Today at this year’s Anime Expo, Tokyo-based creator management company GeeXPlus, Inc announced the GeeXProductions division, which expands the agency’s ability to support creators in fully leveraging their intellectual property. This announcement came alongside a showcase of three creator-led flagship projects for the division: Gigguk’s anime short movie Baan -The Boundaries of Adulthood, DillonGoo’s original webcomic and 3D Blender animation Soul Mart, and OtakuVS’s long-running indie anime short series Otachan.
“As we continue to search for ways to add value for our creators and brand partners, we’re excited to utilize our unique position as part of the Kadokawa Group to enter the world of original anime IP creation, which will allow us to play a much more integrated role in developing creative projects from start to finish,” said Rick Gao, chief agency officer and executive producer at GeeXPlus, Inc. ”We’re in a fortunate position to be connected to some of today’s best internet-native creators with an organic audience fanbase, and combined with our access to a strong network of professionals in the anime industry, we’re able to help bring our clients’ ideas to life in a collaborative, industry-backed way that’s seldom been seen before.”
Each of the three creators is a powerful force in the anime space in their own right and each is contributing a very unique and interesting anime project.
Gigguk is a mainstay of anime Youtube with many videos including anime reviews, video commentaries on certain genres, and interviews with manga authors. He is also a member of the popular anime podcast, Trash Taste. He will additionally serve as an advisor to the newly created division.
The series he created, Baan (stylized as Bâan), is an isekai set in the fictional world of Euthania, which is connected to Japan via a gate (no Truck-kun this time). The anime has heavy influences from Southeast Asian and Thai mythology. The story follows two protagonists who leave their birthplaces in search of a place where they truly belong. Baan is directed by Yoshimitsu Ohashi, known for directing CODE GEASS Rozé of the Recapture.
Its music is composed by Kevin Penkin, recognizable for his incredible work on series like Made in Abyss. Animation is by Studio Daisy, who has provided work on numerous anime like BLEACH, Delicious in Dungeon, and Chainsaw Man.
The series will release an English dub simultaneously with a Japanese version. While the full cast has not yet been revealed, Sydney Poniewaz, who is married to Gigguk, will voice main character Rin in the English dub. The character was described as the couple’s “child,” inheriting Sydney’s bright energy and Gigguk’s insecurities. Haruna Mikawa voices Rin in the Japanese version with Shoya Ishige as Daichi.
Dillon Goo is a 3D animator and Founder of DillonGoo Studios, which develops custom technology and techniques toward the advancement of 3D anime. He also maintains a VTuber persona named Professor Goo.
Soul Mart will be releasing simultaneously as a webcomic and anime, with the latter featuring voice actors Aleks Le, Emi Lo, and Daman Mills. The story centers around the machinations of an odd convenience store in the near future in a world where demons have learned how to use capitalism to buy human souls. Strange products have been appearing on the shelves, and notorious graffiti artist Kieru Kamiya finds himself hooked on an energy drink that will kill him if he falls asleep. He ends up working with a timid cashier and a demon to learn the truth about these strange products and save himself.
OtakuVS is an indie anime studio which produces original, traditionally animated series inspired by 90s and Toonami-era anime and digital culture. Otachan! Rabbit Season is a fast-paced, genre-blending anime following the chaotic exploits of its titular protagonist, Otachan. Alongside her companies, she works her way through a violent underworld of mad scientists, fight clubs and cold-blooded killers with just 24 hours to survive. Studio OtakuVS is seeing to bring back gritty, high-quality OVAs with this work.
Joined by her mysterious camerawoman, Cam, and a very reluctant convenience store worker, Kon, the girls find themselves working at a shady Bunny Girl bar when a deadly encounter with a Yakuza member goes sideways and they’re thrown into a violent underworld of mad scientists, fight clubs and cold-blooded killers with just 24 hours to survive. Influenced by the anime of the late ’80s and early 2000s, Otachan! Rabbit Season is part of Studio OtakuVersus’s mission to revive the lost art of gritty, high-quality OVAs.
Exclusive merch from the projects and other GeeXPlus talent is available for purchase at Anime Expo booth WH-634 or via online pre-order.
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