Highlights
- Sunrise Studios and SHAFT have announced their first-ever co-produced original anime project.
- A teaser video offers barely any story clues but showcases a moody, neon-lit atmosphere.
- The collaboration brings together Sunrise’s franchise-driven spectacle and SHAFT’s experimental visual storytelling.
Bandai Namco Filmworks announced on June 18 that Sunrise Studios and SHAFT will co-produce an unnamed original anime project. The news arrived alongside a new joint X account and a five-day countdown leading to the anime’s full reveal at 12:30 am on June 24 (24:30 JST, June 23).
This collaboration between SHAFT and Sunrise Studios marked the first formal production collaboration between the two major studios. The project’s format, story, staff, and other details have not been disclosed yet.
The Sunrise x SHAFT pairing also stands out because the two studios have focused on varied genres and styles for decades. The Code Geass studio, Sunrise, functions as Bandai Namco’s in-house anime arm, built on mecha and franchise titles. SHAFT, meanwhile, built its reputation through experimental, dialogue-driven visual storytelling.
Sunrise x SHAFT Collaboration Teases a Blend of Spectacle and Experimental Storytelling
The only promotional material, a visual teaser, offers few direct clues about the Sunrise x SHAFT anime project. The short video is built from color scripts, the early artwork studios use to set the mood and palette before animation begins.
Sunrise x SHAFT clip hints at atmosphere and neon-drenched urban lighting, with a sudden flashing of a knife, but shows no specific characters or settings. The teaser highlighting both studio logos reflects that the collaboration is being positioned around the creative identities of the studios as much as the anime itself.
An original project, rather than a manga or light novel adaptation, is also uncommon for two studios whose recent output has leaned heavily on existing source materials. Sunrise’s catalog leans on culturally impactful anime, including Mobile Suit Gundam and Cowboy Bebop. The studio is currently collaborating with Production I.G on a two-part Armored Trooper VOTOMS:The Gray Witch film series, directed by Mamoru Oshii.
On the other hand, SHAFT, known for Puella Magi Madoka Magica and the Monogatari series, built its identity on surreal visual experimentation and dialogue-heavy storytelling. If the final production meaningfully combines their two different approaches, it could result in an anime that blends large-scale spectacle with an auteur-driven visual presentation rarely seen in mainstream anime.
