Prior to the premiere of the Leviathan anime series on Netflix, Final Weapon had the chance to interview author Scott Westerfeld and the anime’s staff from Qubic Pictures and Studio Orange. The staff includes Qubic Pictures CEO and executive producer Justin Leach, director Christophe Ferreria, producer Katrina Minett, screenwriter Yuichiro Kido, composers Nobuko Toda and Kazuma Jinnouchi, and animation producer Daigo Ikeda.
Our interview delves into the staff’s background before joining the production of Leviathan, their experiences while working on the anime for Netflix, challenges they’ve faced, and much more.
Get the full interview below.
Could you please introduce yourself and tell us about your background for our readers?
Justin Leach: I’m Justin Leach, the CEO and founder of Qubic Pictures, and the executive producer on Leviathan. I have a long-standing passion for animation and storytelling, having worked extensively in both Western and Japanese animation studios, including Blue Sky Studios, Lucasfilm Animation, and Production I.G. My previous projects include titles like Eden for Netflix, Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, Kill Bill, and Star Wars: Visions. Through Qubic Pictures, I’ve focused on bridging cultural gaps and creating international collaborations in animation.
Katrina Minett: My name is Katrina Minett and I was a Producer on Leviathan. I grew up in the UK before moving to Japan and starting to work in animation.
Scott Westerfeld: I write science fiction and fantasy for teens and adults, and Leviathan has been my second-most popular book series. After my biggest success, with the Uglies trilogy, I decided to write about the stuff that most appeals to me: airships, WW1 diplomacy, and steampunk mad science. The result was the Leviathan trilogy. I also thought it would be cool to have the books illustrated, as an adventure book from 1914 would have been. So I told my publisher that I would be hiring Keith Thompson, and paying for his work myself. (The hand that signs the check rules the illustrations.) Because of that collaboration, the series became my favorite work to that point in my career and, fifteen years later, it still produces the best fanmail.
Christophe Ferreria: My name is Christophe Ferreira, and I’m French, born in France in 1975. Growing up, I developed a deep love for Japan and animation from watching Japanese cartoons on TV. This naturally led me to study drawing, eventually joining the Gobelins school in Paris in 1996. After graduating in 1998, I worked at various studios until I participated in a Japanese animation workshop during the “Nouvelles Images du Japon” event in 2001. The guest was the legendary animator, Yasuo Otsuka. This encounter paved the way for me to come to Japan in 2003, where I joined Telecom Animation Film. There, I was mentored by Otsuka, and especially by Tomonaga Kazuide. Since then, I’ve worked on various productions in Japan, and I’ve also created comics for France.
Yuichiro Kido: I began my career as an assistant director on live-action films and Studio Ghibli productions before transitioning into screenwriting. I’ve worked across genres, writing for animated titles such as Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! and Kaiju No. 8 Season 2, as well as live-action films like April, Come She Will. I also established my own creative unit, Kido Kikaku, through which I produce theatrical stage works. My upcoming projects include the theatrical animated feature All You Need Is Kill, produced by STUDIO4℃, among others.
Nobuko Toda and Kazuma Jinnouchi: We are Nobuko Toda and Kazuma Jinnouchi, the composers for Leviathan. We have worked across a broad range of genres, including domestic and international films, anime, and games. Centering our approach around orchestral and film score-style music, we combine our differing backgrounds as a duo to create music that supports each project from multiple angles.
Daigo Ikeda: My name is Daigo Ikeda from Studio Orange. Before joining Orange, I worked at Studio Chizu, where I was involved in production and served as a line producer. At Orange, I’m responsible for line producing as well as system management.
What did your roles entail for the production of Leviathan? And what were your day-to-day duties like?
Justin Leach: As Executive Producer, my role primarily involved overseeing the entire production, maintaining alignment with the original vision, and managing the international collaboration between Netflix Japan, Studio Orange, the Director, the Author and other stakeholders. My day-to-day responsibilities included coordinating with the production team, reviewing animation progress, managing production schedules, resolving logistical challenges, and ensuring clear communication among the team to bring the best possible adaptation to audiences.
Katrina Minett: As a producer for Leviathan, I interacted a lot with all of the teams and parties involved, helped support Christophe, the director, and generally manage the overall production. I was also very involved in pre and post production, working with the script writer, joining design and storyboard meetings and interfacing with the teams for both the music and voice acting.
Scott Westerfeld: The producers wanted me involved from the start. We met weekly while the scripts were being written, so I could watch the story being transformed for a new medium. I also was given creature and machine designs, and watched episodes at several stages of production. Mostly, my contribution was about the extra layer of historical research I’d done fifteen years ago, along with a bit of keeping the characters true to themselves.
Christophe Ferreria: As the director for the Leviathan series, I was responsible for leading all the teams and providing creative direction from the very early stages. My role involved answering all the teams’ questions about the project and finding solutions to any problems that arose. But I also created a lot of material myself. For example, I personally storyboarded four episodes. I also provided numerous drawings to guide the design and background work. Day-to-day, this meant many hours at my desk responding to emails and reviewing all the elements—designs, animation, backgrounds, 3D models, and so on. There were also many meetings to brief different artists and follow up on their progress.
Yuichiro Kido: I serve as the series composition writer and screenwriter.
Nobuko Toda and Kazuma Jinnouchi: For this project, the two of us handled everything from the overall music direction to composing scores for each scene. In the early stages, we developed the theme music through discussions with director Christophe, the teams at Qubic Pictures and Orange, and original author Scott Westerfeld, sharing ideas around the world and emotional axes of the characters. From there, we flexibly divided scene-specific work between us. Throughout production, we adjusted tempos and the audio balance repeatedly in response to edits, and polished the detail during dubbing sessions. Bringing together both our perspectives allowed us to express the emotional depth of the story through music more richly.
Daigo Ikeda: For Leviathan, I managed the overall production schedule and budget, and also oversaw the construction and management of the pipeline. My day-to-day work mainly involves tracking and confirming the project’s progress.
Were you familiar with Scott Westerfeld’s Leviathan trilogy before working on the anime?
Justin Leach: Yes, I was familiar with the Leviathan trilogy and admired Westerfeld’s innovative blend of alternate history, steampunk aesthetics, and compelling characters. When I was approached by Netflix to adapt the property I thought it would make a great anime adaptation.
Katrina Minett: While I was aware of Scott Westerfeld’s work, I wasn’t familiar with the Leviathan trilogy until I started working on the production.
Christophe Ferreria: No, I wasn’t familiar with the book series until I read it for the anime adaptation.
Yuichiro Kido: The biggest challenge was figuring out how to preserve the appeal of the original story while also upgrading it, all within a limited episode count.
Nobuko Toda and Kazuma Jinnouchi: We first learned about the Leviathan trilogy after being approached for this project. We began reading the Japanese translation, and were so captivated by the worldbuilding and themes that we continued on to read the original English versions as well.
Daigo Ikeda: No, I became familiar with the series after joining the production team. Once I started reading it, I found it to be a fascinating work filled with a variety of elements—steampunk, science fiction, fantasy, and adventure.
Did you consult with Westerfeld regularly during production? If so, I’d like to know more about his involvement in the adaptation and his input on the Netflix series.
Justin Leach: Yes, we collaborated closely with Scott Westerfeld throughout production. He provided valuable insights and was deeply involved in the adaptation process. Westerfeld reviewed scripts, shared his perspectives on character development, and ensured the anime remained true to the spirit of the books while allowing creative flexibility to optimize the story for animation.
Katrina Minett: Yes, we had frequent meetings with Scott, updating him on the status of the production and sharing materials with him. It was very important to us that the series remained true to the spirit of his book. Both Scott and Keith were really great partners and resources especially at the start of production.
Christophe Ferreria: We primarily discussed the project with him at the very beginning of the series’ development. We presented him with the series bible that Alex Alice and I had written, and we incorporated his feedback, which was ultimately very positive. Afterward, we would send him scripts as they were completed, and he would send us his comments. He was incredibly professional throughout this process; he never imposed anything and perfectly understood that we couldn’t always incorporate certain remarks due to technical constraints. We did the same with Keith Thompson, the novels’ illustrator. We asked him about his inspirations and the philosophy behind the designs to ensure we stayed true to the spirit of the original work.
What were some of the challenges you faced while adapting the Leviathan trilogy into a 12-episode series?
Justin Leach: One of the primary challenges was condensing the rich narrative and expansive world-building of the trilogy into 12 cohesive episodes without losing essential details. Balancing character development, pacing, and plot integrity required thoughtful decision-making. Whenever you make a show, you never know if you will get a chance to make more seasons, so we opted to tell a complete story. Another significant challenge was ensuring visual consistency and capturing the intricate steampunk elements in an engaging, animation-friendly style.
Katrina Minett: The length of the story was a major challenge. It isn’t easy to adapt three books into one series! We wanted to make sure the characters had time to shine while still conveying world building and including the elements of the story and WW1. Especially for the third book we had a lot of back-and-forth during script meetings about how to make the story work. The team really did a great job.
Scott Westerfeld: The way people see the “girl pretending to be a boy” trope is different than it was fifteen years ago, when the books were written. What used to be a story about plucky bravery is now about identity–finding your true self. Midshipman Sharp has to hide something in order to serve on a military airship, but in doing so, discovers something far more important.
Christophe Ferreria: The primary difficulty was undoubtedly the length. The three novels contain far too much material to comfortably fit into 12 episodes. Therefore, we had to make careful choices about which elements to adapt rather than trying to compress everything. Alex Alice and I focused on creating a complete story arc over 12 episodes that would pose questions, explore themes, and provide resolutions within that timeframe.
Yuichiro Kido: The biggest challenge was figuring out how to preserve the appeal of the original story while also upgrading it, all within a limited episode count.
Was Leviathan always planned to be a 12-episode series? Were more episodes considered at one point during production?
Justin Leach: Initially, we explored various lengths and formats, but ultimately settled on a 12-episode series to maintain narrative coherence, high production quality, and viewer engagement. This format allowed us to focus intensively on storytelling and tell a complete story.
Katrina Minett: Yes, it was always planned as 12 episodes. However, at one point the plan was to release the show as three seasons with four episodes each.
Christophe Ferreria: It was always planned as a 12-episode series, but initially, the show was intended to be released in three parts. So, we structured the series as three blocks of four episodes, which aligned well with the narrative flow of both the novels and the series itself.
Yuichiro Kido: By the time I joined the project, it had already been decided that the series would be 12 episodes long.
What was your experience like working on the music of Leviathan?
Justin Leach: Working on the music was incredibly rewarding. Nobuko Toda and Kazuma Jinnouchi made an amazing score for the production, and the legendary Joe Hisaishi created songs that were integral to the themes of the show. The composers truly understood the emotional depth and adventurous spirit of Leviathan. The music needed to convey both the epic scope of the story and the nuanced emotions of the characters. Seeing the score bring scenes to life was a particularly fulfilling aspect of production.
Katrina Minett: It was incredibly rewarding to work on the music for Leviathan. Nobuko Toda and Kazuma Jinnouchi were great partners and the score they created added a lot of depth to the world. With the songs from Joe Hisaishi, it was unusual as we made them a lot earlier in production, since we needed to match the animation for the scene to the songs, but they really helped to set the tone and bring the characters to life.
Christophe Ferreria: Given that this is my first time directing, even though I’ve worked in animation for over 20 years, it was my first experience working on the music. The music came in during the second half of production, and it completely transformed everything. It amplified the impact of the scenes and made everything feel epic. It was truly a joy. Joe Hisaishi, Nobuko Toda, and Kazuma Jinnouchi were incredibly pleasant to work with and very responsive to my feedback.
Did you draw inspiration from any other works or series while working on Leviathan?
Justin Leach: We drew inspiration from classic anime with deep world-building and character-driven narratives, such as Studio Ghibli films like Laputa: Castle in the Sky and Nausicaa. Additionally, we referenced historical imagery and steampunk aesthetics to capture the unique feel of Westerfeld’s alternate World War I setting working closely with Keith Thompson, the original illustrator from the book.
Katrina Minett: We referenced a lot of period imagery and drew a lot of inspiration from the work Scott and Keith put into creating the books.
Christophe Ferreria: When we took on the project, we needed to establish a clear direction. For the mecha rendering, for example, one of the references I suggested was Katsuhiro Otomo’s Steamboy. Subconsciously, and given my training, Studio Ghibli’s influence was also present.
Nobuko Toda and Kazuma Jinnouchi: For Leviathan, we didn’t feel the need to refer to specific existing works. The originality of the source material’s world and the strong character animation provided ample inspiration. Instead, we focused on listening closely to the inner lives of the characters and the foundation of the world itself, and built the music from there.
Daigo Ikeda: For the character and background aesthetics, we looked to works like Arcane by Fortiche, as well as films from Studio Ghibli and Studio Chizu, for visual inspiration.
What elements of the Leviathan trilogy fascinated you the most while adapting it into an anime?
Justin Leach: The most fascinating elements were the innovative blend of biological engineering and mechanical technology, as well as the nuanced portrayal of characters navigating complex moral and political landscapes. This unique fusion offered endless creative possibilities for animation and storytelling.
Katrina Minett: The world-building was incredibly strong, so showing how the different technologies exist and how they change depending on the culture in each region is really interesting.
Christophe Ferreria: Like most people, I think it was the world-building that immediately captivated me when I first read it. As I read the books with the adaptation in mind, images would just flow through my mind, and I could envision how everything would move. These flying machines, these sorts of ships traversing forests, these “magical” and mysterious creatures… I knew we could create a classic and magnificent adventure series with these foundations.
Yuichiro Kido: I was especially drawn to the freedom to vividly depict the machines and creatures without constraints, as well as the ability to journey across diverse locations around the world. I believe Leviathan is filled with appeal that only animation can truly bring to life.
Nobuko Toda and Kazuma Jinnouchi: The trilogy’s unique world, fusing steampunk and biotechnology, and the coming-of-age journeys of youth caught up in it, were deeply moving. We were especially drawn to the human drama of characters with differing values clashing and eventually walking forward together. From a musical perspective, the challenge—and appeal—lay in how to express contrasts between conflict and harmony, and between evolution and destruction.
Daigo Ikeda: In addition to compelling characters like Alek and Deryn Sharp, the mecha such as the Walker and the Hercules, and creatures like the Leviathan, lorises, and behemoths allowed us to fully leverage Orange’s strengths in design and action animation.
What do you believe is the strongest message that the Leviathan anime conveys to its watchers?
Justin Leach: The strongest message of Leviathan is the importance of understanding, empathy, and cooperation amid conflict and differences. It illustrates how collaboration and friendship can transcend cultural divides and technological disparities, highlighting our shared humanity.
Katrina Minett: I hope that it shows people that we can overcome our differences by coming together and communicating. We wanted to emphasise the importance of empathy and cooperation.
Scott Westerfeld: It’s about how we become stronger when we ally with people who see the world differently from us. The difficulties in communication pay off, because people with different backgrounds can come up with strategies and solutions we never would have seen. The Clankers and Darwinists are at war, and their worldviews seem irreconcilable, but they not only can work together, but to save themselves, they must.
Christophe Ferreria: It’s hard to say definitively, but in my opinion, the main message you can take away is that we forge our own path in life.
Nobuko Toda and Kazuma Jinnouchi: We believe Leviathan portrays the dignity of humanity in the face of massive power created by our own hands, and the beauty of diversity. By blending our perspectives, we used music to portray the characters’ inner struggles and stories of regeneration in a multilayered way.
Is there anything else you would like to share before the worldwide premiere?
Justin Leach: I’m incredibly proud of what our global team has achieved with Leviathan. We’ve created something special that respects Westerfeld’s original vision while introducing it to a broader audience through animation. I hope viewers around the world enjoy exploring this imaginative, vibrant universe as much as we enjoyed bringing it to life.
Katrina Minett: Simply that I hope you enjoy the show!
Christophe Ferreria: I just hope that viewers enjoy their journey alongside Sharp and Alek, and that even after the series ends, these characters will stay with them for a while.
