Animated film version of "Slaughter Organ" is produced by Mangrove & Shuko Murase's "Ergo Proxy" tag team!　Animated film version of "Harmony" by 4℃×Takashi Nakamura×Michael Arias

Noitamina has announced the staff for its second theatrical anime series, "Slaughter Organ" and "Harmony".

Both anime works will be released in theaters in 2015 and are based on the novels "Slaughter Organ" and "Harmony" by Keisuke Ito, who died prematurely in 2009 at the age of 34. The popular illustrator redjuice, who worked on the original character design for the noitaminA work "Guilty Crown" (2011) and is known for his Hatsune Miku illustrations and artwork for the creative group "supercell," created the visuals for the film, which has become a hot topic.

The staff was revealed at the "Noitamina Project Presentation 2015" held on November 27. The director of "Slaughter Organ" is Shuukou Murase, who has been attracting a great deal of attention outside of Japan since "Ergo Proxy" in 2006, while Mangrove, well known for "Samurai Champloo" and "Ergo Proxy," will be in charge of production. Harmony" will be double-directed by Takashi Nakamura, who has long been at the forefront of the animation industry, including as animation director for the masterpiece "Akira," and Michael Arias, who won the Japan Academy Award for Best Animated Film for "Tekkonkinkreet. Production is by STUDIO4℃, internationally acclaimed for "Tekkon Sukecrete" and "Berserk".

In addition, the newly announced animated feature film version of "Empire of the Corpse" by Keisuke Ito and Tou Enjou will be directed by redjuice, who will also participate as a character designer for both films. In addition, a new visual has also been released. In "Slaughter Organ", the four members of a special assassination squad led by the hero, Clavis Shepard, and in "Harmony", the heroine, Inspector Kiritoshi Toan, and the elites wearing red coats, the symbol of authority, are the main characters.

Comment by Shugou Murase, director of "Slaughterhouse Machine
Unlike other animals, human beings have come to dominate the earth by communicating and recognizing each other through "language".
The "language" that is supposed to have evolved mankind has driven him into a corner. I am looking forward to seeing such a situation visualized in this film.

Comment from Takashi Nakamura, director of "Harmony
I learned about the original story of "Harmony" only when I was asked to write it. I felt that it was a novel with a certain style, and I was concerned that the simplicity of the story might not stand out when it was made into a film. I hope that the animation will have an appealing emotional impact, and that it will be able to reconcile the apocalyptic elements that are the mission of a science fiction novel with the irony and venom of the original story.

Comment from Michael Arias, Director of "Harmony
I read "Harmony" for the first time when it first came out. It is hard science fiction and takes place about 60 years after the present day, but my impression was that it was (rather) very realistic and filled with many themes that we should all be thinking about now. At the time I read it, I had no idea that I would now be working with Takashi Nakamura, a wonderful animator at STUDIO4℃, to create a film. (Laughs)

Comment from redjuice, character designer for "Slaughterhouse", "Harmony" and "Empire of the Corpse
I was given the great task of simultaneously working on "Slaughter Organ" with its realism of bullets and words, "Harmony", a story of ephemeral lives set in the near future, which can be said to be an extension of modern society, and "Empire of the Corpse", an adventure action drama set in the 19th century with various gimmicks. I was given the great responsibility to work on three works with very different worldviews at the same time. I hope to create a picture that will reach the hearts of as many people as possible, and that it will serve as a catalyst for their creation.

Comment from Koji Yamamoto, Chief Producer
Why are people born and where do they go? Where did the novelist try to reach by bequeathing his story?
We hope that the spirit of the novelist's search for something will be present in the film as well. I hope that the stories left behind will shake people's hearts.