Production I.G. Collaborates on Halo Anime

Last year Production I.G. and Studio 4°C collaborated with DC and Warner Bros on Batman: Gotham Knight. Now, joined by Bones (Fullmetal Alchemist), Casio Entertainment and Toei Animation (Kanon), they’re working on a Halo anime financed by Microsoft.

The Los Angeles Times reports that directional duties will be handled by Shinji Aramaki, the man behind Appleseed and its sequel. Aramaki will also be directing his own Halo short. Titled Halo Legends, the anime series will be distributed by WB on DVDs and Blu-ray early next year, and will be previewable on XBLA this fall.

While Production I.G. is no stranger to working on game-related projects (they’ve worked on everything from Fire Emblem to Professor Layton), I was surprised to see Toei enlisted to aid with the project. Why enlist Toei when you’ve already got studios like I.G. and Studio 4°C, both with a significant amount of sci-fi experience?

Delving further into the L.A. Times’ article gives you an idea:

Studio4 C’s project, tentatively called “Origins,” is a two-parter that’s about 30 minutes long in total and tells the entire 100,000 year history of the Halo universe. Another, from Toei, is the only one outside of the official canon and pokes fun at some of the game’s characters.

Well, that explains it! I’m not particularly interested in Halo, but I will admit to having almost a blind faith in Production I.G. That they’re involved with the series gives me enough incentive to want to watch it.