Just in time for 2009′s San Diego Comic-Con, Microsoft announced that the Halo video game franchise is going deep into anime territory. With a collection of seven shorts being created by anime studios like Bones, Casio Entertainment, Production I.G., Studio4 C and Toei Animation and overseen by Appleseed director Shinji Aramaki, there’s no shortage of talent on the project. In a move similar to The Animatrix, the shorts will tell various stories that take place in the Halo universe, including a two-part segment called “Origins” that is expected to explain much of the game’s backstory spanning 100,000 years.

The shorts will first bow on Xbox Live this fall while Warner Bros. will release the series on DVD and Blu-ray in early 2010. For any attendees at this year’s Comic-Con (including our very own Paul Starr), be on the lookout for a trailer to be shown at Microsoft’s panel.

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