A 'Jump Force' Anime, Manga Could Be in the Works

Bandai Namco's new Jump Force brings together anime icons throughout the biggest franchises in history to clash in the upcoming fighting game, but there's also a chance that an anime, manga, or similar promotion could be in the works.

Created to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Shonen Jump, this game marks the first time that iconic characters like Naruto, Goku, Frieza, Luffy, and Zoro have met each other in the same world. With so many characters included in one project for the first time, there's already been speculation on whether we can expect any kind of special anime, manga, or webseries project attached to Jump Force, no matter how small. We spoke to Bandai Namco at E3 and asked public relations manager Nick O'Leary if we can expect Bandai Namco to support the project outside of the game itself through some kind of anime, manga, or other cross-promotional collaboration, and O'Leary responded to say people should expect things to be happening throughout the year.

"Yeah, we'll be working with the licensers of Shonen Jump and Viz and all those kinds of companies to make this a big celebration of the 50th year anniversary of the magazine," O'Leary said, referring to the Shonen Jump magazine. "So expect things to be happening throughout the year and throughout the campaign."

When asked specifically if we could expect some kind of cross-promotional support through other mediums, O'Leary said "yes" before clarifying that what that support will be remains to be seen.

"Well, with the companies. What that support is, we'll see. We can't talk about it right now," O'Leary said to expand on his previous answer.

This doesn't mean that Bandai Namco does have plans to work with other companies on a project that's specifically anime, let alone a full-fledged anime series that features all of the Jump Force characters that we already know about as well as those that have yet to be revealed. By working with Viz and Shonen Jump specifically, this leaves the door open for all kinds of projects to come from the new Bandai Namco game, be they an anime, manga, webseries, video promotions, or some other kinds of content that weren't even considered yet.

If you missed the initial Jump Force announcement from Bandai Namco, you can catch up on the news of the game with the trailer above and the quick summary below.

"Universes collide as legendary manga heroes and villains are transported to our reality. Massive battles fill epic locales as good and evil clashes, while humankind hangs in the balance. Look for more details on JUMP FORCE soon and UNITE TO FIGHT in 2019!"