The production team behind Dark Machine The Animation released the anime’s second promotional video on Wednesday, revealing additional cast members, previewing the opening theme song, and confirming an October television premiere.
Opening Theme by BUCK-TICK
The anime’s opening theme is titled “Sonzai Riyū Kai” (Reason to Live, Renewed), performed by veteran rock band BUCK-TICK. The new promotional video includes a preview of the track.
New Cast Members
The newly announced voice actors portray members of rival e-sports teams competing against Kairi’s Carbuncle squad:
- Ryūnosuke Watanuki as Nyūdō, a player from the Great Cluster team
- Jun Kousaka as Hachiman, a player from the Great Cluster team
- Minori Suzuki as Bianca, a player from the Esmeralda team
- Rikuya Yasuda as Weiss, a player from the Esmeralda team
Main Cast
- Kenshō Ono — Kairi
- Miyuki Sawashiro — Rudora
- Kōki Uchiyama — Shinn
- Riho Sugiyama — Bran
- Saya Aizawa — Isana
- Yūichi Nakamura — Ajima
- Kazuyuki Okitsu — Myōjin
- Ryōta Suzuki — Ryō
- Genta Nakamura — Kinji
- Sōhei Horikane — Hiru
Setting and Story
The anime is set in the near future, where Dark Machine exists as a popular gaming metaverse. Drawing from the game’s lore, the story is set in 2079, after Dr. Robert Palmer’s discovery of the “Palmer crystal” — an energy source that transformed human civilization. However, the benefits of this hyper energy source were not shared equally, sparking underground conflicts on a global scale. Factory robots were repurposed into combat mechs by these underground factions, and it has since been discovered that small quantities of dark energy reside within the Palmer crystal. Whether mechs can ultimately control this dark energy remains an open question.
The anime is planned for global distribution and will air on Fuji TV, with streaming also available.
Staff
The team behind the pilot trailer that premiered at Comic-Con International in July 2024 has been confirmed to work on the TV series.
- Director: Kazumi Terada (Production +h.)
- Creative Producer: Gorō Taniguchi (Code Geass)
- Chief Mechanical Designer: Hidetaka Tenjin (Macross series)
- Project Creator: Keiichi Yano
- Series Scripts: Team Carbuncle (Takaaki Suzuki, Tatsuhiko Urahata, Atsuo Ishino) with Satohito Sata
- Main Character Designer: Kō Yoshinari
- Sub-Character Designer: Akira Mitani
- Costume Design: Mebachi
- Chief Animation Directors: Yumi Kuroiwa, Hideki Itō
- Storyboard: Masatsugu Arakawa
- Color Key Artist: niko*miko
- Art Setting: Hiromi Tateiwa, Engawa, Nariyuki Ogi
- Art Directors: Hiromi Tateiwa, Yusuke Ikeda
- CG Director: Akira Inami
- CG Action Director: Ryou Kimura
- Compositing Director of Photography: Naoko Tanaka
- Photography Supervision: Kentarō Waki
- Editing: Yuki Honda
- Sound Director: Takeshi Takadera
- Sound Effects: Tomoko Ohtsuka
- Music: SUGIZO
- Music Production: Flying Dog
About the Dark Machine Game
The Dark Machine game is a 7-versus-7 mech third-person shooter described as an “asynchronous big team arena shooter.” It was announced in 2023 and entered Early Access in 2024, developed using Unreal Engine 5. The project has raised over US$8.7 million from more than 6,000 investors, including Tencent, web3 gaming platform Immutable, and blockchain company Sui.
The game features a blockchain-based in-game currency called MACHINA ($MXNA), along with NFT asset ownership and an NFT marketplace. Players can download and play the game without purchasing any NFTs and receive free NFTs to get started. Decentralized tournaments are a core component of the gameplay experience.

