Anime Expo 2023 has just got wild today with the announcement of Suicide Squad Isekai, a new project based on the notorious DC characters. Announced today at the Warner Bros. Japan and WIT studio Panel, the anime series tends to merge the craziness of the Suicide Squad into the proud Japanese anime culture—Isekai.
Warner Bros. Japan’s producer Hiroyuki Omori mentioned at the panel that Suicide Squad Isekai will feature a unique Japanese take on the DC universe. As they were planning for such a distinguished series, Wit Studio came into the picture as they expressed passion for the DC franchise.
“I’m a huge fan of Batman. And as Jim Lee doesn’t find us for any projects, we’d like to create something big that surprises him,” joked George Wada, founder of WIT studio.
While Suicide Squad Isekai is about taking the Suicide Squad members to the Isekai, this quirky setting was handed over to the promising hands of Eri Osada, who has worked on titles such as Jujutsu Kaisen as sub character designer, Chief Animation Director, and Episodic Director.
She will be working with Re:Zero author Tappei Nagatsuki and Re:Zero’s anime screenwriter Eiji Umehara, as the two Isekai experts work on its screenplay. Akira Amano, who is known to be the author of Reborn! and the character design of Psycho-Pass, is in charge of the mind-blowing character design of the anime. If you are curious what they look like, check out the two designs for Harley Quinn and Joker revealed at the Anime Expo panel.
We also get to take a look at the villains on the move in the newly revealed Suicide Squad Isekai teaser video showcasing Harley Quinn and Joker transported from Gotham City to a completely different world where dragons and monsters roam. While it remains unknown how is this gonna happen, the anime’s director Eri Osada mentioned the team tried to create a contrast between the two opposite locations.
“We’ve used a lot of colors and techniques to bring out the differences between the two worlds. We also tried to change the general perception of an Isekai so that it could bring the two seemingly impossible worlds together,” Osada expressed.
In regards to character design of Suicide Squad Isekai, WIT Studio’s George Wada expressed that they insisted on creating characters as original as possible. “I guess everyone has their own version of Joker. So we decided to go completely original and didn’t take reference from any previous Joker,” he said.
As everything will take place in Isekai, the team has also got permission from DC so that their characters could use magic in the anime. If this is true, I guess we’re gonna see Harley and other Suicide Squad members (probably Deadshot according to the badges on Harley’s jacket) fighting Dragons with all kinds of crazy magic.
▍Suicide Squad ISEKAI Staff & Production
Director: Eri Osada
Series Composition: Tappei Nagatsuki and Eiji Umehara
Original Character Designer: Akira Amamo
Character Design: Naoto Hosoda
Music: Kenichiro Suehiro
Animation: WIT STUDIO
Production: Warner Bros. Japan