Invincible Fight Girl aims to keep the dream of serial animation alive

Juston Gordon-Montgomery grew up in the Attitude Era of pro wrestling – a time when personalities were huge, storylines were wild, and the whole thing bordered on highbrow. Although it has become much easier to watch wrestling in the streaming age, the sport's cultural dominance has waned in the years since it first captivated Gordon-Montgomery. The thought of starting wrestling can still seem a bit daunting, especially for non-fans. But that feeling is part of what inspired Gordon-Montgomery to create it Invincible fighting girla new series for Adult Swim.

Invincible fighting girlThe story of a young accountant named Andy (Sydney Mikayla) who dreams of becoming a legendary wrestler is the stuff of shonen classics Dragon Ball Z And One piece. But the show's setting — a world in which everyone is some sort of masked fighter with unique costumes and signature fighting moves — feels like an affectionate nod to the pro-wrestling culture that defined the sport in the late '90s. On paper, Invincible fighting girlThe mix of influences makes the premise sound a little busy, but you immediately see the vision take shape as soon as the characters enter the ring.

When I recently sat down with Gordon-Montgomery to talk about this Invincible fighting girlHe told me that he wanted his love of wrestling's Attitude Era to be reflected “not just in Andy as a character, but in the show as a whole.”

“Wrestling felt magical to me as a kid, but the characters and their backstories also felt real,” Gordon-Montgomery explained. “I was adamant that Undertaker really was a dead guy. The Attitude Era lent itself to the question, “What would a world look like if it were full of professional wrestlers?” because they were all these very different, very clear characters with ideologies that were reflected in the way they to speak and express, to express would fight.”

Gordon-Montgomery knew from the start that he wanted to tell a story about someone pursuing their passion and that captured the feeling of being swept up in the thrill of a wrestling match. Naturally, Invincible fighting girlThe creative team at took some cues from real wrestling. Because the show is all about a fierce fighter who trains to be the best in a world full of magical people, but in the style of an anime series Pokémon And Naruto were an obvious source of inspiration.

If so Although Gordon-Montgomery could create entire worlds out of concepts like catching monsters and being a shinobi, Gordon-Montgomery believed he might be able to achieve something similar with professional wrestling. To truly capture the spirit of wrestling, Gordon-Montgomery and his team looked to “one of the most fantastic pieces of media out there”: director Satoshi Nishimura's adaptation of ” Hajime no Ippo.

“I don’t know if a lot of people know Hajime no Ippo“But it was the North Star for us because on this show, fighting isn't just fighting,” Gordon-Montgomery explained. “It's a way to visualize the clash of philosophies and how characters grow and change. A lot of wrestling matches are just storytelling and pageantry, and it was important to us to make sure our matches weren't just about people hitting each other and doing moves that you would recognize.”

At the beginning of the series, when Andy first sets out on his own, many of her favorite maneuvers are shown Are Wrestling basics you may know from live action fights because she is a beginner who learned everything she knows from instructional videos. Her skills improve as she meets new allies, such as older wrestling legend Quesa Poblana (Rolonda Watts) and aspiring journalist Mikey (TK Weaver). But Andy's transformation into Invincible Fight Girl takes time, and many networks seem increasingly reluctant to provide newer projects.

When Gordon-Montgomery began animation, he couldn't imagine that Western studios would produce many serialized series in the way he wanted Invincible fighting girl to be. Lengthy narratives spanning dozens of episodes are a hallmark of the anime Gordon-Montgomery took notes from, but he knew pushing such a story structure would be a challenge.

“Just because we're in an era of shorter season orders, there was definitely some concern: 'How long are you trying to drag out these storylines and revelations?'” Gordon-Montgomery told me. “But I have to give credit to our partners in the network for understanding our vision. We were able to really convey that Andy's story needed to be told this way so that the audience could really experience it the way we intended.”

However, Gordon-Montgomery wouldn't put a number on how many episodes he envisions Invincible fighting girl Having just started running, he is confident that the show's core concept has legs Pokémon'S.

“Pokémon “It's kind of gotten to the point where it's just going to go on forever, which is not quite what we want to do,” Gordon-Montgomery said. “But I think there's a very, very long line of different ideas that we're exploring philosophically with Andy and this world that we've created. There’s a lot of things here that haven’t been done in animation that I think we’ll do when we get the hang of it.”

Invincible fighting girl Premiering on Adult Swim November 2nd.