ARTFEED — Contemporary Art Intelligence

13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim blends manga aesthetics with sci-fi narrative

digital · 2026-04-27

Japanese studio Vanillaware, known for 2D games like Odin Sphere and Dragon's Crown, releases 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim in the West. The game shifts from fantasy to science fiction, featuring time travel, clones, androids, and giant robots. It is divided into three modes: battle, story, and archive. The story follows 13 protagonists whose perspectives are explored non-linearly. Vanillaware's founder George Kamitani focused on writing, while character design was handled by Yukiko Hirai and Emika Kida. The art style evokes watercolor manga, set primarily in a 1980s Japanese town. The game is available on PlayStation 4, published by Atlus.

Key facts

  • Vanillaware developed 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim.
  • The game is a 2D sci-fi title with time travel, clones, androids, and giant robots.
  • It features three modes: battle, story, and archive.
  • The narrative is non-linear, told through 13 protagonists.
  • George Kamitani wrote the story; Yukiko Hirai and Emika Kida designed characters.
  • Art style resembles watercolor manga, set in 1980s Japan.
  • Published by Atlus for PlayStation 4.
  • Released in the West in 2020.

Entities

Artists

  • George Kamitani
  • Yukiko Hirai
  • Emika Kida
  • Matteo Lupetti

Institutions

  • Vanillaware
  • Atlus
  • Sony
  • Artribune
  • Scuola Internazionale di Comics di Firenze
  • Gravure
  • FISAR

Locations

  • Japan
  • 1980s Japanese town
  • PlayStation 4 (platform)

Sources