Straight report, no detours: on Thursday (November 5) Bandai Namco Filmworks revealed the main visual, main cast and more staff for Code Geass: Star Chaser Aspal (Code Geass: Hoshioi no Aspal), the new anime in the franchise, produced by Sunrise. The synopsis, a visual of the Agalmata “Chronos” and the screening plan came too: advance preview screenings in five major Japanese cities in January 2027, followed by limited event screenings during 2027, the premiere year. Platform and release date outside Japan: not announced yet.
Cast and story
Shibata Ivan voices Aspal and Yamamura Hibiku voices Zoé. The story is set in the year 606 of the Divine Era (Kōreki 606), in a Roman Empire suffering under the rule of Emperor Phokas and a string of wars against neighboring countries. Aspal is an enslaved boy living in the capital, Neapolis. One day he meets a mysterious woman, Zoé, who exists only as a bodiless head. That encounter, says the official synopsis, “raises the curtain on a new story”.
It is a very different setting from the Britannia and Area 11 of Lelouch of the Rebellion. September’s teaser had already shown a historical-looking world and giant humanoid machines, the Agalmata, which take the place the Knightmare Frames held in the original. The Chronos visual, released now, is the first of these mechs presented by name.
Staff
The director is Nomura Kazuya (Ghost in the Shell: The New Movie, Moriarty the Patriot, Robotics;Notes), with series scripts by Nozaki Mado (author of the Hello World light novel, KADO: The Right Answer). Character design is by Rolua, Agalmata design by Yoshi., and the original story is credited to Ōkouchi Ichirō and Taniguchi Gorō, the duo that created Code Geass. Lin Junbun, who did concept design on Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX, handles concept design.
The new names: five sub-character designers (Nakamura Yumiko, Hirayama Madoka, Horii Kumi, Nagao and Moaang), Isasa on “seated-soul” design, Kijima Hisayoshi on cockpit design, Entei Ryu on Xenex design, Suzuki Kanta on effects, Shirato Seiichi on setting research, Itō Shinnosuke as assistant director, Tanioka Yoshio as art director, Nakano Naomi on color, Shigekawa Takayuki on 3DCG, Fujita Kenji on compositing, Iwashiro Tarō on music and Koizumi Kisuke as sound director. Studio: Sunrise. Numbers checked.
Context
Star Chaser Aspal is part of the Code Geass 20th anniversary project: the original series premiered in 2006, its second season in 2008, and from there came OVAs, the compilation film trilogy, Lelouch of the Re;surrection (2019) and the Akito the Exiled spin-off. The most recent entry, Code Geass: Rozé of the Recapture, came out in 2024 in Japanese theaters and on Disney+. A 20th anniversary exhibition opened in Tokyo in September, reaches Osaka on November 6 and Fukuoka on December 25.
For those following Sunrise and Bandai Namco on the games side, the month also brought the announcement of Mobile Suit Gundam Battle Operation 3 and the Gundam Rogue Orbit gameplay trailer. The rest of our anime and manga news is on the anime page.
The official teaser is on the Code Geass YouTube channel; the official site is geass.jp/aspal.
Where to buy
Code Geass manga, Blu-rays and merchandise on Amazon
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Sources: Bandai Namco Filmworks, Sunrise and Anime News Network.
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