New Crunchyroll Docuseries Celebrates 25 Years Of ‘Fullmetal Alchemist,’ ‘My Hero Academia’ Studio Bones

Bones 25: Dreaming Forward, a new documentary about the legendary Japanese animation studio Bones, is available starting today on Crunchyroll.

The documentary’s release is timed to the Crunchyroll debut of Metallic Rouge, which the Tokyo-based studio produced.

Dreaming Forward is a four-party docuseries that dives into the history and culture of the studio behind classic anime films and series such as Cowboy Bebop: Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door, My Hero Academia, and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.

According to studio president Masahiko Minami:

We wanted to build a place where we could find new forms of expression, new genres, and new themes through creation. Looking back, it was with great joy and gratitude that I rediscovered the works we have been creating with our wonderful friends.

More than 30 individuals from the studio’s history contributed to the show’s four episodes, including Minami (president), ONE (author, Mob Psycho 100), Shinichiro Watanabe (director, Cowboy Bebop), Kafka Asagiri (creator, Bungo Stray Dogs), Yutaka Izubuchi (conceptual author and series composition, Metallic Rouge) and Motonobu Hori (director, Metallic Rouge).

Dreaming Forward is produced by Crunchyroll and French company Deltarocket and directed by Jace, who has made more than 40 documentaries for French and global broadcasters, including Canal+, Arte, M6, and TCM.

Crunchyroll’s chief content officer Asa Suehira said of the series:

Studio Bones is behind some of the most iconic anime of a generation. It’s only fitting that anime fans will want to have an unprecedented look inside their creators and studios. To give fans that look, we’ve partnered with a great documentary storyteller in DeltaRocket to turn the camera around and spotlight one of Japan’s great anime storytellers.