Full disclosure; We love Kenji Kamiyama here at OTAQUEST. Even if the man wasn’t gracious enough to donate time out of his incredibly busy schedule to us on more than one occasion, we’d have to give it up to him for his incredibly prolific and consistent career. The man behind Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex and the creator of Eden of The East, to name just a few of his accolades, he’s earned his place amongst the greatest of animation legends. Despite being a downright veteran, he shows no signs of slowing down having co-directed two shows in the past two years with not just one but two more on the way.
Seemingly independent from his trio of collaborations with Shinji Aramaki, GITS SAC_2045, Ultraman, and the yet to be released Blade Runner Lotus Flower, it turns out Kenji Kamiyama has been plugging away on an original! Though it won’t be coming out until 2022, Kenji Kamiyama has a ‘feature-length’ anime for WOWOW’s 30th Anniversary, a huge broadcaster in Japan. While no names nor images were shared, it was announced this will be a ‘socially conscious adventure’ centering around youth and crime! Most of Kamiyama’s best titles feature ample societal, and we’re more than ready to hear his 2022 takes.
Recent years have seen Kenji Kamiyama more interested in creating works in 3D animation, and Craftar, the studio animating this, has generally works in 3D animation production. One could safely assume this anime will follow suit. He’s always particularly excelled at his script crafting and knowing that he’s both directing and writing this title, effectively giving him much control over the production, leaves us excited for him to fully unleash his potential. The world’s an increasingly complicated and grey place, and we bet he has something to say.
Kenji Kamiyama’s original ‘feature-length’ anime will debut on WOWOW in 2022.