Global streaming service Netflix announced an anime series titled Nihon Chinbotsu 2020 (Japan Sinks 2020) on Wednesday. The 10-episode anime series, helmed by Masaaki Yuasa (Devilman Crybaby, Kimi to, Nami ni Noretara), will debut worldwide exclusively on Netflix in 2020.

Synopsis
Shortly after the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, a major earthquake hits Japan. Amidst the chaos, siblings Ayumu and Gou of the Mutou household, begin to escape the city with their family of four. The sinking Japanese archipelagos, however, relentlessly pursue the family.

Plunged into extreme conditions, life and death, and the choice of meeting and parting—in the face of dreadful reality, the Mutou siblings believe in the future and acquire the strength to survive with utmost effort.

Staff
Series Director: Pyeonggang Heo (Rainbow: Nisha Rokubou no Shichinin episode director)
Script: Toshio Yoshitaka (Dragon Ball Super)
Character Design: Naoya Wada (Flip Flappers animation director)
Color Design: Satoshi Hashimoto (Koutetsujou no Kabaneri)
Director of Photography: Toshikazu Kuno (Hero Mask)
Sound Director: Eriko Kimura (Penguin Highway)
Editing: Kiyoshi Hirose (Mob Psycho 100)
Music: Kensuke Ushio (Boogiepop wa Warawanai (2019))
Studio: Science SARU

The anime series will be based on late author and screenwriter Sakyou Komatsu's 1973 sci-fi novel Nihon Chinbotsu (Japan Sinks), which sold a cumulative 4.7 million copies. A live-action film adaptation premiered the same year, grossing over 2.82 billion yen. Gainax co-founder Shinji Higuchi (Shin Godzilla) remade the film in 2006, recording a box office revenue of 5.34 billion yen. The novel also inspired a live-action drama series that ran from 1974-1975.

Golgo 13 creator Takao Saitou drew a manga adaptation in 1970. A second manga adaptation by Tokihiko Ishiki was serialized in Big Comic Spirits between January 2006 and December 2008.

Official site: http://japansinks2020.com/
Official Twitter: @japansinks2020

Source: Anime! Anime!, Animation Business Journal

Nihon Chinbotsu 2020 on MAL