Chainsaw Man Anime Expo Panel: Live Blog

The time has come! As the fourth day of Anime Expo kicks off, all eyes are on the Main Stage today! Why is that? Well, Chainsaw Man is here and ready to hype its fall debut with stateside fans in a big way. The packed panel promises to reveal new updates on the anime and even give us some first looks at the series. And of course, ComicBook is here to give you all the details as they happen live…!

Closing Notes

Otsuka-san teases when new info on the anime will go live for fans. He says he wanted to bring something here to AX, so it is coming soon. Real soon. 

The team also gives final closings to fans after teasing new updates in the future. Seko-san is first, and he says he has not seen any completed footage yet. He is really excited to see more, so he can relate to how eager fans are. Kimura-san thanks fans for coming to the panel and says the original manga is about to start its new part on July 13th. We are working hard to get the anime going. We are looking to do something never done before as a team with our new footage, so thank you!

And Otsuka-san ends the panel. He tells the crowd being here was precious because we got to see how excited fans are in the U.S. before anything has even started. I want to take this energy back to Japan as we’re working really hard over there. So I will use this passion as energy to make an anime that blows your mind. 

Music and More

Kimura-san is asked what the soundtrack’s composer was picked. How will its direction match the manga’s feeling? The producer says he didn’t choose the talent but rather requested him. His tempo is very different from others and worked on other titles like Devilman Crybaby. They knew his sound would go great with CM and help guide its direction. Kimura-san the composer also loves CM and is working closely with the director and sound director to create all the music in the background. We are currently working on the music right now. So, I hope everyone is looking forward to the actual series because the music in the PV is just the start. 

Fan Q&A

The team is asked a series of questions sent in by the fans. They are asked how much influence CM and its pre-anime fame had on the show’s production behind the scenes. Otsuka-san says obviously MAPPA has worked on a lot of popular titles, but we were surprised by how insane the reception was for the PV. There were some small parts of him that expected it, but he did not see it to this degree. 

Kimura-san is asked how CM will handle gore and whether censoring or blurring will be used to tone it down. The producer says first, we are not censoring anything. You won’t see any cross-hatching or what not. We want to be true to the original manga. We want to do our best to stay to the story, so what you see in there, we want to bring that to the fans. 

Seko-san is asked how his team adapted the manga’s unpredictable pacing into a script for the anime. The writer shares things are case by case with each episode and by the chapter being adapted. We try our best to create each script best to the story. But there are times when we review things, if they are running a little long, we adjust a little. Or if it needs more time, we add a little bit of padding. 

Denji’s Needs and Pochita

Seko-san is asked about his career, and what appeals to him the most about CM. He says he had two main points in mind while writing this anime. First, there are a lot of crazy characters – both humans and demons. He wanted to make sure that was included. And on the other hand, Denji – the main character – is a major charm. The character has a raw energy, and he has needs: food and women. I think no other character is that raw in that needs for those two things. That sort of personality drives the story, so I wanted to make sure we included that charm. 

The team is then asked about Denji and Pochita as the series’ leads. Aki, Power, and the others are brought up. It seems the crowd is most obsessed with Power and Pochita. After hearing the audience react to each character, the team says it is a great reference for them behind the scenes. Seko-san believes a lot of power came for Powe r. 

And of course, the team is asked about their favorite characters. Otsuka-san says Power, and it is because she has a lot of charming aspects. She is Denji’s buddy, and that relationship is clear. We wanted to highlight that in the anime too. The producer says Denji because he relates to his needs. And for Seko-san, he says Makima. He would do anything the character asked of him, he could not say no to her. 

Creator’s Influence and Expectations

Kimura-san is asked how Fujimoto-sensei is involved with the CM anime. The producer says the team is working closely with him. The creator was involved from the beginning including planning and casting and music. He is involved in everything, and that is important because we want to keep that original vision in mind. 

Otsuka-san is asked about the studio’s overall production quality from AOT to JJK and CM and more. How will the anime adapt the intense visuals of CM? The CEO says it all comes down to what the director wants to see. I know that because of the story itself – a chainsaw demon and fantasy aspects – we want to emphasize reality and rawness even with high-flung ideas. There is also the action we all want to see, it is almost theatrical from the original work. We wanted to include that in the anime as well.  

Introductions

The team all introduces themselves to fans, and producer Kimura-san notes there are tons of cosplayers out for Chainsaw Man. This is wild for the team as a whole since the anime is not even out yet!

First, Kimura-san is asked how Chainsaw Man was chosen to become an anime. He says they began looking at CM as a group. The producer and team saw it hit shelves as a manga and they wanted to bring it out as a manga. Kimura-san wanted to work without a production committee, so we are doing this all on our own. We told Shueisha about the idea, and the publisher was fine. So the team is excited to bring it out to fans. 

The producer goes on to talk about the manga. He wants to know how many people have read the manga which is the entire crowd. 

Otsuka-san is then asked how the production team is structured to produce CM. The CEO says he is a big fan of the original manga, so he wanted to create footage that fans like myself want to see on the screen. I wanted to emphasize that with the team. 

And to Seko-san, he is asked what he had to be mindful of when writing CM. He says if you have seen the manga, you know there are a lot of characters here that have screws loose. But he wanted to emphasize that they put all hardcore things, no soft stuff. 

It Begins

The panel begins with Kyle Cardine of Crunchyroll coming out on stage. The crowd is going wild from the start as you can imagine. The panel capped early this morning, and the crowd is beyond amped. The rest of the guests start coming out after its first teaser trailer is shown to the world. Hiroshi Seko, the series composer, is joined by Manabu Otsuka, the CEO of MAPPA. Makoto Kimura joins as the executive director and management director at MAPPA.