With a stellar concept and unique visuals, Disney+ might have a hit on its hands when Dragons of Wonderhatch (Wonderhatch -Sora-Tobu Ryū no Shima-) hits the streaming platform later this month.
There hasn't been a ton of online chatter about the project to date but we suspect that might change as reviews start to pour in and word-of-mouth begins to shine the spotlight on the project.
The small fanbase that has been following the project has been describing it as How To Train Your Dragon for anime fans.
Check out the trailer below and let us know if you plan on tuning in.
Based on the trailer, it seems the creator of Upananta resides in the real world, a twist that should remind anime fans of the criminally underrated 2017 anime series, Re:Creators, which originally streamed on Prime Video.
However, the main difference between the show and Re:Creators is that when the anime characters in Dragons of Wonderhatch journey to the real world, they also become real.
Production I.G is handling the anime portion of the project, with Takashi Otsuka (One Piece Stampede) handling the anime segments. Kentarō Hagiwara (live-action Tokyo Ghoul) is developing the live-action portions, having reportedly spent over five years developing the concept. Kyōta Fujimoto, Takamasa Ōe, and Anna Kawahara are credited for the screenplay.
The series stars Sena Nakajima (We Are Little Zombies) as Nagi, Daiken Okudaira (Insomniacs After School) as Tyme, and Mackenyu Arata (One Piece, Ruroni Kenshin: The Final) as Akuta. Fun fact, Mackenyu is the son of legendary martial arts actor, Sonny Chiba.
Additonally, Kenjiro Tsuda (Kento Nanami in Jujutsu Kaisen) plays the evil dragonrider Gyro and Rena Tanaka plays Hana, Nagi's late mother who worked as a manga creator. Japanese fashion model Sumire (The Shack, The Brighton Miracle) also appears as Saira, a Upanantan researcher obsessed with the real world.
Currently, Dragons of Wonderhatch is set to be released globally, on December 20 on Disney+ and Disney+ HotStar.
Dragons of Wonderhatch Synopsis:
The story revolves around Nagi, a fantasy-loving high school student in the real world city of Yokosuka, Japan, and Tyme a "dropout" dragon rider who resides in the anime world of Upananta. When floating islands start to fall out of the sky in Upananta, Tyme sets out on a journey to solve the crisis by finding the missing hero, Akuta. It turns out the the crisis in Upananta could also have dire consequences for the real world and Akuta is currently on his own mission in the real world to find a solution that could save both realities.