Capcom Makes, Streams Samurai Dead Rising Anime Shorts

The Japanese game maker CAPCOM has collaborated with character designer Norio Shioyama (Armored Trooper Votoms, Yoroiden Samurai Trooper/Ronin Warriors) to create a series of three anime shorts inspired by CAPCOM's Dead Rising 2 survival horror game. The first 166-second episode of Samurai Dead Rising has begun streaming on CAPCOM's website and its YouTube channel on Friday. The anime shorts imagine if the setting of a "zombie paradise" happens to be a jidai geki (Japanese period drama works made famous by samurai films).

Shioyama served as the project's main visual artist, animation director, and animator, while Manabu Inada (formerly of MTV USA) served as the creative director, director, and producer. Shōhei Narabe (Kome Kome Club) composed the music and designed the soundtrack.

Dead Rising 2 will ship in Europe, North America, and Japan at the end of this month. In January, CAPCOM had announced Zombrex Dead Rising Sun (Shibyō Osen Dead Rising), a live-action movie version of Dead Rising 2 with the production company Digital Frontier (Appleseed, Resident Evil: Degeneration). The anime studio Gonzo collaborated with CAPCOM on animated footage for the Super Street Fighter IV fighting game.