VIDEO: GUNBLADE Kicks Ass And Blows Things Up!

Following an earlier announcement of tokusatsu director Koichi Sakamoto’s latest project, Gunblade, new footage circulated online: a pitch video, a teaser, and a behind-the-scenes featurette shot for the pitch itself. The clips arrived alongside a formal press release from the show’s producers.

Gunblade Industry SPC, a subsidiary of South Korean production company A mate Inc., unveiled the series at the 2014 Licensing Expo at Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas. The 30-minute presentation included a live mini-performance by an actor in a Gunblade armored suit and an eight-minute preview clip. In a recorded video message, Sakamoto said the series “includes all the action elements, sci-fi elements and fantasy elements that kids like.”

Gunblade follows the “Gunblade Team,” a six-member special missions unit assembled to defend humanity against the villainous Dr. Dexter and his supercomputer, Olympus. Dexter’s plan involves resurrecting an ancient destructive clan called Gothic, which had been sealed away for past wrongdoing. To fight back, Gunblade Team members rely on the “GB Drive,” a smartphone-style device that can summon high-tech weaponry, trigger attack skills, generate a protective shield, and transform its user into an armored suit.

The production carried a reported $20 million budget, with filming scheduled to begin in August 2014 for an on-air debut in Korea as early as March 2015. Distribution to other Asian markets was planned for June and September 2015, with a European and North American release targeted for January 2016.