Sentai Filmworks Licenses The Magnificent KOTOBUKI Compilation Film

Sentai Filmworks announced on Monday that it has licensed (The Magnificent KOTOBUKI The Movie (Kōya no Kotobuki Hikōtai Kanzenban) compilation film. The company will release the film on home video in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Spain, Portugal, Central America, and South America.

The film opened in Japan in September 2020.

The cast and staff from the television anime returned for the film.

Director Tsutomu Mizushima, and scriptwriter Michiko Yokote's original television anime premiered in January 2019, and aired for 12 episodes. Sentai Filmworks licensed the anime, and HIDIVE and Crunchyroll streamed the series as it aired.

Sentai Filmworks released the anime on Blu-ray Disc, and it describes the series:

In a desolate world where the safest form of transporting cargo is by zeppelin; air pirates roam the sky, preying on aerial commerce and holding remote towns for ransom. Against these airborne marauders, the only defense is to hire high-flying protection of your own, and that's where mercenary pilots like the girls of the Kotobuki Squadron come in. Behind the joysticks of their lightweight Nakajima Ki-43 Hayabusa fighters, these lady falcons play a deadly game of escort, where a single mistake can end up in a fiery crash or mid-air collision. But for birds of prey like Kylie, Reona, Chika, Emma, Kate, and Zara, the danger is worth it for the chance to spread their wings and soar into the heavens. The wild blue yonder gets even wilder as every dogfight becomes a catfight in THE MAGNIFICENT KOTOBUKI!

Mizushima (Girls und Panzer, Shirobako) served as both the director and sound director for the anime, with Yokote (Shirobako, Prison School, Cowboy Bebop, Rurouni Kenshin) credited for series scripts. Hiroyuki Kanbe (Oreimo) was the assistant director. Hidari (Natsu-iro Kiseki, Santa Company, Phantom in the Twilight) drew the original character designs, and Shou Sugai (The Princess and the Pilot, The Sky Crawlers key animation) adapted those designs for animation. Shigeyuki Ninomiya (Girls und Panzer, Shirobako, Kuromukuro) is credited for military supervision, while Tetsuya Nakano, Hideyuki Kikuchi (Vampire Hunter D), and Jirō Tokihama are credited for military setting. Digital Frontier is credited for production, while GEMBA produced the animation. Wao World handled key animation production.

A smartphone game titled Kōya no Kotobuki Hikōtai - Ōzora no Take Off Girls! (The Magnificent KOTOBUKI: Take Off Girls of the Sky!) launched in February 2019, and ended service on December 14. Author Muneaki Taoka and artist Tsubasa Sugie launched a manga adaptation in April 2019 and ended it in March 2020. A sequel novel shipped in June 2019.