As One Anime Based on Square Enix Game Starwing Paradox

Gaga revealed that it will publish As One as a new anime movie loosely inspired by the now-defunct Square Enix arcade game called Starwing Paradox. The movie will appear in Japanese theaters in Summer 2025.

Just like Starwing Paradox, the characters in As One will be designed by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto of .hack and Evangelion fame. The director for this movie will be Kobun Shizuno, who had also previously directed movies for the Detective Conan (Case Closed) series.

The Japanese press release provided more insight into the movie’s production. Square Enix made a specific request to the production team, where the latter should “make something interesting without getting tied to the content in the game.” The team then decided to make an original story for the As One anime, which will take place twenty years before Starwing Paradox.

Gaga has also published more concept art for the upcoming anime movie via an official tweet:

Square Enix originally revealed Starwing Paradox in February 2018 and launched it in arcades in November 2018. However, the company made a de facto complete exit from the arcade scene in 2021, even though its subsidiary Taito still has a substantial presence as of 2025.

As Starwing Paradox was published under Square Enix, it had its online services terminated in October 2021. It effectively shut down the whole game, as the only gameplay mode available afterward is a trial mode without any methods to save playthrough data.

The As One anime based on the Square Enix title Starwing Paradox will be available in theaters across Japan in the Summer season of 2025.