Just when it seemed like the Scooby-Doo universe might take a breather after the polarizing Velma experiment, the franchise is heading in an entirely different direction—this time with big anime energy. A new spin-off titled Scooby-Doo! Gokko is now in development, offering an anime-inspired take on the long-running mystery brand that first debuted back in 1969.
The announcement surfaced in an unexpected place: a Scooby-Doo x Miss Frandy makeup launch event in Brazil. According to reports from TV Laint, the series is currently in production and scheduled to debut in 2027. While official visuals haven’t been released yet, the project is said to follow a similar creative approach to Tom and Jerry Gokko, which reimagined the classic cartoon in a chibi-style Japanese aesthetic with short, playful episodes.
If that comparison holds, Scooby-Doo! Gokko is likely to lean into cuteness over complexity, swapping spooky hallways and elaborate traps for quick gags, simplified mysteries, and exaggerated expressions. In other words, less “unmasking the villain after a 10-minute chase,” more “Scooby panics adorably in 90 seconds.” It’s a notable pivot, but not an entirely surprising one as legacy Western cartoons continue experimenting with anime-influenced formats to reach younger and global audiences.
Interestingly, this isn’t the only Japan-inspired Scooby project reportedly in the pipeline. Another series, Go-Go Mystery Machine, has also been mentioned in recent reports and would send Scooby and the gang directly to Japan to solve a new case. Promotional artwork released for that project already shows the characters redesigned in a distinctly anime style, suggesting the franchise is testing multiple variations on the same visual theme.
For context, Scooby-Doo follows Mystery Incorporated—Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy, and their talking Great Dane—as they travel in the Mystery Machine solving supernatural cases that almost always turn out to be elaborate hoaxes. Over the decades, the formula has proven remarkably flexible. The franchise has spawned more than a dozen TV series, multiple animated and live-action films, video games, comics, and crossover events with properties ranging from DC Comics to Supernatural.
Scooby-Doo! Gokko appears to be another example of that adaptability. Whether longtime fans embrace an anime-styled, bite-sized Scooby remains to be seen, but the franchise has survived disco eras, edgy reboots, and celebrity guest phases before. Compared to those, a chibi Scooby chasing snacks through stylized Japanese backdrops may be one of the safer creative gambles.
Scooby-Doo! Gokko is currently slated for release in 2027, adding yet another incarnation to a franchise that refuses to stop reinventing itself—even after more than five decades of meddling kids and unmasked villains.
