Winter Anime Season (Part 8)

Title: Sekai Seifuku: Bouryaku no Zvezda (aka World Conquest: Zvezda Plot)
Release Date: January 11, 2014
Studio: A-1 Pictures
Genre: Action/Adventure, Sci-Fi, Comedy
Synopsis: Precocious little girl Kate Hoshimiya is the leader of a mysterious secret society composed of social misfits and odd characters. Their goal: world domination.

Verdict: From the anime that started it all, Osamu Tezuka's Tetsuwan Atom (aka Astro Boy), to last year's break out hit, Attack on Titan, successful series have usually been based on popular manga, video games or light novels. However, although anime began as a means of adaptation, every once in a while a completely original work will come along and blow your mind. In the late 90s, it was Shinichiro Watanabe's Cowboy Bebop. In the mid-00s, it was Imaishi's Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. This year, it just may be Bouryaku no Zvezda.

Bow to your new (adorable) lord and sovereign!

Everything about the show is bursting with originality and inventiveness. Studio A-1 Pictures, which was behind 2010's Anime no Chikara (lit, "the power of anime") series, is right at home developing an original project. Director Tensai Okamura, whose given name translates to "genius," has helmed several successful series over the course of his multi-decade career (including original series Wolf's Rain and Darker Than Black). To complete the production trifecta, scriptwriters from dojin circle-turned-industry giants Type-Moon have designed a colorful cast of characters to fill out Zvezda's roster.

Gathered here for a group photo.

Apart from their chibi-sized leader, the society's ranks include a hulking skeleton with a penchant for military dress and cake; a scantily-clad scientist and her robot sidekick; and a crass, katana-wielding femme fatale. Second-year middle school student and runaway Asuta Jimon rounds out the rogues gallery after finding himself caught up in the gang's latest skirmish with the JSDF. Just how Hoshimiya and company plan to take over the world remains to be seen, but, with the personnel involved, it's sure to be an exciting romp.