Surprise: Gainax Focus Panel Anime Expo '09

Gainax, the company responsible for Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann and Neon Genesis Evengelion, held a focus panel after their American debut of the first Gurren Lagann movie where they took audience questions and feedback from the movie, and where they also made a surprise announcement for a new series they are currently working on with Mobile Suit Gundam 00 director Seiji Mizushima and video game company Square-Enix. Seiji Mizushima made a surprise guest appearance at Gainax's panel for the debut of the trailer. Fans cheered at the thought of two of the industry's best giant robot minds possibly colliding for one amazing scifi project.

Instead, the audience found out that the equation of: Gundam plus Gurren Lagann equals cute little girls that look something like the Powderpuff Girls, combining forces to destroy over-sized stuft pandas.

The animation looks top-notch as expected from Gainax, and director Mizushima  commented that with this project he wanted to make an anime that appealed to a wider audience than previous shows.

At first look this trailer might not be very impressive, but it is just a sneak-peek into what the teams are collaborating on. They did not give a release date at the panel, and I couldn't understand what the title of the anime was since it was in Japanese. So little is still known about this project, but with three dominant figures in the industry collaborating on it, the show is definitely on my list to check out.

Update:  After consulting a friend who could read the Kanji, I found out that the show is called Hanamaru Kindergarten, and the anime will be an adaptation from Square-Enix's slice-of-life comedy manga series.