BODY: What started as an illustrator's personal vision of schoolgirls bristling with military hardware is now headed to TV screens. neco, the artist behind the original "weapons × high school girls" concept Juuheisou-gata Joshikousei ("Heavily Armed High School Girls"), has confirmed that the project will be adapted into a television anime.
The series is being produced as a joint effort between Good Smile Film and Good Smile Company, with broadcast slated for 2027. That pairing is the headline here: Good Smile Company is best known worldwide as the figure powerhouse behind Nendoroids and scale figures, while Good Smile Film handles its growing animation ambitions.
neco's concept fuses the everyday iconography of the Japanese high school—uniforms, classrooms, casual friendships—with an arsenal of detailed, realistically rendered firearms and military gear. It's a juxtaposition that has built a devoted following across illustration and figure circles, where neco's designs have already proven popular as merchandise.
The 2027 window gives the production runway, and it signals Good Smile's continued push to turn its in-house and partnered IP into full anime productions rather than relying solely on figure licensing.
The insider take
In Tokyo's otaku economy, a Good Smile-backed anime is rarely just an anime—it's the front end of a merchandising machine. neco's gun-toting schoolgirls are practically engineered for the figure market, with the kind of intricate weapon detailing that sells expensive scale models. Expect Nendoroids and articulated figures to be part of the plan from day one. The move also fits a broader pattern of figure-first IP (think Black Rock Shooter) graduating to animation once the character designs have a loyal collector base. For neco, this is the validation of a passion project that started as illustrations finally reaching the small screen.
Originally reported by GAME Watch (Japanese).