Wait, Is That 'Lord Of The Rings: The War Of Rohirrim' Anime Actually 'Anime?'

It's time to bust out the anime alignment chart because New Line Cinema and Warner Brothers have released the first promotional photo for Lord Of The Rings: The War Of Rohirrim, an upcoming film that, when it was first announced in June last year, was billed as a Lord of the Rings anime.

Put simply, the first concept art teaser for the film doesn't quite look like anime.

A new #LordOfTheRings original anime feature titled “The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim” is set for release in April 2024.

Variety can exclusively reveal the first look at the film’s concept art: https://t.co/1XzjXccQ2U pic.twitter.com/wHuBGVytwq

— Variety (@Variety) February 14, 2022

The film does have some notable anime muscle behind it: Kenji Kamiyama of Blade Runner: Black Lotus and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex is attached as director and anime studio Sola Entertainment is producing the film.

Still, the teaser put doubt in some fans' minds, as many feel burned by Amazon's unreleased (and unrelated) The Rings of Power series in the Lord of the Rings universe. Though news of the Lord of the Rings anime was met with cheers when it was first announced last June, the teaser was met with a more tepid response.

"Lord of the Rings anime" pic.twitter.com/kEVUCSZnr8

— whoops (@12yearsaknave) February 15, 2022

>Lord of the Rings anime directed by Kenji Kamiyama

I think I found something more antithetical to LOTR than Amazon's. https://t.co/1rzUM5itmk

— W.M Patrio✝ (@Alerted_Soul) February 15, 2022

This is a cartoon, not anime https://t.co/xMo9wgzugm

— 428cel 🍀 (@RawMilkRacist) February 15, 2022

frodo-chaaaan https://t.co/KNI7gVJRB1 pic.twitter.com/vYEu5GK7Ms

— OLD FINN, NEW TRICKS (@Terafinn) February 15, 2022

Of course, the teaser photo is the only tangible piece of media from the project at this point, so there's no real telling if the film will fit the typical "anime" aesthetic yet. And we'll have to wait a while to find out: the film will release in April 2024. Until then, surely Lord of the Rings and anime fans will sit patiently and not be too harsh on the upcoming project.