#Newly Announced KONAMI Animation Produces Yu-Gi-Oh! Anniversary Animation

The Yu-Gi-Oh! card game, which released its first series of cards in 1999, has received a six-minute long animation in commemoration of its 25th anniversary. Titled Yu-Gi-Oh! Card Game The Chronicles, the animation is produced by the newly announced KONAMI Animation (with assistance from J.C.STAFF and AtoriE).

Yu-Gi-Oh! publisher KONAMI, also known for video game franchises like Silent Hill and Metal Gear, says that the animation outfit’s output won’t be limited to just its own IP. The latter’s mission statement says that it aims to “dynamically evolve the Japanese anime scene to a new level by focusing all our experiences, knowledge, and cutting-edge technology cultivated in game development and applying it to anime production.”

The KONAMI Animation website additionally claims via one of its values that its “creators are always looking out into the horizon for a creative and efficient process made possible by combining the history that the animation industry has paved, with the evolution sought after in the video game industry.”

Yu-Gi-Oh! Card Game The Chronicles has Takashi Kaiga as chief director, with a director/storyboard artist list that includes:

• Aoi Fudeo (Vspo! Bunka Taiikusai Animation PV key animator)
• Junya Tanaka (Vspo! “Mr.Music” in-between animator et al.)
• Yuuto Nakawada (Tomo-chan Is A Girl! Episode 5, 6, and 8 co-animation director)
• Seiya Miyajima (Yuki Yuna is a Hero Churutto! director)
• Atsushi Tsujimoto (Reign of the Seven Spellblades opening animation co-storyboard artist and director)
• Ken Takahashi 

Credited as character designers and animation directors are:

• Takahiro Sasaki (Chronicles of the Going Home Club character designer)
• Kazuto Wakayama (Saga of Tanya the Evil: The Movie co-animation director)
• You Morimoto (Vspo! “Mr.Music”)
• Nobuyoshi Nishimura (Reign of the Seven Spellblades opening animation action-animation director)
• Yoshihiro Nagamori (Bayblade X character designer, The Apothecary Diaries co-sub character designer)

The animation producers for the short are Isamu Abe, Daisuke Tsuboi, Yasuhiro Aoki (Vspo! Mr.Music production chief), Mitsutaka Echigo (Vspo! Bunka Taiikusai Animation PV), and Atsushi Tsubokawa (Detective Conan: Pitch Black Nightmare co-production assistant).