Despera (ですぺら) is a planned anime series, written by Chiaki J. Konaka and featuring character designs by Yoshitoshi Abe. It is Abe and Konaka's third collaboration, following Texhnolyze and Serial Experiments Lain. Ryūtarō Nakamura, who directed Serial Experiments Lain, was tapped to direct Despera but died before production could begin. The title Despera is taken from a poem of the same title by Japanese Dadaist poet Jun Tsuji. Though the title of Tsuji's poem comes from the word "despair" or "desperation", the official blog for the anime stated that it can also imply the Spanish word desperado. A light novel serialization related to the anime was published in the Japanese magazine Animage from July 2009 to July 2010.

Story

The story centers around Ain, a 14-year-old girl who builds devices despite her lack of scientific or engineering background. An alternate history science fiction story, it is set in Tokyo during the Taishō era in 1922, one year before the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake.

Characters

Chapters

Thirteen chapters were released in serial form in the Animage magazine between July 2009 and July 2010. The complete novella was published as a single volume on April 28, 2011, and included new story content and illustrations.

1. "Prologue" (序章)
2. "The Girl Below the Twelve Storeys" (十二階下の少女)
3. "The Russian Lady of the Mansion" (洋館の露西亜貴婦人)
4. "Asakusa Tales" (浅草異譚)
5. "Electric Girl Versus Tank Corps" (電気娘対戦車隊)
6. "From Beyond the Screen" (銀幕の彼方より)
7. "In the Corner of the Triangular Second Floor" (三角二階の片隅にて)
8. "The Black Cat of the Twelve-Floor Skyscraper" (十二階天塔の黒猫)
9. "Devil" (魔王)
10. "Sky" (空)
11. "Parting" (離別)
12. "The Nightmare Which Does Not Continue" (続かぬ悪夢)
13. "Meeting" (邂逅)

Production

Abe announced at Sakura-Con 2009 development of a new anime, revealing that it would be set during Japan's Taishō era. Ryūtarō Nakamura, who had directed Serial Experiments Lain, was tapped to direct. Beginning in July, a graphic novel serialization penned by Konaka and Abe ran in the Japanese magazine Animage, terminating a year later. In 2010, production of the anime was placed on hold due to Nakamura's health. On June 29, 2013, Nakamura died of pancreatic cancer, and it was unknown whether development of Despera would continue following his death. At Overload 2014, Abe announced that the anime would move forward with a new director. In 2018, Abe and Konaka acknowledged that Despera was in development hell, citing the state of the anime industry. On March 23, 2021, Konaka said that the anime was 80% funded, and that both he and Abe had continued to work on it continually since its conception except for an interruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic.