Comic book pioneer and regular cameo star Stan Lee (X-men and The Avengers) will venture again into anime territory with THE REFLECTION. Last Saturday at Los Angeles Comic Con, Stan Lee revealed a teaser visual and staff for anime project THE REFLECTION. The new series is a collaboration between Pow! Entertainment company (Lee’s company), Studio Deen and director Hiroshi Nagahama (Flowers of Evil, Detroit Metal City, Mushi-Shi)
THE REFLECTION
Studio DEEN describes the story:
“After THE REFLECTION, some of the people in all parts of the world are discovered with super powers. Some become heroes, and others villains. How did the Reflection happen? What was the cause of it? With many unsolved mysteries, the world is lead into turmoil.”
The staff includes:
Stan Lee: original work
Pow! Entertainment and Studio Deen: project planning
Hiroshi Nagahama (Flowers of Evil, Detroit Metal City, Mushi-Shi): director, character design, co-creators
Yoshihiko Umakoshi (Casshern Sins, Berserk, Mushi-Shi): animation designer
Trevor Horn (ZTT Records): music producer
9nine (Star Driver, Magi, Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun): incidental music
Stan Lee’s First Anime: Heroman
This isn’t Stan Lee’s first venture into anime. The Godfather of comic book heroes has collaborated with anime studio BONES on the Heroman anime series. And while Heroman received positive reviews for its lighthearted fighting scenes, it did not add anything new or unique to the Shounen genre. However, Lee’s work not only spread to anime but also manga as he and Hiroyuki Takei collaborated on the manga series, which ended in October 2015.
Release Date?
While the panel did not reveal much, we do know that it will get a worldwide release sometime next year. Last year the plan was to release it first in Japan, so luckily, that changed. In the meantime, you can watch Heroman and see if Stan Lee’s magic translates well into anime territory.