Watch: New Trailer For Masaaki Yuasa’s Upcoming Series About Wannabe Animators

Masaaki Yuasa is on a roll. Since 2017, the Japanese director has released three features and two series — notably Netflix’s Devilman Crybaby. Another series is imminent: a new trailer for Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! is out, and you can watch it (with subtitles) below.

Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! tells the story of three high-school girls who harbor dreams of producing independent anime. They come together and form an “eizouken,” or “film research club,” to realize their ambitions. The trailer exhibits the trademark freedom and playfulness of Yuasa’s style, as the characters enter the graphic world conceived by the lead character.

The series is based on Sumito Owara’s popular manga comic of the same name, which debuted in 2016. Yuasa is directing the series at his studio Science Saru, and also serving as script supervisor. The character design is by Naoyuki Asano.

Yuasa built a considerable cult following his gonzo first feature, 2004’s Mind Game. He co-founded Science Saru with Eunyoung Choi in 2013, and burst back onto the feature film scene in 2017 with two releases, Lu over the Wall and The Night Is Short, Walk on Girl. A new series, Super Shiro, bowed in Japan in October, and yet another series, Japan Sinks, will launch on Netflix next year. That’s one heck of a work ethic.

Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! premieres on Japan’s NHK General TV channel on January 5, 2020. No news of a North American release as of yet.