It’s a sword, guy. Work with that.

Earlier today, the team behind the Sword Gai: The Animation TV series unveiled the show’s core staff, as well as a key visual. We break the details down below:

Staff

Takahiro Ikezoe (Show By Rock!!, PriPri Chii-chan!!) will serve as chief director on the project, with Tomohito Naka (New Theatrical Movie Initial D Legend 2: Racer) taking the director’s chiar at LandQ Studios. Atsuko Nakajima (Haven’t You Heard? I’m Sakamoto, Ranma ½) will serve as character designer, while series co-creator Toshiki Inoue will handle series composition.

Other confirmed crew members include:

  • Music: Kotaro Nakagawa
  • Sound Director: Toshiki Kameyama
  • Art Director: Seiko Akashi
  • 3D Directors: Akihiko Kimura
  • 3D Directors: Kenji Isobe
  • Color design: Masato Sasaki

In addition to LandQ Studios, DLE Inc. and Production I.G. are listed on animation production.

Key Visual

The image features lead character Gai in black and white, standing against a background of line art spattered with blacks, blues, and reds.

Sword Gai: The Animation will make its debut at this year’s Tokyo Comic Con, which is being held over the weekend. The first episode will be shown on Sunday. Netflix will stream the series across the globe in Spring 2018.

The show was first revealed in the pages of Monthly Hero’s Magazine in 2014. At the time, the publication revealed that Sword Gai would be a co-production between entertainment company Fields and Flash anime studio DLE Inc.

The title will be based on Toshiki Inoue (Ranma ½, Ushio & Tora), Osamu Kine, and Keita Amamiya’s manga of the same name. Inoue served as writer on the project, while Amemiya produced the original character designs. Kine provided final character designs for the title.

Netflix describes Sword Gai: The Animation Series as:

A weapon that has drawn the blood of countless victims becomes legend, and at times takes on a life of its own. When such a weapon’s human host is filled with hate and murderous intent, he becomes a demonic combination of weapon and man that thirsts only for slaughter.

An organization has faced these dangerous beings over the centuries. A young man named Gai is destined to live as a weapon. As humans are enthralled by their weapons’ power, epic battles unfold with the fate of humanity in the balance in this battle action fantasy. The series will debut globally on Netflix in Spring 2018.

Sword Gai made its début in the pages of Monthly Hero’s in December 2012. The series went on to span six volumes. Sequel series Sword Gai Evolve, which brought the original creators back together, launched in Monthly Hero’s November 2015. The ongoing title spans three compiled volumes, with the most recent hitting stores on June 5.

The title inspired a 3D CGI film in 2013, which you can check out below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vFW6DexGKo

Sources: Animate Times