Just in, studio MAPPA, the same house behind hits like Attack on Titan and Kakegurui have released the first look at their upcoming anime Zenshu. Check this out:

The official description for the show is as follows:

After graduating from high school, Natsuko Hirose starts her career as an animator. Her talent quickly flourishes, and she makes her debut as a director in no time. Her first anime becomes a massive hit, sparking a social phenomenon and earning her recognition as an up-and-coming genius director. Her next project is set to be a romantic comedy movie themed around first love! However, having never been in love herself, Natsuko struggles to understand the concept of first love, and as a result, she’s unable to create the storyboard, causing the movie production to come to a standstill.

It’s interesting that MAPPA should make something about struggling animators, seeing that the studio has come under fire for poor working conditions. We don’t know if this is them officially saying something about the state of animation, but based on what we see in the trailer, we do some kind of idea how stressful it is to produce anime.

And we thought that making manga was stressful enough.

No release date has been announced for Zenshu, but the series is currently in production, and it’s possible we could get something early next year.

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Adult Swim also provides a synopsis:

The year is 2052—an era of unprecedented peace and prosperity prevails across the globe. The reason for this: mankind has been freed from sickness and pain. Nobel Prize winning neuroscientist Dr. Skinner has developed a miracle cure-all drug with no apparent drawbacks called Hapuna. Hapuna soon becomes ubiquitous… and essential. However, soon after Hapuna is officially introduced, Dr. Skinner vanishes.

Three years later, the world has moved on. But Dr. Skinner has returned—this time, as a harbinger of doom. Skinner announces that Hapuna has a short half-life. Everyone who has taken it will die approximately three years later. Death is coming for this sinful world—and coming soon.

As a response to this threat, a special task force of 5 agents is gathered from across the world to save humanity from Skinner’s plan. This group is called “Lazarus.” Can they find Skinner and develop a vaccine before time runs out?

Besides the involvement of Watanabe, the trailer also confirms that Chad Stahelski—famous stunt coordinator and John Wick director—is attached to the show as an action director.

No doubt, Watanabe has always been a director to watch out for when it comes to anime, and he’s worked on several other notable titles including Cowboy Bebop, The Animatrix, Space Dandy, and Carole & Tuesday.

Though Lazarus does promise to have some solid action scenes and spectacle, the story in the synopsis also promises some very interesting science fiction, and it could have some interesting commentary for this post-pandemic social climate.

No release date has been announced for Lazarus, but fans think a 2024 release date could be possible.

While anime opening sequences usually like to do their own thing with some tropes here and there, Chainsaw Man’s opening was filled with references to other classic films like Pulp Fiction, Big Lebowski, Reservoir Dogs, and No Country for Old Men. Here are some comparisons:

https://twitter.com/Yuyucow/status/1579936239192805376

This isn’t even the fill breakdown of references in the OP yet, and more are coming out online. If anything, it’s a testament to Shingo Yamashita’s love or the craft, and some are also saying that it also references Chainsaw Man creator Tatsuki Fujimoto’s love for cinema as well.

With the shonen anime like One Punch Man, My Hero Academia, and Jujutsu Kaisen dominating the market right now, Chainsaw Man promises to jump into the fray with a fresh new look at unique tone.

When his father died, Denji was stuck with a huge debt and no way to pay it back. Thanks to a Devil dog he saved named Pochita, he’s able to survive through odd jobs and killing Devils for the Yakuza. Pochita’s chainsaw powers come in handy against these powerful demons. When the Yakuza betrays him and he’s killed by the Zombie Devil, Pochita sacrifices himself to save his former master. Now Denji has been reborn as some kind of weird Devil-Human hybrid. He is now a Chainsaw Man!

Chainsaw Man is now available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

Watch the trailer for the first season here:

When his father died, Denji was stuck with a huge debt and no way to pay it back. Thanks to a Devil dog he saved named Pochita, he’s able to survive through odd jobs and killing Devils for the Yakuza. Pochita’s chainsaw powers come in handy against these powerful demons. When the Yakuza betrays him and he’s killed by the Zombie Devil, Pochita sacrifices himself to save his former master. Now Denji has been reborn as some kind of weird Devil-Human hybrid. He is now a Chainsaw Man!

As we can see from the trailer, we should expect a lot of violence from the series, and just like One Punch Man, the show does promise a lot of uniquely designed monsters as well as the Devil-Humans that are tasked to put them down.

Since this is a shonen anime, we should also expect some more common elements to show up. Denji actually gets a lot of props for being a fun shonen protagonist. Beneath the guy who can just turn his body parts into chainsaws, is just a kid trying to make things right—and finally touch a boob or two. Wild.

Chainsaw Man comes out Oct. 11 and will also be streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

Watch this:

Here’s the official description:

In a war-torn feudal Japan filled with mechs and magic, the greatest ronin never known, Yasuke, struggles to maintain a peaceful existence after a past life of violence. But when a local village becomes the center of social upheaval between warring daimyo, Yasuke must take up his sword and transport a mysterious child who is the target of dark forces and bloodthirsty warlords.

Compared to the first teaser, this official trailer shows us a lot more of the action and magic, and we actually get to see hints of Yasuke’s origin. What’s cool is, the costumes that Yasuke dons in the trailer pretty much line up with some of the historical art of the character. He may not have had magical battles, but this at least this anime plans to have some historical accuracy.

Admittedly, I thought some of the voice acting in the first teaser was a bit iffy, but it looks like this preview showcases Stanfield’s acting in a better light. We don’t know how long Netflix wants to keep Yasuke’s story going, but we’ll just have to wait and see how things pan out during the premiere.

Catch Yasuke when the series comes out on Netflix on April 29.