This New Netflix Show May Finally Get You Hooked On Anime

Anyone who thinks anime is just for geeks may want to pay attention. Pitchfork reports that king of cool Ezra Koenig, aka the guy from Vampire Weekend, teased Neo Yokio, a brand-new Netflix show that has all the trappings of a viral sensation. Jaden Smith? Check. Jude Law fresh off of Young Pope? Lenny would be into anime, right? Animation that's part-anime and part very 2017? The series can't come soon enough.

Koenig shared a few images on Twitter showing a purple-haired character, the NYC skyline, and a Cartier Tank watch. That's enough to show that this isn't the anime fans are used to, which usually have more schoolgirl outfits than haute timepieces.

"NEO YOKIO IS THE GREATEST CITY IN THE WORLD," his cryptic tweet reads, along with a laundry list of cool guys involved in the project: "Studio Deen, Production IG, Jaden Smith, Kazuhiro Furuhashi & many more."

A quick trip over to the official Neo Yokio Instagram page reveals a few more clues: The main character is a "#1 most eligible bachelor & demon slayer" named Kai, and there's a whole world underneath 14th Street. Stereogum reports that Smith will lend his voice to the lead character while Law tackles the role of Kai's very special butler. Neo Yokio is a mashup of New York City as we know it and Tokyo, making for a sort of Big Hero 6-inspired setting (that film mashed up San Francisco and Tokyo to create San Fransokyo). However, with this eclectic crew on board, Neo Yokio is probably not going to be anything like a Disney classic.

Law explained it all pretty well in a 2016 TimesTalk, but the images just came to light, along with a release date of September 22.

"I was just part of a really eccentric and exciting project that Ezra Koenig, who's the lead singer of Vampire Weekend — he wrote and conceived this animated series that’s about to start, I believe on Netflix, called Neo Yokio," Law said. "I think Jaden Smith is playing this little boy called Kai in it, and I'm his butler. I'm this kind of huge robot butler called Charles, who is also a rocket ship."

So, pretty standard anime fare when you factor in the robot butler/rocket ship and purple hair, but with a hip team behind it, it's sure to be lightyears away from Dragon Ball Z.