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One of the biggest shows of the summer on Crunchyroll, Gachiakuta is a dark, violent fantasy-adventure set in a dystopic city rigidly divided along economic lines. The wealthy, wasteful citizens look down on the tribesfolk, who live on the wrong side of the divide. The tribesfolk look down on Rudo, the orphan son of a convicted murderer. Rudo ekes out an existence on the margins of the margins. He illegally scavenges the discards of the rich, cleaning them and reselling them. Only Chiwa, the girl he likes, and Regto, the adoptive father who gave Rudo his trademark gloves, treat him with kindness.
When Rudo is framed for Regto’s murder, he’s exiled to the pit — a mammoth garbage dump from which no one has re-emerged. As he wanders this foul wasteland, Rudo barely escapes the trash beasts, fantastic creatures with great horned heads and bodies composed of animated rubbish. He discovers the exiles have built a civilization of their own, and that he has the supernatural ability to draw power from seemingly ordinary objects — a talent that’s highly valued in the netherworld.
Based on a manga by Kei Urana with graffiti designer Hideyoshi Andou, Gachiakuta is not only a striking adventure story, it’s powerful commentary on economic inequality, which is a major problem in Japan, as it is in the U.S. But Japanese animators don’t shy away from it, as their American counterparts do. Anna, Elsa, Poppy and Moana are princesses who command seemingly endless resources; Gru never lacks money or Minions to serve him. There’s no Impoverished Smurf living in a run-down mushroom; Riley and her family in the Inside Out films can afford a Victorian house in San Francisco. Tiana, Lilo and Alberto (in Luca) are probably the least affluent American lead characters, but they’re far better off than Rudo.
American animation during the ‘30s and ‘40s reflected economic conditions. Many of the Fleischer cartoons have the gritty look of lower middle class New York. Popeye and Bluto often live in apartments with plaster peeling off the walls. A caricature of Franklin Roosevelt tells Oswald Rabbit to fight the Depression in Walter Lantz’s Confidence (1933). During the ’40s, characters in the in MGM and Warner Bros. shorts faced rationing and wartime shortages, just as the audience did.
Today, many Japanese characters, especially young men, struggle to find their place in settings that reflect the problems of the post-bubble economy. Joe in Megalobox rides his motorcycle around the “Restricted Area,” the ruined quarter of a post-apocalyptic Tokyo — the guarded streets of the wealthy “Administrative District” are off-limits to riffraff like him. In Eden of the East, Takizawa has to deal with thousands of NEETs: young men with No Education, Employment or Training. Rudo is literally exiled to the city dump. The socially conscious content gives Gachiakuta an edge many more conventional adventures lack.
First time director Fumihiko Suganuma talked about some of the challenges of making the Gachiakuta series in an interview conducted in Japan, which has been edited for length:
What was your first reaction when you first read the manga?
Fumihiko Suganuma: Only Volume 1 was out when I first read it. The image on the cover immediately pulled me in and I thought, this is going be something. At the same time, there was pressure because I knew we would really need to honor that visual style when creating the anime. With the story, you couldn’t predict what would happen next, which was both fun and sometimes a little nerve-wracking.
As you embarked on the anime adaptation, what did you discuss with manga artist Kei Urana and graffiti designer Hideyoshi Andou? What was your first impression of them?
My first impression of Urana-sensei was “pink.” At the time she had this punk style, with a leather jacket and leather shoes, and pink hair. Next to her was Hideyoshi Andou, who was tall and had this imposing vibe. They felt edgy in a good way, and I could see how they were the creators of this manga.
Gachiakuta is a unique and distinctive manga that incorporates graffiti designed by Hideyoshi Andou. Was there anything you were conscious of about this in creating the anime adaptation?
I felt that graffiti redrawn by anyone else would never fully capture the quality of the original, so I told him directly that I’d like to use the designs he provides, essentially as-is.
What did you discuss with Satoshi Ishino (character design and chief animation director)?
Ishino-san and I explored how we could give it that “animation cel feel” while keeping the qualities of the manga. We worked to preserve the dynamism of the manga in things like the tips of Rudo’s hair while deliberately avoiding using too many post-processing effects to give it the plain texture of old-school anime.
To give the anime a manga-like touch, another thing we were conscious of was the quality of the lines. When anime went digital, the texture of lines drawn with pencil or pen completely disappeared. But recent improvements in technology are changing things, and it’s now possible to give it this hand-drawn feel.
Are there any scenes that stand out for you?
The trash beast battle scene in Episode 2. I checked it over personally and spoke with the staff a number of times as well. The scene where Rudo falls into the Pit also really stands out. We did that scene in a way that was proposed quite enthusiastically by animator Koki Tomiyoshi.
What do you want to bring to life the most in this anime, and what do you want to convey the most?
This could be said for any title, but having been entrusted with this manga, I think the most important part of my job is transforming it into an animation as faithfully as possible. I also want to convey the authors’ message on their behalf in a captivating way.
Produced by Bones Film, the first season of Gachiakuta (24 episodes) is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.
