A proof of concept “pilot film” was released for artist Yoshitaka Amano’s ZAN anime adaptation at this year’s Anime Expo last week. The first-look of the project was initially teased as a trailer for a “limited anime series” of ZAN in June 2026.
The anime’s official YouTube channel describes the main synopsis as:
Across time and dimensions, the epic battle of ZAN begins.
During Japan’s Warring States period, the warrior ZAN was locked in a fierce battle at Azuchi Castle. Guided by the mysterious voice of a young girl, he steps beyond time and space into another world—a realm where he must face powerful rivals and monstrous beings known as Tropes. RIKKA, the ruler who commands the Tropes—the very symbols of life—maintains the world’s order. Questioning the justice behind his own battles, ZAN embarks on a journey to uncover the truth, joined by Panther, a mechanical lifeform, and Uzume, the enigmatic girl who called out to him.
Some of the production staff involved with the pilot film include Toru Yoshida (Gattai Robot Atranger director) as director, Moriyasu Taniguchi (Anime R founder) as character designer and animation director, and Kunio Okawara (Mobile Suit Gundam mechanical designer) as mechanical designer. Amano is credited with the original concept.
Meanwhile, the staff for the planned limited animated series will consist of Masashi Ikeda (Mobile Suit Gundam Wing original director) and Yoshida as animation directors, Taniguchi as main animator, Ryosuke Takahashi (Armored Trooper Votoms creator and director) as series composer, Yuya Takashima (The Fable series composer, Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch of Mercury sci-fi researcher) as writer, and Okawara and Minoru Nishida (The Dawn of the Witch background art director) as art directors.
© Yoshitaka Amano / Yoshitaka Amano Inc.
Development on a ZAN anime project has been reported as far back as 2010, when Amano was slated to direct a project titled DEVA ZAN that was originally set to be released in spring 2012. In 2022, SOZO Comics announced an anime series as part of a project that included a Play to Earn blockchain game and NFT art. In 2023, it was announced that JAYMEN TOKYO and N LITE were were collaborating to produce a ZAN film, with production “centered in Japan, with a Japanese director, screenwriter, and the series creator spearheading the effort” and a planned 2025 to 2026 release date
The DEVA ZAN art project includes over 300 original artwork from Amano. An art book was published by Dark Horse Books in 2013, with a comic series also being published by SOZO Comics.
The Dark Horse Manga imprint will release a second edition of Amano’s DEVA ZAN art book in March 2027, which it describes as:
In Japanese Buddhism, twelve generals—the Juni Jinsho—stood guard over the cosmos at the points of the zodiac. But now they have vanished, and nothing stands between us and the forces of darkness, except Deva Zan, a samurai without a memory. To restore order to existence, he must marshal not only his own fighting skill, but find companions that can cross the boundaries of time and space—to join him in a battle that will stretch from the fields of ancient Japan, to the streets of modern New York City—and to dimensions beyond human comprehension!
Sources: ZAN Official YouTube Channel (via press release), Official Website
