Comics / Press Releases

'Apocalypse Meow' anime to be released on YouTube

By The Editor
July 5, 2010 - 08:37

An animated version of the manga series "Apocalypse Meow" is set to be released on YouTube on July 17. It is based on Motofumi Kobayashi's popular manga series released as "Cat Shit One" in Japan. Kobayashi is considered Japan's No. 1 military manga artist.

"Apocalypse Meow" is noted for its humorous animal characters and detailed combat descriptions. Since its release in 1998, four volumes of the manga have been published by Softbank Creative Corp. It is also popular in the United States, Spain, Poland and other countries.

The full CG film, titled "Cat Shit One--The Animated Series," was created by director Kazuya Sasahara and CG production house Anima Inc. The anime was made using high-definition technology, and a 3-D version is reportedly in the works. The official website of the animation opened following the announcement of the YouTube release. The website will have special content and other features added eventually.

Director Sasahara and Anima, for which he is a board member, have worked on the anime since its trailer premiered at the Tokyo International Anime Fair (TAF) 2009. It was also showcased in December at the SIGGRAPH Asia 2009 Computer Animation Festival in Yokohama.

Until last year, Anima had featured its original anime at its booth at TAF. But this year, the main attraction was 3-D technology. Anima showed two kinds of 3-D display devices at its booth: one that requires polarized glasses (stereoscopic display) and the other that needs no glasses (autostereoscopic display).

Anima participated in the Ishikawa Content Market 2010 in Ishikawa Prefecture in March, for the second year in a row. It also established a development subsidiary called AI Inc. in Kanazawa on April 1.

Anima's predecessor was the Sasahara-gumi, a group of creators who came together in the 1990s led by Sasahara. The group formed a small company in 1997. It converted to a stock company and changed its name to Anima in 2003, resulting in the current structure.

Anima is now a mid-sized production studio with 80 employees, including contract workers. Anima is expected to grow even further with "Apocalypse Meow," in view of its successful planning and commercialization of the title.

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12