Good Smile Company is known for making figures that empty wallets, but now it aims for something bigger: a legacy. The company has just revealed details of Dandivine, its project to revive combined robot anime in the Reiwa era, with a well-assembled team. Premiere confirmed for October 2026.

Dandivine is not just an anime; it’s the first entry in the God of Combined Series initiative, a long-term plan to launch a new combined robot series each year. Company president Takanori Aki was clear: development for 2027 and 2028 projects is already underway, with each installment offering its own take on the combined robot concept. This is the most serious attempt by a figure company to build a mecha franchise from scratch in years.

The anime is produced by LIDENFILMS and Kayac Animation in partnership with Aniplex, Takara Tomy, and Toei. The story begins twenty years after the legendary combined robot Dandivine defeated the mysterious Aposdolls. Now, the robot is just a nostalgic memory, and the toy company that built its popularity is on the brink of collapse due to relying too much on past success. When the Aposdolls reappear in Tokyo, Gekiha Shijima, a high school student and the president’s grandson, is drawn into the conflict and ends up piloting Dandivine again.

Screenwriter Toshiki Inoue noted during the announcement: Gekiha isn’t the typical mecha protagonist destined to become a hero. He was intentionally designed as an ordinary, awkward boy, and that trait remains unchanged. Inoue believes this is what makes the character interesting. For those unfamiliar: Inoue has decades of experience writing tokusatsu, with credits in series like Kamen Rider Agito and Kamen Rider W, giving him a unique approach to unconventional hero narratives.

The opening theme is by Takanori Nishikawa, known as T.M.Revolution, who stated he wants to share Japanese robot anime culture with the world through this song. A manga adaptation will begin serialization in Monthly Dengeki Daioh with art by TOGUCHI. The toy line will be split between Good Smile Company and Takara Tomy, featuring products under names like THE合体 DX Dandivine, MODEROID Dandivine Action Model, and the TOYRISE line from Takara Tomy.

Voice Cast

• Takuma Terashima as Gekiha Shijima. (Shiroe in Log Horizon and Shiki Granbell in Edens Zero).
• Haruka Shiraishi as Akane Kusumi. (Asirpa in Golden Kamuy and Yuri Honjou in High-Rise Invasion).
• Saya Aizawa as Kirei Shijima.

Director Cao Yi leads, with Toshiki Inoue handling series composition and scripts. Original character design is by Majiro, adapted for animation by robin. Mecha designs are by An of GOD BRAVE STUDIO, and Yoshikazu Iwanami is the sound director.

About Dandivine

Dandivine —or Beast King Warrior God Dandivine in full— is an original production by Good Smile Company, the company behind popular collectible figure lines like Nendoroids and Scale figures. With this project, the company takes an unusual step: instead of adapting an existing IP, it’s building a new franchise from scratch, with the anime and toy line developed in parallel from the planning stage. The model echoes the great mecha projects of the 70s and 80s, where toys and anime were inseparable—a nostalgia that God of Combined Series aims to capitalize on for new generations.

Do you think Good Smile has what it takes to launch a mecha franchise that lasts years, or does the current market make such projects too difficult to sustain?