Kakela Studios

Kakela Studios is a Japanese creative studio that specializes in character production. According to its official website, the studio brings creative visions to life through a full pipeline of character work: concept design, high-fidelity 3D modeling, and expressive rigging. It describes itself as a collective of talented digital artists capable of delivering distinctive characters for games, film and video, and next-generation digital experiences. The studio's service offering spans several specialized areas. Its Digital Human practice uses digital characters to replace work typically performed by people, such as influencer or narrator roles, and the company says it can handle everything from character design to animation in a single integrated workflow. Its Facial Rig technology has been in development since the studio's founding and now uses hundreds of expression models to reproduce natural facial expressions; the company also automates rigging to create base expressions quickly and has adopted head-mounted cameras for next-generation high-precision facial capture. Character Modeling covers ultra-high-definition realistic characters, creatures, anime-style characters, and VTubers for both pre-rendered and real-time use. Concept Art provides comprehensive proposals that consider the entire project, including character design, rigging, and simulation. Digital Fashion involves creating digital clothing for virtual spaces in real-time or pre-rendered formats. The studio also offers Consulting and Training, including lectures and corporate training. Kakela Studios was co-founded in July 2019 by Tsukasa Fujiwara, who serves as Co-Founder, Character Modeling Supervisor, and Digital Artist. Fujiwara previously worked at CG video and game companies and is described as having unrivaled knowledge of characters. The studio's portfolio, as shown on its homepage, includes work for major entertainment and consumer brands: trailers and commercials for Pokémon (including the Pokémon Trading Card Game and the 'Pokémon Pokopia' new series teaser), a MARO official commercial, the TAKANAWA GATEWAY CITY future experience theater, a 'Tiroly Remix' featuring Ado, YOASOBI, and Hoshimachi Suisei, a new visual for Kenshi Yonezu's sixth album 'LOST CORNER,' a Pokémon TCG: TRAINERS CAMP spot, MILLENNIUM PARADE's 'GOLDENWEEK,' a Loxonin EX Tape commercial, a YOASOBI x Vaundy 'Tiroly Remix,' 'Wonderhatch - The Island of the Flying Dragon,' an overseas Pokémon Card Game expansion pack commercial, a FINAL FANTASY XVI commercial, the official trailer for the Google Play AR game 'Overbeast,' a Connect Diane commercial, a Daihatsu Rocky commercial, a SoftBank Arashi TV commercial, the digital human 'Rin,' 'The Great Yokai War: Guardians,' the PROTOTYPING OSAKA PROJECT's 'IMAGINARY WORLD' featuring Rim and te'resa, and more. The breadth of this client list indicates that Kakela Studios works at the intersection of gaming, music, advertising, and digital character creation, serving both Japanese and international clients.

Kakela Studios was co-founded in July 2019 by Tsukasa Fujiwara, who had previously worked at CG video and game companies. Fujiwara serves as Co-Founder, Character Modeling Supervisor, and Digital Artist, and is described by the studio as having unrivaled knowledge of characters. From its founding, the studio began developing its own facial rig technology, which has since evolved to use hundreds of expression models for natural facial expression reproduction, with automated rigging and head-mounted camera-based facial capture added over time. The studio has built a portfolio that spans advertising, music, gaming, and digital character creation. Its official website showcases work for major Japanese and international brands, including Pokémon (Pokémon Trading Card Game, Pokémon Pokopia teaser, TRAINERS CAMP, overseas expansion pack commercial), MARO, TAKANAWA GATEWAY CITY, Ado, YOASOBI, Hoshimachi Suisei, Kenshi Yonezu, MILLENNIUM PARADE, Loxonin EX Tape, Vaundy, Wonderhatch, FINAL FANTASY XVI, Google Play (Overbeast AR game), Connect, Daihatsu, SoftBank, and the PROTOTYPING OSAKA PROJECT. The studio also created the digital human 'Rin' and contributed to 'The Great Yokai War: Guardians.' As of its official website, Kakela Studios continues to operate as a private creative studio offering character production services across concept design, modeling, rigging, digital humans, digital fashion, and consulting/training. It serves clients in Japan and internationally, with a focus on high-quality, expressive digital characters for a range of media.

• 2019

  Kakela Studios co-founded in July by Tsukasa Fujiwara.

• Development of proprietary facial rig technology begins at founding.

• Studio builds portfolio including work for Pokémon, FINAL FANTASY XVI, SoftBank, Daihatsu, and others.

A creative studio specializing in end-to-end character production for games, video, and next-generation digital experiences.

• Digital Human

  Technology using digital characters to replace human roles such as influencers or narrators, with end-to-end design-to-animation production.

• Facial Rig

  Proprietary facial rigging system using hundreds of expression models for natural expressions, with automated rigging and head-mounted camera capture.

• Character Modeling

  Ultra-high-definition realistic characters, creatures, anime-style characters, and VTubers for pre-rendered and real-time use.

• Concept Art

  Comprehensive project proposals including character design, rigging, and simulation.

• Digital Fashion

  Digital clothing for virtual spaces in real-time or pre-rendered formats.

• Consulting / Training

  Lectures and corporate training services.

1. 1Kakela Studios Official Websitekakelastudios.com
2. 2Kakela Studios - Wikidatawikidata.org