L.A.’s Anime Expo, the largest anime event in North America, wraps up today, so we’re looking back at four standout announcements that caught our eye at this year’s jam-packed edition.
Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt
This Studio Trigger revival of the popular 2010s series was announced at last year’s Anime Expo, and this year made a huge splash by sharing a new teaser. The original series’ director Hiroyuki Imaishi is back for the reboot along with animation director Sushio, writer Hiromi Wakabayashi, and designer Shigeto Koyama. According to Trigger president Masahiko Otsuka, the studio has long wanted to revive Panty & Stocking but only recently acquired the rights from the show’s original producer Gainax.
Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt is the story of two fallen angels who raise hell on earth while trying to make their way back into heaven. The original show stood out for the way it blended Eastern and Western animation styles in a frantic and fun story that always felt extremely original.
Pokémon Concierge
Netflix’s previously announced stop-motion series Pokémon Concierge will be released by the platform this December and got a new behind-the-scenes video at Anime Expo. Netflix hasn’t shared many plot details yet, but a brief synopsis reads: “This delightful stop-motion animation tells the story of a concierge named Haru, who works at a resort just for Pokémon, and the guests who come to visit.”
In the behind-the-scenes video, voice actor Non, who performs the voice of Haru, and the show’s director Iku Ogawa walk viewers through dwarf studios Pokémon set, where several adorable puppets pop up.
Suicide Squad ISEKAI
WIT Studios and Warner Bros. Japan unveiled this new DC Comics animated series at their Anime Expo 2023 panel on Monday. The show, which got a brief teaser, will be directed by Eri Osada from scripts by Tappei Nagatsuki and Eiji Umehara.
Isekai means “different world,” and the teaser certainly does seem to imply that at least some of the Suicide Squad’s most popular villains, in this case Harley Quinn and Joker, will be facing off with monsters and characters in distinctly otherworldly settings. There are shots of floating islands, dragons, orc-looking horned creatures, and armored pig men.
Solo Leveling
Aniplex and Crunchyroll are teaming on an anime adaptation of the hugely popular webcomic Solo Leveling that will be available to stream on Crunchyroll before the end of the year. Along with the series announcement, Crunchyroll released a teaser that included several still images as well as the production credits for the show. Sadly, there is very little animation in the teaser, so we’ll have to wait to get a better idea of what the show will look like in motion.
A-1 Pictures is producing the show, with Shunsuke Nakashige directing, Noboru Kimura writing, and Tomoko Sudo handling character design. The original webcomic was created by Dubu, Chugong, and h-goon, and is available on Tappytoon.
