Production I.G. who are famous for the Ghost in the Shell and Eden of the East anime series is gearing up for production of Joker Game/ジョーカー・ゲーム (Jōkā Gēmu) .
It is a World War 2 espionage/mystery thriller novels written by Koji Yanagi, won the Japan Award for Mystery Writers and Yoshikawa Eiji Prize for New Writers in 2009. Three volumes have been published under the story, beginning in 2008 and finishing its run in 2012. Published by Kadokawa, the novel got adapted into a live action movie early this year titled Joker Game which earned 271 million Yen in Japanese box office.
【「ジョーカー・ゲーム」アニメスタッフ】原作：柳広司「ジョーカー・ゲーム」シリーズ（角川文庫・KADOKAWA刊）／監督：野村和也／キャラクター原案：三輪士郎／アニメーション制作：Production I.G 宜しくお願いします！ pic.twitter.com/xG22OjJ8fg
— ＴＶアニメ「ジョーカー・ゲーム」 (@jokergame_anime) August 9, 2015
This is the description of the novels from Books from Japan:
“A fictitious spy-training organization established within the Japanese army on the eve of World War II is the centerpiece of this set of linked short stories. The D Agency comes into being in autumn 1937 as an independent army unit formed under the private initiative of Lieutenant Colonel Yuki. As rumor has it, Yuki was once a brilliant agent himself who ferreted out multiple secrets in enemy territory until he was betrayed by an ally; he was caught and tortured before he managed to escape, which explains why he has no left hand and always walks holding a cane with his left foot dragging behind him. Dubbed “the Lord of Darkness,” Yuki teaches according to principles that flatly challenge established army wisdom. He bans military dress and behavior and instead drills his protégés to become unseen apparitions; according to him, the unwritten army code that a captured soldier should kill either the enemy or himself is the epitome of stupidity and the worst possible choice a spy can make. For his training course Yuki rejects Army Academy graduates and instead picks candidates from far and wide, producing a dozen crack spies expert not only in multiple languages but also in such skills as disguise and lockpicking. Under false identities, these agents go their solitary ways to fulfill daring missions in Tokyo, Yokohama, Shanghai and elsewhere, all the while remembering Yuki’s teachings. Among the most gripping of the episodes in the book is Robinson, the tale of an agent in London named Izawa and his escape after capture by British intelligence. Like the rest of the collection, the story highlights the notion of spies as operatives who do battle not with brawn, but with brains. A sequel anthology, Daburu joka (Double Joker), was published in 2009.”
Kazuya Nomura (Sengoku Basara) is set to direct the anime with Shirow Miwa (Dogs) providing the character designs. No words on when this anime will be out or who are the voice cast yet.
Via Otakomu
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