Capcom, in collaboration with Japanese anime studio Nippon Animation, hasreleasedthe first episode of the unsettlingly adorableLeon And The Mysterious Village, an animated series of shorts loosely based on the upcoming survival horror adventureResident Evil 4 Remake. Today’s episode, titled Looking For Ashley, runs under a minute and offers what can only be described as an unnervingly cute truncation of the game’s opening.
After some introductory song and dance, the episode opens to Resident Evil 4 Remake protagonist Leon S. Kennedy, outfitted with his usual jacket and pistol, yet rendered in a style alarmingly reminiscent ofStudio Ghibli’s. “I wonder where Ashley went…” Leon inquires, strolling around town with a blissfully oblivious smile on his face. After asking a few villagers for help only to be growled at in response, Leon meets with a cheerfully-drawn ax to the head and summarily dies.
Given that Leon is Resident Evil 4 Remake’s main character — and keeping in mind that this is the first in a series of animated shorts — one can only assume that the death shown at the end of this episode is not a permanent one. It is currently unknown just how many episodes the animated series will encompass, but fans can reasonably expect Leon to return right as rain in the next episode.
This is not, as longtime Resident Evil fans will know, the first time Leon S. Kennedy has found himself in a less-than-serious outing. Last week, it was announced that Leon, along with Claire Redfield, would bejoining Fortnite as character skins, complete with attaché case and Umbrella Corporation-themed umbrella.
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Initially created by Hideki Kamiya as a foil to original Resident Evil player character Chris Redfield, Leon S. Kennedy first made his debut in 1998’s Resident Evil 2, before returning as the main character for 2005’s Resident Evil 4. Once exclusive to the Nintendo GameCube, Resident Evil 4 has been ported to thirteen different consoles over the years following its release, making it one of the most ported entries in theResident Evilseries.
Resident Evil 4 Remake will launch for PlayStation 4, PS5, PC, and Xbox Series X|S on March 24 this year. Neither Capcom nor Nippon Animation has announced when the second episode of Leon And The Mysterious Village will be available, but all future updates on the series of shorts will be shared viaCapcom Asia’s Twitter account.
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