One yr in the past, the teaser pilot for KILLTUBE shook the web with its out-of-the-box animation and bold aim of making a movie with collaborators from throughout the world. In the upcoming 2026 movie, the Edo interval has continued into the 2020s, and individuals are certain to a category hierarchy that they will solely climb up by successful fights on livestreams, often known as “duel streaming.” Anime Trending had the alternative to speak to director Kazuaki Kuribayashi (Kizumonogatari movie trilogy net manufacturing assistant, Darkish Gathering promotion workers) and animation producer Fuko Noda (Yuri!! on Ice, Dorohedoro animation producer) on the improvement of their ever-expanding imaginative and prescient.

This interview was performed via an interpreter and has been edited for readability. Questions submitted by Audrey Im and Melvyn Tan.

Anime Trending: It’s been one yr since the pilot for KILLTUBE dropped. How a lot has the undertaking modified since then? 

Kazuaki Kuribayashi: So, inside this yr, the undertaking’s been shifting into fine condition, particularly with the individuals, the colleagues, and the comrades we’ve [established] on this journey. The pilot was a great way for us to grasp the picture of KILLTUBE in the viewers’s eyes. It’s beginning to come into form with the assist of worldwide assist. Many individuals have contacted us after the pilot. 

Why is CHOCOLATE Inc. making one thing like KILLTUBE? What’s the goal of this undertaking?

Kazuaki Kuribayashi: As CHOCOLATE Inc., we wished to intention for a protracted, movie-styled anime with 90 minutes of pure world acceptance and historic creation that leaves a mark in the trade. We seen that traits are deeply rooted in the social media world — lots of content material is expendable, very quick. The studio wished to create one thing that has lots of longevity and lasts for a very long time. 

That is Kuribayashi-san’s first time working on a feature-length anime movie, whereas Noda-san has helped produce a number of anime titles in the previous. How did your differing backgrounds form your collaboration and work dynamic?

Kazuaki Kuribayashi: My background is being a director of commercials, and via that job, I’ve met lots of people with completely different careers and completely different members of the trade that assist [this vision]. I imagine this [experience] is my spine and my weapon to deliver worth into society. Going into the new trade of anime and placing that [experience] into animation, I had reached out to Noda-san with a view to get hold of data on the know-hows inside the trade, to evolve and create the film that’s KILLTUBE. 

Fuko Noda: In a nutshell, I’ve discovered nice inspiration from assembly enjoyable and new creators and connections, and becoming a member of CHOCOLATE with Kuribayashi-san. KILLTUBE has opened my eyes to new improvements from inside the trade. I’ve 18 years of expertise in animation, however even now, I’m nonetheless assembly creators with new artwork [styles]. Assembly Kuribayashi-san and being on this staff has been a cool method for me to replace myself as a producer whereas discovering new strategies of creation. It’s enjoyable, new, and modern! 

In distinction to the isolation attribute of the Edo interval, your staff is actively seeking to collaborate with individuals from throughout the world. What do you hope to study from this kind of intensive collaboration?

Kazuaki Kuribayashi: The problem is to not create one thing that exists in the thoughts, however to really break that and discover new prospects inside it. I discussed to the workers that creation is experimental, is about exploring lots of potential avenues and then discovering new that means inside that. Fortunately, having these world companions for collaboration makes it very attention-grabbing and eye-opening.   

Your record of “108 experiments” contains some actually particular targets (like “Solicit motion course concepts from stick-figure creators”). The place do you usually get your artistic inspiration from?

Kazuaki Kuribayashi: I’ve been assembly lots of collaborators, and I discover lots of inspiration from completely different layers of creativity. For instance, even issues like weapons might encourage a personality design. Or, a design might begin off easy at first, however then I’m impressed to place that design throughout the partitions of an [architectural building] inside the movie. So I discover completely different avenues of inspiration from every creation. 

Fuko Noda: Equally, I discover lots of inspiration inside new collaborations and new findings that happen on this course of. By having different individuals ship in concepts, I can discover new breadths of creativity inside them. [In this way, we’re] altering the foundational idea of how issues come about, or how issues are created. Even seeing one thing like a easy drone or a automobile that’s shifting via the metropolis! Seeing completely different concepts can increase your creativity. 

Kuribayashi-san, you’ve beforehand directed different tasks at CHOCOLATE Inc. which have a equally immersive video-game facet to their animation, like a glowing drink rollercoaster advert. What about this fashion of storytelling fascinates you?

Kazuaki Kuribayashi: At a younger age, manga, anime, and video games had been a really foundational a part of my youth — video games being particularly very robust, as you’ve got identified. My pastime was shopping for cheat sheets or manuals of video games earlier than they had been offered, trying via these manuals, and imagining what sort of world that recreation would have. That type of pleasure I felt from the backside of my coronary heart, and it’s one thing that’s nonetheless in what I create in the present day.

We touched on this somewhat bit already, however Noda-san, how was your expertise at CHOCOLATE Inc. completely different out of your previous environments, because it’s not a regular animation manufacturing studio? How are you finishing up your animation producer position? 

Fuko Noda: Merely put, it’s very enjoyable, and I worth my time there working with the crew. Leaving my earlier studio and working at a brand new studio means I’m nonetheless constructing to the place I wish to be. However by crossing fields with completely different trade members and being with CHOCOLATE members, I’ve been capable of have nice conversations and alternate [information] from these completely different cultures, similar to [working on] a live-action movie versus an anime movie. Regardless, becoming a member of CHOCOLATE is simply a part of my aim to create one thing. I really like sharing that [goal] with others, and I feel I undoubtedly really feel that on this new place. 

Just lately, some animation shorts had been revealed on YouTube that includes considered one of KILLTUBE’s characters, Rui! Might you speak about the planning that went into growing the animation fashion in these shorts?

Kazuaki Kuribayashi: I feel you’ll be able to inform in the spirit of KILLTUBE, however Rui is type of an experimental character for us. We worth creating palatable and digestible [animation] via our crossover of conventional anime with CGI anime. So once more, Rui was like an experiment to us. We’re taking issues that we preferred inside the Rui short-video content material and then bringing them into the principal film as nicely. 

As KILLTUBE prepares for launch, how would you want audiences — particularly worldwide followers — to obtain and interpret the movie?

Kazuaki Kuribayashi: I strongly imagine that this movie can solely be created from Japan, particularly with the indisputable fact that it’s ingrained in our tradition of the samurai or conventional tradition. But, I imagine that we’re capable of deliver new breadth and a brand new era of creativity, as a brand new Japanese conventional tradition.  

Fuko Noda: We want for followers to anticipate the new launch and to be excited, particularly about KILLTUBE’s characters, the universe, and the story. Every little thing could be very immersive, all with out borders, so we actually simply need [audiences] to really feel excited. 

Need the newest on KILLTUBE? Try the newest trailer, key visible, and principal forged bulletins unveiled at Anime Expo 2025.