This New Anime ft. Jaden Smith & Jude Law Looks Crazy Good

By Ben Liew  •  15 Sep 2017 in News

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Here’s another reason to get Netflix besides your desire to be a meme.

Premiering this month, Neo Yokio is a Korean, Japanese, and American co-produced series created by Ezra Koenig (Vampire Weekend) and made by Japanese animation studios Production IG and Studio Deen along with MOI in Seoul, Korea.

From the programme’s official website’s description below, you might already guess this is not a typical anime:

“Welcome to Neo Yokio, the greatest city in the world. It’s the most populous urban agglomeration in North America, but its prestige does not merely stem from its size. Neo Yokio is a diverse labyrinth of cultural and architectural innovation at the forefront of global fashion and finance. All of this is cold comfort to the lovesick Kaz Kaan (Jaden Smith), the youngest member of a family of: “magistocrats” – pink-haired demon slayers who once liberated the city. Today, his demon-slaying is barely more than a side-hustle coordinated by his Aunt Agatha (Susan Sarandon) – Kaz himself would rather concern himself with shopping, field hockey and – of course – mending his broken heart. Always by Kaz’s side are his faithful mecha-butler, Charles (Jude Law), and his inseparable friends Lexy and Gottlieb (The Kid Mero and Desus Nice) as he navigates the complexities of life in Neo Yokio and tries to stay one step ahead of his arch-rival, Neo Yokio’s number one most eligible bachelor, Arcangelo Corelli (Jason Schwartzman.) Things take a mysterious turn when Kaz is drawn into the turbulent world of ex-fashion blogger Helena St. Tessero (Tavi Gevinson), setting in motion a sequence of events that force him to question everything he knows about Neo Yokio.”

Visually, the series is bound to please fans of the genre since storyboard artists Kazuhiro Furuhashi (Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn, Hunter x Hunter, Rurouni Kenshin) and Junji Nishimura (Ranma 1/2, Urusei Yatsura, Pro Golfer Saru) are working their magic.

Of course, with any good anime, there are plot twists and not all is what is seems in Neo Yokio. According to Netflix, the series is “a postmodern collage of homages to classic anime, English literature and modern New York fashion and culture.”

Checkout the trailer of Neo Yokio below and let us know what you think! 

The 6 episodes of Neo Yokio premiere Friday, September 22 on Netflix. And yes, it’s on Netflix Malaysia too!

If you’re into Japanese pop culture, you should definitely checkout this documentary on Tokyo Idols.