How Christy Karacas, the creator of Ballmastrz: Rubicon, Made it into an Anime

Credit- Studio 4°C, PFFR
By Sonu | Feb 18, 2023 | 5 Min Read follow icon Follow Us

9009 and Superjail are Ballmastrz! Christy Karacas, the show’s creator, is no stranger to Japanese animation, and it’s a sequence of fortunate circumstances that have led to his show receiving the anime treatment. The Ballmastrz: Rubicon special, which will come after the second season of his show, will feature a variety of STUDIO4°C (Mind Game, Poupelle of Chimney Town, Berserk: The Golden Age Arc) animation directed in part by Takashi Nakamura, Akira graduate. How Christy Karacas, the creator of Ballmastrz: Rubicon, Made it into an Anime.

How Christy Karacas, the creator of Ballmastrz: Rubicon, Made it into an Anime

When Karacas was a young kid, she used to wake up early to watch Battle of the Planets and its follow-up, G-Force: Guardians of Space. Like many early anime fans, Karacas had no idea that his favourite cartoons were actually anime; all he knew was that they appeared “cooler and better” than the other cartoons of the period, and he was fascinated by their artistic style. With well-known mainstays like Robotech and Voltron, as well as ultimately, manga, his early years of watching Battle of the Planets prepared him for a fandom of enormous robots.

“I became a huge comics fan around junior high. I would frequent the manga shop, where I first learned about Miyazaki and Katsuhiro Otomo. Including Justy and Mai the Psychic Girl, I was perusing the Viz publications. Why these are cartoons so dissimilar to those in the United States, I wondered. It is amusing. This is the comic store I used to frequent. It was an hour distant. My mum letting us go surprises me. We would go there, and I would purchase bootlegs off laser discs; they would be VHS tapes without subtitles, but there would also be fanzines with plot summaries. By doing that, I could obtain things like Patlabor and Gundam. Just thrilling, that’s all. In a way, it was similar to record collecting.”

In college, Karacas began to concentrate on his future in animation, but he didn’t think his work could match the calibre of his favourite anime. He developed his look in the direction that viewers ultimately saw in Superjail! After four seasons, former Adult Swim head Mike Lazzo contacted Karacas to propose a new show. After watching Studio Trigger’s Kill la Kill and the first season of One-Punch Man, Karacas returned to the anime that served as his motivation for Ballmastrz: 9009, feeling more inspired than ever.

“I had stopped recently watching new cartoons. These programmes are completely insane, like One-Punch Man. They are fantastic. I considered making a cartoon, but I’m not capable of it. There isn’t really a sports programme, I reasoned at that point. I used to be really into wrestling, and I enjoy things like Rollerball and dark, B-movie material. I decided to combine wrestling with B-movies and sports anime. Because Kill la Kill, Ping Pong, and One-Punch Man were such thrilling films at the time that is what they ultimately evolved into. They kind of shocked people when they first appeared.”

A deadly roller derby tournament is supervised by a godlike being by the name of Crayzar in the post-apocalyptic world of Ballmastrz: 9009. The programme uses a variety of teams and takes its cues from well-known cartoons to create a mashup of pop-cultural references. The stew’s disarray adds flavour and gives the staff, many of whom are anime fans themselves, a fun way to incorporate their beloved shows, like JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. The series Luna, voiced by Stephanie Sheh, is the matriarch of the Ashigari Princesses, a team that takes its cues from Sailor Moon. Eric Bauza, a voice actor, is credited by Karacas with suggesting Sheh for the part.

For the Ballmastrz: Rubicon episode, STUDIO4°C is in charge of the animation. For Western audiences, the animation company is probably best known for the Children of the Sea film and Berserk: The Golden Age Arc. The Amazing World of Gumball, Thunder cats, The Animatrix, Batman: Gotham Knight, and Halo Legends are just a few of the American animations on which the studio has previously worked with Karacas. However, the studio’s work on Masaaki Yuasa’s Mind Game is what initially piqued Karacas’ interest in the project.

“I thought to myself, “Are you fooling me?” when this occurred. They won’t carry it out. But I was taken aback. It was really like a fantasy. It was, in fact, “said Karacas. Following a conversation Karacas had with Custom Nuts co-founder Silas Hickey at an animation festival, things really started going. Hickey, an Australian citizen who now resides in Japan, previously worked for Cartoon Network Asia.

“He had ties to these companies, so I told him, “Man, I wish I could do this at a real anime studio,” as I was talking to him. And he wonders, “Why?” These are locations I am familiar with. I might attempt. It essentially worked because he connected it.” Karacas discovered right away that Japanese animation companies have a significant backlog of projects. It just so occurred that Takashi Nakamura was available and STUDIO4°C had a slot open in the middle of COVID.

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“The fact that they repeatedly asked, “Hey, do you want to deal with this guy?” was crazy. Then I ask, “From Akira?” They reacted by saying, “Oh, you know that? ” I’m a geek. I enjoy these things. The idea shocked me.” Although Karacas had ideas to make the characters more appropriate for the space setting when the project started, a character redesign for the special was always in the cards.

He described it as being more akin to Gunbuster or Macross. Nakamura came up with the idea for the vintage style, which eventually led to the special’s distinctive design. “The new patterns, created by him, are fantastic, in my opinion. It seemed to flow very naturally and naturally. I wish I could have gone [to the facility in Japan] because COVID was the only unpleasant experience.” What are Karacas’ preferred songs right now? Like the rest of us, he is here.

“The Chainsaw Man. I just bought the novel, and I’m really looking forward to it.” Additionally, Gundam: The Origin, Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt, and DEVILMAN crybaby are suggested by him. Rubicon will debut on Adult Swim on February 20 at midnight, according to Ballmastrz (effectively, February 21). On February 21, it will be streamed on HBO Max and through media vendors.

Rubicon, a brand-new conflict, is coming to Ballmastrz! A high-octane adventure sees creator Christy Karacas (Superjail!) return to the Ballmastrz’s post-apocalyptic universe. Besides Natasha Lyonne (Russian Doll), Dana Snyder (Aqua Teen Hunger Force), Dave Willis (Aqua Teen Hunger Force), Eric Bauza (Looney Tunes Cartoons), and Jessica DiCicco from the initial 9009 Ballmastrz voice cast, Karacas will also be appearing (Adventure Time).

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