San-X’s Rilakkuma character mascot is receiving a new anime by Japanese animation studio Production I.G. An announcement promo video directed and storyboarded by Yoshimi Itazu (The Concierge) was released, confirming the new anime’s production.
The video features the anime’s theme song “stay with me” by YOASOBI vocalist Lilas Ikuta.
The video includes work from many staff involved with The Concierge anime film, with Chiyo Morita serving as character designer and key animator, Izumi Hirose as concept color designer, Maiko Nogami as in-between animator, Junichi Uematsu as editor, and Hiroshi Tanaka as cinematographer.
Netflix previously released the Rilakkuma and Kaoru stop motion anime series in 2019, followed up by Rilakkuma’s Theme Park Adventure in 2022.
Other anime series based on San-X characters include Chickipdancers, Sumikko Gurashi The Movie – The Pop-up Book and the Secret Child, and Mamegoma.
Source: Rilakkuma Official Twitter, Comic Natalie
