# Spriggan (スプリガン) (1998 film)
**Spriggan** (スプリガン) is a 1998 Japanese animated science fiction action film directed by Hirotsugu Kawasaki, with Katsuhiro Otomo as general supervisor, based on the manga by Hiroshi Takashige and Ryōji Minagawa. It follows Yu Ominae, a teenage agent of the secret organization ARCAM, as he defends the newly discovered [Noah's Ark](https://www.edgepedia.org/noahs-ark) on [Mount Ararat](https://www.edgepedia.org/mount-ararat) in Turkey from a rogue Pentagon faction. The film was produced by [Studio 4°C](https://www.edgepedia.org/studio-4-c), released in Japan by Toho on September 5, 1998, and runs 90 minutes.[1](https://eiga.com/movie/37381/) • [2](https://www.allcinema.net/cinema/89697)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | September 5, 1998, Japan; distributed by Toho; 90 minutes[1](https://eiga.com/movie/37381/) |
| Director | Hirotsugu Kawasaki, in his directorial debut; general supervisor and story structure, Katsuhiro Otomo[1](https://eiga.com/movie/37381/) • [3](https://www.studio4c.co.jp/works/pages/05.html) |
| Source | Manga by Hiroshi Takashige and Ryōji Minagawa; character design by Hisashi Eguchi[2](https://www.allcinema.net/cinema/89697) • [3](https://www.studio4c.co.jp/works/pages/05.html) |
| Animation | Studio 4°C; more than 85,000 frames, about 1.5 times the original estimate[3](https://www.studio4c.co.jp/works/pages/05.html) |
| Format | Color, 1.85:1 aspect ratio, 35 mm film, Dolby SRD and DTS sound[4](https://www.kinenote.com/main/public/cinema/detail.aspx?cinema_id=31186) |
| Box office | 4th place on the Japanese weekend chart for August 29–30, 1998, in its opening week[5](https://cinema.eiga.com/ranking/19980908/) |
| Reception | 57% Tomatometer (14 reviews) and 66% Popcornmeter (5,000+ ratings) on Rotten Tomatoes[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/spriggan) |
## Spoilers
### Story
The story is set in the near future. ARCAM, a non-governmental organization that locates and preserves archaeological remains, deploys elite agents called Spriggans to keep the technological artifacts of a long-dead civilization from endangering humanity.[7](https://fest.afi.com/2000/anime-special-event-2000/spriggan/) • [8](https://animeworld.com/reviews/spriggan.html) Noah's Ark is discovered deep in Turkey's Ararat Mountains, and the U.S. Machine Corps, a rogue organization of the Pentagon, moves to seize the Ark as a means of global supremacy.[7](https://fest.afi.com/2000/anime-special-event-2000/spriggan/) • [9](https://anilist.co/anime/420)
The Japanese Spriggan Yu Ominae, ARCAM's number one agent, teams up with the French Spriggan Jean-Jacques Mondo against the Machine Corps and its leader, Colonel MacDougall, a genetically enhanced boy with deadly psionic powers.[9](https://anilist.co/anime/420) The Japanese synopsis adds that Yu, a former deserter from the cyborg corps, wears an Armored Muscle Suit combining the psychosensitive metal orichalcum with artificial muscle, fights the cyborgs Fatman and [Little Boy](https://www.edgepedia.org/little-boy), and finally stops MacDougall after MacDougall turns on the Pentagon and tries to use the Ark, revealed to be a life-creation device, to remake the world.[1](https://eiga.com/movie/37381/)
## Production
The film was produced by the Spriggan Production Committee, a consortium of [Shogakukan](https://www.edgepedia.org/shogakukan), Bandai Visual, TBS, Toho, and Studio 4°C, with animation by Studio 4°C.[4](https://www.kinenote.com/main/public/cinema/detail.aspx?cinema_id=31186) Studio 4°C describes it as a major production closing the 20th century, made by the team of Katsuhiro Otomo (総指揮, overall command) and director Hirotsugu Kawasaki; the studio states the film used more than 85,000 animation frames, about 1.5 times the original estimate.[3](https://www.studio4c.co.jp/works/pages/05.html) The AFI Fest profile of the film gives a slightly higher figure, more than 90 thousand frames, which it says was 20 percent more than a typical anime feature of the same length, over a three-year production.[7](https://fest.afi.com/2000/anime-special-event-2000/spriggan/)
Kawasaki also wrote the screenplay with Yasutaka Itō and handled story structure with Otomo, who additionally designed Noah's Ark.[3](https://www.studio4c.co.jp/works/pages/05.html) • [4](https://www.kinenote.com/main/public/cinema/detail.aspx?cinema_id=31186) The staff included Hisashi Eguchi for character design and animation direction, Kuniaki Haishima for music, Takeyoshi Seyama for editing, and Yōichi Tsuruoka as sound director; cinematographer Hisao Shirai had worked on *Pokémon: The First Movie*.[3](https://www.studio4c.co.jp/works/pages/05.html) • [4](https://www.kinenote.com/main/public/cinema/detail.aspx?cinema_id=31186) • [1](https://eiga.com/movie/37381/) The theme song, "Jing Jing," was performed by Saju.[4](https://www.kinenote.com/main/public/cinema/detail.aspx?cinema_id=31186)
## Release and reception
In Japan the film opened on September 5, 1998, and placed 4th on the national weekend attendance chart for August 29–30, published September 8, behind *Flood*, *[The Man in the Iron Mask](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-man-in-the-iron-mask-1998-film)*, and *Deep Impact*; the ranking noted it as fighting hard in its first week.[1](https://eiga.com/movie/37381/) • [5](https://cinema.eiga.com/ranking/19980908/) Japanese user aggregates give it 60.2 points from 52 voters on Kinenote and 6.6 points from 7 voters on allcinema.[4](https://www.kinenote.com/main/public/cinema/detail.aspx?cinema_id=31186) • [2](https://www.allcinema.net/cinema/89697)
In the United States the film was released by ADV Films and later Section23.[8](https://animeworld.com/reviews/spriggan.html) • [9](https://anilist.co/anime/420) On Rotten Tomatoes it holds a 57% Tomatometer from 14 reviews and a 66% Popcornmeter from more than 5,000 ratings.[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/spriggan) Critics praised the visuals while faulting the story: the Anime World review called it "nice looking, great action, but an underdeveloped plot and weak finish,"[8](https://animeworld.com/reviews/spriggan.html) and Time Out's Derek Adams described the characterization as thin and the plotting as largely nonsensical, with increasingly pyrotechnic effects culminating in a final light show inside the Ark.[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/spriggan) The Austin Chronicle's Jay Hardwig gave it 3 of 5 stars, calling it an animated actioner that "has to be seen to be believed."[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/spriggan)
## Legacy
The film is remembered chiefly for its animation quality. Studio 4°C credits it with combining recent CG and top-tier animation technique into high-level spectacle, and reviewers have singled out its fluid hand-drawn action sequences.[3](https://www.studio4c.co.jp/works/pages/05.html) • [6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/spriggan)
## References
1. [SPRIGGAN スプリガン: 作品情報・キャスト・あらすじ, 映画.com](https://eiga.com/movie/37381/)
2. [映画アニメ スプリガン (1998), allcinema](https://www.allcinema.net/cinema/89697)
3. [STUDIO4℃ WORKS: SPRIGGAN](https://www.studio4c.co.jp/works/pages/05.html)
4. [ＳＰＲＩＧＧＡＮ スプリガン: 作品情報・映画レビュー, KINENOTE](https://www.kinenote.com/main/public/cinema/detail.aspx?cinema_id=31186)
5. [国内映画ランキング (1998年8月29日～1998年8月30日), 映画.com](https://cinema.eiga.com/ranking/19980908/)
6. [Spriggan, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/spriggan)
7. [SPRIGGAN, AFI FEST 2000](https://fest.afi.com/2000/anime-special-event-2000/spriggan/)
8. [Spriggan: Anime Reviews, Anime World (AAW)](https://animeworld.com/reviews/spriggan.html)
9. [SPRIGGAN, AniList](https://anilist.co/anime/420)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Films by genre, form, and subject › Animated and short films › Japanese anime features › Released 1932 to 1998*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license