Hideaki Anno and Yutaka Izubuchi to direct Space Battleship Yamato √2199

Space Battleship Yamato √2199 will be a feature-length animated film directed by Hideaki Anno and Yutaka Izubuchi. The project was unveiled on October 6, 2026, the 52nd anniversary of the original Japanese series’ premiere, and will bring Studio Khara and Production I.G together for their first animation co-production. The team has not announced a release date, cast, synopsis or international distribution plan.

What has been confirmed about the film

Anno is also credited with planning and executive production, while Mitsuhisa Ishikawa receives a planning credit. Anno and Izubuchi are both handling design work. Shin Office Academy is producing the film, and original creator credit remains with Yoshinobu Nishizaki. The staff arrangement connects creators who have worked across different stages of the franchise, but it does not establish what story the new film will tell.

The announcement included only a teaser visual. It depicts Yamato above a devastated landscape, apparently preparing to launch into space. No trailer, animated footage or character material was released. The ship-focused image establishes the project’s visual scale, but any conclusion about its era, antagonists or relationship to earlier events would still be speculation.

The partnership between the two studios is one of the announcement’s most concrete elements. Studio Khara is associated with the Rebuild of Evangelion films and Anno’s recent work, while Production I.G has a long record in theatrical and television animation. The companies have shared personnel and production relationships before, but they identify Yamato √2199 as their first official animation co-production.

The title does not place the film in the 3199 continuity

The number “2199” may suggest a direct connection to the remake line that began with Space Battleship Yamato 2199 in 2012 and continued through titles including Be Forever Yamato: Rebel 3199. However, Studio Khara stated in 2024 that its new project would follow a different route from that continuity. The current announcement does not reverse that separation and does not describe the feature as a sequel, reboot or specific new adaptation of the 1974 series.

That context prevents a conclusion based on the name alone. The square-root symbol is part of the official title, which is read as “Root 2199,” but its narrative meaning has not been explained. It may suggest a conceptual offshoot of the franchise, yet that remains an editorial inference until the production reveals the story.

Anno’s involvement was first outlined in October 2024, when Khara said it had received authorization to produce a new animated work based on Space Battleship Yamato. At the time, the director described parallel versions as a long-standing feature of the series. The 2026 announcement turns that plan into a named film with confirmed co-directors and studios, while leaving nearly every release detail open.

The announcement therefore confirms the creative and production structure of Space Battleship Yamato √2199, rather than its content. Until a trailer or synopsis appears, the established facts are its theatrical feature format, two directors, first-time studio partnership and independence from the current remake continuity.