Press Release
The Walt Disney Company (Japan) Ltd. announced today that it will produce the first Japanese Marvel animated television series targeted at boys. Marvel Disk Wars: The Avengers is based on Marvel’s most popular team of Super Heroes, The Avengers and will premiere nationwide on terrestrial television in spring 2014.
Marvel Disk Wars: The Avengers will be produced by Nerima-ku, Tokyo-based Toei Animation Co., Ltd., which has produced multiple successful animated series for kids in Japan. Taito-ku, Tokyo-based Bandai Co., Ltd., which has a highly successful track record with major titles, will be responsible for character merchandising. The three companies will collaborate in creating a fully localized Japanese series as well as providing a lineup of attractive products and merchandise targeting the boys market.
The story will revolve around how The Avengers – Iron Man, Captain America, Thor and the Hulk together with the help of Spider-Man and a group of teens, will harness their respective fighting skills and superhuman powers to foil Loki’s scheme to take over the world. Marvel Disk Wars: The Avengers will target boys in the 6-12 age group.
Walt Disney Japan, through its local content strategy—delivering content tailored to meet the needs of local consumers—is actively localizing content to fit the tastes and sensibilities of Japanese audiences. Though the company has produced and broadcast several localized programs, from the animated short-form series Fireball in 2008, Disney’s first animated series produced entirely in Japan, to Stitch!, which stars the popular Disney character with a change of setting from Hawaii to Okinawa. Marvel Disk Wars: The Avengers will be its first animated television series specifically targeted at boys and will delight Japanese viewers with an entirely new action-packed storyline that unfolds before their eyes in a high quality 2D animated format. Most recently, this Super Hero team was seen in the 2012 live-action movie, Marvel’s The Avengers, with a world-wide box office revenue that exceeded $1.5 billion and was the third-top grossing film of all time.
Through this collaboration, Marvel, Walt Disney Japan, Japan’s top animation studio Toei Animation, and character merchandising leader Bandai will together leverage their respective strengths to deliver a television series for nationwide broadcast and a range of merchandise that is sure to breathe new life into the boys market in Japan.
Ⓒ2013 MARVEL
Basic information
Title: Marvel Disk Wars: The Avengers
Original title from: Marvel Comics
Category: Action/Adventure
Target audience: Boys 6-12 (core target 8-10)
Produced by: The Walt Disney Company (Japan) Ltd.
Synopsis
In an all out battle instigated by Loki, most of Earth’s super heroes and villains have been trapped inside disks—a new technology originally developed as portable security devices for capturing and securing villains around the world.
The Avengers team up with a group of teens to reclaim the scattered disk, and using their special abilities and techniques (waza), thwart Loki’s evil schemes to save the Earth from ultimate destruction.
About Walt Disney Japan
The Walt Disney Company established a commercial presence in the Japanese market with the founding of a local subsidiary in 1959. In April 2004, it took control of Disney’s business interests in Japan (except Tokyo Disney Resort®) with the integration all local subsidiaries and affiliates and renaming itself The Walt Disney Company (Japan) Ltd. Today WDCJ is involved in a diverse range of businesses in Japan, operating in five core segments—Media Networks, Parks & Resorts, Studio Entertainment, Consumer Products, and Interactive Group—under an organization mirroring that of its U.S.-based parent. Disney acquired CG animation leader Pixar in May 2006, Marvel Entertainment in December 2009, and Lucasfilm (known for the Star Wars movies) in December 2012. Today Disney manages a varied portfolio of brands from Disney, Disney/Pixar, Marvel, and Lucasfilm.
About Marvel Entertainment
Marvel Entertainment, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, is one of the world’s most prominent character-based entertainment companies, built on a proven library of over 8,000 characters featured in a variety of media over seventy years. Marvel utilizes its character franchises in entertainment, licensing and publishing. For more information visit marvel.com.
5 Comments
Pokevengers! Where do I pre-order the toys?
This is a ballsy undertaking. It will be interesting to see how the characterizations change to fit with young Japanese audiences.
Another interesting note is that they are pulling in an Ultimate-looking Wasp.
I especially love how I can already identify the kids personalities based on their looks. The quiet athletic support character, the nerd, the responsible one, the leader (you can tell because he looks like the most average Japanese kid ever) and … the ‘girl’, who will likely try to act independent yet always rely on the ‘leader’ for help, while the two of them form a ‘will they won’t they’ relationship that is not resolved until the final episode of the series (if at all). Hey, now that I know all this I don’t have to watch the show!
I’m waiting for someone to complain that this is something “new and stupid” so I can point them in the direction of another Japense produced Marvel series that was pretty freakin’ awesome:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPX-FX0KStE
Ok, i can only form an opinion based on the promo pic.
The character design is low level for anime style. And it’s also bad for western animation style. So to me it’s not appealing from any point of view.
Also…. why is Spiderman in it?