Machi★Asobi 19] Director Seiji Mizushima unveils his latest work! KADOKAWA New Work Announcement Stage" Report

Machi★Asobi vol. 19, Tokushima Prefecture's annual large-scale anime event, celebrated its 19th anniversary this year. Its climax run was held from October 7 (Sat.) to 9 (Mon., holiday), 2017!

At the "KADOKAWA New Work Announcement Stage" held at the top of Mt. Bizan on October 7, director Seiji Mizushima, SF author Toshiharu Hase and illustrator redjuice took the stage and announced that Hase's SF novel "BEATLESS" would be adapted into a TV anime and begin broadcasting from January 2018. BEATLESS" is a science fiction novel by Hase and will start airing in January 2018.

BEATLESS" depicts a boy meets girl relationship between a 17-year-old boy, Arato Endo, and an android, Leisia, a "human" and a "thing" in a world where most of society is left to machines, which are things.

Director Mizushima commented on the work, "It is a work that is ahead of its time, with cute girls and cool boys in a hard setting.

Mr. Hase said, "The director goes into the interpretation of each scene at every meeting. I am very happy to know that he took the time to read the original work.

redjuice, who illustrated the novel, said, "It reminded me of the work "Expelled from Paradise," which Mizushima directed in 2014, and I wondered how he would draw the cute butts and what would happen to them (laughs). (Laughs)" This made the audience laugh. "BEATLESS" was serialized until 2012, and I was a young artist when I started drawing it. I was a young artist when I started drawing it," he commented confidently, "Considering that eight years have passed since the planning stage, I think you will be able to see how much "BEATLESS" has grown.

At this point, the design of the animation drawn by redjuice was also shown to the audience, raising expectations for the broadcast. I hope that all the fans and Mr. Hase, the author of the original story, will enjoy the film as much as I do.

(Reporting and writing by Atsushi Saeki)