My Adventures With Superman‘s Jake Wyatt revealed how “it just made sense” to have anime become the language behind the show’s production.
Speaking exclusively with CBR, Wyatt called the medium of anime “part of the larger tonal inspiration for the show. It just hits on every level, from the overseas studio, to the way we draw, to what we’re pulling from. It just made sense.” He noted a particular influence on the show’s fast pace, saying, “We’re obviously all big on anime, and I’m big on Hiroyuki Imaishi [Cyberpunk: Edgerunners], who’s known for cramming.”
Which Anime Inspired My Adventures With Superman?
Wyatt also cited Kill la Kill as an inspiration when it came to pacing. “Kill La Kill is one of the fastest, densest shows I’ve ever watched,” he said. “There are a lot of things to me that are not as admirable about it, but as far as the pacing, it’s insane! We wanted to make something that felt dense! [laughs] We have 22 [minutes], let’s cram as much as we can in there, and we’ve got to go fast.”
Alongside Kill la Kill, Wyatt noted how similarities with the iconic anime series Dragon Ball could push My Adventures With Superman further. “The fourth thing is that Dragon Ball is a Superman riff, and we enjoy that cross-pollination. We’ve been trying in the show to take some of the things that were innovated or created over there around these same premises and see what we could do with it; if we can spin Dragon Ball the way Dragon Ball spun what Superman did.”
Premiering on Adult Swim, My Adventures With Superman joins The Boondocks and FLCL Progressive in its history of anime-inspired original TV series. Connections between Superman and Dragon Ball have long been drawn due to their protagonists’ nearly identical origin stories. Similar to Superman, Son Goku was launched into space just before his homeland of planet Vegeta was annihilated. Raised by a human on Earth, Goku would often have to contend with the consequences of his superhuman strength.
My Adventures With Supermanjoins the upcoming film Superman Legacy in skipping Clark Kent’s earliest origins, drawing praise for its take on Kent’s early rise before becoming the iconic superhero. Kent’s voice actor, Jack Quaid, revealed that the All-Star Superman and Superman For All Seasons comics were his biggest influences when researching how to best capture his character. “He starts off like Clark isn’t a persona he puts on in order to be more appealing or to have people underestimate him,” Quaid said. “Like that’s who he is deep down, and he’s still figuring out who he is as Superman.”
My Adventures With Superman premiered on Adult Swim on July 6. Episodes are available to stream the next day on Max.
Source: CBR