Mana Project Studio (Cowboy Bebop: Space Serenade) and Don’t Panic Games (Journey to Ragnarok, Historia), in partnership with animation studio Sunrise, announced today a tabletop role-playing game of one of the most beloved anime of all time: Shinchiro Watanabe’s genre-busting space neo-noir Cowboy Bebop.
Cowboy Bebop is one of the most famous and influential animes ever produced. Broadcast in 1998 in Japan and all over the world in the following years, it has had a cult following so great to this day thanks to its strong characters, excellent animation, and one of the best soundtracks of all time by Yoko Anno and Seatbelts. The anime has returned to prominence with the announcement that a live-action remake will be one of Netflix’s major launches worldwide in November 2021.
In Cowboy Bebop: The Role-Playing Game, players will live through their own stories of bounty hunters in space, in a jazzy universe blending Western, Film Noir, and buddy cop movies, accompanied by one of the best anime soundtracks in history.
The game will be designed by the award-winning Italian authors Fumble, who won the prestigious Italian Game of the Year award in 2020 for Not The End.
It will reach Kickstarter in 2022 and hopefully hit shelves by the end of the year. Its initial launch will feature English, French and Italian languages.
“As a pioneer of Japanese animation in Europe and an early role-player, I have always dreamed of living adventures in the universes of famous anime. We are overjoyed that Sunrise, with whom we have worked for many years, has entrusted us with making this first experience possible.” said Cedric Littardi, founder of Don’t Panic Games.
“Cowboy Bebop is part of those anime that made up our cultural background. As fans of the anime, we are thrilled to be able to work on this project, a unique opportunity to design on both the themes of CBB and its strong visual identity. Our goal is to share our passion for Cowboy Bebop with you with this game!” says Michele Paroli, founder and lead designer of Mana Project Studio.
A leaflet presentation will be available exclusively during the Essen SPIEL game fair next week at the Don’t Panic Games booth 2D116. In the coming months, those who have signed up will gain the opportunity to pioneer the game system during its playtests!
Images via Sunrise and Don’t Panic Games
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