In a floating city where the rich discard their waste—and people—Rudo (Bryson Baugus) is framed for murder and thrown into the Pit, where a hellscape of mutated trash beasts dwell, and meets a Cleaner named Enjin (Chrisopher Wehkamp). To survive, he must wield a new power and join the Cleaners. Rudo doesn’t just aim to battle monsters, but the corrupt who cast him into Hell.
Now streaming on Crunchyroll, Gachiakuta is an exciting new anime that harkens back to a nostalgic, early 2000s visual aesthetic inspired by graffiti and street art, full of great characters, a lot of laughs, and tense action. Nick L’Barrow spoke with Bryson Baugus and Christopher Wehkamp about the show, finding their characters emotions, and the excitement behind the rise of anime’s popularity over the last few years.
Nick: I read that the inspiration behind the visual aesthetic of Gachiakuta was graffiti and street art. And it really reminded me of some of the anime I was watching in the early 2000s. I’m curious to know if the animation style of this show excites you both, and played into part of the reason you wanted to be a part of it?
Bryson Baugus: Yeah, similar to you, I saw the graffiti feature! I love the character designs, all the crazy hair and oversized gloves and shoes. That’s a design that I’ve always personally really loved. That grittiness and grunginess of the art style feels like no other anime I’m seeing out there right now. I think that really stuck out to me for sure.
Christopher Wehkamp: Yeah, I agree with that. I grew up in the 80s and 90s, so I’m a huge fan of that post-apocalyptic, Mad Max kind of vibe. That came across right away with the character designs, and that’s something that stood out to me. It’s different, but familiar for a genre that I’ve spent a lot of time enjoying in the past.
Getting the chance to actually see Enjin in the audition sides for the first time communicated a lot about the world. The design of the characters really say a lot about the world around them, and you can tell that these characters couldn’t really exist in any other place than in this show. That really lends it a unique vibe.
Nick: Was there any specific element of the characters designs or world design that allowed you to tap in the emotional side of your characters?
Bryson Baugus: I think there’s two sides to Rudo. He shows a softness to him in the first episode, especially when he is around Regto and Chiwa. I feel like he is misunderstood. People judge and reject him, but he found these two people that he can confide in and be himself around. And there were a good few moments in the first episode that I really locked into for that emotion.
But there is also this rage at the end of the first episode, where he is about to be dropped into The Pit, and he has this whole monologue about how the people doing this to him are the filthy ones, and that they’re terrible people. I feel like the first episode really gave me a lot to chew on in terms of finding those moments for Rudo.
Christopher Wehkamp: Right away from the audition sides, it was clear that Enjin was going to be very, very cool. But, looking at some of those lines, it also came across that he was kind of goofy. He is just silly and goofy, and even a little impulsive and playful. So, in the audition, I tried to bring that out. I tried to bring out the toughness, the coolness, that he could handle himself. But I also wanted to bring out that playfulness, too.
I’m glad it’s apparent! When he rocks up in episode two, he sort of dispatches a trash beast right away. And he is kind of testing Rudo, razzing him up a little bit, you know? Roasting him. But, it’s all done in good fun. And that aspect of Enjin was endlessly enjoyable for me during the show.
Nick: The first interaction between Enjin and Rudo led to one of my favourite insults I’ve heard this year, and that’s when Enjin calls Rudo, “a mouthy, ignorant, little shit blossom”. I thought it was great! Were there any alternate versions you got to throw around in the booth, or was that a pretty direct translation from the Japanese script?
Christopher Wehkamp: [laughs] Man, there’s so many moments with this show that I have to kind of pinch myself, because I do feel like we’re getting to say lines that are so of the moment, that are right on the lips of the fans. I think that’s an incredible treat, and unique and fun!
Bryson Baugus: I don’t know where this one came from, but the director was really cooking when he came up with “shit biscuit”, too [laughs]. I don’t know if they came up with that, or if it was a translation, but it’s my favourite thing that Rudo keeps saying in one of the episodes.
Christopher Wehkamp: Yeah, “shit biscuit” was great!
Nick: Gachiakuta deals with some pretty heavy themes like classism, purpose, protecting the planet. What makes the heightened art form of anime such an interesting vessel to explore those themes?
Bryson Baugus: I think the heightened reality of animation in general kind of helps emphasise those points. Any live action show could tackle a lot of the same themes, and I think the style of anime also makes things feel a little more exaggerated, so it’s more engaging.
Christopher Wehkamp: I mean, the biggest hurdle that everybody needs to get over with live action is suspending disbelief, right? And that’s why live action costs so much, because there is so much effort put into creating a very believable world. But with animation, you don’t have to do all of that. Everybody knows going in that they have to suspend their disbelief to enter the world at all. So, it creates this freedom to be able to tell powerful stories.
Anime is also having a real moment right now. It’s reaching a mainstream audience in a way that it kind of never has before. There’s a lot of reasons why, but it gives a chance and a platform to shows and stories like this to really shine. And there’s an audience that’s really hungry for stuff like this now.
Nick: I love the concepts of the vital instruments in this show. And Rudo’s vital instrument, the 3R gloves, find broken things, that have worth, and fixes them. I want to kind of flip that concept around a bit, and compare it to your careers. Is there someone, whether it’s a mentor or another actor, who has been a vital instrument for you? Someone who saw your worth and talent and pushed you to do something that resulted in ending up being where you are today?
Bryson Baugus: It might be cheesy, but my wife really helped me get over a lot of self doubt. I had been pursuing theatre acting and voice acting since I was 14. And there was a point in college where I was just doubting that I would get to do anything here professionally. I had started a factory job that paid decently well enough, but I felt stuck there. And there were many people there who had been doing it for 20, 30 years. At that point, I was going to give up on this dream that I’d had for such a long time.
And my wife saw that, and she encouraged me to go for it. That extra push got me to finish my degree in theatre at Sam Houston University, and I reached out to my father for some help. That really got the ball rolling, and the support from my dad and my wife was vitally instrumental in me being where I am today. I’m always thankful for her.
Christopher Wehkamp: I was always interested in acting too, and my first lead role was in kindergarten as Peter Rabbit in the school play. But, I was a problem kid. I was always getting sent to the principals office, disrupting the class. Back in the day they called it “hyperactive”. I was kind of just ungovernable before it became a cool thing to be.
But theatre and acting was an outlet where my teachers were like, “We just need to find something for this kid to do!” Mrs Jones was my kindergarten teacher who had the foresight and the wisdom – or was just fed up enough! – that she talked to my mum and said, “We have this little play coming up, and we would love Chris to play Peter Rabbit. But you’re going to have to sew him a costume.” And my mum was so on board because I think she was at the end of her rope, too.
Then I got the chance to be on stage for the first time, and I was being goofy and not getting in trouble for it. So, that really clicked for me, and it really saved me. I think, in a way, things would have maybe happened differently down the road for me if I didn’t have that outlet. I was so suppressed, and a lot of teachers just fostered that, but Mrs. Jones was the first!
Thank you so much to Bryson and Christopher for their time, and to Crunchyroll for organising the interview. Gachiakuta is now streaming on Crunchyroll, with episode 10 releasing this weekend.
