Deep Insanity
A mixed-media project exploring a mysterious illness beneath the South Pole.
Deep Insanity is a Japanese mixed-media project created by Square Enix, encompassing a manga, a mobile and PC game, and an anime television series. The anime, titled Deep Insanity: The Lost Child, was produced by Silver Link and aired from October to December 2021.
Quick Facts
- Creator
- Square Enix
Facts from the source article.
Plot
The story is set in a world where a large part of the population has fallen into comas due to Randolph Syndrome during World War III. The illness originates from a place called Asylum deep under the South Pole, which people explore to find a cure or treasure. The manga follows a boy immune to the condition and a trader in Antarctica who journey into Asylum. The anime, set between the manga and game storylines, follows recruit Daniel Shigure Kai as he joins the Sleepers exploring Asylum, which is inhabited by monsters called Scarred and human Exiles, some of whom are Cultists affected by Randolph Syndrome. The game involves 540 million people in comas and the sole survivor of a massacre at a medical facility.
Characters
Hildegard Olympiada Yamada is the manga protagonist, a store owner in Antarctica skilled with firearms and possessing a prosthetic right arm that can be used as a weapon. Serge Sol is a Sleeper resistant to Randolph Syndrome who meets Yamada on a hospital ship and accompanies her to Asylum. Daniel Shigure Kai is a new Sleeper recruit hoping to become a hero, assigned to Antarctica Front Platoon Unit 11, where his marksmanship is valued. Vera Rustamova commands Unit 11, wields a huge scythe-like weapon, and appears able to make time repeat. Leslie Blanc, the unit's executive officer and field leader, is an experienced Sleeper and excellent swordsman who formerly dressed as a woman and was romantically involved with Hayden; he is killed during a failed mission in the Abyss. Reika Kobato has a prosthetic right leg and is an artist interested in manga and anime. Sumire Motiki, a former pop idol exploited and embarrassed about her past, serves as the unit's Sanity Anchor after failing Sleeper entrance criteria. Other characters include James Chan, Nicholas Kruger, Solvy Sveien, Hayden, Nadia (who commands two rabbit-like animals named Kamezou and Usazou), El-Cee (an Exile girl viewed as the Child of God), and many others such as Wu Innominetas, Morris Matsuo Fukuzawa, Erika Makishi, Manuela Rodriguez, Penthesilea, Jade Gabriel Ozon, Maxine Kramer, Delia Goldilocks, Very Bad Man, Aristarkh, Blake Loong, Alejandro Mendoza, Fatima Sara, and Master Karateka.
Media
The manga, titled Deep Insanity: Nirvana, was written by Norimitsu Kaihō and Makoto Fukami with art by Etorouji Shiono, serialized in Monthly Big Gangan from January 24, 2020, to March 25, 2023. Its first two volumes were released on September 25, 2021. The anime, Deep Insanity: The Lost Child, aired from October 13 to December 29, 2021, on Tokyo MX, MBS, BS11, TVA, and AT-X. It was directed by Shin Oonuma, with series composition by Kento Shimoyama, character designs by Kazuyuki Yamayoshi, and music by Mirai Kodai Gakudan. The opening theme is Inochi no Tomoshibi by Konomi Suzuki, and the ending theme is Shinjuiro no Kakumei by Kashitarō Itō. Crunchyroll licensed the series outside Asia for an English simulcast and simuldub, while Medialink licensed it in Asia-Pacific. The game, Deep Insanity: Asylum, a free-to-play RPG with real-time skills-based combat and auto and high-speed options, was released on October 14, 2021, in Japan, with a preview for Android on July 2, 2021; it ended service on October 31, 2022. An interactive social media game ran on Twitter from July 9 to 30, 2021, depicting a reporter trapped in a hospital.
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