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Kamen Rider Franchise Establishes New Label for Animated Films With 1st Project by Aniplex, Shirogumi (Updated)

Toei announced on Friday the establishment of a "The Kamen Rider Animated" label for animated film projects in the Kamen Rider franchise. The first work will be a co-production between Aniplex and Shirogumi.

The news was announced at a 55th anniversary announcement event for the franchise on Friday.

Works at the new label will target anime fans both domestically and internationally, and will aim to create works that even those unfamiliar with the franchise can enjoy. The label will work with various partners on animated works.

The co-production between Aniplex and Shirogumi will be a completely original work with plans for worldwide distribution. The anime will use "graphical CG animation" and "manga-style visuals" instead of a 3DCG look.

The event on Friday also announced other new projects, including: a new Kamen Rider MY-TH (pronounced Maisu) series, a completely new app game project under the temporary title "Game Project Henshin," and several new films including a Kamen Rider ZEZTZ crossover film with the Super Space Sheriff Gavan Infinity series on July 24 and a Kamen Rider Kabuto new 20th anniversary film opening on November 6.

The event also announced two other new film labels for the franchise, including "Kamen Rider Chronicle" that will focus on films based on past Kamen Riders, and the "Kamen Rider Premium" label for big-budget films that will also be targeted at foreign markets. The "Kamen Rider Chronicle" label is producing a Kamen Rider Den-O project for its 20th anniversary. Additionally, the label's first film, Agito: Chōnōryoku Sensō, will open on April 29.

Update: Toei also revealed in a press release its global streaming initiative for the franchise as part of the 55th anniversary. Toei is relaunching its official "Toei Tokusatsu World Official" YouTube channel for tokusatsu content. The channel will stream Kamen Rider Agito and Kamen Rider KABUTO. The first two episodes of each series are available now, with episode 3 debuting on April 11 U.S. time. Afterward, the channel will release two new episodes each week. Each episode is available worldwide excluding Japan and China with English subtitles, and each episode will be available for four weeks only.

Sources: Kamen Rider Web (link 2), Kamen Rider franchise's X/Twitter account, Comic Natalie, Press release