'GENE'
THERAPY
Tech TV Gets The Anime 'Shaft'
What's the sci-fi
series with the funky name? Geneshaft, baby Awww, yeah. And
that's the series TechTV has picked up to appear in its Anime Unleashed
programming block.
“Geneshaft
has a particularly strong hard-sci-fi vision of the future,” says Laura
Civiello, TechTV's director of acquisitions and commissions. “With Anime
Unleashed we especially aim for anime that thoughtfully explores the
interaction of humans and technology. Its future society and its relation
to genetic engineering and other breakthroughs is richly detailed, and
this was one of the big draws for us.”
Directed by Kazuki
Akane (of Heat Guy J and Vision of Escaflowne fame)
and licensed by Bandai Entertainment, Geneshaft ran 13 episodes in Japan
in 2001. It was produced by Bandai Visual and Studio Satelight, known
for their combining cel and computer generated animation in Metropolis,
Macross Zero , and the Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust movie .
After centuries
of abusing and exploiting the earth, humanity is a race on the verge
of extinction. An elite group of scientists propose a radical and desperate
solution—using genetic engineering to create a new race of humans gifted
with special abilities. The plan is a success, and humanity's future
seems secure.
Two hundred years
later, a mysterious artifact appears in orbit between the earth and
the moon after scientists discover the ruins of ancient alien civilization
on Jupiter's moon Ganymede. This seemingly harmless object has the potential
to obliterate all of humanity and the entire earth as well. A specially
assembled team is sent on the ship Bilkis with the prototype robot “Shaft”
to investigate the artifact. But the artifact itself is the least of
their worries. The Bilkis crew is wanted for desertion for leaving on
their mission without apparent orders, the Shaft still has kinks to
be worked out, and a terrorist who will stop at nothing to ensure that
the mission fails is hiding amongst the team.
“Geneshaft
has great action, a complex and well-thought out future world, strong
characters and a well-done combination of CG and cel work,” says Civiello.
“We're excited to show it!”
Geneshaft
is tentatively scheduled to premiere next March.
--Caitlin Moriarity
Click
here to download a PDF file of this article
Back
to Writing
Samples