“REPORT: 10th Anniversary Exhibition Celebrates the Astounding History of WIT Studio”

 

In the anime world, there are only a handful of studios that have transcended the anime they have made and become a name known throughout the fandom. One of those, and one of the youngest, is WIT Studio, which debuted onto the scene with the colossal first three seasons of Attack on Titan.

 

Since its establishment in June 2012, WIT Studio has produced a myriad of anime, including (but not limited to) The Ancient Magus' Bride, Vinland Saga, Ranking of Kings and last season’s smash-hit SPY x FAMILY. It’s no wonder why the studio is so well known and loved with the amount of talent under one roof!

 

This month marks the 10th anniversary of the founding of WIT Studio, and to celebrate, the studio itself opened up an exhibition of their more modern works, complete with production sketches, props and even spinning panties.

 

A Modern Tale of WIT Studio

 

While one may have expected to see WIT’s most well-known property to be at the forefront of any exhibition by the studio, setting foot into the first area of the WIT Studio exhibition took me into the wondrous world of Ranking of Kings. With the opening theme songs on repeat in the background, the area was made up to look like a regal throne room — with the sweet boy Bojji as king.

 

Animatics played on the screens (which were not allowed to be photographed, a trait seen through most of the exhibition) with key animation shown next to the finished animation from the series. Backgrounds, key visuals and key animation lined the walls, giving me an insight into the production behind Ranking of Kings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Following Ranking of Kings was a small hallway dedicated to Vampire of the Garden, the latest Netflix series from the studio after The Great Pretender. The Vampire of the Garden room was a lot smaller than the previous area but had just as much on display.

 

Showing off some finished key animation, some of the highly detailed backgrounds of the series, character settings and reproductions of storyboards, the hallway was capped off by a life-sized recreation of the two main characters — with a person for scale to show the size of them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another small area followed for another of WIT’s newest anime series, the adorable Onipan! Lining the walls were character sketches, some finished key animation without backgrounds, uncolored key animation and spinning panties. Yes, you read that right.

 

In the final image in this section that shows off the entire wall, most of those oni panties that are attached were spinning. It was one of the weirder displays, but not the weirdest I’ve seen from an anime exhibition in general. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Sneaky Hit SPY x FAMILY

 

You’d imagine WIT’s biggest and most popular anime would be the largest exhibition on show, but that title went to SPY x FAMILY, which to be fair to the series, will likely be it's biggest going forward. 

 

The SPY x FAMILY area was incredibly detailed with every single bit of WIT-produced material on display in the most thought-out way possible. It’s clear the studio is proud of its work on the series. 

 

 

While the usual character settings were on display, along with some key animation, the biggest SPY x FAMILY section was a full rundown of the fight between Loidman and Yor in the fifth episode. The step-by-step poses of Loid were at the top of the section with the full key animation of the sequence underneath, though from Yor’s perspective. 

 

 

Next to that were original key frames of Anya getting ready for the flight from the same episode next to the finished versions of that same frame, showing a before and after.

 

 

Littered throughout the area were storyboards from the series, more key animation next to finished animations, the props designed by the team at WIT, and three different sets of life-sized standees. One from the original teaser key visual, one from the family version of that visual, and one with all three Forgers looking like they’re standing for a sweet family photo. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WIT Studio’s Exhibition Finale

 

The last major anime on display was WIT’s latest anime film Bubble from Tetsuro Araki, one of the first directors at the studio when it was founded. Along with the usual production art, were some of the in-production 3D backgrounds showcased in video, giving a sense of the depth and scale of the sets used in the film. 

 

Right next to these videos were the original key animations used in the footage, showing the complete production process from brush stroke to how the 2D animation was inserted into the 3D space.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two small sections near the end of the exhibition showed key animation from The Great Pretender and Vivy -Fluorite Eye's Song-. 

 

 

 

 

 

The rest of the exhibition were showcasing key visuals and staff lists from all the anime WIT Studio had worked on in its 10-year history, displayed in reverse order to wind down to Attack on Titan.

 

 

A small section at the end was dedicated to Attack on Titan, of which the first three seasons were animated at WIT. Present was a rifle from the series recreated in a 1:1 scale, a Survey Corps jacket, and a previous in-production key visual signed by the entire staff of the series, though none were allowed to be photographed.

 

Alongside these were messages and signatures from outside anime staff and producers, including (but not limited to) Mitsuhisa Ishikawa, the President of Production I.G, who drew an I.G logo with WIT inside of it, and Katsuji Morishita from Signal MD congratulating the studio on 10 years.

 

 

While I would have loved to have seen more production material from WIT Studio’s earlier works, like Hozuki’s Coolheadedness, Kabenari of the Iron Fortress and such, WIT’s more modern titles are top-class, being some of the most acclaimed anime airing on TV right now. Also, it’s likely WIT had the exhibition in mind when producing these shows, freeing up material from them with rights holders.

 

It’s been 10 years since WIT Studio began as a subsidiary to Production I.G. and has since made more of a name for itself, solidifying them as a mainstay of the upper echelons of anime studios. Not wanting to fall behind, the studio continues to aim higher with every work.

 

 

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Daryl Harding is a Japan Correspondent for Crunchyroll News. He also runs a YouTube channel about Japan stuff called TheDoctorDazza, tweets at @DoctorDazza, and posts photos of his travels on Instagram.

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