The use of AI inanimeis a topic that has been circulating now more than ever due to a string ofartificial Studio Ghibli artworks flooding social mediadue to an update made by OpenAi who added this new prompt to its service. Prior to that, a discussion was held at the Niigata Nippo Hall for Niigata’s 3rd Animation Festival on March 17th over “The Future of AI-driven Animation Expression.”
One of the speakers, Iizuki Naomichi, a line producer forGhost in the Shell SAC_2045: The Last Humanand director ofTwins Hinahima, spoke about theuse of AI in anime production, and the benefits it could bring for animators by expanding on the opportunities if they utilized AI to reduce the work that costs them so much time and money. Naomichi’sTwins Hinahimais the first anime produced predominantly by AI, with the program fronting approximately 95% of the work it takes to animate the flow in hair movement and the tedious but meticulous work between frames that make anime come to life.
Director of First AI Anime Defends Use of Supportive AI in Production
Naomichi and the studio behindTwins Hinahimahave been very open about theuse of AI in their new project, even detailing how it has gone from drafts to color to edits in its final version. He clarifies that he doesn’t want AI to be involved in the directing process, so the storyboarding and writing remain in the hands of directors, but taking advantage of AI to supplement the menial tasks of production will give animators a better chance at working at directing.
“I never even thought of entrusting directing to AI. I thought it would be pointless to let AI do the interesting parts of video productions. [But] Anime production is made up of imitation. Animators have to imitate character designs, and in-betweeners have to imitate key drawings. That’s how anime is made. [Animators] have fewer and fewer opportunities to think about directing. It’s an environment where it’s difficult to develop animators who can direct. I hope that by using AI to reduce production costs, animators will have more opportunities to direct.”
Naomichi also explores the idea of using AI to recreate anime that are based on manga artists' particular style, which has raised concerns now in light ofStudio Ghibli’s recreation outbreak. Such as the possibility of recreatingThe First Slam Dunk (2022), a movie celebrating one of the best sports anime that was not made by AI. With the technology advancing as much as it has in the first year, he believes that with more development, it’ll be able to capture the same nuances and characteristics that artist spin into their work.
Twins Hinahima is Set to Release Soon
Fans Will Get to See if AI Can Successfully Reproduce an Artist’s Efforts
Twins Hinahimawill be released on March 30th, following the story of two young girls who strive to be famous internet celebrities and during their streams discover a string of events that grow more surreal and unnatural over time. The character designs themselves have been created by artists, and supportive AI has been used to assist in the final production. Fans will get to decide for themselves if this new style of production foranimegoing forward is worth keeping around based on howTwins Hinahimais received.
