A Sneak Peek of the Special Interview with Director Brosdau and the Production Staff of Gundam: Requiem for Vengeance, Featured in CGWORLD Dec. 2024 Issue!

CG WORLD Dec. 2024 Issue vol.316 (1,540 JPY tax included) published by Born Digital features a 52-page special titled “The Transition and Frontline of Gundam CG.” The feature explores the ever-evolving world of Gundam CG, highlights the latest VR movie Mobile Suit Gundam: Phantom of Silver, and delves into the production of the Netflix 3D animated series Gundam: Requiem of Revenge.

We’ve received a sneak peek of the interview with the creators of Requiem of Revenge, so let’s take a look!

CGWORLD (CGW): This is the first photorealistic, fully 3D Gundam feature animation since the MS IGLOO series. As the director, what kind of research did you do for this project?

Erasmus Brosdau (Brosdau): I rewatched many of the past Gundam series. The one that felt closest to the vision I had for this project was Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team. I also drew inspiration from non-Gundam works, like the Russian movie White Tiger (2012) and the American film Fury (2014). I wanted to bring that kind of realism into the world of Gundam.

CGW: Both of those films focus heavily on tanks. By the way, what was your first experience with Gundam?

Brosdau: My first encounter with Gundam was when I was 15. Back then, I was living in Germany and didn’t have access to the internet. A comic book store opened nearby, and they had products from Japan, including GUNPLA kits. I didn’t know what they were at the time, but I thought they looked cool and decided to buy one. I was blown away by how you could build it without glue. Years later, I realized the model I built was the Victory Gundam from Mobile Suit V Gundam.

Takuya Suzuki (Suzuki): I also built a lot of GUNPLA as a kid. I never imagined that I’d grow up to work on a Gundam project as the Environment and Modeling Supervisor. It was a pleasant surprise.

Satomi Nakahara (Nakahara): I felt the same way when I found out I’d be working on this project as a Cinematic Artist Supervisor. My first Gundam experience was through reruns of Mobile Suit Gundam W, which I got hooked on. That led me to explore other series like Mobile Suit Gundam, Mobile Suit Z Gundam, and Turn A Gundam through reruns and streaming services.

Hiroaki Yura (Yura): I’m also a big fan of The 08th MS Team, so being the Animation Producer and Sound Director for this project has been a huge honor. When Kasaoka joined as Director of Photography, he used Hathaway, which was in production at the time, to teach the SAFEHOUSE team about anime direction. Since many of us didn’t have much experience with anime direction, it was an incredibly valuable learning experience.

Jumpei Kasaoka (Kasaoka): I explained to them the basics, like how to guide the viewer’s eye, frame layouts, and stage compositions, while also explaining the attention to detail that directors and animators have historically brought to sakuga-based Gundam animation. I wanted the team to have a shared view of the project.

Yura: Naohiro Ogata, the Executive Producer at Bandai Namco Filmworks (BNF), also told us, “I want you to watch Hathaway so that we can convey the fear and scale of Gundam EX.” Kasaoka’s explanations helped us out a lot.

CGW: Can you tell us about the workflow for this project?

Yura: The script was handled by BNF and Gavin Hignight, but since our team was small, the number of assets we could create was limited. For example, we requested adjustments to avoid scenes with infinite numbers of Mobile Suits or characters. Also, we made the protagonist, Ilya Solari, a former violinist because I myself am a violinist. That way, I could perform the motion capture for Solari playing the violin without any extra cost! (laughs)

Brosdau: While the script was being developed, our German team worked on the pilot footage, testing workflows using Maya and UE (Unreal Engine) and refining the look development (look dev). Since the final assets weren’t ready at this stage, we used in-progress assets, existing assets from THE ORIGIN provided by BNF, and commercially available assets.

Kasaoka: The scenes created for the pilot footage were later entirely redone, but the atmosphere that Director Brosdau established carried over to the final production.

Suzuki: In early 2021, we had the scene data shared with the entire Japanese team. We studied how to use UE for this project over two weeks. After that, while the German team had already started on Episode 1, the Japanese team followed by working on Episode 2 and beyond.

Brosdau: I believe creating a two-hour-long film using UE’s real-time rendering was a world-first challenge. Things didn’t always go as planned, so we frequently revised workflows and even had to backtrack and redo certain steps. In reality, Episode 1 was developed alongside our R&D (research and development) efforts. Since our team was small, everyone had to be extremely flexible.

Nakahara: It wasn’t until we were working on Episode 5 that our workflow was truly solidified after much trial and error. If there had been a seventh episode, we probably would have refined it even further. That’s how much we revised the workflow. For example, up to Episode 2, we used a Western-style storyboard, but Kasaoka pointed out that it lacked the details we aimed for. In the end, we switched to the Japanese anime production approach, following the process of storyboard commissioning, rough storyboards, checks, and final drafts to flesh out the details.

Kasaoka: From Episode 3 onward, Yojiro Arai handled the storyboards, and for Episode 6, Hidekazu Ohara took over. The purpose of storyboards is to communicate the continuity between cuts. However, our initial storyboards were just a collection of cool-looking shots without clear connections. While they served as layout references, we needed other information to craft the motion between cuts and convey the story visually. That’s when I realized how uniquely specialized Japanese anime storyboards are. I suggested sticking to an established workflow for storyboards to minimize redos.

CGW: Did the Japanese team take over all the production from Episode 2 onward?

Nakahara: Episodes 1 and 6 were led by the German team, while the Japanese team took charge of the rest, with both sides assisting each other. Since all episodes were produced simultaneously, cinematic artists started working on previsualization as soon as scenes were approved.

Kasaoka: The six-episode script follows a single dramatic composition, so we constantly made adjustments to maintain balance, with thoughts like “If this is how it ends, then we should begin with this.” In parallel, we identified scenes where the setting wouldn’t change even if the drama did and worked on previsualization and background production.

Check out the full interview in CGWORLD Dec. 2024 Issue vol. 316!