AI Anime Researcher - Motion Generation Models

Spellbrush; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Visa sponsorships available

On-site collaboration

Job summary

Spellbrush is building a 3D first-person adventure game centered on an AI companion. We’re a boutique studio with ties to niji・journey, seeking a talented early member to shape the next-gen LLM-driven storytelling experience.

You’ll work with world-class researchers in a small, fast-paced team, with on-site opportunities in Tokyo or San Francisco and visa sponsorship for qualified candidates.

Qualifications

• Hands-on experience training text-to-motion or audio-to-motion models.
• Experience publishing papers or working in an industrial lab; Grok AI-style inspiration.
• Experience with speech-driven 3D facial animation and motion generation.

Responsibilities

• Balance research exploration with product-focused development.
• Collaborate with research teams to design and implement technical solutions.
• Communicate deliverables and tradeoffs to project stakeholders.

Skills

text-to-motion

facial motion

real-time motion

anime aesthetics

team collaboration

Job description

tl;dr: We're building a 3D first-person adventure game where an AI companion is the core of the game. Think MiSide with LLMs, but truly integrated with gameplay, not just a RP chatbot.

About Us

Here at Spellbrush, we're passionate about making a good anime game.

We also happen to be the world's leading generative AI studio—we're the team behind niji・journey.

Our mission is simple: use AI to bring characters to life and push the boundaries of narrative-driven games.

What We’re Building

We’ve developed an in-house LLM storytelling system that blends AI, story, and gameplay—going far beyond shallow “chat-only” experiences.

The result is an AI companion who cooperates with you in puzzles, remembers across worlds, and changes how each chapter unfolds.

In-game screenshots (development build)

About The Role

You will join a small but extremely talented team to define a new kind of video game experience. You'll work alongside top otaku minds in the industry, including the creator of Warudo and Cytoid, a Google Deepmind veteran behind Project Astra, and top-tier AI researchers.

As an early member of this team, you will have significant artistic and research freedom to shape what could become the next-generation LLM-driven storytelling experience.

Why You'll Love Working With Us

Impact and Ownership: As an early team member, you'll have the opportunity to push the boundaries of what's possible at the intersection of the AI, anime, and video game industry.

A World-Class Team: You'll work directly with some of the best AI researchers and engineers in the world in a small, mighty, and fast-paced team. You also have the opportunity to collaborate with one of the best image and video generation model teams in the world on data collection.

Unparalleled Resources: You will have a generous amount of compute to build the best possible models for anime characters.

Culture: We are seeking individuals who ideally are fans of anime and the anime aesthetic. We believe in the unmatched speed of in-person collaboration.

International Opportunities: We have primary research offices in downtown Akihabara, Tokyo, and San Francisco. Visa sponsorships are available for qualified candidates

You may be a good fit if:

You have hands-on experience in training text-to-motion or audio-to-motion models.

You might have previously published papers around the topic, or have worked at an industrial lab on this and related topics. You have seen the Grok AI companion and can develop systems inspired by such an audio-synced motion-generation system.

You have experience on facial motion generation

Most anime character’s facial expressions are easier to generate than real people. Nevertheless, we have several magnitudes of more real human data. You’ll be a good fit if you have worked on speech-driven 3D facial animation.

You have worked on real-time 3D motion generation

We need to interact with the character in real time. Knowing how to make that happen in terms of motion generation will be a big bonus.

You love anime and the anime aesthetic

As a member of our team, you'll have the opportunity to push the boundaries of what's possible in the anime and video game industry. Ideally you're a fan of the genre.

You're comfortable working on small, fast-paced teams

Our engineering team is small but mighty. You'll be working directly with some of the best AI researchers and engineers in the world.

We also believe in the unmatched speed of in-person teams, and prefer on-site collaboration in either our primary research office in Tokyo (downtown Akihabara) or San Francisco. Visa sponsorships are available.

You can effectively balance research exploration with product-focused development

Or, putting it in RL jargon, exploration and exploitation. You excel at working with research teams to synthesize high-impact needs, design and implement technical solutions, and communicate deliverables and tradeoffs.