Japanese commercial broadcaster Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS), streaming platform U-Next and "Alice in Borderland" producer The Seven have teamed up for the first time on a large-scale period action series written by Masaaki Sakai ("Cold Case" 2 & 3, "Small, Slow but Steady").   

The as-yet-unnamed global project will be directed by Kazutaka Watanabe ("Naotora: The Lady Warlord") and involves The Seven’s chief producer Akira Morii, along with producers Mamoru Inoue and Kazuya Shimomura. 

Action director Kensuke Sonomura ("Baby Assassins"), known for his fight choreography, is attached to the project. 

VFX will be handled by Tomofumi Akahane ("Yu Yu Hakusho") and character design by Yuya Maeda ("The Legend & Butterfly").

Early info that accompanied the release of a 15-second teaser and a visual promised a “mega-scale” drama project, which creates an “ambitious new world” steeped in samurai culture, and promises to deliver “Japanese Sword Action Entertainment” unlike anything seen before in Japanese television. 

The new title will, the partners say, “shake up the landscape of Japanese television”. 

The companies said the new show tapped into “the timeless allure of jidaigeki (period dramas) and samurai culture – genres already beloved worldwide” and that the partnership combined their strengths.