Altered Carbon Anime Picked Up at Netflix

The most anime-like show on television that wasn’t actually anime…is now going to be an anime. 

Netflix has announced that it will be producing an anime feature of its live-action sci-fi series Altered Carbon. The anime will come from animation studio Anima. Dai Soto (Cowboy Bebop) and Tsukasa Kondo will server as writers. Netflix made the announcement during an event in Singapore and also unveiled four other anime series including one for Pacific Rim.

There are no plot details available for the Altered Carbon anime yet but the Netflix release indicates that the feature will “explore new elements of the story mythology.” 

The presence of the anime will not have any bearing on the live-action series. Altered Carbon Season 2 is still in production and on its way with Anthony Mackie in the lead.

Altered Carbon is based on the 2002 novel of the same name by British author by Richard K. Morgan. Season 1 starred Joel Kinnaman and James Purefoy and was created and showrun by Laeta Kalogridis. We were big fans. In hindsight though, it’s kind of surprising that the live-action series came before the anime because the concept of the series is pure anime weirdness and fun.

further reading: How Altered Carbon Made It To Netflix

Altered Carbon is set in a 2384 version of San Francisco called Bay City. Human consciousness is able to be downloaded and preserved in digital files called “stacks.” Stacks can in turn then be installed into cloned bodies called “sleeves.” Naturally this practice is reserved for only the richest and most privileged of humanity. 

In season 1 Kinnaman starred as a “stack” of a solider pulled out of storage after 300 years to solve the murder of one of the world’s richest men…who is still alive because of stack technology. So yeah: anime.

While we don’t know exactly what the plot of the anime will be like, it’s not like it will be hurting for material from the original book series. The second season is already departing a bit from the massive second volume in the series. There is plenty to explore in Morgan’s world and now Netflix will have two properties to explore it.

Alec Bojalad is TV Editor at Den of Geek. Read more of his stuff here. Follow him at his creatively-named Twitter handle @alecbojalad