BitSnark

Word is coming out that The Los Angeles Times has run a report detailing venture by Microsoft to produce a seven part Halo anime series, intended to reflect a similiar storytelling approach to previous anime western collaborations such as the Animatrix and Batman: Gotham Knight.

The similarities don’t end there either as the report goes on to mention that five production houses in Japan; Bones, Casio Entertainment, Production I.G., Studio4 C, and Toei Animation shall be taking over the animation duties, whilst Microsoft’s creative staff is handling the approval for the visuals and storytelling

“It’s a wildly varied genre, but anime creators do things with weapons and vehicle and technology nobody else does and that marries very well with Halo,” stated Frank O’Connor, creative director for 343 Industries.

Frank went on to say; “It’s amazing to see some of the new stuff they’re introducing and how neatly it maps to the visual aesthetics in the Halo universe.”

Additionally, whilst details are thin on the ground at this point, Shinji Aramaki (director of Appleseed/Applessed Ex Machina), is working with Microsoft as creative director to create his own short that will shed some much needed light on the history of the Spartan warrior class.

Whilst another short from Studio4 C entitled “Origins” will be a two-part feature, each being roughly 30 minutes long, which “tells the entire 100,000 year history of the Halo universe.”

Warner Bros shall be in charge of the distribution, ensuring that it will be available on DVD, Blu-ray and through digital distribution in early 2010. Lucky Xbox Live fans are able to catch a preview of the anime this autumn.

Personally I have really enjoyed previous anime/Western collaborations (see Gotham Knight/Animatrix) and with Halo: Reach coming out (hopefully) a few scant months after the anime, it’ll be very nice to see some of the narrative groundwork laid down in traditionally stylish anime fashion.

Anyone else psyched for this?