K2 Pictures Makes Its Animation Debut
GIGANT isn't just another manga-to-movie pipeline announcement. The project is the first animation venture for K2 Pictures, a production fund founded in 2023 by Muneyuki Kii, a former Toei producer who set out to build what he calls "a new ecosystem for Japanese films." The fund — backed by investors including Mitsubishi UFJ Bank — has primarily dealt in live-action projects with directors like Hirokazu Kore-eda and Takashi Miike. Pivoting into anime is a significant move, and choosing Oku's over-the-top material as the debut title signals that K2 Pictures isn't playing it safe.
The announcement came during a K2 Pictures press conference held in Cannes during the ongoing film festival. No animation studio, director, or cast were revealed — this is still a very early-stage reveal. Release timing is also unconfirmed.
What Is GIGANT?
For readers who missed the manga's original run: GIGANT is Hiroya Oku's follow-up to GANTZ, the hyper-violent sci-fi series that became a cult hit through its anime, live-action films, and a CGI Netflix feature. Oku describes GIGANT as an "SF sexy heroine action" story — which is exactly as unsubtle as it sounds.
The manga follows Papico, a pornographic actress who gains the ability to grow to enormous size. When mysterious monsters begin threatening the world, Papico uses her new power to fight them — all to protect Rei Yokoyamada, the aspiring filmmaker she falls for. The series ran in Shogakukan's Big Comic Superior from 2017 to 2021, spanning 10 collected volumes.
It's a premise that leans hard into B-movie spectacle, and Oku's detailed art style gave the action sequences a cinematic weight that fans have long argued deserved actual animation.
The K2 Pictures Angle
What makes this announcement interesting beyond the title itself is K2 Pictures' broader ambitions. The company established its film fund at Cannes in 2024 with a reported $33 million in capital, and its partner list includes MAPPA — the studio behind Jujutsu Kaisen and Chainsaw Man. Whether MAPPA is involved in the GIGANT production specifically hasn't been confirmed, but the connection is worth noting given that K2 Pictures' animation slate reportedly includes multiple projects.
Alongside GIGANT, K2 Pictures also unveiled a musical film adaptation of Osamu Tezuka's The Book of Human Insects at the same Cannes press conference, suggesting the company is casting a wide net across genres.
Looking Ahead
With no studio, staff, cast, or release window announced, GIGANT's anime film is clearly in its earliest stages. International fans do have easy access to the source material, though — Seven Seas Entertainment published all 10 volumes of the manga in English between 2020 and 2022, so there's plenty of time to catch up before the film materializes.
No streaming or theatrical distribution partners for international markets have been announced. Given K2 Pictures' Cannes-centric rollout and its focus on theatrical releases, this may follow a festival-to-theaters pipeline rather than a direct-to-streaming model. We'll see as production details emerge.