Pacific Rim: The Black
Pacific Rim: The Black is a Japanese-American adult animated original net animation series based on and a continuation of the Pacific Rim films. The third installment overall of the titular franchise, the series was developed and co-written by Greg Johnson and Craig Kyle for Netflix. Season 1 debuted on March 4, 2021, while the second and final season was released on April 19, 2022.
Plot
Set in the same universe as the original film, a race of monsters called Kaiju arise from the Pacific Rim and overrun the continent of Australia. Humans build gigantic armed robots, Jaegers, to fight back, but fail and the continent is abandoned, leaving only isolated pockets of survivors. Teenage siblings Taylor and Hayley Travis are left behind by their parents, who leave to combat the Kaiju but never return. Five years later, Hayley stumbles across a long-abandoned training Jaeger called Atlas Destroyer which she and Taylor activate, and they set out on a quest to find their parents. They not only have to deal with marauding Kaiju, but other survivors who are also fighting for survival and attempt to seize Atlas Destroyer for themselves.Voice cast
Main
- Gideon Adlon and Yui Shimodaya as Hayley Travis
- * Camryn Jones as young Hayley Travis
- Calum Worthy and Yusuke Kobayashi as Taylor Travis
- * Cole Keriazakos and Yuki Urushiyama as young Taylor Travis
- Ben Diskin as Kaiju Boy
- Victoria Grace and Ayaka Shimoyamada as Mei
- Erica Lindbeck and Iku Minase as Loa
- Andy McPhee and Jin Yamanoi as Shane
Recurring
- Jason Spisak and Yuya Uchida as Ford Travis
- Allie MacDonald and Yuko Kaida as Brina Travis
- David Errigo Jr. as Root
- Bryton James as Corey
- Martin Klebba and Rui Kato as Spyder
- Leonardo Nam and Daisuke Hirakawa as Rickter
- Nolan North as Marshall Rask
- Vincent Piazza and Tomoya Yano as Joel Wyrick
- Ryan Robinson as Demarcus
- Ron Yuan as Shiro Ito
Guest
- Max Martini as Hercules "Herc" Hansen
- Rhys Darby as Bunyip Man
Production
In November 2018, Netflix announced that an anime series adaptation based on the films was in the works. It was originally set for a 2020 release. During their virtual "Anime Festival" livestream event in October 2020, its title Pacific Rim: The Black and a 2021 release window was revealed. A second season was also greenlit.The series is produced by American company Legendary Television, and animated by Japanese studio Polygon Pictures. Greg Johnson and Marvel Comics writer Craig Kyle serve as showrunners, and Brandon Campbell is composing the series' music. The series is directed by Jae-hong Kim and Hiroyuki Hayashi, with episodic direction by Takeshi Iwata, Susumu Sugai, and Masayuki Uemoto, and art direction by Yūki Moriyama.
Several creators pitched ideas to Legendary, and it was ultimately the concept by showrunners Greg Johnson and Craig Kyle that ended up moving forward to be pitched to Netflix. Before production on the series itself began, Johnson and Kyle had thought about making the series in either 2D or 3D animation, but hadn't decided which to go with. The more they thought about the cost of the 2D animation, and the limits 2D animation would have on certain aspects of the series, such as how the camera would move in a highly detailed 2D environment, the more they leaned towards using 3D animation. Ultimately, it was decided that they would produce the series in 3D animation, but they wanted to keep the 2D aesthetics, which led them to Polygon Pictures, because they were the "masters at this approach." Polygon Pictures representative director Shūzō John Shiota and producer Jack Liang expressed excitement over the idea of producing a work within the Pacific Rim universe, and decided to take on the job. Polygon Pictures staff handled a majority of the series' design work, with some assistance by the western team's supervising director Jae-hong Kim, and both teams convened in Tokyo to discuss these designs.