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Gaina Announces Uru in Blue Anime for 2022, New Top o Nerae! 3 Anime Project
posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
The official website of anime studio Gaina (formerly Fukushima Gainax) announced on Friday that it is taking over the production for anime studio Gainax's Uru in Blue (Aoki Uru) theatrical anime project, and is aiming for a worldwide release for the anime in 2022.
In addition, Gaina announced two new theatrical projects titled Top o Nerae! 3 (Aim for the Top! 3, working title) and Akubi o Suru ni wa Wake ga Aru (There's a Reason Behind Yawning), with more information on both titles to be provided at a later date. Top o Nerae! is the Japanese title of Gainax's Gunbuster anime franchise, but the announcement did not explicitly state if the new anime is related to the franchise.
Lastly, Gaina also noted that the previously announced Rescue Academia television anime is slated for a 2021 premiere.
Gainax began plans for Uru in Blue in 1992 with director Hideaki Anno (Neon Genesis Evangelion), writer Hiroyuki Yamaga (Wings of Honneamise), and executive producer Yoshiyuki Sadamoto (Wings of Honneamise). The project was suspended the following year, with revivals announced in 1998, 2001, and 2013. In 2014, Yamaga announced that the film was slated for 2018. A preview short titled "Overture" was slated for 2014, delayed to 2015, and has yet to debut. Yamaga announced in June 2017 that Gainax had begun production on the anime that same month.
Yamaga created the above art for the sliding doors in the Shinjuan in the Daitokuji temple complex in Kyoto. The art will be available for public viewing starting in June, and features a fighter plane from the Uru in Blue anime.
Yamaga is writing and directing the project with designs by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto. Both had worked together in the same roles in the 1987 anime film Royal Space Force - The Wings of Honnêamise. When Yamaga last announced the project, he revealed that Uru in Blue will be produced by Uru in Blue LLP, a Singapore-based limited liability partnership comprised of various investors and partners. The projected budget was US$40 million, and Yasuhiro Takeda was on board as a producer.
A CD-ROM titled "Uru in Blue Frozen Designs Collection" was released in 1998 featuring mechanical, character, and background designs, fighter planes designed by Masamune Shirow (Appleseed, Ghost in the Shell) and Kazutaka Miyatake (Yamato, Macross, Dunbine), as well as Yamaga's original screenplay.
Hideaki Anno directed the 1988 Gunbuster original video anime (OVA) series. US Renditions and Manga Entertainment released the series on videotape, and Bandai Visual USA released the series on DVD in 2007. The OVA received a sequel OVA in 2004 titled Diebuster (Top o Nerae 2!). Both OVA series were compiled into a single film in 2006 titled Gunbuster vs Diebuster Aim for the Top! The GATTAI!! Movie.
Maiden Japan most recently released Gunbuster: The Movie on Blu-ray Disc and DVD in 2016. The compilation film was first released as part of the Gunbuster vs Diebuster Aim for the Top! The GATTAI!! Movie double feature. Discotek released Gunbuster 2: Diebuster on DVD in May 2013.
Fukushima Gainax announced the Rescue Academia television anime project in 2016. The anime's story will be set in the city of Minamisōma in Fukushima Prefecture, and will center around a down-and-out protagonist who gets to know a robot while working rescue efforts. The anime will depict the friendship and growth of a group of children alongside the robot. Local traditional crafts such as Ōborisōmayaki pottery will appear in the story. Gaina is producing the anime to promote Fukushima's "Innovation Coast" initiative that aims to revive industry and tourism in the region after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
The anime was originally slated to finish production this year.
Kinoshita Group Holdings fully acquired Fukushima Gainax last month, changing its name to Gaina and becoming Kinoshita Group Holdings' wholly owned subsidiary. The company relocated its headquarters to Koganei, Tokyo. Yoshinori Asao remains the company's representative director and president, and Naoya Kinoshita is now the company's board chairperson.
