Production has begun on season one of a new animated series set in the world of Final Fantasy IX, according to the official website of the French animation studio Eurovisual (h/t: RPGSite).
The show, called Final Fantasy: Black Mages Legacy, will feature 2D animation and will be broadcast over 10 episodes, each measuring 22 minutes long. No official release date has been revealed yet, but it is believed to currently be targeting 2028, based on a report from Écran Total, a French magazine covering the business side of the film and TV industry, from December of last year.
As you may already be aware, there have been talks of a Final Fantasy IX adaptation being in the works for years, with the project initially beginning life at another studio, the French animation company Cyber Group Studios.
The first we heard of it came courtesy of a 2021 press release announcing that the Cyber Group Studios had entered "into an exclusive option agreement with Square Enix Co., Ltd," with the plan to pitch the series to potential distributors. However, in 2024, the project hit a major stumbling block when it was revealed that Cyber Group Studios had entered a judicial insolvency recovery process, prompting four potential bidders to express interest in acquiring the struggling animation company's assets, and leaving the project's future a bit of a mystery
In the aftermath of that, on March 19th, 2025, a leak of some of its pitch material appeared on Reddit, revealing that the series would focus on the children of the black mage Vivi, which was then followed by the Paris Commercial Court ruling that Cyber Group Studios would be liquidated, later that same year, on April 28th, 2025. Fortunately, since then, Eurovisual has stepped in to rescue the project by acquiring it along with 80% of Cyber Group Studios' assets.
You can read the latest synopsis for the series here:
"Imel, Koln, Luciola, Théa, Fala and Doc, children of the hero Bibi, are the last dark mages of the four continents. Today, they live happily in the city of ALEXANDRIA, guarded by its inhabitants who are rather friendly, although sometimes very curious. Unfortunately, this peaceful existence was not meant to last… One day, Koln discovers Mel, frozen like a statue, in the inn where he works. Could it be the tragic legacy of their father catching up with them?
According to the description posted in the Écran Total report from last year, the project is being aimed at kids ages 6-13.