Canada’s Mainframe Studios Readies ‘The Immortals & The Shadow Realm’ Franchise With K-Pop-Style Teaser Trailer

EXCLUSIVE: Canadian CG-animation specialist Mainframe Studios is unveiling its latest franchise play, K-pop-influenced action series The Immortals & The Shadow Realm.

We’ve got a first look at the show in the trailer above, which plays out a near-three-minute scene in which siblings Kouto and Daeji scramble to recover a shard and avoid attacks from a pair of grim-looking monsters, all to the backdrop of an original song, ‘Call Me Victory.’

Mainframe President and Chief Creative Officer Michael Hefferon created the series, which Mainframe says “blends KPop Demon Hunters–style energy with the painterly richness of Arcane and a bold anime edge.” The project uses the Unreal Engine to create the look.

Here’s the synopsis: “For centuries, the Immortals have protected humanity using the power of Pure Light. Now, as the Dark One rises again and the Prism that once sealed him away lies shattered, the newly chosen Immortals, siblings Kouto and Daeji, must recover its scattered shards before darkness consumes both Earth and the Shadow Realm. Pursued by shadow creatures and joined by a mysterious half-brother – whose past may be tied to the Prism’s destruction – the trio must learn to trust one another if they hope to banish the Dark One once more.”

Hefferon, whose credits include Ratchet & Clank and ReBoot: The Guardian Code is exec producer. Florian Wagner (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Rick and Morty) is the director, with Edison Yan (The Dragon Prince, Invincible) the art director. Technical director is Steven Elford (Chicken Run, ReBoot: The Guardian Code) and the producers are Tanya Green (Superkitties, Team Zenko Go) and Amanda Ko

“We’ve always believed in reinventing ourselves as storytellers and as a studio,” said Hefferon. “With The Immortals & the Shadow Realm teaser, we pushed ourselves to explore new tools, new visual languages, and entirely new ways of building worlds. The result is a project that will not only expand our capabilities but redefine the next era of Mainframe.”

Vancouver-based Mainframe, part of the Kartoon Studios, is known for series such as ReBoot, which is considered the first fully-CG animated series having launched back in 1993. For more than two decades, it has produced animated Barbie series, and it is also among the producers of Octonauts specials. All in all, the company has produced over 1,000 episodes for TV.