This is a category-breaking animation. But since anime is very popular in Japan, with its own distinct style and storytelling, we went for an approach that would stand out: 2.5D - mixing in realistic settings and the liberties animation allows for, heightening both the action and humour of the film.

In 2.5D, the backgrounds are created and rendered in 3D - giving each scenario a grandeur and stunning look that you don’t see in regular animation. Over these meticulously crafted locations, we overlaid characters that were designed to the smallest detail in 2D - a choice that gave us freedom and speed to animate and tweak as needed. And to create the intriguing contrast between background and foreground we were going for.

Throughout this process, we faced a tight timeline, with reviews and tweaks on the same day. Therefore, the choice of 2D for characters was particularly important.