South Korean animator and director, Sunghoo Park has made a name for himself having directed the anime God of High School as well as the hugely successful Jujutsu Kaisen, which is currently in its second season. Now, he has a new project he would like to share with all of us, and it looks particularly gory.
After falling in love with animation, Park studied the medium in South Korea before moving to Japan to study at the Chiyoda Institute of Technology and Art. After working at Studio Comet, where he started back in 2004, he directed his first anime in 2017 with MAPPA, titled Garo: Vanishing Line. With his work on Jujutsu Kaisen, Park was nominated for Best Director at the 5th Crunchyroll Anime Awards, with the show going on to win Best Anime.
Now, whilst the second cour of Jujutsu Kaisen is still ongoing, the director is bringing us yet another project, Ninja Kamui, to premiere on Adult Swim’s Toonami in the U.S. The latest anime is an original work, and from the looks of the recent trailer that just dropped, it is going to be bloody. The video posted to Adult Swim’s YouTube page gives audiences a look at the trailer which is then followed by a word from the director himself.
The story revolves around the character of Joe Higan, a former ninja who left his clan in order to live a better life with his family in rural America. He cannot escape his past though, as he is ambushed by assassins who find him to exact bloody retribution for leaving. They kill his wife and child, and leaving him for dead. After he awakes in what appears to be a morgue, Joe sets off on a mission of revenge, taking on the persona he had left behind, that of Ninja Kamui, to take down the very clan he came from.
The series looks to mix modern weaponry with ancient and mystical skills and techniques, which should make for some very interesting fight scenes, such as the one seen in the trailer. In the quick Q&A, Park tells us:
“We pursued a different action and storyline from existing ninja-based films. Especially in terms of the action, we tried to combine live-action and animation styles into one.”
The series is the first from Park’s own studio, E&H Productions, and the director reminds us of this adding, “This is the first animated series that E&H Productions has produced and many of us put our heart and soul into it. I hope you will enjoy watching it to the end.” Along with Park, Takashi Okazaki, known for his work on Afro Samurai, will be working on character design leading us all to believe that this series will be action-packed and visually stunning.
Ninja Kamui is expected to premiere sometime in 2024, though not approximate date has yet been given.
Published: Jul 23, 2023 09:11 pm