With the premiere of Netflix's Spriggan fast approaching, the streaming company released a new key visual highlighting the anime's deadly characters. As reported by Comic Natalie, the artwork was illustrated by Shuhei Handa, who is serving as the show's animation director and character designer. The image shows how the Spriggan agents of the new remake are ready for battle and shows some details of the action in which they will be involved. David Production, the studio behind JoJo's Bizarre Adventure and Fire Force, is producing Netflix's Spriggan. Alongside Handa, the anime's creative team includes director Hiroshi Kobayashi (Tiger & Bunny) and writer Hiroshi Seko.
Several voice cast members have already been revealed, including Chiaki Kobayashi (That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime) as Yū, Akio Ohtsuka (Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex) as Steve H. Foster, Ayumu Murase (She Professed Herself). Pupil of the Wise Man) as Colonel McDougal and Ken Narita (Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon) as Kōichi Moroha.
Hiroshi Takashige and Ryōji Minagawa's original Spriggan manga series ran in Shogakukan's Weekly Shōnen Sunday and Shōnen Sunday Zōkan from February 1989 to February 1996, producing 11 volumes of content. Set towards the end of the Cold War, the series begins when mysterious objects known as "out of place artifacts" or OOPArt are discovered around the world. To prevent these artifacts from falling into the wrong hands, the ARCAM Cooperation creates a division of elite agents, known as Spriggans, to protect the relics. The protagonist Yū Ominae, one of the Spriggan agents, is deployed in a machine to prevent the rebel organization U.S. Machine Corps acquire Noah's Ark and take over the world.
In North America, Viz Media licensed Takashige and Minagawa's manga under the Striker name, but only three volumes were ultimately released. Seven Seas Entertainment recently acquired the printing rights to Spriggan.
The Netflix show isn't the first time Spriggan has been adapted for the screen. In 1998, Studio 4°C (Children of the Sea) adapted Takashige and Minagawa's story into a film, which was directed by Hirotsugu Kawasaki (Lupin III: Part III) and starred Showtaro Morikubo (Naruto) as Yū. In 1999, developer From Liquid Mirror Software and publisher FromSoftware created a video game version of the manga, titled Spriggan: Lunar Verse.