The Apocalypse is an Japanese-American animated horror series developed by Jimmy Dent of RaGE Media. It is about a group of survivors in a global zombie outbreak. It started airing in August 2016 on Vision to mixed to positive reception, and it is due for a second season in late summer 2017.
Production[]
Writing for the first season took place in October 2015 and finished in December of that year, then the scripts and storyboards were sent to Japan, where Production I.G. and Polygon Pictures animated the series.
Then the digital tapes were sent back to America in June of 2017, where post production and voice acting will be done. The process took about 6 months, and the show was set to air in late summer of 2016.
For Season two, writing took place in September of 2016 after it was greenlit after a few episodes being aired. Writing ended in January of 2017, and then storyboards and scripts were sent to Japan where IG and Polygon continued to animate it. Troyca joined the production in April of 2017, to help with the production run smoothly.
The third season was greenlit a few months before the start of Season Two, just so that the crew had enough time to write stories and not be rushed for an late summer 2018 release.
Season four is up in the air, and will depend on how good the movie is commercially and critically, but rumors are spreading that the film will be the series finale.
Film production[]
Writing for the film began in the Winter of 2016, and lasted about 10 months before animating began in Japan during August of 2017 with Troyca animating the majority of the animated feature, as the others were mostly focusing on the TV series. Production I.G. and Polygon joined production in mid 2018 when the film needed more hands to join. The film is expected to have the budget of about a whole season, which is about $30 million, and will last about 90 minutes.
Episodes[]
| Season | Episodes | Year(s) | Premiere Date | Finale Date | DVD Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season One | 24 | 2016-2017 | August 7, 2016 | January 15, 2017 | April 17, 2017 |
| Season Two | 24 | 2017-2018 | August 20, 2017 | January 28, 2018 | April 24, 2018 |
| Season Three | 18 | 2018 | August 5, 2018 | December 2, 2018 | March 5, 2019 |
Season one had 24 half hour episodes, and season two is expected to have the same amount of episodes.
Release[]
Vision premiered the show on August 7, 2016 to 2.4 million viewers on it's premiere date, and episodes afterwards staying between 1.6 and 2.1 for most of the run. The season finale had gotten 2.6 million views.
Critical reception[]
Season One of The Apocalypse had mixed reviews, with most critics praising the visuals and characters but criticizing the storyline. It currently has a 65% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 105 reviewers with an average rating of 5.8. The season finale had great praise for answering plot holes that were in earlier episodes, setting up a new location , and introducing new characters for the second season.
Season two of The Apocalypse had more positive reviews than the first season, with critics praising the visuals, character development, music, and action sequences. The storyline, however, was criticized again but not as much as before. It has a 77% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 86 reviews with an average rating of 6.4.
Film[]
- Main article: The Apocalypse: Divided Genesis
A feature film is in production for a 2019 release after the popularity of Season one and Season two.
During a Vision panel at San Diego Comic Con 2017, a teaser trailer with 30 seconds of in progress footage was released with a release date of April 12, 2019.
It was later announced that it will be a crossover event between Divided Genesis and The Apocalypse.
Video game[]
- Main article: The Apocalypse
In December of 2016, it was announced that a triple A game was to be developed by RaGE Games to be released after Season two's completion. It will include the same characters from the show, but different storylines.