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DEVILMAN crybaby's Masaaki Yuasa Helms Japan Sinks Novel's 1st Anime for Netflix

Netflix and Science SARU announced on Wednesday that Masaaki Yuasa is directing an upcoming anime series adaptation of Sakyo Komatsu's Japan Sinks (Nihon Chinbotsu) science-fiction novel. The 10-episode series will debut worldwide on Netflix in 2020.

The original disaster sci-fi novel begins when a series of natural disasters hit Japan. Massive tectonic shifts cause volcanic eruptions from remote Japanese islands, triggering earthquakes, and eventually triggering more eruptions in volcanoes in the Japanese mainland. Through it all, a team of scientists attempt to convince the Japanese government that the Japanese archipelago will soon sink beneath the sea sooner than anyone expected.

The new anime moves the setting from 1970s Japan to 2020, just after the Tokyo Olympics. The story centers on the Mutō family, and the siblings Ayumi and Takeshi. (Note: Character name romanizations are not official.) The four members of the Mutō family are caught in an earthquake that hits Tokyo, and attempt to escape the city, while disaster claws at their heels.

Yuasa is directing the anime at his Science SARU studio, with Pyeon-Gang Ho credited as series director. Toshio Yoshitaka (Dragon Ball Super) is penning the script. The musician kensuke ushio, who has collaborated with Yuasa in the Ping Pong and DEVILMAN crybaby anime, is composing the music. Naoya Wada (DEVILMAN crybaby episode director) is drawing the character designs. Ken Hashimoto is the color key artist. Toshikazu Kuno is the compositing director of photography. Eriko Kimura is the sound director. Kiyoshi Hirose is in charge of editing.

Komatsu debuted the original novel in 1973, and the novel has inspired two live-action films — one that also debuted in 1973, and another in 2006 by Gainax co-founder and Shin Godzilla director Shinji Higuchi. It also inspired a 1975 live-action series, as well as two manga adaptations: the first by Golgo 13 author Takao Saitō, and a 2006-2009 manga by Tokihiko Ishiki. The novel is regarded as a science-fiction classic in Japan and around the world.

JManga and Crunchyroll posted Saito's manga adaptation in English, and British video distributor Tartan Video released a subtitled DVD of Higuchi's live-action film.

Yuasa and Science SARU are also creating a Super Shiro anime spinoff from the Crayon Shin-chan franchise, adapting Sumito Ōwara's Eizōken ni wa Te o Dasu na! (Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!) manga into a television anime, and producing a new musical anime feature film titled INU-OH based on Hideo Furukawa's novel.

Sources: Eunyoung Choi's Twitter account, Comic Natalie