To commemorate Sunrise's 50th anniversary, it was announced on January 15th that a completely new work, "Armored Trooper Votoms: The Grey Witch (Hexe)," the first in about 15 years for the popular anime series "Armored Trooper Votoms, " will be produced and set to air in 2026. Directed by Mamoru Oshii, known for works such as "Ghost in the Shell" and "Mobile Police Patlabor," the film will be produced by Sunrise, with Production IG providing production support. The first visuals and footage have also been released.
"Armored Trooper Votoms" is a robot anime directed by Ryosuke Takahashi, with mechanical design by Kunio Okawara and character design by Norio Shioyama, and was broadcast on TV from April 1983 to March 1984. The story is set in the final days of the Hundred Years' War, which split the Astragius Galaxy in two between the opposing star systems Gilgamesh and Balarant, and sees Kiriko Cuby take part in an absurd operation to assault an allied base.
After the TV anime was broadcast, OVAs (original video animations), spin-offs, animated films, novels, and more were released, and new products such as plastic models and figures were also released, making it a series that has continued to be loved for over 40 years.
Sunrise will celebrate the 50th anniversary of its first series, "Invincible Super Man Zambot 3," which began airing in October 1977, in 2027. The three years from 2026 to 2028 will be the Sunrise 50th Anniversary Project period, during which commemorative projects will be carried out.
