Guard 6 , an Afro-futurist sci-fi adventure anime , is in advancement with NBA and NFL Pros Michael Carter-Williams and Jamaal Williams, respectively, boarding as executive manufacturers.
Created in 2019 by Jamaican-American writer Pat Stout and the late Bronx native Asa Palmer through their manufacturing company Sable Kudzu, Guard 6 is set in the year 2429, around 400 years after a near extinction-level event in the world called the Great Phoenix War.
Triggered by racist tensions and worries around sentinels– human beings and other intergalactic beings imbued with powers in order to protect their planet– the violence leaves a currently post-apocalyptic, class-stratified Planet vulnerable to those eager for power and vengeance. That includes an intergalactic terrorist that, upon turning on that power, inadvertently awakens the Sentinel 6– three boys and 3 young women who work as various parts and protectors– including the mind, heart, sword and shield– of a shared sentinel power.
A mix of Afro-Futurism, TV-MA new grownup, and sci-fi action-adventure, the series will be comprised of 11 to 12 thirty-minute episodes. LeSean Thomas ( Bass x Machina, Yasuke, The Country wrote the pilot and acts as a consulting producer on the job, with both Carter-Williams and Williams working as executive manufacturers, alongside independent talent manager Sam Goff, that likewise representatives Stout through Animated Viewpoints. Carter-Williams and Williams have additionally purchased the indie collection, which, in 2024, ran a successful Kickstarter project elevating almost $ 20, 000 that was utilized to develop a trailer produced by the Bulgarian and German Chase A Cloud Studio.
In late 2025, after Palmer died all of a sudden earlier in the year, ESPN Analyst, NBA Novice of the Year, and previous 76 er and Chicago Bulls gamer Carter-Williams, in addition to experienced NFL running back and previous Green Bay Packers and New Orleans Saints gamer Williams, completely funded the pilot. This year, the job was obtained to two lots animation manufacturing studios, with Creative Fanatics winning the quote.
According to Stout, he and Palmer “intended to create a world that our target market could feel actually connected to, like it represents them somehow, but still was escapist.” However the principle was, partly, triggered by the underrepresentation of Black personalities and tales in the medium for its designers, whose Western impacts include Fixed Shock , Samurai Jack and Batman Beyond “When Asa and I grew up, Black individuals viewing anime wasn’t cool, or we were constantly advised concerning how you can not be this character due to the fact that they do not look like you,” Stout informed The Hollywood Press reporter. “Around 2020, the Blerd community expanded. The Black area can be a torchbearer of coolness, however there were all these people who we understood enjoyed anime and we’re still not represented.”
” I’m thrilled to be part of Guard 6 since I believe in the power of seeing yourself in the stories you view. Black followers have actually been part of the anime neighborhood for a very long time, and there’s space for more stories that put us at the center– as heroes with depth, complexity, and experiences we can connect with,” stated Carter-Williams. “What excites me is the opportunity to develop something that mirrors our culture while producing a world anybody can get invested in. I desire Black kids to see these personalities and really feel that they belong in these globes, as well. With Guard 6 , we have an opportunity to bring a fresh viewpoint to the tool and create something that influences numerous individuals.”
Added Williams: “It’s been just one of my dreams growing up as a nerd who watched Naruto It truly is something that’s going to link to a great deal of individuals of color, specifically Black people– to be able to reveal a various side of anime and be full of personalities. We really don’t have a great deal of people that we can link to in anime and [the] computer animation globe. Now that individuals like me– various other athletes and individuals who have a greater profile– are revealing their love for geek stuff, we’re finding more and more individuals that enjoy Black characters, anime and animation. I’m so happy to be component of the Sentinel 6 group and to maintain pressing out much more Black quality.”
According to the job’s team, the series will certainly be just one of the first well-known anime created by a Japanese studio in the English-language initially, with Burbank-based voice-over studio Bang Zoom! set to lead the reverse localization right into Japanese. Innovative Fanatics, a global computer animation and background art studio established in July 2014 and headquartered in Kyoto, Japan, is leading manufacturing.
” We were deeply drawn to the passion of the designers and the unique world they have developed. We really felt strongly that this was a job that should have to reach a larger audience, and we were delighted to approve the opportunity to be involved,” claimed a speaker for Imaginative Freaks. “This job additionally deeply resonates with our very own idea in the power of animation to move people’s hearts. We will certainly put our hearts into the manufacturing and do our absolute best to draw out the complete possibility of what can be revealed with animation, to make sure that this job can be appreciated by as many individuals as feasible.”
“Pat and Asa’s vision for Guard 6 … feels fresh and unanticipated, with a distinct visual identity and personalities that we are thrilled to help bring to life,” Boom Studios claimed in its very own declaration.” [Pat’s] enthusiasm is absolutely contagious, and he has a clear vision for the story he intends to tell and the concepts he wishes to discover with this task. We are expecting bringing our experience in VO production to Guard 6 and helping find the voices that will provide these personalities their personality, energy, and mankind. It’s additionally incredibly significant for us to be working alongside a Black innovative group, and we’re honored to play a part in bringing this story to life.”
The current actors consists of influencer King Vader (Dominique Barrett), that has generated over 6 million followers throughout systems, EP Jamaal Williams, and expert animation and anime dub voice talent Cedric Williams ( Demon Killer franchise, Spider-Man: Throughout the Spider-Verse, My Father the Bounty Hunter
Sentinel 6 comes amidst an expanding creator market around anime, which was showcased as part of Crunchyroll’s Anime Future Online forum today via panels l. Athletes are likewise progressively freely expressing their love for anime, with Olympic number skater Brownish-yellow Glenn showing up at the inaugural Crunchyroll sector Wednesday– a year after the firm previously teamed up with fellow Olympian, track and field celebrity Noah Lyles, on an Adidas-powered pill collection. The MLB has actually likewise partnered with franchise business like Satanic force Killer , creating a brief film to commemorate the Tokyo Series. Individual L.A. groups like the MLB’s Dodgers and the NBA’s Lakers have both hosted One Piece nights while the San Diego Chargers revealed their season routine in anime-style video clips
