Atsushi Nishigori has spent a lot of his profession contained in the equipment of others’ anime. His years at Gainax — the massively influential studio behind FLCL and Neon Genesis Evangelion — put him within the orbit of creators like Hiroyuki Imaishi and Kazuya Tsurumaki. He later labored on The Idolmaster, Darling within the Franxx, and Shin Evangelion. However for all of the tasks Nishigori helped deliver to life, there have been all the time different photos the creator wished to place to display screen.
With Grotesqqque, CloverWorks’ new anthology movie set to launch in November, Nishigori lastly has an opportunity to let his creativeness run rampant. In a dialog with Polygon, Nishigori unpacked the three wildly totally different tales on the coronary heart of Grotesqqque, his visual-first strategy to animation, and the inventive freedom that got here with lastly making one thing totally his personal. Ever-present in his thoughts had been the characters and designs he had spent years ready to deliver to life.
“There have been all the time quite a lot of scenes and character designs that I had wished to do prior to now, and I had simply been piling them up inside me,” Nishigori advised Polygon by means of a translator. “I actually wished to deliver all of these concepts I had in my thoughts into this work, so I requested the corporate to let me make one thing the place I may do no matter I wished.”
That freedom grew to become Grotesqqque, an authentic 104-minute anime film made up of three wildly totally different tales: an alien comedy, a battle royale centered on women in a world the place morning by no means comes, and a vampire story set after humanity has lengthy disappeared. The movie had its world premiere on the Fantasia Worldwide Movie Pageant on July 24, the place Nishigori appeared for the screening.
Whereas the three tales of Grotesqqque are totally different in style and setting, Nishigori says that distinction is exactly what attracted him to the undertaking. He likes placing opposing concepts subsequent to 1 one other, permitting every to disclose one thing the opposite could not by itself.
“I believe I’ve all the time loved combining contrasting themes,” he stated. Within the battle-focused story, known as “Yoroshiku★Shoujo,” as an example, there are explosions, motion, and violence, however Nishigori did not need any of these items to eat the entire film. “If these parts had been the one issues portrayed, we might simply be taking a look at one side of the story, and it would not present the total image.”
As a substitute, he wished to put larger-than-life parts alongside extra grounded ideas, like relationships between the ladies, what they think about treasured, and the feelings they battle to carry onto.
That impulse towards distinction runs by means of Grotesqqque. The film jumps between science fiction, battle spectacle, and vampire fantasy, however Nishigori is not significantly desirous about making these genres really feel seamless. Actually, a part of the enjoyable appears to come back from letting the distinction scream. That will additionally clarify the film’s title. “Grotesque” suggests horror, monsters, or one thing twisted out of form in an unnatural approach. However Nishigori’s definition is broader and extra private. He describes the film as an accumulation of the whole lot that’s ever felt unusual to him — significantly the concepts and pictures that don’t all the time match collectively neatly.
“Even because the creator of this movie, there are lots of feelings and ideas inside me that are not utterly set in stone or clarified,” he stated. “There are quite a lot of scenes, characters, and feelings I wished to painting whereas making this, however as a result of I gathered so many various parts, some issues naturally stay a bit undefined.”
For Nishigori, incompleteness grew to become a part of the film itself, extending to how he approached every story. Moderately than beginning with a well-defined theme and constructing the visuals round it, Nishigori says he prioritized characters and pictures first and let these gasoline the narrative.
“I actually centered on the visible side, after which tried to deliver the music to match the visuals, as a result of I form of consider it as a long-format music video,” he stated.
That description is likely to be among the best methods to know what makes Grotesqqque so uncommon. Moderately than deal with visuals as an adjunct to the story, Nishigori approached them as one of many film’s basic constructing blocks. The music then turns into one other layer, serving to create the rhythm of every part and ultimately the rhythm of the film as an entire. It evokes classics like FLCL and Cowboy Bebop, that are fueled as a lot by their characters as by the music that swells round them.
Anthology movies have grow to be uncommon in at present’s media panorama. Among the finest, from Neo Tokyo and Recollections to Genius Get together and Star Wars: Visions, usually really feel disjointed even when specializing in related themes. Nishigori knew his anthology may simply really feel like three unrelated tasks positioned subsequent to 1 one other, so he ensured the person tales had their very own identities whereas nonetheless creating one bigger expertise.
“I paid shut consideration to the viewer’s rhythm to make sure the expertise is pleasant, and so they by no means get bored,” he stated. “I wished to verify every of the three works had its personal distinct look and circulation whereas additionally balancing how these particular person rhythms contribute to the general impression of the movie.”
The end result, at the least in line with Nishigori’s description, is much less desirous about making every bit match completely than in making your entire assortment transfer with a deliberate rhythm. That‘s particularly noticeable in “Nocturne,” the third story in Grotesqqque, which begins after humanity has already disappeared. Nishigori may have made the apocalypse itself the dramatic centerpiece, however he selected to not. What him extra was the picture left behind: 4 women alone in a ruined world.
“If we confirmed the entire film how dramatic it’s, we would not be capable to painting how the characters work together,” he stated. As a substitute, he wished to point out the aftermath and let the viewers think about what got here earlier than. “There are quite a lot of footage that offer you room to think about what occurred throughout that look, so fairly I would like you to take pleasure in and picture that.”
Nishigori has additionally intentionally positioned recurring areas, feelings, and different parts all through Grotesqqque, however he would not need to inform audiences precisely what these repetitions imply. When requested whether or not the three tales exist inside a multiverse, he stopped in need of giving a definitive reply.
“There are specific areas or parts that I’ve deliberately layered to evoke a connection,” he stated. “However I am not going to explicitly clarify how issues hyperlink collectively. As a substitute, I would love every of you to expertise the movie and have enjoyable imagining and decoding it in your individual approach.”
Nishigori even advised that viewers would possibly discover connections between Grotesqqque and a few of his earlier anime, noting that he personally sees a hyperlink between “Nocturne” and Darling within the Franxx. Neither work shares any direct connections in any particular approach, extra like character and conceptual echoes. Once more, the invitation is to look fairly than look forward to the director to offer a solution. Such openness is considerably shocking for a filmmaker whose profession has been so intently related to fastidiously constructed anime worlds. But Nishigori says some of the essential classes of creating Grotesqqque was determining take the whole lot he had realized from his earlier work and make it really feel new.
Merely emptying his inventive backlog onto the display screen wasn’t sufficient. “I actually wished to make it possible for this amalgamation of all of those items prior to now is portrayed as one thing new, to make it possible for it feels new to the viewers, feels authentic.”
That need to make one thing wholly actual and authentic whereas nonetheless entertaining was one of many central balancing acts of Grotesqqque. Nishigori would not need his movie to grow to be an train in obscurity just because it’s experimental.
“Discovering that actual steadiness between the originality of the animation and pure leisure worth for the viewers is what I paid probably the most consideration to with this undertaking,” he stated.
It is also why he would not essentially need viewers approaching Grotesqqque as one thing they should decode. For Nishigori, the best expertise is way more quick.
“I might just like the viewers to strategy it virtually like a pageant,” he stated. “I would like them to come back and simply bathe within the visuals and the music, and to purely take pleasure in it as a enjoyable, immersive expertise.”
And he hopes folks come again.
“Every time you watch it, you would possibly expertise totally different feelings or make new discoveries within the movie,” Nishigori stated. “There will certainly be one thing new to search out with each viewing, and I actually hope folks take pleasure in that.”
Nishigori spent years accumulating concepts, photos, characters, influences, and experiences from throughout his profession. Now, fairly than set up them into one thing tidy, he has assembled them right into a intentionally mismatched assortment of concepts that may be approached from totally different angles. It’s a becoming description for a film known as Grotesqqque. After years of animating different folks’s visions, Nishigori lastly has one thing totally his personal. If Grotesqqque is as deliberately unusual, colourful, and tough to pin down as he suggests, maybe one of the simplest ways to know it’s to expertise it as many occasions as doable.
“I wished to make this as pure, accessible leisure, so I hid quite a lot of the darker actuality of the world so it would not smash the enjoyable vibe,” Nishigori stated. “However for the followers who like to look deeper, I believe you will have a good time imagining what’s actually happening.”
Grotesqqque premieres November 6, 2026 in Japan