The fan-favorite webcomic Let's Play will have its proper anime adaptation come to life on October 1, bringing the life of Sam Young and her aspiring video game career to life from the acclaimed studio OLM. Shortly after its world premeire at Anime Expo 2025, Crunchyroll News had the opportunity to sit down with the director for the anime, Daiki Tomiyasu, to talk about their journey in the anime industry, the breadth of work they are able to make at OLM, and even the little winks at life in Los Angeles fans can look forward to in the series. First, could you please just introduce yourself and your role on the Let’s Play? Daiki Tomiyasu : My name is Daiki Tomiyasu, and I work for an animation studio called OLM. I am the director for Let’s Play . Can you talk a little bit about how you found yourself first starting to work in the anime industry? Tomiyasu : My gateway into making anime is that I always loved anime myself. But it was a long journey to actually getting into the industry. Through middle school and high school, Evangelion was a huge boom then. Watching that and Cowboy Bebop really inspired me to want to be on the other end, actually making the anime, not just watching it. Although I didn’t jump into it right away. I went to university and studied ecology — which I also loved and felt passion for — but I was also doing extracurriculars with an anime production club where I wrote essays. I then realized, “Okay, this is what it feels like to basically be invested in something so deeply." That’s when I really took that step forward and decided to go into anime production and put all of my eggs in that basket. Is there anything you’ve learned about the process, since you first joined, of making anime? For example, is there something that you feel you understand or appreciate now about making anime that you did not know before you joined the industry? Tomiyasu: (In English) Good question. No time, too busy. [laughs]. (In Japanese) We want to do so much, essentially. There’s never enough time. When I was making anime as an amateur, before I went professional, sometimes I would watch certain series on the TV and think “Hey, I could probably do that,” or “Maybe I could do that easily,” but I think it was a very humbling experience once going into the professional world and realizing how hard it actually is and how much time it takes and with so little time. How were you first approached to join the Let’s Play project? Tomiyasu : It was originally an inquiry to OLM from the producers. I was working on the Pokémon anime as well, so I had a lot on my plate already. But I said if I could have an assistant director, then I would be able to do it. So that was the process in how to allocate the work and the bandwidth that I had at the time. Speaking of, I think a lot of fans may know you from your work on the Pokémon anime. I think you did a very good job on Sun and Moon . Tomiyasu : (In English) Oh! Thank you! Can you talk a little bit about how you switched gears from working on Pokémon to now working on an adult romance series? Tomiyasu : Pokémon , for example, is very fantasy-based. I think I spent a lot of time in that world, and created something that didn’t exist in the real world. So I think challenging myself to a story like Let’s Play — where there are so many intricate human relationships, human drama, waves of emotions, and the real-life Los Angeles setting — we had to make sure we paid respect to the location itself. That’s something I’ve never done, so being able to challenge myself in a real-life human drama setting versus fantasy was something I take very seriously and was honored to have that opportunity. Perfect opportunity to segue into my next question, because I understand you’ve been doing a lot of location scouting. Can you talk about where you’ve been in Southern California and the sorts of influences that you’ve gotten from your location scouting? Tomiyasu : I was just surprised at the sheer size of the state itself. I mean, there’s just so much room compared to Japan, where all the buildings are so close together and the streets are so narrow. Also the weather is so different because it’s so dry. That is something that’s very hard to portray in anime, and relaying that to the staff was also difficult. But we tried to incorporate elements as much as possible to portray LA climate and size, like different plants that would exist in the desert setting. Next, of course, I have to ask: Did you go to In-N-Out? Tomiyasu : I definitely went to In-N-Out. It was on my list. It was a must-go-to spot for me. I wanted to incorporate that in the animation, as well, because I thought it would be a nice easter egg: a nice, fun element for American audiences to relate to. Well, what’s your order? Tomiyasu : [laughs] The normal burger. There’s like a secret menu, but I didn’t know that. I was surprised to know that there’s a secret menu. Did you know that they have pop-ups in Tokyo sometimes? You should try it. The lines get VERY long. Tomiyasu : There’s also a Randy's Donuts in Tokyo now. I’m not sure if it’s a pop-up or if it’s permanent, but the line is so incredibly long. I thought I was never going to be able to eat a Randy's donut in my life, but thankfully to (the producer) Heather Horn, we went to Randy's Donuts from the airport, and I was finally able to bask in it. I’m glad you were able to have one. What were your first impressions when you were learning about Let's Play and starting to read it? Was there anything in particular that stood out to you about the series? Tomiyasu : It was surprisingly very relatable. You could really imagine these situations happening in real life, the interactions that happen, the relationships that form, and so on. There’s definitely a gap between the American stereotype portrayed to me, or most Japanese people, versus what I actually read in Let’s Play . So the gap was very evident in that sense. Is there anything else you would like to say to fans looking forward to the anime adaptation of Let’s Play ? Tomiyasu : OLM produces more than just Pokémon . The studio also makes titles like Nyaight of the Living Cat and Me and the Alien MuMu . We make a lot of anime that incorporates animals and creatures and their movements, so I think of Bowser (the dog in Let's Play ) and how we paid attention to certain movements and sounds of his, or just Bowser in general, is something to look forward to as an audience. I think he’s adorable.
