Founded in 1972, Madhouse is an animation studio that is based out of Japan. The studio is known for producing some of the most influential anime in the most recent decades. This included Death Note, Trigun, Black Lagoon, Hellsing, Hulk vs. and a lot of the Marvel anime that released in the early 2010's. One of the studio's most famous projects is 2015's One Punch Man. The company has truly earned its place as a mainstay animation studio, with its incredible list of projects.
XFLAG's Monster Strike smartphone game has been such a successful series that, in 2015, a 52 episode anime series was released. The anime has about 3 seasons, with the third releasing in 2018 and the final arc which released last November. The third season featured multiple mini arcs that focused on other characters, which would inevitably evolve into even more films, based on the franchise, the first releasing in 2016 and the third and most recent was set to release this June; however it was delayed due to COVID-19.
Ine recent news, it was annoucned that Madhouse and XFLAG's Monster Strike, were collaborating on a new short film titled Zetsubou Funsai Shoujo ∞ Amida. The short film (directed by Daiki Harashina) tells the storyof Amida (voiced by Megumi Han), a young girl grouwing up in a world where negativity turns those without ego into "despair people". Given the power to enter a human's inner world; she could use her imagination to save people from the monsters inside. While it takes some of the host's memories, which bothers Amida, She realizes one of her best friends is becoming one of the "despair people". The film has recently been released, on Youtube, and can be viewed below. Make sure to check it out below!
Excited for the new short? Hoping to see more collaborations by Madhouse? Make sure to share your thoughts in the usual spot!