There's a common question among fans about the Tower of God anime adaptation: How did the production team manage to capture the drawing style of the original manhwa? Among the staff of veterans working on the series, Miho Tanino stood out, a new member who entered the scene, who also already had enough experience having worked in series such as Orange, Aikatsu and Tsukumogami Kashimasu.
Together with Masashi Kudo (Bleach), Tanino was a key player in the transition from manhwa to animation. In fact, the illustrator has had a great impact since she publishes commemorative illustrations every time a new episode of the series is broadcast. For this reason, Crunchyroll conducted an interview with the artist:
First, could you describe to us how you started working in the anime industry?
I just wanted to live through art.
How did you get involved with Tower of God?
I'm not entirely sure, but I had already read enough of the manhwa by the time I received the job offer. I remember being very happy back then.
You worked closely with Masashi Kudo on Tower of God character design. Have you ever worked in collaboration with someone else on character design before? What was it like working with Masashi Kudo?
Previously I had already worked collaboratively and in drafts as well, so this time I followed the same style of work but under the guidance of Kudo.
What do you think was the most important part of adapting a manhwa to anime?
Naturally, he wanted as many people as possible to have his first approach to the series through the anime, but at the same time he wanted people who were already familiar with Tower of God to be happy with the final product.
Your art style, in particular, is quite detailed, but how do you balance trying to make detailed characters while ensuring that they are properly adapted to animation?
For this project, the layouts were relatively simple compared to other recent anime, so I think the animation work was pretty straightforward. Also, I like to think that by limiting the number of strokes, the characters' personalities stood out more.
Of the characters you designed for Tower of God, which was your favorite?
I like all of them, even the characters in the background, but the character I had the most fun drawing was Anaak, since, although I like Khun, it is quite difficult to draw it.
What do you think was the most interesting part of adapting Tower of God to anime?
Since he's a serialized manhwa, he still has a lot of mysteries, and since it's a one-season series, you have to figure out how to convincingly express Rachel's actions from the other characters, that was quite difficult. I was impressed by Yoshida-san's (the series' composer) ability to write such precise scripts.
Did you learn something by working on this series?
When the series was announced, I opened my own Twitter account and received many comments in every language I can imagine. It made me realize that it is a series loved all over the world.
Got a message for Tower of God fans?
Nothing would make me happier than a second season, but even more to participate in the production again.
© Tower of God Animation Partners © SIU
