SOZO Comics (SOZO IP, LLC), based in Los Angeles, California, announced the production of an anime series based on ZAN, a series of original art from world-renowned artist Yoshitaka Amano, as part of the ZAN Project, which also includes a P2E blockchain game and NFT art.
ZAN, originally announced in 2010 under the name DEVA ZAN, is an original art collection consisting over 300 pieces of artwork from Amano that combine to build an action-fantasy world. The series, which works on an epic, time-traveling scale, was first published in artbook form by Dark Horse Comics (Milwaukee, WI) in 2013, becoming a worldwide hit. Sozo Comics has been publishing an online comic adaptation by Yuzuki Momoi worldwide since 2019 in English, Japanese, and Chinese.
The anime project will be spearheaded by producer JAYMEN TOKYO (Minato-ku, Tokyo) and GOOD WIN (Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo). Trophee, a Singaporean blockchain system development firm, will contribute to the project’s blockchain game and NFTs.
More announcements and releases will be unveiled at Anime Expo, America’s largest anime event (run by SPJA), in July 2023. A tie-in with Anime Expo is also being planned.
Be on the lookout for more news on the ZAN anime/P2E blockchain game/NFT project!
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 Birth Temple, the head temple of Nichiren Buddhism in Kamogawa, Japan. Golden View of the World, his latest exhibition, also debuted this year.
Artbooks / Comics
■ SOZO Comics: www.sozoip.com (directors: Hiroaki Ikegami, Jon Levin)
A worldwide digital distributor of Japanese comics in English, Chinese, and Japanese.
■ JAYMEN TOKYO: www.jaymentokyo.com (director: Kazuhiko Yusa)
A producer of Japanese – Chinese anime projects based on Japanese and Chinese properties.
■ GOOD WIN: https://g-win.jp/ (director: Shigeru Igari)
A Japanese producer of films, TV series, and advertisements.
■ Trophee: https://www.trophee.xyz (CEO: Elvin Li)
A Singaporean developer of blockchain, NFT, and crypto-asset projects.
■ Anime Expo (SPJA): https://www.anime-expo.org (director: Ray Chiang)
The producer of Anime Expo, North America’s largest anime convention, held every July.
For more information:
SOZO COMICS: SHIHO KANEKO shiho@sozoip.com
SOURCE: SOZO IP, LLC
