A TEAM of Kagay-anon animators are bringing the art and industry of anime here in Cagayan de Oro city with their debut project entitled “Sonzai no Kyokai” or Division of Existence.
The 27-year-old Dave Gadrinab of Barangay Cugman is currently working together with five other Filipino anime artists to produce the Philippines’ very first 3-Dimensional Computer Graphics (3DCG) anime piece.
Within the year, the Gadrinab’s group, the Xygen CG Works, aims to release “Sonzai no Kyokai” to the public. This anime project will be produced using the open source software Blender 3D which makes it the first of its kind here in the country.
Anime is a style of animation originating in Japan. These are characterized by stark colorful graphics depicting vibrant characters in action-filled plots often with fantastic or futuristic themes.
At present, anime films and shows are well-received by audiences not only in Japan but all over the world. Last year, an anime film became the highest-gross animated film worldwide. With this, Gadrinab aims to spark this craft among the Kagayanons and even in Northern Mindanao.
Sonzai no Kyokai's plot is set in the year 2030, when humans discover the existence of a breach into another world inhabited by paranormal entities which they dubbed as “demons.” A military organization named Global Security is in charge of creating a gateway to barricade these entities from entering the human world and causing further chaos.
Global Security vows to capture the rest of these violent and vile beings who are roaming the Earth and place them in their nine underground containment facilities. These were created with specific technology to house and restrain these paranormal entities.
The main character, John Salazar, responds to a prison break emergency at the 7th Containment Prison. He has been supervising this particular containment for many years when the “demons” broke out of their prison.
The story follows him hereafter, being assisted by his siblings, Akari and Akira Kato, as well as his former mentor, RV Gale.
The project is inspired from the 80’s and 90’s Sci-Fi action-horror flicks such as aliens, predator, and event horizon. From there, they created the environment design and visual style that viewers will experience with their anime film.
Gadrinab and his team are currently working on the project and will release it by December this year. The other members of Xygen CG Works are Linil Komban, Joe Manuel, Brad Arces, Caleb Mills and Sri Mule. Some are working with Gadrinab here in Cagayan de Oro while others who are residing abroad are contributing online.
Years ago, Gadrinab developed his talents as an animator through the mentoring of Blender NPR artist, Vicente Carro and Tamakoshi Masaki. These two are owners of an animation studio which is based in Goju-Shi in Gifu Prefecture, Japan.
In 2013, Gadrinab founded his animation group, Xygen CG Works.
The group has then accepted animation projects for the mayor of the Gifu Prefecture and also produced the animations, Akari no Chikaiand Hon De Domino.
While the group funds their own projects and has no official studio partners as of the moment, Gadrinab said that they will release their project on video-sharing platforms such as YouTube.