Japan Sinks: 2020 Is My Most Anticipated TV Anime Of This Season

Each season there are shows I and, perhaps, you, look forward to. But this summer, there is one show that I am excited about most—Japan Sinks: 2020.

The upcoming ten-episode series is helmed by Masaaki Yuasa, known for directing Night is Short, Walk on Girl, Devilman Crybaby, Ride Your Wave, and Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken. The anime is based on the best-selling 1973 disaster novel of the same name in which strong earthquakes cause Japan to sink into the ocean.

The sudden way the world is turned upside down seems particularly relevant in 2020.

Previously, it has been adapted into live-action versions for film and TV. In 1973, a movie version called Tidal Wave was released in Japan, and Roger Corman bought the film rights, edited it heavily, and add new scenes with American actors. A Japanese TV series also aired in 1975. Shinji Higuchi of Shin Godzilla fame did a tokusatsu version called Sinking of Japan in 2006, starring Tsuyoshi Kusanagi and Kou Shibasaki.

This anime version, brought to life by Yuasa’s Studio Saru, looks incredibly promising. The show premieres July 9.