Akiko Nogi details her first original anime 'LONA': "I wanted to do what can't be done in live action"

Akiko Nogi, writer of MIU404, Unnatural and The Last Mile, took the stage at the Machi Asobi event in Tokushima on October 17 to talk about LONA, her first original anime. According to Oricon, the author explained that the starting point was clear: "If we're going to make anime, the goal was to do something that couldn't be done in live action."

The series premieres in spring 2027 and is produced by WIT Studio, the studio behind the first three seasons of Attack on Titan and SPY×FAMILY. It is directed by Tetsuya Wakano, who previously worked as animation director on SPY×FAMILY CODE: White.

A real scientific facility as a starting point

LONA follows researchers at an optical and neural analysis center called Laboratory of Optics and Neural Analysis, abbreviated LONA. The premise is based on a scientific facility that actually exists: SPring-8, a particle accelerator in Hyogo Prefecture. Nogi visited it before the pandemic and, as she said at the event, it sparked the idea for a story set in a place like that.

Wakano, for his part, said he has visited such facilities more than five times in the last five years. The series mixes that scientific setting with virtual worlds: there is a VR space called "Mahorova" and a threat known as LDoS, avatars of the dead that attack connected people. When someone is infected, their body mutates in the real world.

"If we're going to make anime, the goal was to do something that couldn't be done in live action"

The event showed about three minutes of footage from the first episode, with images of the virtual world and the physical consequences of those attacks. Nogi admitted that the scientific side may feel dense for some viewers: "Some may think it's a bit difficult, but the VR world is only one part of the work. It's not just VR; several worlds are depicted. And what happens with the reality of our world? I hope you enjoy it."

A project born from a call between studios

The collaboration between Nogi and WIT Studio began with a call from Wakano. The writer said she was just finishing the third season of Attack on Titan and that, if she was going to work with the president of WIT, she wanted to pitch something that couldn't be done in live action. That was the origin of everything, and the project was first discussed remotely.

Nogi also talked about the production process in animation. Before writing the script for each episode, she prepares a document that summarizes the setting and the image of each cut. Wakano named that document "nerve," and from there the expression of the whole work is built. "Anime demands an amount of work that exceeds live action. You have to draw everything from one," said the writer, who admitted she realized during the process how important the sense of anime is and how much it depends on the script.

Also on stage were voice actresses Haruka Shiraishi, who plays researcher Runa Tsukishiro, and Aina Suzuki, who voices the android Sara Izanami. Shiraishi said she received a letter from Nogi and Wakano during the audition and was moved when she read the line "Will you join the LONA team?" Suzuki, for her part, explained that she recorded her part separately and felt that the work was being built by everyone together.

Original anime, a challenge for WIT Studio

Wakano did not shy away from the difficulty of producing an original anime. "About ten years ago, I didn't dare to make original anime. I thought it was too big a challenge and that it wouldn't turn out well. But I realized that original anime has become increasingly difficult to produce, and yet people still bet on it," he explained at the event. The producer also argued that, in that context, WIT Studio wants to keep creating original titles.

Character designs are by Yuko Yamada, with music by Yoshiki Sakurai. The Machi Asobi panel can be watched on WIT Studio's YouTube channel and on ABEMA until October 25. The series will premiere in spring 2027, with no specific date yet.