Ahead of the show’s streaming debut tomorrow, checkout our breakdown of the trailer for Neo Yokio which heads to Netflix later this week.
Neo Yokio is an adult animated series that was originally slated to be a part of Animation Domination’s Hi-Def channel that had kicked off on FOX several years ago with franchises like Axe Cop, High School USA, and others. Despite an excellent lineup of content, ADHD was met with backlash from FOX affiliates airing baseball along with a bunch of heat for the acronym. Also, FOX seldom did any marketing for the late-night Saturday Night lineup. The purpose of ADHD was to potentially be an incubator of animated content that would eventually show up on Sunday Nights along with mainstays like Family Guy, Bob’s Burgers, and The Simpsons. Golan the Insatiable was the lone ADHD series that got that promotion, with FOX taking the franchise series, and adapting it for the Sunday Night lineup. Unfortunately, all of the changes that FOX made to Golan the Insatiable were met with mixed results that, coupled with the bizarre scheduling, would see the show canceled after only one season and a handful of episodes.
Behind the production of the Animation Domination series was former Adult Swim exec Nick Weidenfeld who not only oversaw the FOX ADHD lineup but also when the brand was sent packing to FXX which is where Neo Yokio was originally going to air. Unfortunately, the ADHD lineup was met with a similar fate as a result of little to no marketing on a network that really wasn’t known for original content at that point (since then, Archer has moved over to FXX and several shows have gained cult followings on the network). The cable network version of ADHD would feature new franchises like Stone Quackers and Major Lazer that would premiere after the recently acquired syndication rights to The Simpsons. Unfortunately, little network support still reared its ugly head, and despite quality programming, Animation Domination Hi-Def would be no more.
Behind the scenes, Nick Weidenfeld would take a little break from television but with Neo Yokio, he makes his animation producing return.
Neo Yokio is a series that is a postmodern collage of homages to classic anime, English literature and modern New York fashion and culture. In the show’s trailer, anime fans can already make call-outs to slice-of-life, mecha, and more of the subgenres that have helped Japanese animation both diversify and flourish.
Despite its silly premise, Neo Yokio features some hardcore production studios and storyboard artists for the series include Kazuhiro Furuhashi (Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn, Hunter x Hunter, Rurouni Kenshin) and Junji Nishimura (Ranma 1/2, Urusei Yatsura, Pro Golfer Saru) in collaboration with collaboration with Japanese anime studios Production IG and Studio Deen, along with MOI, the Seoul-based animation studio.
Neo Yokio is a series that was actually created by Vampire Weekend frontman Ezra Koenig.
Ezra is originally from NYC (the setting of Neo Yokio) and was actually a teacher before he got his big musical break. Vampire Weekend would go on to release three albums and Ezra would also appear in a dozen other credit-worthy collaborations that include the likes of Beyonce, Major Lazer, and a litany of soundtracks.
Neo Yokio is a new animated series starring the voice talents of Jaden Smith, Susan Sarandon, Jude Law, Tavi Gevinson, Jason Schwartzman, and Desus & Mero, along with Richard Ayoade, Ike Barinholtz, Steve Buscemi, Alexa Chung, Stephen Fry, Katy Mixon, Annet Mahendru, Kiernan Shipka, Willow Smith and Amanda Stenberg.
Six episodes are going to drop and the series revolves around a demon-slaying operation headed up by Aunt Agatha (voiced by Sarandon) who asks her team of slayers featuring Kaz (Smith), his mecha-butler Charles (Law), and pals Lexy and Gottlieb (The Kid Mero and Desus Nice) as they try to thwart Arcangelo Corelli (Jason Schwartzman.)
The setting of Neo Yokio is that of a recently freed-from-demons war zone that may or may not be legit if we’re to believe Helena St. Tessero (Tavi Gevinson) and her fashion blog.