Must-know Information for Kiznaiver Fans! Dive into the World of Shirow Miwa, and His Character Designs - First Half
Have you guys watched Kiznaiver, which began airing this April (2016) yet? With the name of animation studio TRIGGER backing it up, this series has definitely received its fair share of attention. Every week brings you a new development to the story of 8 youths and the interweaving of their fates, so do check it out if you haven’t!
pixiv has opened an official site with Kiznaiver. Related news, staff illustrations, character references and fanart is regularly updated here.
pixiv has opened an official site with Kiznaiver. Related news, staff illustrations, character references and fanart is regularly updated here.
What’s more, we now have an interview with the character draft designer, manga artist Shirow Miwa! Split into 2 parts, let us find out more about his work.
In the first part of the interview, we will explore more about the birth of the characters in Kiznaiver, and a lot of stories from behind the scenes! Find out about the process of designing these unique characters, and how their designs evolved over time, in stories you can only get here. This is a must-read for all Kiznaiver fans!
Interviewer: Kan Sakamoto
Hisomu was originally supposed to be a hikikomori, but for some reason ended up being a masochist (lol)...
- Firstly, how did you land the job of the character draft designer for Kiznaiver?
TRIGGER first contacted me and asked me to pop by their office. They knew me beforehand, so it was probably easy to ask me to help out (lol). At that point in time, the title and basic settings had probably already been finalized.
- Could you give us a brief introduction to what the job of ‘character draft designer’ entails?
Well in every anime, there will be a basic plan, a director to oversee the entire production, and the screenwriter who writes the scripts. Following that, the character draft designer will invent characters based on the story, and come up with potential designs...I guess that’s the general flow of things.
Also, the same character can have different outfits for different scenes, but my job for this show was just to come up with the designs of the characters’ figure.
The detailed designs and variations are done up by the character design animators.
Character design animators may be the ones drafting up the original character designs as well in some cases.
Also, the same character can have different outfits for different scenes, but my job for this show was just to come up with the designs of the characters’ figure.
The detailed designs and variations are done up by the character design animators.
Character design animators may be the ones drafting up the original character designs as well in some cases.
- So Kiznaiver is an original work. Were you completely entrusted with the ideas for the characters? Or were there some guidelines you had to follow?
There were some basic information about the plot, and the genders and general descriptions of the main characters. Everything was pretty ambiguous at the start.
I did submit the character design drafts of the 8 main characters together, but the direction of the story, or even the genre was still unclear then, so everything was trial and error at the beginning. The title, Kiznaiver, was such a battle-like name, but the story was surprisingly tame and about the life of students (lol), things like that.
Once the end of the story came into sight, there were mismatches with the characters, which was corrected in my second draft, and things generally continued moving on in this pattern.
I did submit the character design drafts of the 8 main characters together, but the direction of the story, or even the genre was still unclear then, so everything was trial and error at the beginning. The title, Kiznaiver, was such a battle-like name, but the story was surprisingly tame and about the life of students (lol), things like that.
Once the end of the story came into sight, there were mismatches with the characters, which was corrected in my second draft, and things generally continued moving on in this pattern.
- The characters in the anime all have their own nicknames, like “The Imbecile”, “Goody Two Shoes”, “The Musclehead Thug”, “The Cunning Normal”, “High and Mighty”, “The Eccentric Headcase” and “Immoral” that originates from the Seven Deadly Sins. Was this present at the start as well?
The only information I had was that the 7 characters shared their feelings. The idea of the Seven Deadly Sins only really came halfway through, but I more or less had understood that one of them was reckless, or another liked flirting with girls etc.
▲First draft of Chidori Takashiro’s character design. She appears to be more curt then in the final product. Her nickname is “Goody Two Shoes”.
- So there were many revisions made to the character designs before they were finalized to what we see today?
There were some time after I handed up a draft, before I was called back again to make small adjustments. I didn’t have to make multiple trips to and fro. There are characters that are almost exactly how the original drafts were too.
The character that has changed the most are Katsuhira and Hisomu. In contrast, Tenga hasn’t changed at all.
Katsuhira looked more like a normal protagonist at first. And Hisomu was the shortest of all the characters at first. Katsuhira’s final image sort of resembles Hisomu’s initial designs, and Yuta became the character who used to be plump.
The character that has changed the most are Katsuhira and Hisomu. In contrast, Tenga hasn’t changed at all.
Katsuhira looked more like a normal protagonist at first. And Hisomu was the shortest of all the characters at first. Katsuhira’s final image sort of resembles Hisomu’s initial designs, and Yuta became the character who used to be plump.
▲First draft of Yoshiharu Hisomu’s character design. He was intended to be fat in the past, which is a stark difference from the final version.
Hisomu was originally supposed to be a hikikomori.
At the start, there was supposed to be a scene where he used to shut himself in his room, until everyone knew that there was one more person who shared their feelings, and were suddenly attacked by a serious bout of hunger. And then they found Hisomu nearly starving to death in his room...something like that. He used to be on the large side but slimmed down due to that.
For some reason, he ended up as a masochist in the end (lol).
At the start, there was supposed to be a scene where he used to shut himself in his room, until everyone knew that there was one more person who shared their feelings, and were suddenly attacked by a serious bout of hunger. And then they found Hisomu nearly starving to death in his room...something like that. He used to be on the large side but slimmed down due to that.
For some reason, he ended up as a masochist in the end (lol).
- How did that happen(lol)?
That was probably the fault of the screenwriter, Mari Okada (lol). Things just happened as the story developed.
And the most unique female character would be Nico. Her eccentric looks haven’t changed, but I originally intended for her to be tall. She’s small and lolita-like now.
And the most unique female character would be Nico. Her eccentric looks haven’t changed, but I originally intended for her to be tall. She’s small and lolita-like now.
▲First draft and final version of Nico Niiyama’s character design. Her fashion style has remained the same, but she grew shorter and her accessories have also increased, a cute change from the initial impression.
- By the way, when did you submit the first draft?
Hmmn, it was when I was handling the designs for a game called 7th Dragon 2020-II (Went on sale April 18th, 2013)......and about the time when the production for Kill la Kill (Went on air October 2013) just began…… Pretty long ago huh. Around 2011 or 2012 I would say.
- TRIGGER was formed in 2011, so I suppose the plans for this show itself existed at the time of its establishment.
Yeah. There was quite a gap between the submission of the initial drafts and the request for revisions though.
In the meantime, I got a request to work on Joker Game, and just as I was worrying over whether that would conclude first, I received notice of work starting again.
In the meantime, I got a request to work on Joker Game, and just as I was worrying over whether that would conclude first, I received notice of work starting again.
- And both series ended up airing during the same season. So you mean to say there was no overlap in the time frames of your work?
Yes. However, the illustrations for the DVD and BD jacket covers overlapped…...I mean, literally overlapped.
- (lol). It is rather impressive to have 2 series with your illustrations going on air during the same period though.
Well, I would be happier if both series had been even more spaced out, and continued longer though (lol).
▲First draft for Noriko Sonozaki’s character design. Including her facial expressions, there was almost no change in the first draft and final version.
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