Square Enix have announced the premiere date and revealed a teaser trailer for their upcoming anime adaptation The World Ends with You: The Animation.
The news comes via a panel during Anime Expo Lite on July 3rd. More details about the upcoming series was also provided.
The World Ends With You is a 2007 RPG from Square Enix that follows characters on the edge of life and death, trying to win the mysterious Reaper Game. Players follow Neku Sakuraba, a teenage boy who died in unknown circumstances, as he participates in the Reaper Game in order to solve the mystery of his death.
In the Reaper Game, lost souls eliminate enemies called Noise that are attracted to negative feelings that surround the living. While Noise are the primary opponents of the game’s participants, former game winners who chose to become Reapers also try and stand in their way.
Noise exists in both the real world called Realground, and the realm of the dead called the Underground. Noise needs to be killed in both planes in order to fully be defeated.
Characters for the game were designed by artist Tetsuya Nomura who is best known as the lead developer for the Kingdom Hearts series. The World Ends With You was also ported to mobile devices in 2012, and an enhanced Nintendo Switch version titled The World Ends with You: Final Remix came out in 2018.
You can find the teaser trailer and rundown (via the video description) below.
The legendary game returns as an anime!
【STORY】
Make your way through “SHIBUYA” and survive the seven-day “Reaper’s Game”!
The main character Neku wakes up in the middle of a busy Shibuya Crossing Intersection unaware of how he got there.
He’s in an alternate plane of existence called the Underground (UG).
Unknowingly forced to participate in the “Reaper’s Game”, Neku must partner with Shiki, a teenage girl player whom he meets.
Neku must fight to survive by completing the missions thrown at him and defeating the creatures called “Noise.” By doing so, he will confront the “Reaper’s Game” along with the truth buried deep inside his memory.
“The only way to survive is to trust your partner”
Will they survive the “Reaper’s Game”…?
【STAFF】
Based on the original story “The World Ends with You” (SQUARE ENIX)
Director: Kazuya Ichikawa (DOMERICA)
Screenwriter: Midori Goto (SANZIGEN)
Character Design: Tetsuya Nomura & Gen Kobayashi (SQUARE ENIX)
Music: Takeharu Ishimoto (THRILL)
Production: DOMERICA x SHIN-EI ANIMATION
The World Ends With You: The Animation premieres worldwide in 2021.
