WIT Studio, much like their very first anime Attack on Titan, jumped onto the scene with radiant enthusiasm and took the world by storm, giving us a cultural phenomenon of an anime before expanding to other acclaimed adaptations like Vinland Saga, exciting original shows like Great Pretender and Vivy: Fluorite Eye's Song, and more recently, gems like Spy x Family, Ranking of Kings, and the recently announced Suicide Squad Isekai. Despite the success of many of their shows, however, WIT Studio has often handed off their adaptations to other studios after awhile, like in the cases of Vinland Saga and Attack on Titan both going to MAPPA.
That’s not for a lack of trying from WIT's side. Speaking to IGN during Anime Expo, WIT Studio president, CEO, and producer George Wada explained that the goal is not to have to hand off shows to other studios, but it’s often the manga side of productions that prevents that from happening.
"Manga fans really want anime to come out at a quick pace, and the very fast-paced schedules meant we couldn't always accommodate," Wada said. In order to prevent this, the studio has spent the past few years working on hiring animators as full-time employees in order to deliver animation at a faster schedule that allows them to keep franchises and see them through to the end.
In fact, the past couple of years have seen the studio grow their new shows, like Ranking of Kings getting a second season even without a lot of manga to adapt (Wada wouldn't confirm if more was coming, but the existence of Treasure Chest of Courage and its teases for the next chapter of the story is as good a confirmation as any) and Spy x Family getting both a second season and also a movie. The last one in particular is interesting, because Spy x Family is not just one of the biggest manga and anime of the moment, but because WIT Studio has been planning for the movie since the very beginning.
As Wada told IGN, the studio envisioned a larger format for the anime from the start, and approached manga author Tatsuya Endo and got approval to tell an original story set in the world of the manga. The movie, Spy x Family Code: White is set to release this December in Japan and has super spy Loid Forger and his fake family (which includes an assassin wife and an esper daughter) on vacation, in which surely things will go wrong.
"We have both our youngest staff members in their 20s and our oldest staff members in their 50s and 60s working on this movie," Wada said. "It shows how the anime can reach so many people across many generations because both groups are both super passionate about it. Everyone had a hard time the past few years, and people were wanting to see something more lighthearted and friendly."
Though WIT is busy with adaptations at the moment, they have also produced some stellar original anime, like Great Pretender. According to Wada, original shows are important not just for the fans, but for the studios too.
"If you're only adapting manga, the studio doesn't gain experience and power and strengthen up as an animation house," the producer said. "It is through original work that the animators, the writers, and the staff at large learn to be more creative, but manga adaptations are always going to be more prevalent for economic reasons."
When asked about upcoming original shows, Wada teased that the studio is "perpetually in the pre-production process" with many different ideas. One such anime – which is not necessarily original but also not strictly an adaptation – is their upcoming Grimm, a collaboration with CLAMP based on the Grimm brothers' fairy tales set to stream on Netflix. Sadly, he didn't have news about the show, but confirmed it is still in development.
Just like working on original anime helps get the creative juices flowing, Wada thinks it is important for the staff to choose carefully what they watch for inspiration. Indeed, the producer specifically recommends his staff not to watch anime, but to instead "see things in other entertainment genres that are popular across the world."
According to the CEO of WIT Studio, it is that which is not familiar that is interesting, so he recommends his staff watch dramas rather than action shows, and even live-action over animation. And when you consider all the inventive camera work in WIT shows like Ranking of Kings and Attack on Titan, this makes a lot of sense.
