Madhouse + Star Wars + Hellboy + Samurai Champloo = HELL'S ANGELS

Now this, boys and girls, is how you assemble a cast of talent.

Over the past few years Japan's Madhouse animation studio has gone from being a fairly run of the mill work farm, turning out solid but unspectacular work, into being arguably the nation's top production house, a home to auteurs, populist masters an technical geniuses alike. How have they done it? Simply put by having a sterling eye for young talent and the wisdom to allow more established hands like Paprika's Satoshi Kon and Kemonozume's Masaki Yuasa a free hand to do what they want. Madhouse may not have an exclusive hold at the top of the heap but, particularly when it comes to television animation, they absolutely must be a starting point for any serious conversation of what's important and interesting in the anime world right now.

And Hell's Angels is their latest. It comes from director Yoshiki Yamakawa, who previously drew a manga version of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. Character designs? Kazita Nakagawa, who previously worked with the brilliant Shinichiro Watanabe on Smaurai Champloo. Creatures? Yasushi Nirazawa. He did a monster or to in a film you may have heard of called Hellboy. This, kids, is as spectacular collection of talent and the freshly released promo makes it look like it's all come together beautifully. Check it out below the break.