Full-length movie based on Cthulhu-themed Japanese TTRPG Mountains of Madness now in production
The official YouTube channel of Madaraushi premiered the NAKED PEAK: Climb the Mountains of Madness pilot anime film, based on the Cthulhu-themed tabletop role-playing game Kyōki Sanmyaku ~Jashin no Sanrei~ (Mountains of Madness ~Summit of the Evil Gods~), on Tuesday.
The staff describes the story:
A flight to Antarctica turns into a frantic rescue mission after the plane mysteriously vanishes.
Efforts to locate the missing passengers lead rescuers to discover the plane’s course set for a never-before-seen mountain range – the largest on Earth.Towering over 10,000 feet above sea level, the Everest-eclipsing eighth wonder of the world (officially nicknamed the “Mountains of Madness”) draws attention from the world’s best climbers and thrill-seekers. Although they have conquered the tallest peaks in the past, Earth’s new
vertigo-inducing heights are surpassed only by the dreadful horrors awaiting at the top.
Yūsaku Kumagai (in-between animation for Naruto Shippūden: The Will of Fire, Doraemon the Movie: Nobita’s Mermaid Legend films) directed the pilot anime film at Stereotype. Senbon Umishima (Black Bullet, She and Her Cat -Everything Flows-) and Ryu Ōyama were in charge of character and creature designs, respectively. Yasutada Kato (Case Closed, Major) was the art director, and Chiemi Kurosaki (Classroom Crisis, A Couple of Cuckoos) was the animation director. Madaraushi is credited for planning, original story, and as executive producer. Isekaijoucho performed the theme song.
Other staff for the pilot anime includes:
Madaraushi launched a crowdfunding campaign in October 2021 to fund the pilot anime film, which was initially titled Kyōki Sanmyaku, and is the “first step” toward an anime film.
The campaign for the pilot anime film received the 2022 CAMPFIRE Crowdfunding Award in the “Animation and Manga” category for raising more than 1400% of its goal, netting more than US$1 million (119 million yen) from almost 12,000 backers. The full-length movie is now in production, and behind-the-scene footages will stream on Madaraushi’s YouTube channel.
The Cthulu Mythos-themed tabletop RPG Kyōki Sanmyaku ~Jashin no Sanrei~ takes inspiration from H.P. Lovecraft‘s similarly-titled book At the Mountains of Madness (titled “Kyōki no Sanmyaku ni te” in Japanese), and is a focused scenario that has players exploring and climbing a mountain in a horror-themed story. The standalone RPG has no direct connection to the Call of Cthulhu tabletop RPG, or Rob Daviau and Miguel Coimbra’s similarly titled Mountains of Madness board game.
Sources: Press release, Madaraushi’s YouTube channel, NAKED PEAK – Climb the Mountains of Madness pilot anime film’s website
