Crunchyroll Launching Original, Anime-Inspired ‘High Guardian Spice’ Series

Crunchyroll may be known best for streaming anime, but the company has bigger plans for its future. Not only has the service expanded its catalog in recent years, but the team behind Crunchyroll is ready to open it own studio to create original content.

So, what’s coming up to plate first? That would be High Guardian Spice, an adorable 2D animated title that will make fans of Little Witch Academia swoon.

Today, Ellation confirmed it is launching a new brand called Ellation Studios, a division dedicated to creating anime-inspired shows. The series will be hosted on Crunchyroll and VRV, and Ellation Studios will have production facilities working between Tokyo and Burbank, California.

For its first outing, Ellation Studios will release High Guardian Spice under studio head Margaret Dean. With a diverse crew and cast working on the series, this anime-inspired series will be the first animation Crunchyroll Originals project to go live come 2019. You can check out its first synopsis below:

“In High Guardian Spice, the lives of four fierce girls, Rosemary, Sage, Thyme and Parsley, converge at High Guardian Academy, the one place where they can stumble towards adulthood while becoming the heroes they’ve always admired. As they master the ways of battle and sorcery, our foursome form allegiances and comical kinships, uncover legacies and betrayals, and discover their true identities while preparing to protect the world from an ominous unknown threat.”

As you can see, the colorfully animated series will blend the world of anime storytelling with innovative 2D animation. High Guardian Spicesounds like it’s taking the best shojo has to offer and wrapping it an inventive shonen bow. Plus, with character designs like this, how can you not love the series?

So far, High Guardian Spice is the first animated original series Ellation Studios has gone live with. According to Kun Gao, the general manager of Crunchyroll, more series will be announced soon.

“Crunchyroll Originals aims to elevate animation as a medium for storytelling, as most animated series in western culture is geared towards kids or comedy. Our fans grew up watching anime, and today anime inspires creators from around the world and influences so much of broader pop culture. We look to tell distinct, impactful stories best executed in the medium of animation from a global creative community who is inspired by anime.” Gaoexplained.

“With this in mind, we are excited to introduce more shows and announce the rest of our slate in the coming weeks.”

Will you be tuning into this brand-new series? What sorts of projects would you like to see Crunchyroll tackle in the future? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!