What’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse co-director Peter Ramsay up to these days? Well, he directed episodes of Ahsoka and The Mandalorian Season 3, and has served as an assistant director and producer on a number of high- and mid-sized projects (animated and live-action). Next up, he’ll be working on something completely different with Afro Samurai studio Gonzo KK
The news broke via Variety , who shared all the details of the project they’re cooking up, along with some surprising names.
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First, Ramsey will execute. Produced and co-wrote the script Ripper“a live-action/anime hybrid feature film set in post-World War II Japan” that “tells the story of two detectives on the hunt for a serial killer who takes the lives of the women they each love.” The project was developed by Created by N Lite’s production supervisor Samantha Inoue Harte and co-writers Paul Alvarado-Dykstra and Rafael Antonio Ruiz. In addition to these names, Viola Davis and husband Julius Tennon’s JuVee Productions will also produce alongside N Lite and Gonzo KK
The second project is fireflyAccording to N Lite, it’s a “swashbuckling sci-fi/fantasy adventure series about two star-crossed, magic-wielding warriors bound together by love and grief.” Ramsey will serve as executive producer, with Inoue Hart, Alvarado-Dykstra and CEO Christiano Terry credited as creators.
“I’m excited to be working with N Lite on a very personal project. The shared experiences of Black and Japanese people in Japan during World War II is an intersection of history and culture that we’ve never seen on screen. It’s also an incredible one. The time has come to go through the whole animation thing, and as a true lover of the medium, I’m eager to create something that’s never been done before,” teases Ramsey. The talent involved also referenced some of Gonzo’s past work such as African Samurai, Hellsing, and Full Metal Panic! as inspiration. While both “Ripper” and “Hotaru” are still in their early stages, it seems like anime fans should expect a lot of DNA from Gonzo’s “traditional works.”
N Lite is a Black-owned multimedia company “led by a diverse team of veteran executives from HBO, NEXTEL, Boeing and McKinsey & Company.” The company is responsible for production and distribution in film, television, marketing, publishing and consumer products. The company is currently strengthening partnerships and internal projects, while also operating a studio in Tokyo.
This exciting announcement comes at a time when anime is playing an ever-increasing role in mainstream pop culture across the Western world, so it’s great to see a collaboration like this develop into something tangible that can be influenced by artists around the world. Please have more of this!
