Boruto: Boruto anime's character designer under fire for controversial Kaiju No. 8 character designs

Boruto anime's character designer under fire for controversial Kaiju No. 8 character designs

Modified Apr 24, 2024 01:29 GMT

Leno Ichikawa in Kaiju No. 8 (Image via Production I.G.)

Kaiju No. 8 looks to have made a shaky start to life as an anime. With just the first two episodes on air, there already seems to be an aspect of the animation that is breeding controversy.

The topic of contention is with regard to character design. Naoya Matsumoto's series and popular anime Boruto seem to share a common party when it comes to the design of their respective characters. Now, this designer has come under fire from fans for allegedly choosing to go the basic way when it comes to designs for Kaiju No. 8.

Boruto's character designer criticized for Kaiju No. 8 character designs

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Kaiju No. 8 and Boruto share the same designer when it comes to characters. Specifically, Tetsuya Nishio has been put in charge of designing characters for both anime adaptations. With Matsumoto's series finally being adapted and released, there now seems to be discontent among fans.

Nishio is under fire for opting to go with basic designs for Kaiju No. 8. This is strange, since Nishio's style features volume, uniformity, and flexibility, which earned him a respectable name in the industry. However, episode 1 and 2 look to have bits of animation that might come off as lazy and careless, as some fans have pointed out.

The animanga community feels that working on Boruto and previously Naruto for so long has substantially influenced Nishio's artstyle. What this means is that every other piece of his work, like Vampire in the Garden (anime original), Ghost in the Shell, etc. carry similar animation elements, the latest being the monster-themed series.

Fans unhappy with Kaiju No. 8 character designs

Boruto Uzumaki and Kikoru Shinomiya (Image via Sportskeeda)

The announcement that Matsumoto's series was being adapted into an anime created an instant buzz in the animanga community.

Given its popularity and the author's credentials, it was not surprising to see the news be met with great applause. However, now that the adaptation's initial episodes have been released, many have spoken out criticizing the animation style.

"Just checked it, THIS IS REAL !!!" a user posted.

"Nishio fell off." another netizen commented.

Fans were quick to take to social media to share their disappointment. Considering the work put into Boruto, they were expecting the same for Matsumoto's monster series. There were comments verifying media personality Jaymes Hanson's claims, who posted a tweet saying that the "Boruto Character Designer" needs to be stopped "from touching Anime."

One user even wrote that Nishio had "fallen off".

"But this is nothing to do with that Nishio wasn't correct choice for these designs imo for how detailed manga designs are. They should've gotten the mha character designer whose style would've suited kaiju no 8 much better" another fan wrote.

"why they gotta ruin it with improper nose placement??" a user opined.

There is quite a substantial section of the fandom that looks to be disappointed with Nishio's work this time around. Many felt that using a simple style such as this "ruined" the animation in a way. One fan believed that Nishio may have been an incorrect choice for this particular series.

Nishio stans come out in support

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While there were those who were disappointed, there was an equal number who supported Nishio's work. They were of the opinion that his uniform and flexible style is exactly what made the animation so impactful. Moreover, they felt that the animator always ended up doing justice to his designs.

"Nishio does justice to his characters. Y’all just gotta be patient, Isshiki looked wonky in his character design sheet but look how the anime did. Idk anything about Kaiju No. 8 but y’all gotta trust the process, Nishio never disappoints when it comes to the actual anime" a user posts.

"I was already on board for Kaiju No. 8 when I saw Tetsuya Nishio character designs but that 1st episode was very strong" another commented.

"Flexible character designs by Tetsuya Nishio (Naruto, Vampire in the Garden), lively monster designs by Mahiro Maeda (Evangelion Rebuilds, SSSS.Gridman), and a fresh-faced lead actor in Masaya Fukuhara. If the plot doesn't hook you, surely the presentation will." a fan wrote.

There were many who came out in support of their preferred animator. They opined that Nishio's designs needed to flow and adapt to the anime, given that they always turned out well.

The example of Boruto villain Isshiki was cited, comparing how close his design was to the source material.