Arknights: Escape from Chernobog (Midjourney film)

“Arknights: Escape from Chernobog is the first in a series of interconnected anime OVAs released in the early and mid-1990s. The various films were directed by several people including Takashi Watanabe, Koichi Ohata, Yoshiaki Kawajiri, and Masamune Shirow. Despite the disconnected production, they remained remarkably consistent lore-wise, though the setting is infamous for defying genre classification. 1992’s Escape from Chernobog acts as an introduction to the world. Most major cities, including the titular Chernobog, are built on giant mobile platforms intended to keep them out of reach from periodic “Disasters“, weather events that leave behind Originum crystals, both very valuable and highly toxic. Notably, Originum serves as this setting’s equivalent of gunpowder, resulting in the paucity of firearms and comparative increase in reliance on melee weapons, bows, and even magic spells that make the setting so unique. Originum infection can imbue the victim with various superhuman a