
Commenter Weils has brought to my attention some further news of Yoshitoshi Abe’s ‘Despera‘.
A related manga serialization will begin in the Japanese magazine Animage, starting with a two page spread (an image of which is above). While I’m sure this opinion will surprise exactly no-one, I think it looks great, with a green hue and a murky atmosphere that’s already so reminiscent of Abe’s work on Lain and Texhnolyze.
The image is from writer Chiaki J. Konaka’s official website, which also happens to confirm (in-line with my recent speculation) that both he and the talented director Ryutaro Nakamura will be involved in the project too, which is great news.
Aside from their collaboration on the Serial Experiments Lain anime, Nakamura’s helming of Kino’s Journey and Ghost Hound made for some great, oft-disturbing anime, while Konaka’s many writing credits includes the likes of The Big O, Texhnolyze and Devil Lady.
As far as I’m concerned, Despera will reunite three of the anime industry’s most interesting talents; a trio with a particular liking for dark science fiction and psychological horror. I can’t wait.
Update: Here is another new image, scanned from the article in Animage:


