Production
An anime adaptation of Xenosaga was initially unplanned, but after the game's commercial success worldwide, an anime adaptation was commissioned. The anime was produced by Toei Animation, in association with TV Asahi and under supervision from Namco and the Xenosaga production team. The series was directed by Tsuyoshi Koga and co-produced by Satoko Matsuda and Takao Yoshizawa. The supervising director was Shigeyasu Yamauchi, who had acted as a director for the Ojamajo Doremi and Saint Seiya series. The script was written by Yuichiro Takeda, an anime scriptwriter who had worked on Banner of the Stars and The King of Braves GaoGaiGar.[2][3] Character designs were handled by Nobuteru Yūki, whose previous work included Record of Lodoss War. Mech designs were created by Hiroyuki Taiga, who had worked on Beast Wars: Transformers.[3] The character designs were meant to emulate the artstyle of Episode I while adjusting them to be distinct from the originals.[4]
No staff from the original game's production were involved in creating the anime. While all the original characters were included, some original characters were created and incorporated by Toei under approval from the game's developers. Due to the twelve-episode run, some elements of the plot of Xenosaga Episode I needed to be altered, or were changed by the staff of the anime as long as they did not stray too far from the source material. Some aspects were also incorporated based on future developments in Xenosaga Episode II. Character roles were shifted around, such as Shion's brother Jin Uzuki being introduced and featured in a larger role, and supporting character Luis Virgil being given a much larger role in the overall narrative. Other minor characters such as Miyuki were removed entirely.[5] A major scene from the game, the discovery of the Zohar on Earth, was left out of the anime. Despite this, the policy was to keep in as much of the original game's plot and scenes as possible, right down to the unresolved mysteries presented in the game.[6]
The anime's soundtrack was composed by Kousuke Yamashita, who had notably worked on the Nobunaga's Ambition series. To emulate the original orchestral soundtrack of the game, the anime's soundtrack featured a full orchestra, with an orchestrated opening.[4][7] The ending theme, "In This Serenity" performed by Mayumi Gojo, was written by Yamashita and lyrics by Roland Lennox.[2] Like the rest of the score, the ending theme was performed using a full orchestra.[7] The original game's Japanese cast, including Ai Maeda as Shion and Mariko Suzuki as KOS-MOS, reprised their roles for the anime. Maeda found returning to the scenario of Episode I an unnerving experience due to the passage of time and the need to recapture her performance. Suzuki found returning to the scenario nostalgic, enjoying the faster pace of work in relation to the anime's style. Japanese dubbing began in December 2004, a month before the series began broadcasting.[8]
