Little Witch Academia: Magic Parade" Panel Discussion Held in the U.S!　Good response from the audience

A report from the panel discussion held in Los Angeles for the anime film "Little Witch Academia: Magical Parade," which will be released in October, has arrived.

Little Witch Academia: Magic Parade" is a sequel to "Little Witch Academia," a 25-minute original short animation depicting the school life of apprentice witches produced by Trigger in March 2013 as part of the Agency for Cultural Affairs' "Anime Mirai 2013" project to foster young animators. In July 2013, the project started soliciting funds for the sequel production on the American crowdfunding service "Kickstarter," and reached its goal of $150,000 in just five hours. In the end, a total of $625,518 (approx. 74 million yen) was collected from 7,938 supporters in one month, and production began on a 40-minute short animation "Little Witch Academia 2 (tentative title)". The director will continue to be Yoh Yoshinari.

The world's fastest premiere screening was held at Anime Expo 2015, the largest anime convention in North America, which was held in Los Angeles from July 2 to 5, and a panel discussion was held the following day. Director Yoh Yoshinari, producer Naoko Tsutsumi, TRIGGER CEO Masahiko Otsuka, and story collaborator Hiroyuki Imaishi participated in the panel discussion, which included questions and answers from fans.

Since it was the day after the premiere screening, nearly 1,000 fans gathered at the venue before the event began. At the screening,
＜Director Yoshinari was pleased with the standing ovation given by the fans at the screening, the first ever at an Anime Expo, and as humble as ever, said, "The reaction in the U.S. was so positive that I am worried I will be beaten to a pulp in Japan. Yoshinari expressed his joy with the same humble attitude as ever. Mr. Otsuka, the representative of the festival, said, "Japanese audiences tend to be quiet, but American audiences laugh when we want them to laugh, which makes me happy. He felt a positive response from the American audience, who responded directly to the film. Mr. Tsutsumi, the producer of the film, explained that the production of the film was completed 5 days before the screening, "I was often asked by the publicity staff when the film would be completed. We discussed it with our team and came to the conclusion that we couldn't miss the Anime Expo, so we worked on it, and I'm glad that everyone was able to see it last night. I am glad that everyone was able to see it last night," he said, expressing his relief.
During the Q&A session in the latter half of the panel discussion, a line instantly formed in front of the podium, and each fan posed his or her own question. A fan asked, "Which do you plan to focus on in the future, directing or animating?" Imaishi answered, "Animators are more like actors, and directors are more like directors, and I think it is dangerous to do both at the same time. I put brakes on myself to separate them, but in this work, there was not a single brake on Mr. Yoshinari. I respect him when I think of him as an animator. The grace to do everything you want to do is very powerful." He replied, praising Director Yoshinari. When asked why he thinks "Little Witch Academia" has been so well received overseas, Mr. Otsuka replied, "We are very proud of it. Otsuka replied, "We would like to know. We don't make things for anyone else, we make things that we think are interesting, so there are a lot of things that you don't understand until you see it when it's finished. He answered, "We are not making something for just anyone, we are making something that we think is interesting, and only when it is finished and you see it will you understand." He showed the fans the attitude of the up-and-coming studio TRIGGER, and the audience responded with applause and loud cheers. The panel discussion came to an end before all the questions were answered, and the panel discussion ended on a high note, much to the regret of the fans.
Please look forward to the future of "Little Witch Academia: Magical Parade," which has been recognized around the world!