Netflix’s Pacific Rim Anime Reveals First Look

Announced two years ago by the streaming service, Netflix has now revealed a first look and an official title for their upcoming Pacific Rim anime series. Confirmed for a 2021 release, the series is officially titled Pacific Rim: The Black follows a pair of siblings and their battered, long-abandoned Jaegar as they battle across a continent of danger. The series will seemingly be set long after the defeat of the Kaiju from the 2013 film, and if the first look photos are any indication it’s possible it will be set between the original Pacific Rim and the 2018 sequel Pacific Rim: Uprising.

Showrunners Craig Kyle and Greg Johnson will tackle the series following their work on other animated shows like X-Men: Evolution and Wolverine and the X-Men. The series is co-produced by Tokyo-based animation company Polygon Pictures and has already been given a two season order by the streamer. It’s unclear how many episodes will be included across the seasons or when exactly they’ll premiere on Netflix.

Based on Legendary’s hit franchise, vice president of brand development and consumer products Elie Dekel previously said, “[This is] one of the biggest budget anime series I’ve had the pleasure of working on, and I think that speaks to the commitment of Netflix and Legendary [to anime].”

As we can see from the first look images for the series, the new series will see its stars piloting a Jaeger that is clearly of the same variety seen in the first film. Though Pacific Rim: Uprisingupgraded the piloting schematic to allow a more open floor plan in the head of each Jaeger, the Marks I – V featured the extensive machinery that connects the pilots by their backs into the robot itself. It’s difficult to tell from the image of the Kaiju what its real shape and form will be, but it does appear to share more traits with the monsters seen in the 2013 film rather than its sequel.

It seems unlikely that the Pacific Rim franchise will continue in live-action after Uprising underperformed, but the anime will no doubt breath new life into the series. Pacific Rim will also arrive in the real world soon as Legendary previously announced the Pacific Rim: Shatterdome Strike theme park ride that will debut at the Trans Studio Cibubur theme park in Jakarta, Indonesia.