The Gray Witch newswatch
Nippon Sunrise Studio started with humble beginnings when it was founded in the 70s, but its producer-led structure led it to dominate the anime industry in the 80s, particularly in the SF mecha genre. By the time its name was shortened to “Sunrise” in 1987, it had served as the launch pad for major, long-lived franchises that are new celebrated as anime classics. (Read more about the studio here)
To mark its 50th anniversary, some of those classics are getting fresh entries…including Armored Trooper Votoms!
On January 14 (2026), a mysterious new project titled The Gray Witch was announced, to be directed by anime auteur Mamoru Oshii with animation by Production I.G. A 30-second trailer posted by Bandai Namco Filmworks made it official: all-new Votoms for 2026!
This page of the Votoms hub will be devoted to reporting on this project as the news unfolds. (Oldest information is at the bottom of the page.)
August 8: Mamoru Oshii’s birthday
The official Twitter account for The Gray Witch posted this photo with the following caption:
Today, August 8, is Director Mamoru Oshii’s birthdya! From The Gray Witch production team, we celebrated with a Scopedog cake!
See the post here
August 20: Mega Hobby on Twitter
More model kit photos were posted for the VAKIT platoon, each with updated labeling:
1. Scope Dog (Commander type)
The rear antenna can be displayed in two different positions (front and back) with interchangeable parts.
2. Scope Dog (with grenade launcher)
Includes a grenade launcher and can be attached to a heavy machine gun.
3. Scope Dog
Deployed pile bunker included.
4. Scope Dog PK
Includes chest armor.
5. Rising Beetle Large
Launcher included.
6. Rising Beetle PK
Backpack with camera, heavy machine gun included.
See the post here
Additional photos showed off the prototype kits on display at a Bic Camera store in Shinjuku, Tokyo.
See the post here
August 20: Trailer and advance tickets
Today it got REAL. The first Gray Witch trailer appeared, giving us both moving pictures and some dialogue to munch on.
Watch it on Youtube here
■ STORY
The Gilgameth and Balarant factions have split the Astragius Galaxy in two, waging a war of uncertain origin for nearly a century. In the final stages of this “Hundred-Year War,” a female officer named Maki Stauffenberg is assigned to a frontline base on Valkyria II, the second planet of the Asgard system. She has been given a secret mission: to investigate Ash Vamps, a soldier in a penal unit composed of misfits. Ash is known as “The Witch” because she is the sole survivor of even the most brutal operations.
The truth of the battlefield can only be discovered on the battlefield itself.
Maki decides to join Ash’s unit as an A.T. (Armored Trooper) pilot for a forced-drop mission into enemy territory. As the mission unfolds, seemingly a suicide run, the situation rapidly spirals into despair. Amidst the flames of war, Maki pursues Ash, eventually drawing closer to the truth hidden within her…
Partial trailer translation, courtesy of Earnest Migaki:
Caption/Narrator: A 100-year, never-ending war –
Maki: The company’s 3rd unit, commonly known as the Vamps unit, is said to have a witch among them. Ash Vamp.
Caption: A soldier who will definitely survive.
Caption: A woman chasing the mystery.
Narrator: Nobody understands what happened on that battlefield.
Ash: Who the hell are you?
Ash: I’m gonna give them your pathetic lives!
Radio voice: Enemy approaching!
Ash: Once we launch, I’m sure it’s gonna be hell…”
Narrator: Armored Trooper Votoms: The Gray Witch
Advance ticket designs, Kunio Okawara illustration given away with purchase
■ INTRODUCTION
The Ultimate Battlefield Action Unleashed on the World by Mamoru Oshii and Sunrise
Mamoru Oshii, the animation director who stunned the globe with Ghost in the Shell, crafts a new story within the universe of Armored Trooper Votoms, a monumental classic of the battlefield mecha genre. Since the 1983 broadcast of the original TV series, Votoms has captivated fans for over four decades through sequels, plastic model kits, and more.
While the TV series was set in the aftermath of the “Hundred-Year War” in the Astragius Galaxy, this work depicts a story of soldiers during the war’s final stages, pilots of the humanoid weapons known as A.T.s (Armored Troopers), specifically the “Scope Dog,” whose lives are treated as mere expendable commodities.
A soldier who invariably survives even the most hopeless combat situations…
New characters emerge in the merciless, war-torn world of Votoms! Ash, a soldier feared and known as the “Witch,” and Maki, a woman on a secret mission to unravel the mystery surrounding her. Mamoru Oshii weaves a thrilling tale centered on these two, brought to life with intense battlefield action!
An elite cast and crew have assembled to deepen the world of this work to the absolute limit. Miyuki Sawashiro voices Ash, the soldier feared as the “Witch,” while Mabuki Ando plays Maki, the female officer from an independent propaganda unit pursuing the mystery.
Shin-ichiro Miki and Yuki Kaji play the subordinates who join Maki in investigating Ash. The members of the Fallschirmjäger (paratrooper) unit to which Ash belongs are voiced by Yuichi Nakamura, Satoshi Tsuruoka, Tomokazu Sugita, and Kenta Miyake. Rounding out this impressive cast are Chafurin, Hōchū Ōtsuka, Daisuke Ono, Takayuki Sugō, Takahiro Sakurai, and Sumire Uesaka.
A team of top-tier creators has assembled for this project: Kazuchika Kise (original character concepts); Tetsuya Nishio, Takashi Kojima, and Shingo Ogiso (character designs); and Shinobu Tsuneki, Yoshihiro Sono, Juu Ishiguchi, and Wataru Inada (mechanical designs). The lineup also includes longtime associates of director Mamoru Oshii, such as composer Kenji Kawai and sound director Kazuhiro Wakabayashi. Additionally, Ryosuke Takahashi (the creator, writer, and director of the original series) participates as a supervisor.
The project was planned and produced by Sunrise (marking its 50th anniversary) with production cooperation from Production I.G, creating an all-star team to bring this completely new Votoms story to life. This is an epic action masterpiece about two women who meet and fight to survive on a merciless battlefield. We invite you to experience its full energy in the ultimate setting: the movie theater.
Limited edition dog tags are another bonus item, exclusive to the Animate online store
August 25: Hobby Japan #688
This spread gave us a description of the trailer along with some analysis:
The “Witch” of the battlefield and the woman who pursues her mystery
A completely new Armored Trooper Votoms depicting the encounter and fierce battle between the two.
Both “Ash” and “Maki Stauffenberg” are character names that have appeared in Mamoru Oshii’s past works. Fans can’t help but speculate about these connections. We’re really looking forward to seeing what kind of battle will be depicted.
A hint about The Grey Witch? What exactly does “PK” mean?
One thing worth noting about Megahouse’s kits is that some of them have “PK” written on them. This is an abbreviation of “Propaganda Kompany,” referring to the propaganda units that were established within the German Wermacht and Waffen-SS during the Nazi era.
As its name suggests, this unit is responsible for wartime propaganda. They moved with the front-line troops and filmed German battles, using the footage to create a large number of newsreels. Their responsibilities were also quite broad, including posting various proclamations and political and military propaganda in occupied territories, interviewing captured soldiers, and conducting external activities to demoralize enemy forces.
Incidentally, in the radio drama and novel Kerberos, the Steel Hound directed by Mamoru Oshii, a character named Maki Stauffenberg appears as a female officer belonging to a propaganda unit. This is one of the intriguing connections between The Gray Witch and Director Oshii’s previous works.
July 26: Hobby Japan Web article: A.T. model kits revealed
See the original post here
Read the article here
June 11: Great Mechanics G, 2026 Summer issue
These are Witch‘s A.T.s!
TEXT A: Rising Beetle: from its name and appearance, it’s clearly a Beetle-type mecha, but it’s not equipped with swamp clogs. Its armament appears to be quite large-caliber, possibly a grenade or rocket-type weapon.
TEXT B: This Scopedog has a remarkably small head, giving it unprecedented proportions. In comparison to the human-size torso, this might be considered a more realistic size. The arms are highly detailed, suggesting they likely contain various internal mechanisms.
TEXT C:
Staffing details and intriguing A.T. design sketches have been revealed!
In the previous issue of this magazine, we published a quick report on the first details of Armored Troop Votoms, the Gray Witch. Since then, another stage of information has been released, including concept illustrations and features. We have already reported that Mamoru Oshii will be directing the project, but the mechanical designers, who are of great interest to us, have also been announced. The key figures in this project are Shinobu Tsuneki and Yoshihiro Sono. Tsuneki is a veteran who also worked on mecha designs for Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, and Sono is a creator who will be familiar to our longtime readers, since he was in charge of the Armored Trooper Votoms: A.T. Stories manga, which was serialized in this magazine in the past.
As you can see from the released design sketches of the Scopedog and Rising Beetle, their proportions and details are quite different from previous A.T.s, making them very challenging designs. It’s like that the design is based on scenes and actions that director Oshii wants to depict, but we’re curious to see what kind of movements it will exhibit.
It was also announced the the film will be a two-part theatrical release, with the first part scheduled for November 20, 2026. There are still about five months to go, but we’re really looking forward to the premiere.
CAPTION 1: A Scopedog firing a rifle in a trench. Its shoulder is painted red, but it’s the left shoulder, not the right. Surely Vanilla didn’t paint it himself…
CAPTION 2: The pilot who appeared in the special report. Could she be the Gray Witch? She looks like she’d lower her goggles when she fights seriously.
CAPTION 3: An interface that appears to belong to an A.T. While the visuals are modern, it doesn’t have too much information, giving it a retro feel typical of an A.T.
CAPTION 4: The Scopedog can bend its arms in directions impossible for a human body to fire. This mechanical movement is quite rational for firing while hiding in a trench.
May 12: Premiere date announced
November 20 is the schedule release date for the first of two films in the Grey Witch project. Key art was revealed along with a new teaser with this text:
Life becomes a disposable commodity.
But there was one witch who was bound to return.
Accompanying that was this message from Director Mamoru Oshii:
I was a huge fan of the original Armored Trooper Votoms. It’s a work I’ve always admired and always wanted to try someday. Some people might be skeptical, wondering if I’ll just serve fast food or something, but I’m doing this seriously. We are making a serious war action film.
Original Concept & Supervision: Ryosuke Takahashi
Original Mechanical Design: Kunio Okawara
Mechanical Design: Shinobu Tsunoki, Yudai Sono
Music: Kenji Kawai
Production: Sunrise
Production Assistance: Production I.G
Read more about it on Anime News Network here
The official website was updated with information on Advance tickets, Products, and the Sunrise World pavilion at Shizuoka Hobby Show 2026. Which takes us to…
May 13: Shizuoka Hobby Show 2026
Products for the new A.T. designs were displayed for the first time at this annual event, starting with Bandai Spirits.
March 10: Great Mechanics G, 2026 Spring issue
This long-running specialty magazine from Futaba Publishing was the first to react with a single page containing the following commentary:
How will the master director handle Armored Trooper Votoms in its 43rd year!?
“The time has finally come.” What am I talking about? Of course, it’s Armored Trooper Votoms: The Gray Witch.
Looking back, the most recent Votoms anime works were produced in 2011 under the name of the “Three Votoms Reborn Works:” Case Irvine, Votoms Finder, and Alone Again. I remember covering those three works in this magazine, and not so recently. It’s been 15 years already. Time flies so fast, it’s depressing. Those Votoms Reborn works had a rather interesting lineup. One was set in a different location in the Astragius Galaxy, another was a completely new work, and the third was a Chirico story, and they could be described as exploring the “aftermath” of Votoms.
Now that I think about it, when that series came out, I feel like the internet slang “choking,” which is often used in relation to Votoms, was hardly used at all. Just considering the subsequent release of new novels and plastic models, you can see the potential of this work.
Then came the big guy.
What’s great about The Grey Witch is that it’s being directed by Mamoru Oshii and produced by Sunrise Production IG.
How will someone as big as Oshii handle a major title like Votoms? Is it set in the Astragius Galaxy? The teaser shows something like a Scopedog, but what will the mecha be like? As can be seen from his past works, Oshii has a deep understanding of military matters. Moreover, in his career he has taken works with existing source material (Urusei Yatsura, Patlabor, Ghost in the Shell) or established worldviews and reinterpreted them in his own unique way, resulting in many highly acclaimed and distinctive works. He is the perfect person, or rather, a creator who we would like to see tackle Votoms in its 43rd year.
And with Production IG involved, it’s certain that the staffing will be different from previous Votoms works.
Currently, the only announcement regarding this project is that it will start in 2026. We hope to continue following its progress in this magazine, so please look forward to it.
I’m so excited for this! Any new votoms is good!
It looks like we’ll get some more information revealed on August 21st (via twitter)
I am a little confused what it says in the gif attached to the post, using the Gilgamesh alphabet from the Votoms Viewer Guide I can match two of the symbols to 8 and 2. I suspect it’s in Balarant, but I can’t seem to find their alphabet online
If you happen to know the Balarant alphabet please let me know, hopefully on the 21st we’ll get images of the enemy ATs
Nevermind I’m just stupid lol, it’s just “2026.08.21 7:00” stylized
Thank you for your hard work, I wouldn’t have checked out Great Mechanics G by myself. In the 2nd teaser description you skipped over the “だが。必ず甦る魔女がいた”
Thanks! I added the missing line. “But there was one witch who was bound to return.”
Suoer excited for more Votoms content, I wonder if the enemy will be Turtle or Fatty variants
I’m also curious about the rising beetle with the 2nd lower head, maybe it’s so that they can look left and right while in a stationary position since the Beetle’s head can only look forward? I imagine that or someone from a planet that’s just really short instead of tall like a Quentman lol