Gritty: The Anime Intro

In 2021, I was inspired by the idea to create an “anime intro” for eccentric Philadelphia Flyers hockey mascot Gritty. Anime intros are a popular trend online to maximize the fandom around series like Spongebob Squarepants to even politicians. Gritty is known as an extremely online character with humor that is as surreal and anarchic, and so I thought it was perfect to merge Gritty with an anime intro. Specifically, the iconic One Punch Man season 1 intro and its awesome song. Here it is for reference:

I painstakingly recreated each frame of the One Punch Man original, finding thematic similarities between Gritty and his fellow mascots. It eventually merged to become about Gritty punching his way through the roster of his rivals.

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Before animating, I need to get a feel for the characters. So I filled my sketchpad with sketches and drafts of the mascots, scenes, graphic elements, and of course, animations.

Storyboard reference that I gave to Miguel Co, my cousin and a professional illustrator who I commissioned to help me with backgrounds. To the right is the final art Miguel sent in. It’s gorgeous.

Click here for the sizzle reel. I posted it on Reddit once I had enough animation to show because I was excited. To my delight, I got messages from folks who wanted to contribute, and who would eventually become my collaborators: Bill Lloyd and Sanna Huerta of Philadelphia metal band Edit/Erase, Brandon Perry of Las Vegas production house Sound Nectar Studios, and Chicago musician Brian Hufnus. I also commissioned my incredibly talented cousin Miguel Co for background art of the Septa Station and Wells Fargo Center, where the Flyers play.

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Animated with a Wacom Intuos Pro from July 2021 to October 2021, debuted Oct. 25, 2021.
Created and animated on Photoshop, After Effects, and Clip Studio Paint.
Music performed by Edit/Erase and Brian Hufnus. Sound effects by Sound Nectar Studios.

From July to October, I sketched, animated, refined, conceptualized, and edited this intro. I thought myself how to animate on Clip Studio Paint, while creating backgrounds in Photoshop and editing in After Effects. I endured back pain, wrist aches, and long nights, driven by the sheer fiery passion of it all. I animated scenes in chunks and sprints, some of them more difficult than most!

When it was finally released online, it was retweeted by Gritty the mascot himself!

And it was even featured by USAToday, who amusingly referred to me as a “hockey fan” even though I was an anime and Gritty fan more!

All in all, to this day, my greatest and proudest project!