The upcoming Fafner in the Azure: Behind the Line one-episode spin-off anime has debuted trailer PV 1.
The trailer reveals the episode’s pre-screening premiere date in Japan — January 20, 2023.
Take a look:
The spin-off was announced in July 2022, when the official website for the project was launched. No additional information regarding the premiere was announced at the time, but the Fafner in the Azure: Behind the Line production committee revealed the main cast and staff as well as a key visual (see below).
The Fafner in the Azure: Behind the Line cast and staff
Takashi Noto is directing the anime at Production I.G, while XEBEC is credited with the original work. Additional main cast members include:
- Tow Ubukata — screenwriter
- Hisashi Hirai — character design
- Yumi Horikoshi — art director
- Ryuuta Koshida — photography director
- Naohiro Washio — mechanical designer
- Mitsuko Sekimoto — color designer
- Tsuneyoshi Saito — music composer
All cast members worked on the previous Fafner in the Azure installments.
The main cast members include:
- Makoto Ishii — Kazuki Makabe
- Kōhei Kiyasu — Soushi Minashiro
- Marika Matsumoto — Maya Tomi
- Sanae Kobayashi — Kanon
- Misato Fukuen — Seri Tatekami
- Tamaki Nakanishi — Tsubaki Minashiro
- Miyu Irino — Kouyou Kasugai
- Miyu Matsuki — Shouko Hazama
Back in July when the main cast and staff members were announced, it was also revealed that a special screening of Fafner in the Azure HEAVEN AND EARTH would take place sometime in the future.
Apparently, the 2010 Fafner in the Azure anime film will be remastered and released theatrically in Fall 2022.
The exact date and venues haven’t been announced to date.
About the Fafner in the Azure franchise
As mentioned above, Fafner in the Azure: Behind the Line is a spin-off episode of a far larger franchise.
Fafner in the Azure (蒼穹のファフナー, Sōkyū no Fafner) is a mecha anime franchise created by XEBEC that follows a group of children who pilot Fafners (rather similar to the Gundam premise). They are fighting Festum — a giant alien race.
The first Fafner 26-episode anime series (Dead Aggressor) aired from July 4, 2004, to December 26, 2004. The second Fafner anime series (The Beyond) aired from 2019 to 2021. The Right of Left special aired on December 29, 2005. Behind the Line is the second special to date.
Finally, there are two Fafner movies: Heaven and Earth (December 25, 2010) and Exodus (January 8, 2015).
According to the producers, Behind the Line is a stand-alone episode, meaning that even viewers unfamiliar with the original plot will be able to follow the plot.
The project was first announced in 2017 during the Soushi Minashiro Birthday Party event, whereby it was dubbed a “peaceful spinoff,” whatever that may imply.
According to the same source, in addition to MCs Soushi and Kanon, even some of the characters who were killed off in the original series (e.g., Hiroto Douma and Akira Nishio) will make their appearance.
The Fafner in the Azure franchise heavily borrows from Norse Mythology, so those familiar with the topic may well enjoy the series’ subtle analogies.