This interview with studio Trigger’s Hiromi Wakabayashi and Shigeto Koyama was conducted via translator and edited for clarity.
Trigger invited But Why Tho? and several other members of the media for a revealing interview with the talented and unapologetically creative minds behind New Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt. It’s been nearly 15 years since the iconic bitch angels made their debut, and the team at Trigger couldn’t be more excited for the brand new series.
The interview featured three members of the production team: Hiromi Wakabayashi, the creative producer as well as Planning and scriptwriter, Hiroyuki Imaishi, the animation director and animator, and Shigeto Koyama, the designer/art director. All three members of Trigger answered our questions with the assistance of a translator.
Get BWT in your inbox!
Get BWT in your inbox!
If you’ve seen the trailers, there is probably one very important question on your mind. What is up with those new demon twinks, Polyurethane and Polyester? Trigger knew we needed answers and opened the Q and A session with a tease, “I can’t really say anything here, because you’ll have to just wait and see what happens in the show.” However, “As you watch them develop, you’ll see why they’re named that way and why they were introduced in the series.” Based on what we’ve seen, I can only assume they were introduced to cause problems for Panty, Stocking, and everyone else in town.
The ridiculous visual hijinks and style swaps of the 2010 series isn’t going anywhere. In the original series, “there was CG, there’s Anime and there’s live action. So those elements are going to be in there.” But Trigger isn’t a studio known for playing it safe, saying “there’s other new elements as well, so you’ll just have to watch and see what it is that ends up in there.”
Trigger continued to share more details about the inspiration for New Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt. The team shared that the revival has “definitely been affected by films and shows and that sort of thing from the US.” But Hiromi Wakabayashi confirms that fans can still expect the same irreverent goofiness Panty and Stocking are known for. He says, “The thing that definitely hasn’t changed is the motivation of where the desire to make this show comes from, which is just to make a really fun and silly anime.”
Raphael from Behind the Manga asked animation director, Hiroyuki Imaishi, about the challenges of reviving the series for modern audiences. Imaishi responded “So it’s taken 15 years to get to this point, but I really wanted to do this much earlier.”
In spite of the significant time gap, “the fan’s voice has been very loud during that time.” In spite of their series’ popularity, only a few Trigger projects are rewarded with a second series. Imaishi continues, “Cyberpunk was the first original that I directed and now this is the first time I’m doing a sequel, so I just want to make sure I don’t disappoint the fans and the most important thing for me is just to keep it just as ridiculous as the first season.”
A lot has changed for Trigger since 2010. They’ve made movies like Promare, cult classic series like Kill La Kill, and built on existing franchises with Cyberpunk: Edgerunners and Star Wars: Visions. “So in those 14 years, the studio has grown and the staff have grown and a lot of the people who used to be fans of the show and viewers of the show are now part of the staff.” The team said. “All of these new people have brought new expression to the show.”
The collaborative process shifted dramatically for New Panty and Stocking. Answering a question from Emily Duffel at Shade Studios, Shigeto Koyama and Hiromi Wakabayashi stated that communication during production became almost psychic.
“First there was Panty Stocking, there was Kill la Kill, and then there was Animator EXPO and [Space Patrol] Luluco, and then Promare, [Star Wars: Visions]. So there were a lot of projects that we worked together on, and so our conversations have just gotten faster and faster and the communication is quicker, and there’s been much less friction in the creative conversations.” Shigeto Koyama felt that they could “just see further… kind of like a Newtype.” The team continued, “It’s like three times faster conversation… The speed and the conversation is what has increased over the years.”
A lot has changed at Trigger since 2010, but the studio is stronger with all its new experiences.
And it’s good that they were able to speed up their collaboration skills, because Trigger’s production process carried some additional challenges for New Panty and Stocking. In response to a question from Jay Agonoy at Anime Corner, Shigeto Koyama and Hiromi Wakabayashi noted that the production of season 2 was done ‘under pressure.’ For season one “we were all drinking in a very casual environment.” However, for the new season, “We were in a totally closed off white meeting room with a very tight schedule, compliance officers there in suits in a very stiff environment. And we were under pressure to create this.”
While discussing the production of episode one of New Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt, the team was shocked by what they were able to create under the circumstances, “What a crazy thing, it is that we were able to create such a show out of such an environment, a very stiff boardroom… So for 15 years we’ve, you know, we’ve worked with Disney and Pixar and Lucasfilm and all these places we’ve learned a lot and we’ve put ourselves under this very stiff compliance environment.”
“We’ve tied ourselves down… under immense pressure.” They went on to invite viewers to think about this as they watch the new season: “When you see the first episode, you’ll think, wow, if they weren’t tied down, what kind of episode would they actually make?”
So what about that huge cliffhanger ending in the first series? Evan Mullicane from Screen Rant challenged the team for some answers on how the initial plan for the series may have changed after a decade and a half gap. “We weren’t thinking about anything, we didn’t have any plan,” responded Hiromi Wakabayashi. The comedy was the focus, Wakabayashi thought, “let’s make this funny joke ending, and then people kind of took it seriously, so we always knew that we were going to think of the continuation later.”
New Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt takes the cliffhanger into account.
That vibe-based, short-term, comedy-focused writing continues into the series, “We just think about that one episode, that one part of the story that we’re working on. So Panty and Stocking has all this possibility, because we just go up until there. And then in the next episode, we take it wherever we want, and we can bring in any new idea that we want.”
The team also repeatedly emphasised the differences between the first series and New Panty and Stocking with the original series. “And one thing I just want to be very clear about too is that everybody is saying season 2 of this. And really, we’ve never thought about it that way. This is New Panty and Stocking. So it’s not really a continuation of the original.” Viewers may understand that clarification after watching episode 1 of New Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt.
And if the team’s ambition is any indication, New Panty and Stocking isn’t going to be a one-off. Seth Byrne of the Anime Herald reminded us that Hiromi Wakabayashi had said there was enough material for 6 seasons of Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt.
Wakabayashi followed up with some encouraging clarification, “I don’t think it’s a 6 season show. This is a forever show, that’s exactly how I developed this show, I said it, and from the very beginning, that this can go on forever. So really, it’s up to the fans and the reactions of this New Panty and Stocking.”
“And so even back then, I said, ‘There’s 6 seasons and a film in this,’ and I even know the title of the film already.” Hiroyuki Imaishi chimed in, “Well, that’s what you were saying.” Then Wakabayashi relented, “This is not up to just us, unfortunately.” But if fans show up for the revival, there’s a will and desire within the staff for a whole lot more.
New Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt begins airing on Amazon Prime Video now.
