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[Anime Central 2025] Kobayashi Hiroyasu, CGI Director on Rebuild of Evangelion and Gundam GQuuuuuuX

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A photo of two men presenting on stage. The person on the left is Kobayashi Hiroyasu. The person on the right is Dan Kanemitsu.

At Anime Central, I attended the panel for Kobayashi Hiroyasu, CGI Director at Studio Khara, and I learned a lot.

Kobayashi has worked on titles such as the Rebuild of Evangelion films and Gundam GQuuuuuuX, but until I came to this panel, I didn’t have a good sense of what his job was. While one might imagine a CGI Director as a person in charge of 3D animation or models, his job along with the rest of the digital production team is to create assets and enhance scenes by adding details and intricacies so that the final product has the right character and feel. Along with translator Dan Kanemitsu (who is on the right in the photo above, and who also works for Khara), they described how one thing that sets Khara as a studio apart is the accumulation of small details.

Some examples of his work include the following.

  • Superimposed staff credits and lightning effects in the GquuuuuuX opening. 
  • Monitors, logos, etc in Rebuild of Evangelion. 
  • Superimposed textures like decals on model kits.
  • Making a scene better by adding a mesh walkway onto the floor.
  • Making things look dingier.
  • Dan Kanemitsu also mentioned that he’s charged with finding English assets to avoid “Engrish” issues.

Kobayashi also mentioned that sometimes, they’ll put in a bunch of work into a really nice and detailed background, and then it’ll be almost entirely obscured by extra graphics in the final product. 

They also provided a lot of information about what it’s like working for Director Anno Hideaki.

  • Anno Hideaki used to add details in sharpie to cels, but now that’s Kobayashi’s job to do it digitally. 
  • That attention to little details is characteristic of Anno.
  • Kobayashi and Kanemitsu told a story about how Anno sent them a post-it note with a message about adding locking holes to a scene similar to the ones used on aircraft carriers to anchor the planes. Anno thought it would be an easy copy/paste job but they actually had to create a locking hole model in CG to get the perspective right. 
  • Anno generally wanted all monitor graphics to convey what is going on, which made their job harder. For example, in a scene depicting massive needles injecting EVA-02, they changed it so that the monitors showed the injected liquids going through the EVA’s entire body. 
  • The glittery, shimmering water one used to often see in anime back in the cel animation days is called backlighting cel, and it was something Anno was especially good at. They wanted to recreate that feel for digital animation.

They also talked about working with Director Tsurumaki Kazuya on GQuuuuuuX.

  • Tsurumaki wants everyday life in GQuuuuuuX to resemble modern real life, which is reflected in the choice of cell phones and other details.
  • Spattering is an art technique used in the original Gundam, and the’re incorporating it into GQuuuuuuX as well.
  • The colony Side 6 is a facsimile of current Japan mixed with other cultures
  • In the world of GquuuuuuX, Anaheim Electronics is a glorified appliance maker.
  • Trains are primarily Tokyo style, but the station names take from different cultures.
  • On the subway maps, the stations have very different names. There’s a lot of British station names, and this might be because Tsurumaki is a big fan of British soccer.
  • A particular green subway line is a representation of Tsurumaki’s old defunct train route from his home.
  • The police wear uniforms that say “Military Police” in Japanese, but just “Police” in English because the director wanted signage to be readable at a glance. 
  • There’s a travel book that purposely replicates a series of guides called How to Walk the Earth.
  • Stickers on a particular laptop are from drag racing in current day Tokyo.
  • A box of tangerines alludes to a tangerine box that Tem Ray was using in the original Gundam.
  • The activation key common to mobile suits resembles the Tem Ray circuit, which was a piece of junk in the old series.
  • Kanemitsu was asked to come up with elements to make Pomeranians trading card more MLB-ey
  • Saturn Doughnuts: “I told you I don’t like sour stuff” is a reference to FLCL.

Overall, I came away with an appreciation for another aspect of working in animation, and I hope I can convey that feeling to everyone reading this.

Let’s Talk Evangelion in Shinkalion Z

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Shinkalion Z 500 Type EVA, a robot that's a combination of Shinkalion and EVA-01 from Evangelion

It’s incredibly strange to go from the finality of the fourth Rebuild of Evangelion movie to seeing Shinji and Gendo characters show up in Shinkansen Henkei Robo Shinkalion Z, the fun-filled sequel anime about kids piloting bullet-train robots. What’s even more bizarre is that there’s a kind of thematic resonance between the two. The portrayals of the Eva characters in 3.0+1.01: Thrice Upon a Time and their Shinkalion Z appearances actually feel like they fit together.

Possibly due to its transportation and tourism connections, Shinkalion is famous for its unexpected pop culture cameos. A version of Hatsune Miku is a recurring character in the original Shinkalion. The franchise also makes multiple explicit references to city pop legend Yamashita Tatsuro, has Godzilla in a feature film, and showcases a Hello Kitty Shinkalion. It even just had a tiny Maetel from Galaxy Express 999 show up. Evangelion is just one of many pop culture icons to appear, but the sheer tonal difference between it and Shinkalion makes its presence all the more jarring on paper.

Ikari Shinji turning to face the viewer/the Shinkalion pilot Arata Shin.

Shinkalion already had a crossover with Evangelion in the first series, but whereas the main character back then (Hayasugi Hayato) visited Tokyo-3, here we have Shinji showing up in the world of Shinkalion. What really stands out about Shinji here is how gentle and reassuring he is in this world. The Shinji we see greeting the new protagonist, Arata Shin, has a calming presence that feels closest to the version of him we see towards the end of 3.0+1.01, as if parallel Shinjis arrived at the same place, only one had to go through some of the most dire trauma possible. The next closest would be the Shinji often found in Super Robot Wars after the positive influence of hotblooded pilots has rubbed off on him.

Not only does Shinji come across as a mature ment figure to Shin with the aura of a mentor, but he specifically mentions that he’s met a Shinkalion E5 pilot before. In other words, not only does the series acknowledge the previous Evangelion cameos within the world of the story, but we’re also likely seeing a Shinji who’s a little older. In a previous episode, it’s revealed that Shinkalion Z takes place in the world of the original Shinkalion after its climactic final battle, and reuniting with a Shinji with memories of what has come before actually creates a kind of anticipation for Hayato to return at some point.

Gendo sitting on a train platform bench next to some Shinkalion Z characters. The background is red and eerie, and Gendo's signature glasses are reflecting light.

As for Gendo (featured in the image at the beginning), he’s mostly played for laughs in terms of how incongruous he is with the relatively lighthearted world of Shinkalion. He says all the things you expect (“Shin, get in the Shinkalion”), but delivers it all with such a straight deadpan that it veers straight into parody territory. At the same time, his presence and demeanor feel reminiscent of a key scene in 3.0+1.01 involving trains, which makes the aforementioned resonance between that film and Shinkalion Z all the more noticeable. 

Ultimately, both Shinji and Gendo seem to be in better places in Shinkalion Z. While there’s nothing concretely saying so, I like to believe that the Shinji and Gendo of Shinkalion are better people because they have robots that are also trains—the kind of thing both father and son would probably enjoy, given their personalities and histories. 

Rei from Evangelion points at something, encouraging Asuka to take a look. Both are in their school uniforms.

Episodes are up on the official Youtube only until the following Monday EST, so anyone who wants to check out Shinji and the Shinkalion Z 500 Type EVA should do so as soon as they can. Unlike the last series, this episode actually has “Cruel Angel’s Thesis” for the streaming version.