Sunrise and SHAFT Tease First-Ever Anime Collaboration

The anime industry lit up on June 18 when Sunrise and SHAFT launched an official X account and announced their first-ever collaboration. The move pairs one of the medium's most reliable producers of large-scale epics with a studio celebrated for its singular, stylized visual identity.

Sunrise built its reputation on the Gundam franchise and series like Code Geass, while SHAFT shaped modern anime aesthetics through Puella Magi Madoka Magica, the Monogatari series, and March Comes in Like a Lion. Fans immediately began imagining what kind of story and look could emerge from the combination of Sunrise's storytelling scale and SHAFT's experimental direction.

The studios kicked off a five-day countdown to a major information drop scheduled for June 23 at 24:30 JST. The first post featured a short video built around color scripts that offered the only public glimpse so far into the project's atmosphere and visual direction.

The timing adds extra weight. Sunrise is preparing its 50th anniversary celebrations next year, and the partnership arrives amid growing curiosity about how veteran studios will tackle fresh creative risks. Whatever emerges, the collab itself already stands out as one of the more intriguing production developments in recent months.