Mappa’s forthcoming feature, Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc, weaves 2D and 3D techniques to striking effect, pairing hand-drawn characters with three-dimensional environments in a manner reminiscent of Ufotable’s work on Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle. At New York Comic Con, Mappa’s panel — which included assistant director Masato Nakazono, supervising producer Manabu Otsuka, and CGI producer Yusuke Tannawa — gave attendees an insider’s view of the film’s production process.
During the session, the creative team walked the audience through their hybrid approach, screening early layouts and prototype footage while a translator provided live subtitles for questions and commentary.
“In the Reze Arc, CGI exists to complement each stage of production, enhancing the hand-drawn animation’s visual intent,” said CGI producer Yusuke Tannawa (via translator). “We build 3D background models for pivotal sequences to secure correct placement and scale according to the director’s vision. For interior scenes like the café and the nighttime classroom, CG layouts preserve precise character positioning; in city-battle setpieces, they enable camera movements that would be hard to achieve otherwise.”
Infinity Castle uses a similar fusion — 2D characters moving through shifting 3D corridors — where the boundary between dimensional styles often dissolves. Cinematic CG amplifies scale, reflections, and kinetic motion, such as during Shinobu’s clash with Upper Rank demon Doma. Mappa’s film appears to be pursuing that same cinematic synthesis.
Image: MAPPA“For combat sequences in particular, we mimic the texture and warmth of painted backgrounds within our CG work, enabling dynamic compositions that remain true to the look of hand-drawn animation,” Tannawa added.
The panel emphasized that 3D guide models are used primarily to preserve spatial relationships and lend authenticity to props and vehicles near the characters. Unlike Infinity Castle, however, the Reze Arc keeps visible 3D elements relatively scarce.
“Although all character animation in this film is hand-drawn, extensive 3D guide models are used in the layout phase to refine compositions before final drawing,” Tannawa explained. “We adapted Denji Chainsaw Man models from the TV series and created new CG references for Reze/Bomb and Beam, which were distributed to the animation team to streamline production. Many vehicles are also modeled in 3D to bolster the film’s sense of realism.”
Footage screened at the panel included 3D layouts of classrooms and urban vistas — even a sweeping pass over a devastated stretch of street — alongside T-posed reference models of the Bombs and Denji as Chainsaw Man and fully rendered vehicles spanning multiple types.
As CG techniques improve, their old reputation within anime is fading. Rather than detracting from traditional methods, modern CG often integrates so seamlessly that it becomes part of the film’s visual language. Works like Infinity Castle and the forthcoming Reze Arc demonstrate how thoughtfully applied 3D animation can elevate large-scale action and produce sequences that stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the finest hand-crafted anime.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=CMpKfxj0Ghs%22+title%3D%22Chainsaw+Man+Trailer%22+frameborder%3D%220%22+allow%3D%22accelerometer%3B+autoplay%3B+encrypted-media%3B+gyroscope%3B+picture-in-picture%22+allowfullscreen+style%3D%22position%3Aabsolute%3Btop%3A0%3Bleft%3A0%3Bwidth%3A100%25%3Bheight%3A100%25%3B
Source: Polygon
