Director Masaaki Yuasa boldly adapts Sakyo Komatsu's masterpiece novel into an anime! Netflix Original Anime Series "Sinking of Japan 2020" is now in production!

Director Masaaki Yuasa, who shocked the world with "DEVILMAN crybaby," has taken on the challenge of adapting Sakyo Komatsu's bestseller "The Sinking of Japan" for the first time as the Netflix original anime series "The Sinking of Japan 2020," which will be distributed exclusively worldwide in 2020, A teaser visual has been unveiled.

The original "Sinking of Japan" was published as a novel by Sakyo Komatsu in 1973 and became a bestseller with a total of 4.7 million copies sold. It was also a big hit, grossing 5.34 billion yen at the box office.

This time, Sakyo Komatsu's bestseller "The Sinking of Japan" will be adapted into an anime for the first time as a Netflix original anime series "The Sinking of Japan 2020," which will be distributed exclusively worldwide in 2020, and a teaser visual has been released.

The first anime adaptation of this major content will be directed by Masaaki Yuasa, internationally acclaimed director of "Yoru wa tanashi arukete yo otome," "Yoake no aru no uta," "Kimi to, nani no norareru," "SUPER SHIRO," and others. This is the second Netflix original animation series after "DEVILMAN crybaby," which challenged the limits of animation expression and garnered tremendous support, and once again depicts an unprecedented natural disaster that could not be depicted in live-action with the dynamism and visual expression only possible in animation.

Set in Japan immediately after the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the film depicts "the sinking of Japan that should be depicted now" through "an ordinary family story," which has rarely been depicted in previous "Sinking of Japan" films. The sinking of Japan that should be depicted now" comes to life through the story of an ordinary family, which has rarely been depicted in previous "Sinking of Japan" films. Where is Japan sinking, where are the people headed, and how will the world view this situation?　The film depicts a story of reality and rebirth faced by people who are faced with an undeniable ultimate choice.

Music is by Kensuke Ushio, his third collaboration with Director Yuasa since "Ping Pong the Animation" and "Devilman crybaby. Production will be handled by Science SARU, led by director Yuasa.

The teaser visual released this time depicts the main characters of the film, Ayumi and Tsuyoshi, trying to take a step forward in a collapsed city, and gives a ray of hope in the midst of severe reality.

Comments from director Masaaki Yuasa and the family of Sakyo Komatsu, who manages the original work, have arrived, and are introduced below.

Comments
Director Masaaki Yuasa
What is a country?　What is Japanese?　What is determined by the place of birth and the environment there?　Or is it not?
I am taking on this big title in order to answer the questions I asked myself when I was a child!
The film focuses on a family evacuating during a natural disaster in an Olympic year that threatens the very existence of the nation, and the people who happen to be there, and the people they meet, and how the catastrophe ends!　Please stay tuned.

Sanemori Komatsu (second son of Sakyo Komatsu)
The anime "Sinking of Japan 2020" is completely different from the previous theatrical movies, TV dramas, and comics derived from "Sinking of Japan" in several ways.
It focuses on a life-size Japanese family living in the age of 2025, thrown into a state of blinders, not knowing the details of the tectonic movement, the government's response, foreign assistance, or anything else.
Sakyo Komatsu put into "The Sinking of Japan" - "It is precisely because the Japanese survived the horrific crisis that they can contribute to solving the various crises facing human society, be reevaluated by the world, and play a special role in the future. "The idea of "Japan Sinking 2020.
We hope that people around the world will enjoy "Sinking of Japan 2020" as a work that makes full use of Japan's proud animation techniques, and at the same time receive the messages of "warning of disaster" and "overcoming crisis to open up the future" that are contained in the story. We hope that the audience will also receive the messages of "warning against disasters" and "transcending crisis to open the way to the future.

Film Information】 ※Titles omitted
Netflix Original Animation Series "Sinking of Japan 2020

Distribution date: 2020

Episodes: 10 total
Original story: "Sinking of Japan" by Sakyo Komatsu
Director: Masaaki Yuasa
Series Director: Masaaki Yuasa Screenplay: Hisao Yoshitaka Music: Kensuke Ushio Character Design: Naoya Wada
Color Design: Ken Hashimoto Director of Photography: Toshikazu Kuno Sound Director: Eriko Kimura Editing: Kiyoshi Hirose
Animation Production: Science SARU

＜STORY
In 2020, a major earthquake suddenly strikes Japan, which has just completed a major national project, the Tokyo Olympics.
Ayumu and Go, a sister and brother of the Muto family, an ordinary family living in Tokyo, begin to escape from Tokyo with their family amidst the chaos, but the sinking Japanese islands are relentlessly hunting down the Muto family members. The Muto family is confronted with a choice between life and death, encounter and parting, in an extreme situation. Facing the tremendous reality, the Muto siblings, Ayumi and Tsuyoshi, learn to believe in the future and develop the strength to survive...

(C) "JAPAN SINKS : 2020" Project Partners