Akihabara@Deep (lost production material of cancelled anime series; late 2000s)

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Akihabaraatdeep 1.jpg

One of the finished pieces of key art by Ippei Gyoubu.

Status: Lost

Akihabara@Deep is a Japanese novel by Ira Ishida that was originally published in 2004. Telling the story about a group of otaku social outcasts aiming to solve problems in their local hangout, the novel inspired a manga series, a Japanese television drama and a live action film.

At the 2006 Tokyo Anime Fair, Nickelodeon and Polygon Pictures announced their intent to develop the novel into a CG-animated series.[1] According to character designer Ippei Gyoubu, work had started on the series about a year earlier.[2] A report from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) claimed production would be finished no earlier than spring 2009.[3]

Described as "an edgy, colorful and fast-paced cyber-detective comedy/action/drama based in Tokyo’s electronics district," the series would have been aimed at a tween demographic compared to the source material's teen/adult audience.[4][5] Retooling the content to reach that age group proved a significant challenge, as a writer, Robert Chang, reported his pitch was turned down due to still being too mature.[6] The series was eventually developed by Rita Street and her company Radar Cartoons, but Akihabara@Deep ultimately went unfinished.[7] It's not known how far into production the series went into before cancellation.

In June 2015, Gyoubu posted two previously unseen pieces of concept art for the show on Twitter. He joked that maybe the NHK would fund the series.[8]

Surfaced Content

References