Animation studio N Lite has unveiled a new collaboration with Emmy-winning Japanese anime studio Gonzo KK (“Afro Samurai”) and Oscar-winning “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” director Peter Ramsey to produce two animated projects : a noir thriller film titled ‘Ripper’ and the science fiction adventure series ‘Hotaru’.
Ramsey serves as executive producer and co-writer of the screenplay for “Ripper,” a hybrid live-action/anime feature film set in post-World War II Japan. The film, currently in development, tells the story of two detectives on the hunt for a serial killer who took the lives of the women they all loved. The project was created by Samantha Inoue Harte (Head of Production, N LITE) and co-writers Paul Alvarado-Dykstra and Rafael Antonio Ruiz.
Viola Davis and husband Julius Tennon’s JuVee Productions are attached to produce alongside N Lite and Gonzo KK Davis. Tennon and Melanie Clark will join Gonzo CEO Shinichiro Ishikawa as executive producers. Inoue Harte will produce alongside Christiano Terry, CEO of N Lite.
Commenting on the agreement, Ramsey said: “I am pleased to be working with N Lite on a project that is deeply personal. The shared experiences of black and Japanese people in Japan during World War II represent a historical and cultural intersection that we have not yet seen on screen. It’s also an incredible time for anime as a whole, and as a true lover of the medium, I’m eager to create something that has never been done before.”
The ‘Into the Spider-Verse’ director and ‘Hair Love’ producer will also release the EP ‘Hotaru’, a ‘swashbuckling sci-fi/fantasy adventure series about two star-crossed magical warriors bound by love and grief’ , is the description of the project by companies.
The series was created by Inoue Harte, Alvarado-Dykstra and Terry from N Lite. Terry is also attached as producer, while Ramsey will executive produce alongside Inoue Harte and Alvarado-Dykstra.
According to Terry, “Building cultural bridges and meaningful partnerships with our peers and senpai in the anime community is critical to our vision and growth as a studio. I am honored that Gonzo and Ishikawa-san have chosen to join us. Afro Samurai and many of Gonzo’s older titles inspire the work we create today. I’m excited to captivate fans around the world with our Afro-anime projects, and absolutely thrilled to be working with the brilliant Peter Ramsey.”
N Lite is a black-owned media company engaged in the production and distribution of film, TV, merchandising, publishing and consumer goods properties. The company also operates Studio N Lite in Tokyo.
Tokyo-based Gonzo KK is known for producing timely and dazzling anime series, including “Full Metal Panic!” ‘Hellsing’, ‘Last Exile’ and many others. The studio was the first in Japan to create an anime series with a black protagonist in “Afro Samurai,” voiced by Samuel L. Jackson. It won an Emmy for the franchise’s TV movie “Afro Samurai: Resurrection.”
“All of us at Gonzo are proud to be working with N Lite and Peter Ramsey on these bold new, original projects,” said Shinichiro Ishikawa, CEO of Gonzo KK. “They are conceived as inclusive international co-productions for diverse global audiences, and N Lite is the perfect fit given our shared vision and values. We are honored to attract such esteemed creative collaborators who share our commitment to innovative storytelling.”