A packed July 4th room waited eagerly for the arrival of BEASTARS author, Paru Itagaki, for Science SARU‘s adaptation of her 2021 manga, SANDA. Joined onstage by Director Tomohisa Shimoyama and Producer Kōhei Sakita from Science SARU, the trio was happily greeted with thunderous applause. Itagaki and Shimoyama thanked the crowd for their passion, as this was their first time at Anime Expo.
To set the stage, Itagaki explained the story behind SANDA, which takes place in a near-future Japan where extremely low birth rates have led people to be very protective of children. SANDA, voiced by Ayumu Murase, is a descendant of Santa Claus and fights to protect children. Although the voice actor couldn’t be present in person, he had a prerecorded message for the audience. He wanted to highlight dramatic scenes when SANDA is caught up in turmoil caused by Fuyumura’s powerful determination.
Diving into the first episode, Science SARU‘s style of visuals and animation makes an impactful first impression. Itagaki’s character design translates fluidly on screen with its thick line weight and stylized movement. Although these are human characters, Itagaki’s key big, wide eye designs for the SANDA characters continue to stand out. The episode is fast paced, immediately jumping into the action of Fuyumura threatening to stab SANDA, metaphorically shooting first and asking questions later.
SANDA, who completely misreads the situation, thinking her killing intent is puberty and emotions, thinks nothing of it as he continues to go about his day after her stabbing attempt. Science SARU‘s music composition elevates the ambiance of the story, while also keeping in tune with the comedic and dramatic beats. The stylized character movement and facial expressions are accentuated by the voice cast’s talent.
There are several standout sequences, particularly the transformation sequences between SANDA becoming Santa Claus and Fuyumura going from her expressionless demeanor to a helpless puppy asking Santa for help. BEASTARS fans will be delighted to see SANDA‘s transformation into a buff, gruff older man, which looked like a werewolf breaking out of his tight-fitting clothes. The whole scene drew immense laughter from the crowd as his explosive transformation came with a much thicker, older voice.
Closing off the episode, Fuyumura takes an extreme course of action by strapping bombs onto herself. SANDA, who now knows how to transform back and forth, blocks the bomb using his own body as a shield because he’s impervious to fire from climbing chimneys. The explosive animation and the use of simple coloring bring greater impact to the diffusion.
After the screening, Itagaki and the other guests returned onstage for a live drawing and Q&A session. The stage crew set up a special folding partition that would continue to provide her anonymity while she began drawing without her chicken head on.
Shimoyama and Sakita began speaking about key scenes from the first episode as the drawing session took time to set up. They showed various cuts (pre-visualization from genga and the final cut) and versions of the scene where SANDA gets stabbed and transforms. Some slight effects are subtle but add a lot of fluidity.
“A personal favorite effect of mine is when we spin the camera during important scenes,” said Shimoyama. “When I was drawing this scene as a manga, I was very serious about it and worked hard on it. But now looking at it, it looks a bit ridiculous,” laughed Itagaki.
As it came time for the live drawing, Director Shimoyama commented on how excited he was. “This is the first time I get to see Itagaki drawing live, so I’m very excited.”
When asked how drawing SANDA is different from her other works, Itagaki answered that she usually draws animal characters, and SANDA is the first title where she drew human characters, which makes it “refreshing.”
Director Shimoyama mentioned animator Yoshinori Kanada as a “huge inspiration” for the style, and Itagaki added that elements from the 2010 movie, “The Wolfman” were influential on the original work as well. Not surprisingly, as a fan brought up a note from her autobiographical manga, Paru’s Graffiti, which mentioned her ideal man as a strong, burly man. “As a child, I might’ve had a little crush on Santa Claus.”
Itagaki was close to finishing her drawing, and she added that the most important aspect of drawing is “making sure the character has a lot of strength in their eyes.”