Autumn Anime Season Overview
The Autumn season has hit us and with over 30 titles being broadcasted in Japan, there is quite a lot to take in. Fortunately AUKN is here to provide an overview of some of the titles on offer and some of the talent involved.
Onii-chan Dakedo Ai Sae Areba Kankei Nai yo Ne
Akito Himenokōji was separated from his sister Akiko when they were children but upon entering high school they find themselves living under the same roof.
Daisuke Suzuki’s light novel began life in 2010 and received a manga adaptation by Kurō Rokushō in Media Factory’s Monthly Comic Alive. The anime adaptation comes from Silver Link (Kokoro Connect) and is directed by Keiichiro Kawaguchi (Moetan) with series composition overseen by Kazuyuki Fudeyasu (Ben-To, Tantei Opera Milky Holmes) and character designs fulfilled by Kousuke Kawamura (Mayo Chiki!). Akito is voiced by Ryota Ohsaka (Yuki Sanada in Tsuritama) and Akiko is voiced by newcomer Ibuki Kido. Other seiyuu involved include Minori Chihara (Kagura in Ga-Rei: Zero) and the incredibly beautiful and talented Eri Kitamura (Rie in One Off and Ami in Toradora).
Btooom!
Ryōta Sakamoto is a NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training) who just so happens to be a star player on the online action game Btooom! Things get very dicey for him when he wakes up on a tropical island with no memory of how he got there and finds himself being attacked by people using weapons from the game.
With sun, sea, and massive explosions, Junya Inoue’s action manga Btooom! has the look of Black Lagoon, but the scenario shouts Sword Art Online with its mix of video games and real-life death. It is animated by the anime studio Madhouse who gave us Black Lagoon and High School of the Dead, as well as classics like Paranoia Agent. The adaptation is directed by Kotono Watanabe who is making his debut as a series director. His previous experience spans episodes of a variety of shows including Chihayafuru and Magi Madoka Magica. He will be working off scripts written by Yousuke Kuroda (Highschool of the Dead). The cast of seiyuu includes live-action actor Kanata Hongou (Jōichirō Nishi in Gantz) taking the lead role of Ryōta Sakamoto, Yōichi Nakamura (Gray Fullbuster in Fairy Tail), Toru Ohkawa (Roy Mustang in FMA), Suzuko Mimori (Michi Kondō in Lagrange – The Flower of Rin-ne), and Miyuki Sawashiro (Canaan in Canaan).
Nano performs the opening theme, “No Pain, No Game”, while May’n performs the end theme, “Blue Skies”.
Staff: Kotono Watanabe (Director), Yousuke Kuroda (Series Composition), Junya Inoue (Original Creator), Yukie Akiya (Character Design/Chief Animation Director), Conisch (Music), Masanobu Nomura (Art Director), Koichi Kikuta (Conceptual Design). Studio: Madhouse
Voice Actors: Kanata Hongou (Ryōta Sakamoto), Suzuko Mimori (Himiko), Toru Ohkawa (Taira), Miyuki Sawashiro (Kōsuke Kira), Yōichi Nakamura (Oda).
Busou Shinki
This is a collaboration between video game company Konami and TBS television network in the creation of a TV anime adaptation of Busou Shinki (“Armed Divine Princess”) the mecha-musume which began life as a series of collectable action figures linked to an online PC game in September 2006. This TV anime follows Busou Shinki: Moon Angel, last year’s online anime mini-series spin-off of the same franchise. This new anime has an original story from Konami which is directed by Yasuhito Kikuchi (Infinite Stratos, Macross Frontier), the series script editor is Masahiro Yokotani (Steins;Gate, K-ON! scripts), character design is handled by Takahiro Kishida (Madoka Magica) and Ryouma Ebata (Blue Exorcist). The studio 8-Bit (Infinite Stratos, Aquarion Evol) is producing the animation.
Code:Breaker
Sakura is a girl who appears modest and graceful but is actually a skilled martial artist. When she witnesses a transfer student named Rei Ogami burning people with a blue flame she realises that he is a Code Breaker, a person who does not officially exist and as a result he is above the law. This is bad news for Sakura because since she has witnessed Rei in action, she is next to be killed.
The anime is directed by Yasuhiro Irie (Kurau: Phantom Memory) while character design and animation direction is handled by Yukie Akitani (Tokyo Magnitude 8.0). Rei is voiced by Nobuhiko Okamoto (Eiji Niizuma in Bakuman) while Yōko Hikasa (Mio in K-ON) voices Sakura. Studio: Kinema Citrus
Hayate no Gotoku! Can’t Take My Eyes Off You
The new series features a completely original new story written by Hata Kenjirou, the manga-ka behind the Hayate series but retains the same voice cast as the previous two series including Ryoko Shiraishi (Harue in And Yet the Town Moves!, Kaede in Negima!) as Hayate, Rie Kugimiya (Kagura in Gintama) as Nagi, and Rie Tanaka (Sammy in Time of Eve) as Maria.
Manglobe are returning to produce the anime with Masashi Kudo (Witch Hunter Robin) taking on directing, Yooichi Ueda (Heaven’s Lost Property, Cat Planet Cuties) acting as series director and Rie Koshika (Future Diary) overseeing series scripts.
Hiiro no Kakera II
Tamaki Kasuga is a high school girl who is staying with her grandmother in the mountains because her parents are working overseas. On the day she arrives in the village she encounters a strange white ball-like creature that runs off. Tamaki chases after it but gets attacked by slimes. A mysterious boy named Takuma Onizaki rescues her. Tamaki soon gets involved with her family history in order to find out what is going on.
Hiiro no Kakera originally began life as a visual novel game on the PlayStation 2 that was later ported over to the PSP and Nintendo DS. Taking the role of Tamaki is Marie Miyake (Ringo in Mawaru Penguindrum). The anime is directed by Bob Shirohata (Gravitation, Hetalia Axis Powers). Studio DEEN (Fate/Stay Night) are producing. The anime will be aired in March. Staff: Bob Shirohata (Director), Yone Kazuki (Original Character Design), Naoyuki Onda (Chief Animation Director), Fujita Maiko (Theme Song)
Voice Actors: Kousuke Okano, Hiroki Shimowada, Marie Miyake, Daisuke Namikawa
Studio: Studio Deen
Chūnibyō Demo Koi ga Shitai!
A trailer for Kyoto Animation’s latest project She Has Adolescent Delusions, But I Want to Love Her is streaming on the official website. The anime is based on what comedian Hikaru Ijō terms “Chu-2 byō” or “middle-school second-grade disease” which covers adolescent thoughts that teenagers have like delusions of grandeur.
Yōta Togashi is a boy who used to suffer from something called “Chu-2 byō.” However he outgrew this phase when he entered high school. His girlfriend Rikka Takanashi still has this problem but things are ticking along nicely between the two of them until – wouldn’t you know it? – another cute girl who used to be Togashi’s friend in middle school appears and she is also suffering from the same syndrome. She is Satone Shichimiya and she will cause all sorts of chaos.
This anime is based on Torako’s novel of the same name which received an honourable mention in the novel category at the first Kyoto Animation Award program. Kyoto Animation began publishing the novel with illustrations by studio animator Nozomi Ousaka. The anime is directed by Tatsuya Ishihara (Air, K-ON!) with series composition orchestrated by Jukki Haneda (Steins;Gate).
Maoyuu Maou Yuusha (Archenemy and Hero)
Humanity and demons are at war. Our hero Yuusha overcomes a long and treacherous journey to get to the castle of Maou the Demon Queen, and put an end to the war. However the queen of demons argues that through the war humanity has become united and forced to improve their lives, technology, and society and if the war were to stop then humanity would turn in on itself in a civil war. The hero is swayed by her words and agrees to work with the Dark Lady.
The TV anime adaptation of Touno Mamare’s fantasy-adventure novel series, Maouyuu Maou Yuusha (Archenemy and Hero) is directed by Takeo Takahashi (Spice and Wolf) and the series scripts are overseen by Naruhisa Arakawa (Spice and Wolf, Kingdom). It is animated by ARMS (Queen’s Blade: Rebellion).
Blast of Tempest (Zetsuen no Tempest: The Civilisation Blaster)
Yoshino Takigawa is an ordinary high school student who is visiting his friend named Mahiro Fuwa. What Yoshino doesn’t know is that Mahiro has made a deal with a sorceress named Hakaze Kusaribe to hunt down the killers of his parents and sister. The truth begins to emerge when Yoshino is confronted by a mysterious woman named Evangeline Yamato who draws a gun on him and questions him. It is only through the intervention of Mahiro that Yoshino survives and he soon finds himself plunged into a world of magic, murder and a mysterious plague that is linked to a curse that could destroy the world.
The manga is written by Kyou Shirodairo and Arihide Sano with illustrations by Ren Saizaki and originally began serialisation in Monthly Shōnen Gangan back in August 2009. It has been compiled into six volumes to date.
The voice actor taking the role of Yoshino is Kouki Uchiyama (Kagura in Aquarion Evol, Natsuki in tsuritama) and Mahiro is given a voice by Toshiyyuki Toyonaga (Shinnosuke Fuchuuya in Twin Spica). The anime is directed by Masahiro Ando (CANAAN, Hanasaku Iroha) and it is being animated by the anime studio BONES. The series script editor is Mari Okada (CANAAN, Aquarion Evol, Red Garden), Tsunenori Saito (Sword of the Stranger) is adapting the character designs for the anime and Michiru Oshima (Le Chevalier D’Eon, Fuse: A Gun Girl’s Detective Story) is providing the music.
Hori-san & Miyamura-kun
In school Kyōko Hori is a highly popular and attention-grabbing girl and Izumi Miyamura is a rather introverted boy. Appearances can be deceiving since Kyōko is a high achiever in academics and is family orientated, while Izumi has piercings and a body tattoo. Kyōko will soon discover Miyamura’s alternative life-style and a relationship will blossom.
Hori-san & Miyamura-kun began life as a web-comic series created by HERO before it was picked up by Square Enix in 2007 and made into a ten volume manga series. The anime is being produced by Hoods Entertainment who worked on the gloopily wonderful Mysterious Girlfriend X. It is directed by Shingo Natsume (The Tatami Galaxy with Yuniko Ayana (Bakuman, Natsuiro Kiseki) in charge of scripts and series composition. Kenichi Kutsuna (Macross Frontier) is in charge of character designs.
Kyōko Hori is voiced by Asami Seto (Chihaya in Chihayafuru) and Izumi Miyamura is voiced by Yoshitsugu Matsuoka (Kirito in Sword Art Online). Other seiyuu involved include Yoshimasa Hosoya (Renshō in Inu X Boku Secret Service), Kana Ueda (Kurumi in Pani Poni Dash!), Yumiko Kobayashi (Akira in Dennō Coil), and Kana Asumi (Miya in Amagami SS).
Little Busters! (The anime adaptation of Key’s romance visual novel Little Busters!)
Riki Nanoe’s parents died when he was a child. He found himself facing a depressing situation but a group of children calling themselves Little Busters came to play with him and lifted his spirits. They are now in the second year of high school, still fighting, living, and enjoying life, school, and baseball together. This is their story.
Little Busters! was originally released on the 27th of July 2007 for Windows PCs. Since its release it has been ported to Sony consoles. There have been five manga adaptations of Little Busters!, several music albums, an internet radio show, and light novels.
Yoshiki Yamakawa (Kill Me Baby!) is known to be the director and he will be working from scripts provided by Michiru Shimada (Shugo Chara!). Haruko Iizuka (Inu X Boku Secret Service) is adapting the original character designs. Voice actors involved with the anime adaptation include Yui Horie (Masako Natsume in Mawaru Penguindrum ) who takes the lead role, Hikaru Midorikawa (Fate/Zero) who takes the role of Kyousuke Natsume, leader of the Little Busters!, and Tomoe Tamiyasu who voices Rin Natsume, younger sister of Kyousuke. Other seiyuu involved include Sora Tokui (Misaki in Chitose Get You!!), Natsumi Yanase (Chihiro in ef: a Tale of Memories), and Shiho Kawaragi (Flandere in Princess Resurrection). J.C. Staff are producing the anime.
Katakyoku no Chronos Gear
Mobile game company G-mode has released a trailer for the Katakyoku no Chronos Gear anime OVA. The anime is the result of G-mode teaming up with Studio AIC to create a new multimedia franchise named Katayoku no Khronos Gear which includes a game and manga by G-mode and an OVA from AIC.
In the near future, humanity has completed a space elevator and has started to colonise oplanets in the solar system. Then a mysterious extraterrestrial enemy, known as “Obliquus”, raid a space station as a prelude to their invasion of the solar system. The human race enters into a space war with the first extraterrestrial life form it has ever encountered. In order to combat the overwhelming technological might of the “Obliquus”, the Khronos Foundation has assembled the descendants of historical heroes from Musashi Miyamoto, to Napoleon Bonaparte, and Jean d’Arc. These heroes from around the world are then fused with battle suits known as Gears to create specialized biological weapons called Khronos Gears. These Khronos Gears will then train within a specially established school campus to prepare for combat.
Voice actors involved in the project include Tomoaki Maeno (Junichi in Amagami SS) who voices our brave fencer Musashi, Sayuri Yahagi (Karin in Karin) who voices Haruka Sasaki, Aoi Yōki (Toru Ichii in A-Channel) voices Jeanna Saya, and Yumi Hara (Yōko Kanoe in Dusk Maiden of Amnesia) voices Ryō Sakamoto and Haruka Sasaki.
The director is Hiroki Hayashi (Tenchi Muyo!), Ryuichi Makino (Battle Athletes) is acting as character designer, JR Eki Sakurajima (ToHeart2 adplus) is handling the scripts and Ayu Kawamoto (High School of the Dead) is the art director.
Staff: Hiroki Hayashi (Director), J/R Eki Sakurajima (Script), Ryuuichi Makino (Character Design/Animation Director), Ayu Kawamoto (Art Director),
Voice Actors: Tomoaki Maeno (Musashi Miyamoto), Sayuri Yahagi (Haruka Sasaki), Aoi Yuuki (Jeanne Saya), Yumi Hara (Ryō Sakamoto) Studio: AIC
Shin Sekai Yori (From the New World)
The first trailer from the anime adaptation of the 2008 sci-fi novel “Shin Sekai Yori – From the New World – ” has been released by TV Asahi.
The story takes place one thousand years in the future in a world where civilisation has stumbled and people live in small communities ruled over by people who wield the power of telekinesis. The main protagonist is Saki, a child living in a utopian little town Japan. She spends days in her idyllic surroundings with her four friends Satoru, Maria, Mamoru, and Shun. One day they find a robot outside the town. This robot has archived the history of the human race and reveals to them forbidden knowledge which will be the cause of the children being put into a dangerous adventure.
“From the New World” was written by Yōsuke Kishi and shared The Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of Japan’s 29th Nihon SF Taishō Award with the anime TV series Dennō Coil. It is animated by the anime studio A-1 Pictures (Blue Exorcist, Fairy Tail) and the director is Masashi Ishihama (character designer and animation director of the Read or Die franchise and Welcome to The Space Show). Series composition is being handled by Masashi Sogo (Bleach, Fairy Tale) and music is handled by Komori Shigeo (A Dark Rabbit has Seven Lives). Live-action actress Risa Taneda voices Saki. Kanako Toujo (Layla in Cobra The Animation; Time Drive) voices Maria Akitsuki, Kana Hanazawa (the lead in Kobato) voices Mamoru Itō , Haruka Kudou (Haruka in Noein) and Mai Toudou (Kazuko in Saki) voices Shun Aonuma.
Misfortune of a Certain Zombie Girl
Kadokawa Shoten is streaming a teaser trailer for the anime adaptation of Ryō Ikehata’s Misfortune of a Certain Zombie Girl (Aru Zombie Shōjo no Sainan) light novel series.
One day during the summer vacation, six undergraduate students accidentally wake up the beautiful Italian zombie girl named Jufrosine, who had been sleeping in the basement of their university. As if waking a zombie wasn’t bad enough, the six steal her ‘secret stone’ which is necessary to maintain the integrity of her body. A maid named Aruma informs tells her, “Madam, kill the students and retrieve the ‘Secret Stone.'” This sets in motion Jufrosine’s hunt for the students but they won’t go quite so easily.
This is billed as a ‘violent survival comedy’ and it comes from Ryō Ikehata who might be familiar to readers from his work on the Blood+ novel. This is his most recent work – the first two volumes of the light novel series went on sale recently.
My Little Monster (Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun)
The official website is streaming a trailer for the anime adaptation of Robico’s rom-com shojo manga of the same name.
Shizuku Mizutani is a conscientious student who is only interested in her grades determined to have a successful future. Haru Yoshida is her complete opposite as he is a troublemaker who constantly misses school. When Shizuku delivers a note to Haru he comes to believe that they are friends.
My Little Monster is animated by Brains Base (Baccano!, Mawaru Penguindrum!!) with Hiro Kaburaki (Le Chevalier D’Eon, Kii ni Todoke, Welcome to the NHK) directing and Nobou Takagi (Baccano!, Durarara!!) overseeing the series composition. Shizuku’s role is taken by Haruka Tomatsu who is Asuna in the recent anime Sword Art Online and Yunyun in the action packed Canaan. Haru’s voice is provided by Tatsuhisa Suzuki who may be familiar to anime fans from Library War as Hikaru Tezuka and Blood-C as Shinichirō Tokizane. Masato Nakayama of Elements Garden is taking charge of the music – Hyouka, Future Diary
Character designer is Tomohiro Kishi his work has been seen in Key Animation for Innocent Venus, Squid Girl, Priness Jellyfish, Nodame Cantabile. Chikako Shibata is the art director and she has form, considering that she has worked on Fruits Basket, Azumanga Daioh and Bakuman and Toradora
Student Council’s Discretion (Seitokai no Ichizon)
Our male lead, Ken Sugisaki, attends a private high school and becomes part of a student council where members are chosen by popular vote. Until he joined, the council was made up of cute girls. Now he is part of it he gets to be part of the political machinations but finds that meetings consist of conversations about daily lives. Cue hilarity moe.
Magi – The Labyrinth of Magic
Aladdin is a boy who has been trapped in a room for most of his life. When he leaves that room he sets out to explore the world with his best friend, a flute with a djinn inside it named Ugo. Aladdin discovers that he is a Magi (magician) who chooses Kings who will follow a righteous path, battling to keep the world on that righteous path.
The anime is based on Shinobu Ohtaka’s manga which adapts stories from the classic story Arabian Nights. The manga has been serialised in Shogakukan’s Weekly Shonen Sunday magazine since 2009. It is produced by A-1 Pictures (Space Brother, Sword Art Online) and it is directed by Koji Masunari (Read or Die). This is a 90th anniversary project from Shogakukan.
To LOVE-ru Darkness
The To-Love-Ru gang are back again in their ecchi adventures with Rito still the centre of attention of a gang of alien girls new and old including the Deviluke sisters, Lala, Nana and Momo.
The manga is drawn by Kentarō Yabuki and written by Saki Hasemi. Yabuki should be a familiar name since he is the creator of Black Cat, well he brings his skill to this intergalactic harem tale. It began life when it was serialised in Shueisha’s Weekly Shō nen Jump in 2006 before it was adapted into an anime by Xebec in 2008. This is the second series and it is directed by Atsushi Ootsuki (Ladies Versus Butlers, Working!!. Seiyuu involved include familiar names like Akeno Watanabe (Rin in Blue Exorcist), Yuka Iguchi (Mako in Bokurano), Misato Fukuen (Yin in Darker than Black) and Aki Toyosaki (Yui in K-ON!).
The Pet Girl of Sakurasou (Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo)
Sorata Kanda is a second-year high school student who lives in Sakurasou, a dormitory for troubled children. When a cute girl named Mashiro Shiina moves in he decides to protect her from their fellow Sakurasou residents but there is something strange about Mashiro. Despite being a gifted artist she is unable to take care of herself – yes, she is the type to easily get lost, hurt herself and generally cause chaos in the dorm. Sorata begins a strange relationship where he and Mashiro will live “like a master and his pet.”
The original light novel is apparently considered a romantic comedy which was first published on the 10th of January, 2010 in Dengeki Bunko Magazine. Kamoshida has form in the school rom-com field as he also wrote the story for Tora Kiss: A School Odyssey.
The anime adaptation has a cast list that includes Ai Kayano (Muginami in Lagrange – The Flower of Rin-ne, Mogana in Medaka Box) who voices Mashiro and Yoshitsugu Matsuoka (Kazuto in Sword Art Online) giving voice to Kanda. Other notable seiyuu include Yui Horie (Silvia in Ground Defence Mao-chan, Hanyuu in Higurashi) and Takahiro Sakurai (Meme Oshino in Bakemonogatari).
Despite the borderline offensive premise, the anime has women taking two of the major roles in the production with industry vet Mari Okada (AKB008, CANAAN, Zetsuen no Tempest, Toradora!) in charge of series composition and relative newcomer Atsuko Ishizuka in the director’s chair. It is an interesting choice for Ishizuka who made her directorial debut with the five minute short Tsuki no Waltz and went on to direct, and write episodes of the Aoi Bungaku Series which adapted modern classics of Japanese literature into anime. Character designs come from someone familiar with this sort of thing in the shape of Masahiro Fujii (Hayate the Combat Butler!!, Zero no Tsukaima).
While we are more than familiar with Okada and Fujii, how will Ishizuka do with moe schoolgirls? Decide for yourself by watching the anime.
