Chiaki J. Konaka (series script supervisor of Serial Experiments Lain, Texhnolyze, and Hellsing) announced at the Japan Weekend Madrid event in Spain last weekend that Yoshitoshi ABe‘s (creator and character designer for Serial Experiments Lain and Haibane Renmei) Despera anime project is getting a manga in 2027. He posted a visual on X/Twitter on Monday:

Konaka added that the manga’s setting and era will differ from those of the original project announcement. He clarified that this project is not related to Serial Experiments Lain.

Konaka last provided an update for the project in 2021. According to him, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the project was suspended for a year and a few months. Konaka added that the production funding scheme was 80% completed at the time, and that the core staff had done a lot of work up until 2020. He confirmed that staff was still working hard on the project, and asked fans to be patient.

The Despera anime project was put on hold after director Ryūtarō Nakamura passed away in 2013. ABe mentioned in October 2014 that the project was continuing with a new director.

ABe unveiled the project at Seattle’s Sakura-Con in 2009. ABe was heading the project and designing the characters and Chiaki J. Konaka, the series script supervisor of Serial Experiments Lain, Texhnolyze, and Hellsing, was writing the script.

The title is derived from a poem from the Dadaist poet Jun Tsuji (1884-1944). It is also derived from the shortened version of the term “desperado.” The story centers around Ain, a 14-year-old girl who builds devices despite the lack of the scientific background required for them. The science-fiction story was originally set in Japan’s Taishō era in 1922 — one year before the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake in the Tokyo area.

Sources: Chiaki J. Konaka‘s Twitter account

The official website for the television anime of Shinobu Kaitani‘s Liar Game manga announced on Tuesday that the anime is getting a second season. The website unveiled a commemorative illustration by character designer Kei Tsuchiya:

The 26th and final episode of the first season aired on Monday (effectively, Tuesday).

The anime premiered in Japan on TV Tokyo and its affiliates on April 6. The anime ran for six months without breaks. The second part of the anime began on July 7. Crunchyroll is streaming the anime worldwide (excluding Japan and China) and hosted the world premiere screening of the anime’s first two episodes at this year’s Sakura-Con event in Seattle on April 5. PDT. AMEDIATEKA is distributing the anime in the Russian Federation.

REMOW introduces the series’ story:

A Mysterious Invitation. One Hundred Million Yen. The Game Begins.
College student Nao Kanzaki suddenly receives a strange letter and a suitcase containing 100 million yen. She’s been chosen to participate in the LIAR GAME—a high-stakes psychological battle where lies, deception, and betrayal reign supreme. Naïve and painfully honest, Nao quickly finds herself cornered. To survive, she turns to Shinichi Akiyama, a brilliant former con artist with unmatched intellect. As they dive deeper into the twisted game, the two must outwit opponents in a world where trusting others could be fatal. In a game built on lies, can honesty prevail?

Yūzō Satō (Kaiji -Ultimate Survivor-, Akagi, Trillion Game, The Gene of AI) was the chief director of the anime at Madhouse, and Asami Kawano (assistant director for The Vampire Dies in No Time both seasons, episode director for Orb: On the Movements of the Earth) directed the anime. Tatsuhiko Urahata (Baki, Baki Hanma, Monster, Muv-Luv Alternative) wrote and oversaw the series scripts, Kei Tsuchiya (Laidbackers, Trillion Game, The Gene of AI) was the character designer, and Kisuke Koizumi (The Gene of AI, My Happy Marriage, Ghost in the Shell Arise) was the sound director.

The manga ran from 2005 to January 2015 in Shueisha‘s Weekly Young Jump magazine. Shueisha published the manga’s 19th and final compiled book volume in May 2015. Kaitani launched a new short serialization for the manga titled Liar Game: The Last Game in Shueisha‘s Grand Jump Mucha magazine on February 25.

The manga previously inspired two live-action films, two live-action television series, and two live-action online series. The manga also inspired a stage play in 2023.

Kaitani’s ONE OUTS manga inspired a television anime in 2008.

Sources: Liar Game anime’s website, Comic Natalie