Creator of Code Geass: "Stop Feeding Viewers Crap from Isekai with OP Abilities"
Famous Japanese director Gorō Taniguchi — the mind behind Code Geass — fired off a blunt take about where anime seems to be stuck lately. In his view, too many creators fall back on easy hooks: isekai, OP "cheat" powers, or the familiar mecha spectacle. He suggested those shortcuts aren't required to pull in an audience and sounded a bit fed up saying so.
He laid this out in an interview timed to the release of his new film The Blooming Star of Paris. Set in early-20th-century Paris, it follows two Japanese girls who travel there to train as a painter and a ballerina. Taniguchi purposely avoided flashy genre trimmings, preferring quieter beats and character work to do the heavy lifting — not because he wants to ban popular formulas, but because he wanted a different kind of challenge.
He also made a point to clarify: this isn't a call to wipe out entire genres. Originals and adaptations should coexist; originals, e.g., force creators to rethink storyboards, try odd angles, and take real risks instead of just slotting in a prebuilt template. That sort of pressure, he implied, is where interesting work can come from.
Unsurprisingly, the comments got noisy. Many fans pointed out the irony — Taniguchi's breakout hit, Code Geass, leans on both mecha and supernatural powers — and social feeds promptly served up hot takes and snark.