Ancient gods seem to be all the rage in popular media nowadays, from Hades to Blood of Zeus and even the upcoming new Percy Jackson series. Another addition to this growing club will be the new anime adaptation of the popular Japanese manga Shuumatsu No Valkyrie, otherwise known as Record of Ragnarok, with its new trailer being featured during Netflix’s virtual panel at AnimeJapan 2021. This news is part of Netflix's plan to release 40 new, original anime titles in 2021 — close to double the number the streamer released last year.
The anime will center around a group called the Gods’ Council determining that humanity is no longer worth preserving and should go extinct. Before this catastrophic event can happen, however, the valkyrie known as Brunhild (Miyuki Sawashiro) proposes a way that humanity can redeem itself: if a group of thirteen warriors from human history can win battles against thirteen powerful gods, then their extinction will be prevented. These human representatives range from biblical figures like Adam (Soma Saito) to warlords such as Lu Bu (Tomokazu Seki). The fighters will face off against an eclectic group of gods as well from different religions and cultures.
Ragnarok will be directed by Masao Okubo, making his directorial debut after working as an animator for Red Baron and the 2011 Thundercats reboot. The anime will be adapted directly from the 2017 manga of the same name from Shinya Umemura, Takumi Fukui, and the mangaka group Ajichika. The show is produced by Warner Bros. Japan and animated by the Japanese studio Graphinica.
Not only did Netflix release a new trailer for the series, but a new poster was released as well. The poster shows Adam facing off against the almighty Zeus (Wataru Takagi) in what will inevitably be a battle for the ages.
Although Ragnarok has proven to be a success, it did not come without its share of criticism. On March 25, the President of the Universal Society of Hinduism named Rajan Zed denounced the manga and anime’s portrayal of Shiva (Tatsuhisa Suzuki), the third god of Hindu.
“Inappropriately reimagining Hindu deities/concepts/scriptures/symbols/icons and redefining Hinduism for commercial or other agenda [is] not okay as it hurt the feelings of devotees,” said Zed in a statement. He also offered his assistance with the property in the future. No other Hinduism groups have given statements regarding Ragnarok and its portrayal of Shiva.
Record of Ragnarok will arrive on Netflix in June, although a specific date has not been set. Check out the official trailer for Record of Ragnarok below:
Here's the official synopsis and poster for Record of Ragnarok below:
"'Record of Ragnarok' is the story of 13 gods from across the globe and 13 of the world’s most notable humans fighting it out in one-on-one battles to decide the fate of humanity. Based on the manga created by Azychika, Shinya Umemura and Takumi Fukui, an earnest battle of transcendental rage begins!
