Mappa’s upcoming Chainsaw Man – The Film: Reze Arc masterfully blends 2D and 3D artwork, echoing Ufotable’s Demon Slayer: Infinity Citadel by pairing 3D environments with 2D character fashions. At New York Comedian Con, Mappa made its first look with a panel that includes assistant director Masato Nakazono, supervising producer Manabu Otsuka, and CGI producer Yusuke Tannawa, providing followers a behind-the-scenes have a look at the movie.
Throughout the panel, the group addressed questions in regards to the strategies used to merge 2D and 3D animation, exhibiting early blueprints and prototype footage whereas subtitles had been learn aloud for attendees.
“Within the Reze Arc, the position of CGI is to enrich every manufacturing course of in a balanced approach, as a way to maximize the inventive expression of the hand-drawn animation,” CGI producer Yusuke Tannawa mentioned (by way of translator). “We create 3D background fashions for key scenes to make sure correct placement and scale that aligns with the director’s intent. In scenes that happen contained in the cafe and within the nighttime classroom, the 3D CG structure helps preserve exact positioning between characters. Whereas [during] the town battle sequences, it permits dynamic digital camera actions that will be tough to attain in any other case.”
Infinity Citadel employs related strategies, merging 2D characters with continuously shifting 3D corridors of its titular location. At instances, the road between 2D and 3D blurs — like throughout Shinobu’s showdown with Higher Rank demon Doma. Cinematic CG enhances transitions, emphasizing scale, reflections, and dynamic motion. The identical could possibly be mentioned in regards to the upcoming Chainsaw Man film.
“Specifically, for the battle scenes, we reproduce the feel of hand-painted backgrounds in CG, permitting for dynamic visible composition throughout the aesthetic of conventional animation,” Tannawa mentioned
The Chainsaw Man panelists additionally defined how utilizing 3D CG fashions helps preserve positions and provides background objects surrounding the characters a sensible look. Nevertheless, in contrast to Infinity Citadel, cases of 3D fashions on display screen are few and much between in Reze Arc.
“Though all of the characters on this movie had been drawn by hand, 3D CG information fashions had been extensively used in the course of the structure stage to simulate the absolute best compositions earlier than transferring into the drawing section,” Tannawa mentioned. “Along with the Denji Chainsaw Man fashions from the TV sequence, new fashions had been created for Reze/Bomb and Beam and shared with the animation workers to assist the general manufacturing workflow. Lots of the automobiles are additionally represented in 3D CG, contributing to the movie’s sense of realism.”
Footage proven on the panel revealed 3D layouts of lecture rooms and cityscapes, together with a sweeping shot over a broken part of the streets. We additionally noticed T-posing fashions of the Bombs and Denji as Chainsaw Man, displayed alongside absolutely 3D-rendered automobiles of each kind.
We’ve mentioned it earlier than, however the days of CG having a horrible fame inside anime are disappearing in actual time. CG is carving out its personal inventive house, revealing a novel type of magnificence that blends with conventional 2D. Movies like Infinity Citadel and Reze Arc present how full 3D animation can ship breathtaking, action-packed battles that rival one of the best of historically produced anime. At its peak, the know-how doesn’t simply assist the artwork; it turns into indistinguishable from it.
