WIT Studio's George Wada on Attack on Titan, Trust, and Taking on The One Piece
Before we talk about the future, I'd like to talk a little about the past. Looking back almost fourteen years later, did you or anyone else at Wit Studio imagine that Attack on Titan would become such a global phenomenon?
Wada: Not at all. Before the very first promotional video was released to the public, Tetsuya Nakatake showed it to me. Attack on Titan was the first project for our newly established studio, and Nakatake said to me, "Isn't this incredible? We should be proud that we're able to make something like this."
For a new studio, Attack on Titan seems like an incredibly ambitious project to take on as your first production. What made you think it was the right project for Wit Studio?
Wada: I chose it because I thought the original manga was a perfect fit for Director Tetsuro Araki. Our studio had just been established, and we were about to go out into the world and face many challenges. I felt that the story of our new animation studio and the story of Attack on Titan were somehow in sync with each other. We made it with the feeling that we were going to face those challenges head-on.
Was Attack on Titan the first project you considered for the studio, or were there other possibilities as well?
Wada: It was the only one.
Beyond the animation itself, Attack on Titan also has such a strong emotional core. What was it about the story that made you think it was right for your studio?
Wada: I thought the story of having to go outside, because otherwise you can't gain anything, was something that could reach people around the world. This was before the world had become as connected as it is now. I think it was truly significant as a story about people all over the world overcoming different kinds of walls.
In the entertainment industry, success is often measured by things like financial performance. But there's another kind of success when something becomes a global cultural phenomenon. Was there a particular point when you realized that Attack on Titan and Wit Studio's work had become something much bigger than simply a commercially successful anime?
Wada: Attack on Titan was very significant in the sense that it helped Japanese anime spread around the world and helped people around the world understand how incredible Japanese animation can be.
Since Attack on Titan, Wit Studio has gone on to produce and co-produce many beloved series, including SPY x FAMILY and Ranking of Kings. After all this time, what continues to influence the projects you choose?
Wada: One thing that has remained consistent from Attack on Titan all the way through The One Piece is that we want to pursue forms of expression that can only be achieved through animation. That hasn't changed. I think the stories that our co-founders Tetsuya Nakatake and Kyoji Asano envision, where the protagonist confronts some kind of difficulty, represent the kinds of works Wit Studio chooses.
With everything the studio has accomplished, how do you continue to challenge yourselves and improve? Once you've achieved that level of success, I imagine it must be difficult to keep going and create something even better.
Wada: I think the essence of entertainment is to keep adding something new. There is so much entertainment in the world now, so if we want to surprise audiences and make them happy, we have to create something truly incredible. As creators, all we can do is keep adding to what we've done so that we don't disappoint the audience. Once people forget about the things we create, that's when it's time for us to leave. I heard that from Masahiko Minami at BONES.
As studio president, so much of your job relies on trust. You have to trust the people you work with and trust your team. After almost fifteen years, do you think you've changed in the way you approach that?
Wada: Over the past ten or fifteen years, I think I've gotten better at trusting people. To trust someone means entrusting something to them. And entrusting something to them means respecting the way that person thinks. There isn't anyone who can do exactly what I do, and there isn't anyone who can think exactly the way I do. I think the reason our team has become stronger is that we've all gotten better at trusting one another. We started as a studio of six people, and now we've grown to more than 300. I'm very happy that the number of people I can trust has grown. More than anything, we want to make a lot of animation.
I think fans will be very excited to hear that you plan to make a lot more anime. Is there a particular upcoming project you're especially excited for audiences to see?
Wada: I'm really looking forward to seeing how The One Piece, which will be released in February 2027, reaches audiences today. There is already the existing One Piece anime, and there's also the live-action version. With our new version of One Piece, I hope we can introduce the work to even more people. I consider One Piece one of Japan's most precious manga, so I'm really looking forward to bringing it to the world.
Taking on such a beloved property as One Piece, would you say it's scary, exciting, or a little bit of both?
Wada: We're really excited. In Japanese, we'd say “waku waku.” As you said, there is some fear and anxiety about heading somewhere we haven't been before. But the excitement is even greater than that. That's also what the story of One Piece is about.
At your panel, you mentioned Tokyo Anime Next, an international animation event taking place in Ikebukuro later this year? (Tokyo Anime Next will take place in Ikebukuro from October 30 to November 2, 2026, as a launch event for a new annual international animation festival planned for 2027. Organized by the Association of Japanese Animations (AJA) in collaboration with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, the initiative was announced by Wada during the Production I.G x Wit Studio panel at Anime Expo.)
Wada: Yes. One reason we decided to do this is that I felt Japan didn't really have a large, well-established awards event for animation. After discussing it with colleagues at other anime studios, we decided to hold an event like this. A lot of studios will be participating, which means many creators will be gathering there. We'll also be sharing a variety of information. If you want to learn about Japanese animation, get the latest news, and find out what's happening in the industry right now, I think this will be a very good event to follow. There will be creators there in person as well, so I hope people from around the world will come to Japan to experience the event.
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