Joint Production Between Japan’s JAYMEN TOKYO and America’s N LITE MEDIA Studios Announced at Anime Expo 2023 Production based in Japanese studio, with a projected worldwide release of 2025~2026 Japanese animation studio JAYMEN TOKYO (Minato-ku, Tokyo) announced at Anime Expo that it is collaborating with N LITE MEDIA (New York City) to create an animated movie adaptation of ZAN, an original series by world-renowned artist Yoshitaka Amano. Production is centered in Japan, with a Japanese director, screenwriter, and the series creator spearheading the effort. The movie has a planned release of 2025~26. The rest of the production team is being assembled at this time. Please look forward to future updates on the movie’s production!
■ZAN movie team Original art, IP owner: Yoshitaka Amano Mariko Suzuki (M’s Management Office) Producer: Kazuhiko Yusa (JAYMEN TOKYO) Christiano Terry (N LITE MEDIA) Shin Koyamada (N LITE MEDIA / N LITE JAPAN) Shigeru Igari (N LITE JAPAN) Hiroaki Ikegami (SOZO Comics / JAYMEN TOKYO) Cooperation: Dark Horse Comics SOZO Comics
■ZAN story outline: It is near the end of Japan’s Edo era, a time when the samurai system is rapidly fading away. Zan is one of those samurai, spending his days in endless warfare. One day, Zan hears the voice of a strange girl who guides him to another world beyond space and time. So begins his cross-dimensional battle against an assortment of new enemies— and along the way, he learns that he was once part of the “Twelve Generals.” But who is he, really? Who are the enemies he’s fighting, and the comrades he fights with? In an alternate world of light and dark, war threatens to engulf the entire land in darkness. What does fate hold for Zan in this realm...?
■Yoshitaka Amano profile: Yoshitaka Amano joined anime production company Tatsunoko Productions in 1967, providing character designs for Casshern, Time Bokan, and many other series. He became an independent artist and illustrator in 1982, going on to win a Nebula Award four years in a row (1983-86). From there, he served as character and visual concept designer for the Final Fantasy series, as well as working on Vampire Hunter D, N.Y. Salad, Candy Girl, and more. After launching his first solo exhibition in France in 1995, he opened a New York studio in 1997, holding an exhibition there from 1997 to 1999 while also exhibiting much of his work at the Ueno Royal Museum and other locations in Japan. In 2000, he collaborated with famed artist Neil Gaiman on The Sandman, which won the Eisner Award and was nominated for a Hugo Award that same year. In 2019, he produced a poster for a campaign held by Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party, and in 2022 he dedicated a lotus sutra painting to the Omotoyama Kominato Tanjo-ji Temple, the head temple of Nichiren Buddhism in Kamogawa, Japan. Golden View of the World, his latest exhibition, also debuted this year.
JAYMEN TOKYO www.jaymentokyo.com N LITE MEDIA https://www.nlitemedia.com N LITE JAPAN https://www.nlite.jp