some time prior to Live Drawing 10.
- The studio posted concept art designs on its official Twitter prior to each episode of its ongoing series at the time.
- Regarding designing characters in BNA: Brand New Animal, Yoshigaki designed the beastmen characters' animal form first, then their human forms. Michiru was the exception because hers were other way around.
- Within the studio, it has one production team yet multiple creative leading ones.
- Yusuke Yoshigaki believed that Little Witch Academia is technically Studio Trigger's own all-age appropriate kids show, while Hiromi Wakabayashi deemed Space Patrol Luluco a coming of age and shōjo story suitable for teenagers.
  - On related note, Hiromi Wakabayashi also thinks of Sex & Violence with Machspeed as his take on a detective story.
- Yusuke Yoshigaki had no involvement in key animation for BNA: Brand New Animal, though he nonetheless assisted in gorilla arm and Michiru's bird scenes.
- As affirmed by Hiromi Wakabayashi, Khara, Inc. and Studio Trigger are sister studios for being branched from Gainax Co., Ltd..
As shown in PROMARE nendroid unboxing by Shigeto Koyama and Hiromi Wakabayashi in Twitch:^[40]
- The reason Promare nendroids were released much sooner than expected were in courtesy of Shigeto Koyama's involvement in their review process for Good Smile Company as well as their construction progress. Indeed, he had previously reviewed figures of Sword Art Online and Fate/Stay Night. He had also reviewed 100 figures in a year as well as 40 titles.
- In addition of plushies of Galo, Lio, and Frag-chan (a Studio TRIGGER mascot) as well as aforementioned Nendroids, the event also features a limited edition BD with interchangeable jacket cover and a character pop quiz where the winner would be rewarded with Koyama's icon.
As shown in Hiromi's review on DX Full Powered GRIDMAN action figure in Twitch:^[41]
- Studio Trigger will accept foreign interns if Tatsuru Tatemoto decides to do so.
- Hiromi Wakabayashi and Shigeto Koyama would reward an icon to an audience if they able to provide an interesting story.
As shown in test stream by Studio Trigger at Twitch in August 21, 2019:^[2]
- The cost of in-between frame packs are $30. Tatsuru Tatemoto ensured that each pack had at least one worthy frame because he hated lootboxes/surprise mechanics.
  - Tatsuru Tatemoto was also the only one who tasked to sort in-between frames; he was unsure why because there were other staff members who actually as capable as him in such endeavor. While each frame couldn't be sold individually, he didn't know what happened to unused ones, claiming that he put them in a box and "a green elf took them away".
  - Surprisingly, though there were around 1000 units of them at the time, the in-between frame packs sold out in 30 minutes.
- As precaution to prevent autographs from being sold on eBay, the studio's autograph sessions were personalized.
- The studio had four Public Relation staff as of during the test stream.
- The differences between key frames and in-between frames were elaborated upon:
  - Lines were rougher on key frames, whereas they're more fine on in-betweens. Fine lines were easier for artists to color digitally and fill in.
  - In-between frames had a number on the top right while key frames lacked it.
- The stream also mentioned cost breakdown of shikishi which arguably used by the staff of Studio Trigger. To elaborate, it was estimated to be sold 30$ per unit; $30-40 altogether for shipping, and $10 altogether for wooden sheets (have to get them cut at local hardware store - $2/unit bulk). Normally had $30-40 lying around after that process. Money didn't go individually to the person who drew, too complicated, but a portion of the Patreon money went to the people that draw them, which was around over $80 per person.
- One of Studio Trigger staff, possibly Eji Tsuchida, acknowledged Patreon's unsavory reputation among some people and that they didn't mind about it if they managed to get 60% of Patreon supporters into liking the studio's content.
  - He also like Satsuki's eyebrow design as well as big fan of Mexican and Korean food (ex. kimchi-jjigae and sundubu-jjigae.
- Concerning the studio's turnover rate, it would likely stick around for a least a couple of years if it managed to last the year.
- Each episode of Studio Trigger's various anime TV Series yielded four to six boxes of frames, which means two seasons composed of over 40 of boxes in question. Because of it, the studio had the boxes shipped to a countryside storage space.
- At least through unspoken impression, the studio's work and sick hours for Public Relation staff were noted to be flexible.
- Younger animators were noted to like doing the live drawings than veterab artists thanks to attaining extra spending money from it. Shishiki's artists also get a small cut.
- Coffee drank at Studio Trigger was instant type.
- Studio Trigger only had two composite staff at the time of the streaming.
- For anniversaries, the staff order a lot of food for in house party.
- Studio Trigger was aware of unsettling rumors about obsessed fans scouring dumpsters near popular studios for discarded in-between frames, though such rumors remained to be confirmed since the studio apparently disposed its in-between frames instead.
As shown in Studio Trigger's New Years/Shikishi in January 8, 2020^[42]:
- The composite/tech staff of Studio Trigger who helps with the streams is Eji Tsuchida.
- Luluco cut-outs were used to film the ending theme of Space Patrol Luluco.
According to Studio Trigger's streaming showcasing in-betweens of Little Witch Academia and Space Patrol Luluco in March 7, 2020^[43]:
- There was a concern of BNA: Brand New Animal won't be completed had the studio went to quarantine and self-isolation in the light of COVID-19 pandemic.
- Kickstarter studio tier prize was how Studio Trigger prevented people from visiting its studio.
- Though the studio's staff was busy at the moment, it would hokd a Q&A event related to BNA: Brand New Animal in May of the year during this streaming.
According to Studio Trigger's streaming showcasing in-betweens of Little Witch Academia in March 31, 2020^[44]:
- The only the time the studio's staff had done April's Fools was when announcing Trigger Girls on April 1st only to actually reveal them.
- The first episode of Kill la Kill took several months to complete while the final episode a few weeks by contrast.
As revealed during Little Witch Academia inbetweens streaming in April 1, 2020^[45]:
- The baseline requirements for an intership with the studio are having Japanese Visa and able to speak, write in Japanese.
According to Studio Trigger's streaming showcasing in-betweens of Little Witch Academia in June 4, 2020^[46]:
- The studio had yet to hire would-be Public Relations based on job applications; it was Hiromi Wakabayashi who went to find them instead hence how Tatsuru Tatemoto and Mami got their jobs.
- The studio's staff had a game console in the old office, though its whereabouts in the new office was uncertain.
According to in-betweens of Little Witch Academia in June 11, 2020^[47]:
- The studio had a plan for Trigger dollars as initially proposed by Tatsuru Tatemoto, though the idea changed from the initial. Both Hiromi Wakabahashi and Shigeto Koyama liked Supreme Cash Gun, even bought one in order to use it to shoot money at conventions. The studio also conducted Q&A session regarding the matter, planning to hire a stripper to move the mics and use the dollars for the fans to give it to said stripper and exchange for the mic.
- On related note, Tatsuru Tatemoto sought to make an explosive presentation unlike other companies.
- Hiromi Wakabayashi also wanted to start a Trigger economy based on Trigger dollars.
According to in-betweens of Little Witch Academia in June 12, 2020^[48]:
- Muzzle, one of three "Trigger Girls" of Studio Trigger, was described as "general onee-san vibes, big chesticles, thick thighs, and thick waifu". The initial concept revolving her was she could only speak gibberish, never took off her mask, and only used a blunt knife.
- Emotes plan at the time of the streaming was completed with Yoshibari veing the first of the studio's staff to promote it.
- Good Smile Company is to whom Studio Trigger relied on in selling and distributing its merchandise. While still lax, the company had become more and more pseudo-professional than around five or six years prior to the streaming.
- It's known that Studio Trigger staff had known some people who worked at Pixar with their notable contribution being Toy Story That Time Forgot which released as a Christmas episode. One of the waa open to working on Promare, even made few image boards of on volcano.

Miscellaneous

Many of Studio Trigger's works feature formidable female protagonists (ex. Atsuko Kagari and Ursula aka. Chariot from Little Witch Academia and Ryūko Matoi from Kill la Kill. Whereas Shigeto Koyama claimed this attributed to Hiroyuki Imaishi's affinity to strong women, Hiromi Wakabayashi joked that the Studio's staff are masochists.^[10]
Wakabayashi elaborated in an interview that when it comes about working on a series, everyone gathers and puts up ideas they come up with in order to make it professional and marketable as well as refine it to see whether such ideas can be completed throughout the production.^[10]
Various mechas in Studio Trigger's works such as Stanship's Grand Charion configuration were noted to be slightly "organic" and "flexible" compared to the likes of Gundam, which clearly attributed to Yoshinari's past involvement with Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise in which Evangelions are actually cyborgs^[49]
According to Masahiko Ōtsuka about how Studio Trigger handling budget for its works as reiterated by Tatsuru Tatemoto in an interview:^[50] "For a budget we received from the government about like, twice the amount, compared to a usual television series for one episode does. But on the other hand, when we make a television series, we usually get the budget for the whole series, if it's like one season, it will be for like, 13 episodes, we have, we have more freedom, you know, maybe we'll use like 10% on Episode One and 5% of the budget on episode two. So in terms of that we made probably felt like maybe like 1.5 times more than like a normal episode."
- In the same interview, he states that the studio aimed to work on what it wanted to see, showing that anime franchises Studio Trigger develops weren't restricted to ones suitable for younger audience only.
As reported by a blog article from Reverse Thieves during AnimeNEXT 2014:^[51]
- Majorities of Studio Trigger staff are fans of American comics, particularly ones by Marvel Comics. This is even reflected by subtle Marvel Comics influence on their works (ex. Kill la Kill's second ending theme has a secret wink and nod to World War Hulk and Inferno Cop being inspired by Ghost Rider).
- In the same event, the panel of Inferno Cop was less attended than that of Kill la Kill due to its style being too peculiar to Japanese audience's liking, which also attributed to its unusual development approach (Studio Trigger only allowed one hour per week to work on Inferno Cop, which didn't help by those involved took their time rather than doing so seriously like the latter). Notably, its storyboard consisted of just a single sheet of paper with three hap-hazardly drawn boxes inside which were the loosest of sketches for the action.
- While Little Witch Academia's original short was as reputable as Kill la Kill that the sequel was greenlit, fans apparently saved questions pertaining to it for bigger events such as AnimeExpo since none of them brought that up in AnimeNEXT 2014.
- Just like TV Series adaptation of Little Witch Academia later on, the initial storyline was confirmed to be much darker and edgier than the final product as indicated by initial versions of first five episode storyboards in which Ryūko Matoi was initially depicted as a bounty hunter and the Elite Four being an all-female member band. Not only that, Ryūko and Mako's early designs were more adorable and masculine elements in Satsuki's design were initially more prominent.
As revealed by Koyama in an interview with Ogiue Maniax during AnimeNEXT 2015, Inferno Cop was made possible through a commission by Google, which was surprising given to the amount of money Google was known to have and how little money and effort was placed into it, which wasn't an issue as the studio set up a rule that it could only spend two hours a week on the series.^[52]
- Studio Trigger's initial pitch on what would become Inferno Cop was Superson, the story of an ordinary guy in a superhero academy which was rather underwhelming in comparison.
  - The major highlight of the event was Inferno Cop x Little Witch Academia crossover, which also featured Sucy depicted in the former series' style.
- Studio Trigger's other work, Turning Girls was indeed created and produced by its non-animator female staff. It was created as the way to see how people with no experience in animation would make an anime. Despite failing in attracting much of an audience abroad, it interested sponsors involved more against all odds, though they refused to make more of the series. It's worth mentioning that the series' titular characters apparently were based on the staff members themselves, particularly the one with shades of Kaerun, the highly abrasive aspiring idol from Turning Girls.
In 2015, Studio Trigger participated in Animator Expo through a mature short Sex and Violence with Machspeed, with soundtrack for three characters being made by Akira Complex and Attack The Music.^[53]^[54]
From a Q&A event during Studio Trigger's 10th anniversary:^[55]
- When some fans brought up the coffee mug merchandise of Little Witch Academia released years back as they inquired about whether new merchandise of the series would be available, despite the series having aired years ago, Yoshinari jokingly remarked that one of such mugs might be available in the studio's office if anyone wants to visit Japan to get it.
- Among ideas proposed by fans who attended the event for Studio Trigger's very own possible Star Wars trilogy was a tale about teenage female Wookie as she went on an adventure across the galaxy, which the Studio was interested in pursuing. Studio Trigger also received praise of some fans regarding Star Wars: Visions despite its mixed receptions by critics, which helped when majorities of them also happened to be fans of Star Wars franchise all along.
- Studio Trigger had considered the idea of a Trigger Taco Truck for collaboration with a fast-food chain due to being obsessed with cuisine, which unfortunately was easier said than done due to logistical issues, which wasn't helped by Shin Ultraman's successful collaboration with McDonalds at the time. Collaboration with Fortnite was considered also.
  - Though they had yet to plan any collaborations with pre-existing shows and video games, Studio Trigger endeavored to partner with mobile games which were popular in Japan into consideration.
- Studio Trigger was confirmed to take inspiration from media as a whole instead of just Western animation, just as artists take in a lot of influence from outside sources which not limited to cartoons and how Disney and Cartoon Network have referenced Studio Trigger animation so far.
- Upon enquiries about plans for Inferno Cop Season 2, Studio Trigger stated that it would require the right creative team and appropriate direction, which weren't helped by a series of complications that hindered it.
- When it came to designing mechas, Studio Trigger's artists stated that the silhouette was often the most important; they need to find out the volume and mass of the mech before giving it personality. Director Imaishi was often the one who provided initial idea which, in Yoshinari's admission, was often very rudimentary not unlike the most basic sketch. It took the latter thinking for a long time and rough sketches until a final product was finally decided hence Yoshinari's comparison between Imaishi's art to a Rorshach test.
- A particular idea Studio Trigger joked about, but nonetheless Hiroyuki Imaishi put into consideration was "a super sexy ancient kung-fu anime" in the vein of Kill la Kill.
- It was Yoshinari who handled Little Witch Academia's unique animation owing to his love for classic animation.
- Cyberpunk Edgerunners was going to be a new and refreshing project in its catalog and a signal of the start of a new era for Studio Trigger.
Studio Trigger was involved in an animation for the release of Yonhyaku-Nijū Renpai Girl directed by Masahiko Ōtsuka. Ōtsuka himself stated that Studio Trigger had no plan to fully adapt the series, though the idea could be done if the video was popular enough. The animation also served as the studio's attempt to experiment with different genres of animation as reflected by not using animation style it best known for, and he ensured the animation properly conveyed the cheerful atmosphere found in original work as its director with aid of Yuuichirou Hayashi, Sachiko Yashima, and Sunao Chikaoka.^[56]
As revealed in the conversation between Hiroyuki Imaishi and Wes Ball (Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes' director) during the interview with Japanese outlet, The River, Studio Trigger doesn't use AI-generated artwork as part of its production process due to some of its staff members against it.^[57]
A collaboration with Fortnite at least in form of collaborative skins was considered, which helped by said franchise may very well Shigeto Koyama's favorite according to Hiromi Wakabayashi.^[19]

Gallery

Website frontpage artworks

Videos

Studio Trigger and Little Witch Academia Anime Studio Spotlight

Making of Little Witch Academia - Studio Trigger

TRIGGER - THE ANIME STUDIO - NHK WORLD-JAPAN On Demand

【海外イベント】TRIGGER in マレーシア！吉成曜監督と『COMIC FIESTA』に参加して来ました！

References

External links

Other info