{"id":6033,"date":"2026-07-19T00:22:04","date_gmt":"2026-07-18T16:22:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gametrader.sg\/blog\/zan-yoshitaka-amano-anime-pilot-2026\/"},"modified":"2026-07-19T00:22:54","modified_gmt":"2026-07-18T16:22:54","slug":"zan-yoshitaka-amano-anime-pilot-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gametrader.sg\/blog\/zan-yoshitaka-amano-anime-pilot-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"ZAN: The Final Fantasy Artist&#8217;s Hand-Drawn Anime Is One to Watch"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>If you know Yoshitaka Amano&#8217;s name, you know it from Final Fantasy \u2014 he painted the ethereal warriors, the summons, the villains across every numbered entry from the original NES game onwards. His brushwork is the visual soul of the series. Now, for the first time, Amano is turning his personal mythology into anime, and the pilot film has just screened \u2014 100% hand-drawn, assembled with a crew of legends. This is ZAN.<\/p>\n<h2>What Is ZAN?<\/h2>\n<p>ZAN is a dark fantasy anime based on Amano&#8217;s own art project <em>DEVA ZAN<\/em>, which he has been developing since 2010 \u2014 a universe spanning more than 300 original paintings that Dark Horse Comics published as an English-language art book in 2013.<\/p>\n<p>The story follows a warrior named ZAN, locked in fierce combat at Azuchi Castle during Japan&#8217;s Sengoku (Warring States) period. Guided by a mysterious young girl called Uzume, he crosses through time and space into another dimension, accompanied by a mechanical familiar named Panther. In this otherworldly realm, ZAN faces powerful rivals and monstrous creatures called Tropes, ruled by a being known as RIKKA.<\/p>\n<p>Amano describes the project as entirely his own: &#8220;ZAN is from me,&#8221; he has said, distinguishing it from prior collaborations such as <em>Angel&#8217;s Egg<\/em> and <em>Vampire Hunter D<\/em>. To produce it, he established a Los Angeles-based production company, Yoshitaka Amano Inc., specifically to realise this vision.<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gametrader.sg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/zan-deva-artbook-cover.jpg?w=474&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"DEVA ZAN art book cover by Yoshitaka Amano \u2014 full-colour watercolour illustration of a warrior mounted on a dark beast\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\"><figcaption>Image courtesy of Yoshitaka Amano Inc.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>The Pilot Film Premiered at Anime Expo 2026<\/h2>\n<p>The pilot film \u2014 entirely hand-drawn, in the spirit of classic anime \u2014 had its world premiere at Anime Expo 2026 in Los Angeles in early July as part of Amano&#8217;s solo panel. The official YouTube channel has since released it publicly, so you can watch it right now.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"gt-video\">\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;\"><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/WrEoeyzx258\" title=\"Yoshitaka Amano: New Anime &quot;ZAN&quot; Pilot Film, 100% Hand-drawn\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0;\" allow=\"accelerometer;clipboard-write;encrypted-media;gyroscope;picture-in-picture;web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div><figcaption>Yoshitaka Amano: New Anime &#8220;ZAN&#8221; Pilot Film, 100% Hand-drawn \u2014 via ZAN on YouTube<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gametrader.sg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/zan-pilot-film-still.jpg?w=474&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"A still from ZAN's hand-drawn pilot film \u2014 the protagonist in a tense close-up, mechanical claws at his side\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\"><figcaption>Still from Yoshitaka Amano Inc.&#8217;s official pilot film<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>A Dream Team of Anime Veterans<\/h2>\n<p>The crew assembled for ZAN reads like a roll call of the genre&#8217;s founding generation. Animation directors <strong>Masashi Ikeda<\/strong> (<em>Mobile Suit Gundam Wing<\/em>) and <strong>Tooru Yoshida<\/strong> are leading production, with legendary character animator <strong>Moriyasu Taniguchi<\/strong> \u2014 founder of Studio Anime R \u2014 as principal animator.<\/p>\n<p>For mechanical design, Amano reached out to <strong>Kunio Okawara<\/strong>, the man who designed the original RX-78-2 Gundam and countless Mobile Suits across the franchise. Series composition is handled by <strong>Ryosuke Takahashi<\/strong>, creator of <em>Armored Trooper Votoms<\/em>, one of the most acclaimed real-robot series of the 1980s. Screenplay duties go to <strong>Yuya Takashima<\/strong>, who wrote for <em>Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>The result is a meeting of Amano&#8217;s transcendent visual imagination and some of the deepest craft experience in Japanese animation \u2014 working entirely by hand, without shortcuts.<\/p>\n<h2>What Singapore Fans Should Know<\/h2>\n<p>ZAN has no confirmed release date or streaming platform as of this writing \u2014 the project is still in production, and the pilot is a proof-of-concept, not the full series. But a few things are worth watching:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The official pilot is publicly available on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@ZAN_AMANO\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ZAN YouTube channel<\/a> right now \u2014 it is the real first look at Amano&#8217;s animated world.<\/li>\n<li>Amano&#8217;s immersive touring exhibition AMANO \u2014 which has already appeared in Italy and Brazil \u2014 is confirmed to expand to <strong>Southeast Asia in 2027<\/strong>. Singapore fans may well get an in-person encounter with the DEVA ZAN universe before the anime itself arrives.<\/li>\n<li>When the limited series does reach streaming, it will almost certainly be picked up globally. Keep the <a href=\"https:\/\/zan-amano.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">official site<\/a> bookmarked for distribution announcements.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For fans of Final Fantasy&#8217;s visual identity, classic mecha anime, and hand-drawn craft, ZAN is a passion project worth keeping on your radar. Check out <a href=\"\/blog\/category\/manga-anime\/\">more anime news<\/a> on GameTrader.SG.<\/p>\n<p><!--GT-SCOUT source=\"Web (English)\" theme=\"Anime\" flags=\"no confirmed release date or streaming platform\"--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Yoshitaka Amano \u2014 the artist behind every Final Fantasy character since the NES original \u2014 has debuted the pilot film for ZAN, his own dark fantasy anime assembled with Gundam and Votoms legends.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":6030,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[25],"tags":[44],"class_list":["post-6033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-manga-anime","tag-final-fantasy"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gametrader.sg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/zan-anime-key-art.jpg?fit=1920%2C1080&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p13AlF-1zj","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4194,"url":"https:\/\/www.gametrader.sg\/blog\/kasagi-labo-singapore-ninja-scroll-casshan-ars-gratia-annecy-2026\/","url_meta":{"origin":6033,"position":0},"title":"Singapore\u2019s Kasagi Labo Announces Ninja Scroll Film, Casshan 2045 and Ars Gratia at Annecy","date":"June 25, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Singapore\u2019s Kasagi Labo unveiled three anime projects at Annecy 2026: a Ninja Scroll film, Casshan 2045 with Yoshitaka Amano designs, and sci-fi Ars Gratia.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Manga Anime&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gametrader.sg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ninja-scroll-kasagi-labo-2026.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3367,"url":"https:\/\/www.gametrader.sg\/blog\/summer-2026-anime-singapore-streaming-guide\/","url_meta":{"origin":6033,"position":1},"title":"Summer 2026 Anime: Your Singapore Streaming Guide","date":"June 8, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Ghost in the Shell, Sekiro: No Defeat, Bleach's grand finale and more \u2014 your complete guide to streaming summer 2026 anime in Singapore.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Manga Anime&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gametrader.sg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/sekiro-no-defeat-anime.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4976,"url":"https:\/\/www.gametrader.sg\/blog\/magic-knight-rayearth-2026-anime-october-premiere\/","url_meta":{"origin":6033,"position":2},"title":"Magic Knight Rayearth 2026 Anime Sets October 7 Premiere","date":"July 5, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"CLAMP's Magic Knight Rayearth returns October 7, 2026 \u2014 new anime with Yuki Kajiura scoring and a stellar cast unveiled at Anime Expo 2026.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Manga Anime&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gametrader.sg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/magic-knight-rayearth-2026-key-visual.jpg?fit=1200%2C630&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2730,"url":"https:\/\/www.gametrader.sg\/blog\/crunchy-roll-powering-upcoming-afa-2024\/","url_meta":{"origin":6033,"position":3},"title":"Crunchy Roll Powering upcoming AFA 2024","date":"November 16, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Credit: Crunchy Roll Crunchyroll, the global hub for anime content, has joined forces with Anime Festival Asia (AFA) 2023 in Singapore from November 24th to 26th! 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