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Ani-One Asia Licenses Dark Machine the Animation Series

Ani-One Asia announced on Tuesday that it will stream Dark Machine the Animation, the original anime for the Dark Machine game and anime project, beginning on October 14 at 2:15 a.m. GMT +8. Ani-One Asia describes the anime:

The globally popular esports game Dark Machine has sparked immense enthusiasm among the public. Golden Valley is the only city in Japan designated as a Dark Machine Special Economic Zone. Ruling at the top of this district is Ajima, the seventh-generation successor to the title of “Senki,” bestowed upon the strongest Dark Machine player. The protagonist, Kairi, visits Golden Valley, holding fast to his late grandfather's final words: “Seek out Senki.” There, he happens to encounter a girl named Rudra, who is being pursued by Ajima's subordinate, Arudabiru. After getting caught up in Rudra's troubles, Kairi becomes a Dark Machine player himself. Through a series of fierce battles, his latent talent gradually begins to blossom. Will Kairi be able to face “Senki” and forge his own destiny? Kairi's battle to reach the pinnacle of Dark Machine begins now.

The anime has its own unique world setting, which includes Dark Machine being a popular gaming metaverse, and it takes place "in the not too distant future." The anime is planned for global distribution.

The series stars:

• Kenshō Ono as Kairi
• Miyuki Sawashiro as Rudora
• Kōki Uchiyama as Shinn
• Riho Sugiyama as Bran
• Saya Aizawa as Isana
• Yūichi Nakamura as Ajima
• Kazuyuki Okitsu as Myōjin
• Ryōta Suzuki as Ryō
• Genta Nakamura as Kinji
• Sōhei Horikane as Hiru
• Ryūnosuke Watanuki as Nyūdō
• Jun Kousaka as Hachiman
• Minori Suzuki as Bianca
• Rikuya Yasuda as Weiss
• Nao Tōyama as Ark
• Nonoka Ōbuchi as Denebora
• Rei Nakashima as Spica

The staff for the anime's pilot trailer that premiered at Comic-Con International in July 2024 has been confirmed to work on the television anime. Kazumi Terada is directing the anime at Production +h. The overall project credits Code Geass director Gorō Taniguchi as the creative producer, and Macross artist Hidetaka Tenjin as the chief mechanical designer. Keiichi Yano is the project's creator. "Team Carbuncle" — featuring Takaaki Suzuki, Tatsuhiko Urahata, and Atsuo Ishino, — which was listed for writing credits in the pilot trailer, is in charge of the anime's series scripts with the addition of Satohito Sata. BUCK-TICK performs the opening theme song "Sonzai Riyū Kai" (Reason to Live, Renewed).

Other staff members include:

• Main Character Designer: Kō Yoshinari
• Sub-Character Designer: Akira Mitani
• Costume Design: Mebachi
• Chief Animation Directors: Yumi Kuroiwa, Hideki Itō
• storyboard: Masatsugu Arakawa
• Color Key Artist: niko＊miko
• Art Setting: Hiromi Tateiwa, Engawa,Nariyuki Ogi
• Art Directors: Hiromi Tateiwa, Yusuke Ikeda
• CG Director: Akira Inami
• CG Action Director: Ryou Kimura
• Compositing Director of Photography: Naoko Tanaka
• Photography Supervision: Kentarō Waki
• Editing: Yuki Honda
• Sound Director: Takeshi Takadera
• Sound Effects: Tomoko Ohtsuka
• Music: SUGIZO
• Music Production: Flying Dog

The anime has a manga adaptation that launched on Jitsugyo no Nihon Sha, Ltd.'s Comic Ruelle and Comic Jardin on September 24 ahead of its broadcast debut. Kei Kondо̄ is drawing the manga.

The Dark Machine "asynchronous big team arena shooter" game was announced in 2023, and Early Access started in 2024.

Taniguchi is the creative producer on the game, and Tenjin is the chief mechanical designer. Yuya Saito is the game director and Koji Hakuta is the producer. The game is a 7-versus-7 mech third-person shooting game.

The staff raised more than US$8.7 million from more than 6,000 investors including Tencent, web3 game platform Immutable, and blockchain company Sui. The staff are developing the game with Unreal Engine 5. The game features the blockchain-based in-game currency MACHINA ($MXNA), and also features NFT asset ownership and an NFT marketplace for direct sales and peer-to-peer exchanges. Players can install and play the game without having to purchase any NFTs, and get free NFTs to start playing the game. Decentralized tournaments are integral to the gameplay.

Source: Ani-One Asia's Facebook page