Fans aren’t just getting ‘Splatoon 2’ but a new anime series, too

It seems to be the summer of Splatoon. Not only are we just a few days away from the release of Splatoon 2, the sequel to one of the biggest surprises from Nintendo in recent years, but the franchise will be making the leap to a new medium altogether in just a few weeks. First reported by the Japanese gaming website Ga-M, Splatoon will be getting its own internet anime series.

According to the Ga-M aricle, monthly manga magazine, CoroCoro, will be producing an anime adaptation of its Splatoon manga strip. While the manga strip apparently takes place in the video game’s setting of Inkopolis and ties into the story, the strip focuses more on humorous situations between the hybrid squid-kid characters — known as Inklings — rather than the frantic, competitive multiplayer action the series is known for.

The anime series will reportedly be maintaining the the light-hearted tone and short-form nature of the manga, airing weekly shorts rather than full-length episodes on CoroCoro’s official YouTube channel. The first episode will premiere on August 12.

CoroCoro will be officially detailing the anime series in its upcoming special Splattoon-themed issue that will ship alongside Splatoon 2 in Japan this Friday. The creator of the manga, Sankichi Hinodeya, posted a preview of the issue and hinted at the web series in a post on Twitter.

【宣伝】月刊コロコロコミック８月号は本日発売！
今回の「スプラトゥーン」は巻頭カラーですくコ:彡
ふろくで、Switchや3DSソフトが収納出来る「ハイパーキャリングケース」もついているので是非！リバーシブルジャケットです！

よろしくお願いします(^^)#Splatoon pic.twitter.com/81iDFXPUn5

— ひのでや参吉@Splatoon③巻発売中 (@hinodeya3) July 15, 2017

While fans are sure to be excited about this announcement, there is no word on whether the series will be released with English subtitles or dubbing. However, since Viz Media is currently handling the English translation of the manga series that will be releasing in the U.S. sometime later this year, it does not seem entirely out of the question to expect an English version of the anime at some point, too. That said, given Splatoon’s massive popularity world-wide, we wouldn’t be surprised to see fan translations of the anime series long before we ever get word of an official English version. Still, if you are a die-hard Splatoon fan, it might be worth checking out even if you don’t speak Japanese.

In the meantime, whether we get an official English version of the anime or we have to wait for unofficial translations, fans still have Splatoon 2 to look forward to, which launches on Nintendo Switch Friday. You can check out our early thoughts on the game here and check back on the site on Tuesday for our full review.