Between the likes of Castlevania, Arcane, and upcoming projects like the Among Us cartoon, we really are living in a golden age of animated TV shows based on video games. And now we can add fighting game Guilty Gear Strive to the list as developer Arc System Works has announced its own anime series titled Guilty Gear Strive: Dual Rulers.
Details are incredibly slim, with the teaser website only showing new artwork of series protagonist Sol Badguy and Sin Kiske, while a mysterious new character looms over them in the background. What we do know is that Guilty Gear creator and character designer Daisuke Ishiwatari is involved, and the show is being made at Sanzigen, a studio that specialises in 3D animation. Sanzigen was also responsible for this incredible looking one-year anniversary short for Guilty Gear Strive, so Dual Rulers is certainly in safe hands. Strive‘s animation remains one of its best qualities and the thought of an entire TV show with the same level of visual fidelity is very exciting.
Fortunately, we won’t have to wait much longer to learn more. Arc System Works will have a panel at this year’s Anime Expo, and has promised to share further details about Dual Rulers on July 4. Ideally, this will include a trailer or at least a plot synopsis. Since Guilty Gear Strive‘s story mode is literally over four hours of non-stop cutscenes, it’s probably safe to assume Dual Rulers isn’t an adaptation and will instead tell an original story.
I’m honestly a bit surprised Guilty Gear has never seen an anime adaptation or even an OVA in its 26-year history. There have been spin-off manga, novels, audio dramas, and comics, so a full anime series was frankly overdue. I’m also curious if Dual Rulers will make a good jumping on point for newcomers who are unfamiliar with Guilty Gear‘s lore or if it’ll be something that only established fans will be able to understand and enjoy.
Whatever the case, Guilty Gear fans have plenty to look forward to in the near future besides the anime. Guilty Gear Strive recently wrapped up its third season pass of DLC with the inclusion of Slayer, but a season four is already confirmed to be in the works too. So, fans should expect a few more playable characters either later this year or in 2025.
