When you think of anime by Studio Trigger, what images pop to mind? Hot-blooded characters in epic battle scenes? Wildly imaginative animation? Series which carry heavy amounts of Gainax heritage?
Whatever you may think of Trigger, Hiroyuki Imaishi had a lot to do with it.
Trigger and Good Smile Company will hold an exhibition featuring the animator, anime director, and character designer who was one of the co-founders of the studio. The World of Hiroyuki Imaishi will begin on 29 May at the EJ Anime Museum inside the Kadokawa Musashino Museum building in Tokorozawa.
Whether with Gainax or with Trigger, Imaishi directed several awesome anime titles, especially Gurren Lagann, Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt, and Kill La Kill. Personally, I’m a fan of the crazy crossover series Space Patrol Luluco, although it gets less attention than his other series. He also did key animation for Neon Genesis Evangelion and directed an episode of FLCL.
The exhibition will look at 25 years of Imaishi’s work. It will include storyboards, design sketches, image boards, original drawings, and three-dimensional objects. They will also have ‘valuable undisclosed materials,’ including childhood and student notes.
To paraphrase the website, they will examine the driving force behind his creative activity. It will ‘approach and unravel the unique image’ of the director. In other words, all awesomeness aside, there is going to be a more deep, serious side to this exhibition. Of course, a lot of people will probably be wowed by the art and images of the exhibit, and that’s OK too. (That’s a pretty good description of how people react to his series as well.)
Any good exhibition ‘exits through the gift shop.’ Given that Good Smile Company is one of the planners of this exhibition, you can expect that there will be a lot of merchandise. Among other things, there will be T-shirts made especially for the exhibition, featuring the crowded, colorful key visual.
Of course, they will also sell some of Good Smile Company’s Nendoroids. The Nendoroids sold at the museum will come with a special exhibition box sleeve.
The exhibition will only be there from 29 May through 27 June. The museum is part of Tokorozawa City’s Sakura Town in Saitama Prefecture, outside of Tokyo. They say it’s about 10 minutes from the JR Musashino Line’s Higashi Tokorozawa Station. You can find more information at the website.