Crunchyroll (and VRV) announced on Tuesday that they have acquired exclusive streaming rights to Shinichiro Watanabe‘s Blade Runner Anime short outside of Asia. Titled “Blade Runner Black Out 2022,” it will be both scripted and directed by Watanabe himself, and will release in all territories outside of Asia on September 26.
Crunchyroll also began streaming the official preview trailer for the short:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OD0RCfcaols
“The anime will take place in the year 2022, between the original Blade Runner film, which takes place in 2019, and its sequel Blade Runner 2049. The story will involve a large power outage on the west coast of the United States.” (Source: ANN)
Shinichiro Watanabe is most notable for his direction of anime classics such as Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, Space Dandy, and more. His first work as a director was on the Macross Plus OVA, done by Triangle Staff and Studio Nue, back in 1994.
UPDATE: Sony will stream the animated short on their YouTube channel (Asia ONLY) same day. WarnerBros will release the short on their YouTube channel worldwide 24 hours after it airs on Crunchyroll (and VRV).
