Megaton Musashi

Megaton Musashi (メガトン級ムサシ, Megaton-kyū Musashi) is a Japanese multimedia franchise by Level-5. An action role-playing video game was released in Japan for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, in November 2021. A Free-to-play version, Megaton Musashi X(Cross) (メガトン級ムサシX(クロス), Megaton-kyū Musashi X(Kurosu)) was released on December 1, 2022, and the third version of the game, Megaton Musashi W(Wired) (メガトン級ムサシW(ワイアード), Megaton-kyū Musashi W(Waiādo)), was released for the Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 and Windows on April 25, 2024. An anime adaptation produced by OLM, Inc. aired from October 2021 to March 2023.

In the year 2118, the Earth has been invaded by an hostile alien called "Dractors" (ドラクターズ, Dorakutāzu), killing 99.9% of humanity during what would later be referred to as "The Day of Destruction" (滅亡の日, Metsubō no hi), as the surviving 1% of humanity are placed in fortified Shelters (シェルター, Sherutā) and have their memories of the invasion repressed via its memory manipulation technology, allowing them to live in peace while the unified world government and its forces fight back against the Draktors. The Dractors has since drilling a hole through Earth and replaces its core with an artificial one to xenoform it into a more suitable place for them to live, as such the state of the planet itself would be referred to as "Donut Earth" (ドーナッツ地球, Dōnattsu chikyū).

Yamato Ichidaiji, a hot-blooded and psychopathic teenager who has recently begun to experience flashbacks of the Draktor's invasion and the death of his family, is chosen to be one of the pilots for the newly developed Megaton-Class Rogues along with other chosen teens: Teru Asami, a calm, yet narcissistic teen with ties to the unified government; Ryugo Hijikata, a brawl-happy delinquent; Reiji Amemiya, a cat-loving pacifist; and Jun Kirishima, a feisty and talented girl. The fight between humanity and the Draktors will determine the fate of them and Earth, which becomes more complicated when Yamato meets runaway Draktor princess Arshem Laia, who strives for her people to coexist with humanity.

To protect humanity and turn the tide of war against the Draktors, the united world government built armored bipedal machines called Rogues, which are designed to be mass-produced and are used as cannon fodder for their more advanced successors.

Some time later, development on a series of next-generation Rogues aboard the Shelter Ixia was finished and later dubbed Megaton-Class Rogues, which are more powerful and durable due to being made from Megatonium, a type of metal said to be stronger than previously discovered metal.

The project was originally announced on July 27, 2016, and set to begin in Q3 2017. Developed and published by Level-5 and directed by Akihiro Hino, the game released in Japan on November 11, 2021, for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4. Following the game's release, it has received free updates with additional content. Paid downloadable content (DLC) was released throughout 2022.

As of March 2023, the game has included collaboration with various anime robot properties including Mazinger Z, UFO Robot Grendizer, Getter Robo, Combattler V, and Voltes V. On September 20, 2023, an English trailer was publicly released.

The anime television series for the franchise was announced along with the game. The series is produced by OLM and directed by both Akihiro Hino (serving as chief director) and Shigeharu Takahashi, with scripts also written by Hino, character designs by Takuzō Nagano, and music composed by Ken'ichirō Saigō. The series aired from October 1 to December 24, 2021, on Tokyo MX and BS Fuji. The opening theme song is "Musashi", performed by Nijiiro Samurai’s Zuma, while the ending theme song is "Metsubou Sekai no Ballad" (滅亡世界のバラッド), performed by Mana.