Recently, the eighteenth iteration of the annual Anime Los Angeles convention unfolded in Long Beach, California. For its guests of honor, the high-energy winter convention was host to two of the most respected Japanese animators working today, and GameRant had the privilege of sitting down with Kenji Yokoyama.

With animation credits ranging everywhere from cult classics like Galaxy Express 999, to .hack/SIGN and Slam Dunk, to Dragon Ball Super and One Piece Film Red, his role as an animator is second to none. In a candid conversation, Yokoyama discusses the changes to the anime industry, the role of the genga key animator, and the unique vibe of conventions in America vs Japan.

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GameRant: There are a lot of similarities between the roles of key animators in western animation and the title of “genga” in anime. In your own words, how would you describe the duties of the genga animator?

Kenji Yokoyama: In the process of creating anime, the genga is the very first person responsible for creating what ultimately ends up on-screen. With an adaptation, you usually hire separate writers and coordinators just to break up the manga chapters into the formatting of episodes, then hire a storyboard artist to visualize the episodes that the key animator draws the most important poses of, working under the director. Usually, a season of an anime will have several key animators under the director’s supervision, but I’m lucky to say that I often earn the role of animating some sequences on my own.

GameRant: You’ve worked on several different shows that are drawn in a wide variety of styles. How do you get into the right mindset to adapt your drawing styles so widely, and what are some examples of this playing out as you animate?

Yokoyama: The style of a show, as a key animator, is something I think about in terms of character more than anything. I will get a design sheet of the character as a reference, and then I need to know that inside and out. It can actually be a very challenging process, and the process of animating something more realistic, like Slam Dunk, naturally requires a different sensibility than animating a more action-based shonen like Dragon Ball or One Piece. If you come onto a project that’s already in production, notes from the other key animators are always the biggest thing, and it can be an organic process.

Galaxy Express 999

GameRant: So collaboration is a very big aspect of getting the aesthetics just right?

Yokoyama: Yes. When going about the animation on the episode of One Piece that crossed over with Dragon Ball Z [The "Dream 9" One Piece, Dragon Ball Z and Toriko crossover that aired in 2013 on Fuji TV in Japan], the mixing of aesthetics between the different shows required a lot of collaboration with the creatives on both sides, which happened in some very large meetings. It took a lot of technical talent to get that one down, but it was very rewarding.

GameRant: With over 40 years of experience in anime, you got your start during the 1980s original video animation boom, in which many series and features were made with the singular original vision of a writer and director. Compared to the more adaptation-based nature of the modern anime industry, what observations have you noticed on the changes in what gets made now compared to what got made when you were first starting?

Yokoyama: I haven’t seen so much of a single change from original anime concepts to adaptations, but more the style of how each is gone about has changed themselves. Things are more cautious when pitching an original project, because people aren’t familiar with it, but people today are still making a lot of really good stuff there and I respect it. For adaptations, the mindset has kind of changed to where anime adaptations of a manga aren’t just seen as a “definitive version,” but more working around a wider ecosystem of interest that’s already there and, of course, there’s always a pool of good manga to draw from. If an adaptation of a manga is or isn’t successful, these days it’s seen as the responsibility of the production staff.

GameRant: After such a long career, this is your first time at an American convention. Anime Los Angeles is definitely a big event con, so what are your impressions?

Yokoyama: [laughs] The atmosphere at this con is very different from what you’d get at a lot of conventions in Japan. At Japanese conventions you have a lot more direct promotion of books and manga, whereas here it feels very festive. There’s a lot more cosplay here, almost kind of like a matsuri festival.

With that, Mr. Yokoyama returned to his art booth, working on art commissions alongside fellow Genga legend and One Piece alum Mamoru Yokota. Kenji Yokoyama’s latest work can be seen in the key animation for One Piece Film Red, and he also aims to help young animators through his a Japanese-language anime production arts community, “ONE CUT.

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