Nippon Animation recently celebrated its 50th anniversary at the 2026 Annecy International Animation Film Festival, where it unveiled three original series aimed at adult audiences. The studio is also producing a television anime adaptation of Tomo Nagawa's manga Would You Like to Be a Tanuki?, directed by Jun Kamiya.
Two 2026 announcements show Nippon Animation balancing its legacy as a creator of classic children's adaptations with a push into original, adult-oriented content. In May, the studio confirmed it is adapting Tomo Nagawa's manga Would You Like to Be a Tanuki? for television. Director Jun Kamiya, known for Kingdom season 1 and Hikaru no Go, is leading the project, with Masaki Wachi handling series scripts, Cocoro Takemoto designing characters, and Minako Seki composing the music. The manga, which began in 2021, follows a tanuki who offers troubled humans the chance to become a tanuki themselves.
At the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in June, Nippon Animation held a 50th anniversary panel. Producer Taiki Sakurai and director Yumiko Yoshizawa presented three original series: the sci-fi black comedy 2001: An Earth Odyssey, the gourmet drama Taverna!!!, and the Alice in Wonderland reimagining Alices. A sizzle reel of past classics such as Heidi and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer drew applause. The new series mark a turn toward older audiences, while the tanuki adaptation and the anniversary celebration together reflect a studio that is both honoring its catalog and seeking new creative directions.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the cited Yomimono stories below, each itself
sourced, then editorially reviewed. Every
fact links the story it came from.
1d ago
Salamander Pictures and Nippon Animation will premiere their nearly eight-minute anime short 20001 An Earth Odyssey in competition at the Fantasia International Film Festival on July 18. The festival runs in Montreal from July 16 to August 2. The short is the first original project from Taiki Sakurai's Tokyo-based studio Salamander Pictures. Sakurai, who previously worked at Production I.G. and spent seven years building Netflix's anime business in Japan, left the streamer to focus on riskier original work. The sci-fi comedy follows three aliens who arrive on Earth 20,000 years after humanity vanishes and misinterpret every artifact they find, treating a playground as a sacred site and an umbrella as advanced technology. Sakurai describes the short as a family-friendly comedy with a meditation on history and archaeology. The production involved art director Jessie Liu from Los Angeles, animators from Korea and France, and Maru Animation. Sakurai plans to expand the concept into a series of five-minute episodes and is seeking partners after the festival premiere.
Jun 23
At the 2026 Annecy International Animation Film Festival, Nippon Animation held a 50th anniversary panel and unveiled three original series: the sci-fi black comedy 2001: An Earth Odyssey, the gourmet drama Taverna!!!, and the Alice in Wonderland reimagining Alices. Producer Taiki Sakurai and director Yumiko Yoshizawa presented the projects, which mark a shift toward adult-oriented content for the studio. A sizzle reel of classics like Heidi and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer drew applause.
May 22
Tomo Nagawa's manga "Would You Like to Be a Tanuki?" is getting a television anime adaptation, as announced by publisher Ichijinsha on Wednesday. The staff unveiled a teaser video and visual alongside the announcement. Jun Kamiya, known for directing "Kingdom" season 1, "Hikaru no Go," and "Let's Make a Mug Too," is directing the anime at Nippon Animation. Masaki Wachi, who worked on "Kingdom" seasons 1 and 2, is supervising and writing the series scripts. Cocoro Takemoto is designing the characters, and Minako Seki is composing the music. The story follows the mythical tanuki creature Koganemaru, who approaches humans troubled by life and offers them the chance to become a tanuki, helping them rediscover what matters in their own lives. Nagawa launched the manga in Ichijinsha's Comic Pool digital magazine in April 2021. The ninth compiled volume was released in October 2025, and the 10th volume is scheduled for May 25.