Crunchyroll Dropping Doc Series On Iconic Japanese Animation Firm Studio Bones

EXCLUSIVE: Anime streamer Crunchyroll is dropping a doc-series on renowned Japanese animation maker Studio Bones.

The platform has been quietly working on Bones 25: Dreaming Forwards, which will drop tomorrow (February 13), timed with the release of the studio’s latest series, Metallic Rouge, and its 25th anniversary.

Bones 25 will comprise four 24-minute episodes about the studio, which is behind anime titles such as Cowboy Bebop: Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door, My Hero Academia and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. The studio currently has more than 30 specials and series on Crunchyroll, including Bungo Stray Dogs, The Case Study of Vanitas, Eureka Seven and SK8 the Infinity.

Sony-owned Crunchyroll and French producer DeltaRocket have teamed for the series. DeltaRocket’s founder Jace, who is behind more than 40 docs for French TV, is the director.

Shot entirely in Japan, Bones 25 will divide into four parts: ‘The History of Bones’, ‘Style and Originality’, ‘Successful Adaptation’ and ‘Metallic Rouge: The Future of Bones.’

The docs will explore the creation of Studio Bones and its most iconic series, from manga adaptations to development of original animated stories. More than 30 personalities are featured, including those with Studio Bones President Masahiko Minami, Mob Psycho 100 author One, director Shinichiro Watanabe, Kafka Asagiri, conceptual author of Metallic Rouge Yutaka Izubuchi and Motonobu Hori, who directed the series.

“We wanted to build a place where we could find new forms of expression, new genres, and new themes through creation,” said Minami. “Looking back, it was with great joy and gratitude that I rediscovered the works we have been creating with our wonderful friends.”

“Studio Bones is behind some of the most iconic anime of a generation,” said Asa Suehira, Chief Content Officer at Crunchyroll. “It’s only fitting that anime fans will want to have an unprecedented look inside their creators and studios. To give fans that look, we’ve partnered with a great documentary storyteller in DeltaRocket to turn the camera around and spotlight one of Japan’s great anime storytellers.”

Jace launched DeltaRocket in 2021. He had traveled and filmed in Japan for 20 years prior to that, making docs. The manga and anime devotee works directly with cameramen, cinematographers, translators, and fixers installed in Japan to create shows for the French market.