ADV Aquires Rights to Xenosaga Anime

The latest from ADV Universe is ADV Films, the number one producer-distributor of anime outside of Japan, has announced it has obtained exclusive broadcast and home video rights for North America to produce a series based on the popular PS2 RPG Xenosaga. The anime is based on the first Xenosaga game, Episode One: Der Wille zur Macht and will be parceled into a twelve episode series. The anime is being produced by Toei Animation, best known for the Yu-Gi-Oh! series.

Synopsis: Over four thousand years have passed since humans abandoned the planet Earth. Humanity is now on the brink of destruction, hunted down by a vicious alien race known as the Gnosis. The last hope of mankind rests in the hands of scientist Shion Uzuki and KOS-MOS, a battling android with unfathomable capabilities. Unbeknownst to Shion, the battleship they’re traveling in holds a mysterious object that attracts the Gnosis. When the Woglinde is attacked by the Gnosis, KOS-MOS is activated and begins to pursue her own mysterious plans.

The storyline will be presented in three DVDs. The first installment should be out September 11,2007.

Through a few un-namable channels I’ve actually seen all the episodes of this series and I have to warn die hard fans of the games that the plot does not follow the same path as the games it is based on. I know Xenosaga may not have been the hit the developers hoped it would be stateside but I greatly enjoyed the non-fantasy mix of mecha and gunplay in combat and the high minded (though some say confusing) plot that evolves in both the TV series and the game.