Anime UK News Spring 2015 Anime Preview Part 2
The Spring 2015 anime season launches at the end of March which means over thirty new shows are in line for broadcast and Anime UK News is here to provide some of the highlights and some of the obscure titles for you to get a better idea of what you may want to watch and what is going to be broadcast.
As is usual there are many reboots of classic tales, sequels to recent anime titles and plenty of adaptations. It’s a mixed bag of fantasy action shows and otome game adaptations full of pretty boys vying for attention with stalwart sports anime shows that have taken off in recent seasons. What is garnering a lot of hype is the return to familiar franchises favourites like the new Digimon, Ghost in the Shell, Lupin III and Arslan Senki anime series but there is great potential in newer titles like Blood Blockade Battlefront.
Before we bid farewell to Winter 2014/15, let me name-check some of the great titles that made it a season that defied the critics and showed that anime was far from dead. The last season proved to be better than expected thanks to the well-handled anime adaptation of Parasyte and the totally original and brilliant Death Parade, both showing anime studio Madhouse firing on all cylinders and producing gripping stories. Tokyo Ghoul Root A was hugely divisive as expected but featured moments of pure genius in terms of artistry and direction that individual episodes stood out as some of the best in anime even if the rest of the series wasn’t as smooth. JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders Egypt Arc continues to showcase a stylish and hilarious series of battles as it winds down, as the heroes lead by Jotaro and Joseph Joestar head to an explosive confrontation with Dio Brando and last but not least was Shiro Bako, something anime fans should watch so they can appreciate just how hard it is to create a television anime!
What’s on offer with the new season?
There is too much to digest all in one go so this guide will be split into two. The first part went up earlier this week and this is the second part. Thanks to Anime News Network and My Anime List, I have been able to compile a lot of the major titles that will launch on TV and in cinemas in Japan from March:
Digimon Adventure Tri.
Synopsis
Fifteen years after the summer vacation.
If we didn’t go to the Digital World. If I didn’t make this trip with others. If we didn’t change at all like this.
These Digimon were always with us. We’ve been friends all the time. We learned the importance of helping each other. All the things have made us what we are!
New stories for all the “DigiDestined” in the world. Taichi, seventeen, high school days.
Back when people were first raving about the Pokemon Gameboy games and the anime on television there was another show featuring pet monsters that may not have been as big but built up a solid and dedicated fan-base: Digimon.
This new show is being created for the Digimon Adventure 15th anniversary project and it is billed as an updated version of the show so the kids who grew up with the original Digimon get to delight in a more modern, and I’m assuming, more mature version of the franchise. The original kids are now in high school, so new voice actors for them but the voices for the Digimon remain the same.
The show is directed by Keitaro Motonaga episode director on Magic Knight Rayearth! Atsuya Uki (tsuritama.) is providing character designs, Yuuko Kakihara (Chihayafuru, Persona 4: The Animation) is writing on this. The animation comes from Toei who are endlessly pumping out Pretty Cure, One Piece, and Dragon Ball movies which is cool because those titles pay for things like Kyousogiga and Mononoke. There’s a lot of fan love riding on this but the staff look ready to deliver.
Staff: Keitaro Motonaga (Director), Yuuko Kakihara (Series Composition) Akiyoshi Hongo (Original Creator), Atsuya Uki (Character Designer)
Voice Actors for the Human Characters: Natsuki Hanae (Taichi Yagami), Yoshimasa Hosoya (Yamato Ishida), Suzuko Mimori (Sora Takenouchi), Junya Ikeda (Jo Kido), Junya Enoki (Takeru Takaishi), MAO (Hikari Yagami), Mutsumi Tamura (Koshiro Izumi), Hitomi Yoshida (Mimi Tachikawa),
Voice Actors for the Digimon: Kinoko Yamada (Palmon), Chika Sakamoto (Agumon), Miwa Matsumoto (Patamon), Mayumi Yamaguchi (Gabumon), Junko Takeuchi (Gomamon)
Studio: Toei Animation
Airing Date: April, 2015
Gunslinger Stratos: The Animation
Synopsis
A.D. 2115—the island nation once called Japan is now known as the “17th Far East Imperial City Management District.” The citizens were promised a life of peace in exchange for some of the comfort they were used to having. People believed their lives would never change and tomorrow will be the same as today. No one suspected the impending doom which their society was about to face. “Degradation”—a rare disease which led to the total disintegration of the human body to a mere pile of sand was slowly but surely spreading throughout the world. Tohru Kazasumi, an ordinary student becomes embroiled in a multi universal battle between his world and the parallel world of “Frontier S (Stratos).” This meant that Tohru must fight himself from an alternate world. Their futures collide as their paths cross. Will both worlds ever find peace?
Gunslinger Stratos originally began life as an arcade game published by Square Enix. It’s virtually unknown in the West but is a big enough deal that Gen Urobuchi is writing the scenario for the anime. Just the scenario. What this means is that a lot of the work on scripts is going to be delegated to other people. This can turn into a mess as Aldnoah.Zero and Psycho-Pass Season 2 revealed.
The direction comes courtesy of Shinpei Ezaki, episode director on Blue Exorcist and Attack on Titan. The studio animating is A-1 Pictures. A look at their output reveals some gorgeous but banal anime mixed with great titles. That list includes Black Butler, Galilei Donna, Persona 4: The Golden, Silver Spoon.
Staff: Shinpei Ezaki (Director), Norimitsu Kaihou (Series Composition), Shinichi Yokota (Character Designer), Gen Urobuchi (Original Scenario)
Voice Actors: Atsushi Abe (Tohru Kazasumi), Hisako Kanemoto (Kyoka atagiri), Rikiya Koyama (Akira Rakando), Nana Mizuki (Kumi Minakata), Mariya Ise (Matsurika Shino)
Studio: A-1 Pictures
Airing Date: April 04th, 2015
Ore Monogatari!!
Synopsis:
Takeo Gōda is a veritable giant of a guy with an equally big heart but the ladies don’t see him especially when his handsome best friend Makoto Sunakawa is around. Takeo accepts that he will be ignored by girls and accepts his fate. That all changes when he saves a girl named Rinko Yamato from a pervert harassing her on a train and his love life blossoms.
Madhouse come off the back of two incredible seinen anime (Parasyte, Death Parade) with an adaptation of Kazune Kawahara’s shoujo manga of the same name. The title actually debuted as an original 100-page version of the story in Bessatsu Margaret Sister magazine in October 2011, but then returned in Bessatsu Margaret where it is an ongoing series. Word from fans is that the story is a sensitive and funny one all about characters that are easy to relate to.
A look at the staff list will reveal that they are bringing some of the best people to this project. The director is Morio Asaka, the guy who helmed Chihayafuru and NANA. Natsuko Takahashi, writer and series composition head on shows like Moyashimon and Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 is taking charge of the writing here and there is another veteran of Chihayafuru and NANA in the credits in the shape of Kunihiko Hamada who is designing the characters.
Staff: Morio Asaka (Director), Natsuko Takahashi (Series Composition), Kunihiko Hamada (Character Designer), Aruko, Kazune Kawahara (Original Creator)
Voice Actors: Takuya Eguchi (Takeo Goda), Megumi Han (Rinko Yamato), Nobunaga Shimazaki (Makoto Sunakawa), Ai Kayano (Yukika Amami), Rena Maeda (Mariya Saijo), Rina Kitagawa (Nanako)
Studio: Madhouse
Airing Date: April 08th, 2015
Punch Line
Synopsis:
High schooler Yuuta Iridatsu has experienced “astral projection” i.e. his spirit has been separated from his body. He woke up in a mansion named Koraikan and met a cat spirit named Chiranosuke, who told him “You must find the Sacred Tome of Koraikan in order to return to your physical body.” While searching through corridors of Koraikan, Yuuta bumped into underpants of its female residents, and doing so would, eh, create some big trouble for planet Earth.
That synopsis started off so well. Astral project! A cat spirit guide!! Then it went and bumped into a girl’s pants. Ghost Hound, this is not. It looks like an ecchi series and it’s on NoitaminA which was supposed to be the place that brought us edgy and arty adult anime. It’s too early to write this off and it looks like the hero has to avoid seeing panties or humanity will be destroyed. This could be a laugh riot. What’s going on with the staff?
Punch Line is an original series directed by Yutaka Uemura a new name in the direction game, if ANN and MAL are anything to go by. The script is written by Kotaro Uchikoshi, another new name. It’s all animated at MAPPA who had an incredible year in 2014 with the gorgeous and fun fantasy shows Shingeki no Bahamut: Genesis, Garo: Honoo no Kokuin and the flawed but daring Zankyou no Terror. It has a theme song by Dempagumi Inc. Could this be a wild card show?
Staff: Yutaka Uemura (Director), Kotaro Uchikoshi (Script), Tetsuya Komuro (Music), Chiaki Nakajima (Character Designer), Dempagumi Inc., Shoko Nakagawa (Theme Song)
Voice Actors: Marina Inoue (Yuuta Iridatsu), Yuri Yoshida (Chiranosuke), Rie Kugimiya (Meika Daihatsu), Minako Kotobuki (Ito Hikiotani)
Studio: MAPPA
Airing Date: April 09th, 2015
Arslan Senki
Synopsis:
Arslan is the heir apparent of Pars, a strong nation that sits at the heart of the trade route connecting the East and the West. When the pagan nation of Lusitania begins an invasion of Pars, the timid Arslan is confronted with battle for the first time. His worst anxieties are realized when the Parsian army falls for a Lusitanian stratagem and are routed. He barely escapes with his life, thanks to the loyal and indomitable warrior Daryun. Together they will stand against the invasion and the cruelties of fate that are about to blow down on Pars.
This is arguably the biggest new title of the season and it has all sorts of names connected to it that tells you this is no ordinary show. It is a new adaptation of an epic fantasy series from Yoshiki Tanaka (Legend of the Galactic Heroes). To put it more accurately, it’s based on the manga of Hiromu Arakawa (Fullmetal Alchemist) which is based on the novel. The anime has a strong director in the form of Noriyuki Abe (Black Butler: Book of Circus, Flame of Recca) and series composition comes from Makoto Uezu (Humanity Has Declined). Music is composed by Taro Iwashiro who has composed for epic live-action historical films like Red Cliff and Castle Under Fiery Skies but is probably just as well known for his incredible music for the Korean film Memories of Murder.
Staff: Noriyuki Abe (Director), Naotaka Hayashi (Series Composition), Yoshiki Tanaka (Original Novel Creator), Hiromu Arakawa (Original Manga Adaptation), Kazuo Watanabe, Ushio Tazawa (Character Designer), Taro Iwashiro (Music)
Voice Actors: Yusuke Kobayashi (Arslan), Yoshimasa Hosoya (Daryun), Maaya Sakamoto (Falangies), Yuuki Kaji (Silvermask)
Studio: Dogakobo
Airing Date: April 05th, 2015
Kyoukai no Rinne
Synopsis:
High school student Sakura Mamiya began to see ghosts and ghouls after she was tricked into taking a trip to the otherworld as a child. However, cool and collected, she is not extremely phased when she finds out that her always-absent classmate Rinne Rokudō is actually working as a shinigami (god of death) on the side, helping lost spirits reach the wheel of reincarnation. Although he is a talented young man with shinigami blood in his veins, he is extremely poor, and is forced to rely on Sakura’s assistance – monetary or otherwise – to solve many of his cases.
Kyoukai no Rinne is based on a manga by Rumiko Takahashi, author of Ranma ½, Maison Ikoku, and Inuyasha. It plays out with familiar supernatural genre tropes and the synopsis sounds a lot like Ghost Hound (the last time I’ll mention this tremendous anime in this preview – go watch it) with its focus on the supernatural bleeding into reality from another world. If it is anything like Ghost Hound then that is a good thing.
No names really stand out apart from the writer when looking at the staff list. Director Seiki Sugawara has directed for a lot of different TV anime like Kamisama Dolls, D.Gray-man, Kids on the Slope, and Amnesia so there are some supernatural titles he has worked on. Michiko Yokote is a name seen connected to a lot of anime and she has a wealth of experience working with other supernatural shows like Red Data Girl and Ranma ½.
Staff: Seiki Sugawara (Director), Michiko Yokote (Series Composition), Rumiko Takahashi (Original Creator), Kazuhiko Tamura (Character Designer), Akimitsu Honma (Music), Yukhiro Shibutani (Art Director)
Voice Actors: Marina Inoue (Sakura Mamiya), Kaito Ishikawa (Rinne Rokudo), Hitomi Nabatame (Rokumon), Aya Suzaki (Rika)
Studio: Brain’s Base
Airing Date: April 04th, 2015
Nisekoi:
Synopsis
Raku Ichijou is a normal high school student who just happens to be the son of a leader in the Shuei-Gumi yakuza family. Chitoge Kirisaki is the daughter of a rival gang leader and the not-so-normal (as in she is violent) new student in Raku’s class. The two don’t really like each other but must pretend to date to prevent a gang war!
This anime is based on a popular manga that is running in Shounen Jump and it brings back together the cast and staff of previous adaptations. The anime’s chief director is Akiyuki Shinbo (Bakemonogatari, And Yet the Town Moves) who was chief director of the preceding anime series. Naoyuki Tatsuwa returns as director and the character designs are by Nobuhiro Sugiyama (Arakawa Under the Bridge).
Staff: Akiyuki Shinbo (Chief Director), Naoyuki Tatsuwa (Director), Naoshi Komi (Original Creator), Nobuhiro Sugiyama (Character Designer), Akiyuki Shinbo, Fuyashi Tou (Series Composition)
Voice Actors: Kouki Uchiyama (Raku Ichijo), Kana Hanazawa (Kosaki Onodera), Nao Toyama (Chitoge Kirisaki), Yuuki Kaji (Shu Maiko), Kana Asumi (Marika Tachibana)
Studio: Shaft
Airing Date: April 10th, 2015
Denpa Kyoushi – He is an Ultimate Teacher
Synopsis
Junichirou Kagami was known as a physics genius when he was a teenager, and he was even published in the world-renowned journals Nature and Science at the age of 17. However, after graduating from college, he suddenly became a NEET and devoted himself to his anime blog. He claims he has a serious illness called “I can’t do anything I don’t want to do.” Desperate to get him to do something with his life, his little sister Suzune manages to get him a job teaching physics at her high school. He’s certainly an unconventional teacher, but he becomes fairly popular with the students. After helping a girl who’s being ruthlessly bullied, Kagami finds that he actually likes teaching. Will he continue his career as a weird teacher? Will he go back into physics? Or will he end up back where he started?
This is based on a popular manga which seems to be a riff on Great Teacher Onizuka (no bad thing) but with an otaku/physics genius for the lead. There are few names tied to this adaptation that signal anything major in terms of what to expect. Director Masato Sato has directed many episodes of the Case Closed TV anime and writer Atsushi Maekawa has written for lots of children’s anime like Bakugan Battle Brawlers, Jewelpet, and Pretty Cure. The trailer indicates that this will be a solid comedy.
Staff: Masato Sato (Director), Atsushi Maekawa (Series Composition), Takeshi Azuma (Original Creator) Isao Sugimoto (Character Designer)
Voice Actors: Hiroshi Kamiya (Junichiro Kagami), Rena Matsui (Suzune Kagami), Rina Hidaka (Kanon Chinami), Aki Toyosaki (Kotaro Araki)
Studio: A-1 Pictures
Airing Date: April 04th, 2015
The Eden of Grisaia (Grisaia no Rakuen) Series / The Labyrinth of Grisaia (Grisaia no Meikyuu) Special
Synopsis:
Mihama Academy seems like a school for students who find it hard to fit into the world but it also serves as something of a prison for malcontents with troubled pasts. There are five female students whose lives are now in stasis but an outsider arrives. Yuuji is the first male student to enrol in the institute and his appearance shakes things up as the girls wake up to him and their circumstances.
The story for Grisaia no Meikyuu take place roughly a year after his arrival at Mihama Academy and follows Yuuji’s decision to pursue promotion within CIRS.
The story for Grisaia no Rakuen follows Grisaia no Meikyuu, with Yuuji involved in an international terrorist organization, led by Heath Oslo, that has managed to enter Japan’s borders with a devastating new weapon of mass destruction, while the girls at Mihama Academy are looking to leave and help Yuuji in his hour of need…
The Labyrinth of Grisaia (Grisaia no Meikyuu), a 60-minute special, and The Eden of Grisaia (Grisaia no Rakuen) TV anime are sequels to The Fruit of Grisaia (Grisaia no Kajitsu) which is available to watch on Crunchyroll. All three are based on an adult visual novel which is available in the west.
Staff: Frontwing (Original Creator)
Voice Actors: Hiroko Taguchi (Amane Suo), Ryouko Tanaka (Yumiko Sakaki), Takahiro Sakurai (Yuuji Kazami), Ai Shimizu (Sachi Komine)
Studio: 8 Bit
The Labyrinth of Grisaia (Grisaia no Meikyuu) Airing Date: April 12th, 2015
The Eden of Grisaia (Grisaia no Rakuen) Airing Date: April 19th, 2015
Mikagura Gakuen Kumikyoku
Synopsis:
Eruna Ichinomiya is a junior high school student who cannot decide which high school she wants to attend. When her cousin Sigure Ninomiya hands her a pamphlet for Mikagura Private School her eyes are drawn to the image of Seisa Mikagura, a female student whose photo was used in the pamphlet and she feels like destiny is calling. In this school, each of the cultural clubs battle each other, with representatives using unique powers…!! What will happen to Eruna and which club will she join?
The story for this anime is based on a popular song series from famous vocaloid producer named Last Note which was turned into a light novel series. The director is Tarou Iwasaki (One Week Friends) and series composition is overseen by Masahiro Yokotani (K-ON! Season 2, Free! Eternal Summer).
Staff: Tarou Iwasaki (Director), Manamu Amazaki (Character Designer), Last Note (Original Creator), AKINA (Original Character Designer), Takuma Mochizuki (Art Director)
Voice Actors: Juri Kimura (Eruna Ichinomiya), Ai Kakuma (Asuhi Imizu), Ai Kayano (Kurumi Narumi), Ari Ozawa (Otone Fujishiro)
Studio: Dogakobo
Airing Date: April 06th, 2015
Eikoku Ikke, Nihon o Taberu
Synopsis
The story is based on the memori of British journalist Michael Booth who spent 100 days travelling around Japan with his wife Lissen, and two kids Ansger (6) and Emil (4) eating a wide variety of Japanese foods. Booth was inspired to make the trip by Shizuo Tsuji’s book, Japanese Cooking, A Simple Art.
I’ve thrown this one here because it has a British family at its heart and while it may not get streamed by the big (read: American) sites there is still the slim chance it will pop up in other locations. Another reason for bringing this one up is that it is adapted by Rareko who specialises in short anime and odd titles and apparently each episode is around 20 minutes long so it could be good. It’s definitely different!
Staff: Rareko (Director), Michael Booth (Original Creator), Yuri Habuka (Music), Rareko (Character Designer)
Voice Actors: Eiji Takemoto (Michael), Yukiko Mannaka (Lissen, Emil), Ryou Hirohashi (Ansger), Kenichi Takitoh (Toshi)
Studio: Fanworks
Airing Date: April 12th, 2015
Plastic Memories
Synopsis:
In a future not too far away, androids that look exactly like humans begin to spread across the world. The android production company SA Corp. produced Giftia, a new kind of android that has the most amount of emotion and human-like qualities out of any other model ever seen. However, due to problems in technology, the androids have a service life, and once they pass that, it gets pretty bad. For this reason, SA Corp. creates a terminal service in order to retrieve Giftia that have gone past their service life. A new employee at the terminal service named Tsukasa Mizugaki forms a team with the Giftia Isla to retrieve the other androids.
BLADE RUNNER! If that was your first thought when reading the synopsis you weren’t alone. The story surrounding androids and emotions and “use by dates” are familiar from any number of other shows and films although this looks more like the anime Time of Eve than Ridley Scott’s sci-fi classic. Plastic Memories is actually an original series from Dogakobo and it is directed by Yoshiyuki Fujiwara (GJ Club). It features writing from Naotaka Hayashi, the creator of the project. Hayashi is a scenario writer for 5pb./MAGES and has been involved on the games ChaoS;HEAd, SteinslGate, Robotics;Notes and their anime.
Staff: Yoshiyuki Fujiwara (Director), Naotaka Hayashi (Screenplay/Original Creator), okiura (Original Character Design), Chiaki Nakajima (Character Designer)
Voice Actors: Juri Kimura (Eruna Ichinomiya), Ai Kakuma (Asuhi Imizu), Ai Kayano (Kurumi Narumi), Ari Ozawa (Otone Fujishiro)
Studio: Dogakobo
Airing Date: April 04th, 2015
Knights of Sidonia: Battle for Planet Nine
Synopsis
Earth has been destroyed by Gauna forcing humanity to flee into space and look for a new home using gigantic spaceships. One of these ships is called Sidonia but it has lost contact with the other spaceships in the fleet and the inhabitants of Sidonia believe they are the last survivors of humanity. Things seem desperate as Gauna still chase them. To help fend off the threat of the Gauna’s, humanity has developed mecha named Morito (Guardians). Nagate Tanikaze is a highly skilled pilot and has helped turn the tide of many a battle to safeguard his home. The Sidonia now nears Planet Nine where an epic battle is sure to ensue.
Knights of Sidonia was a bit of a funny title. Its hard sci-fi elements, such as the dangers of inertia and the changes in humanities biology to cope with breeding and feeding in space, won a lot of fans but the harem element was tiresome and the CG had the polarising effect of turning some people off. That didn’t stop it from being a hit and a gripping story full of great space battles. The epic set-piece battles were genuinely thrilling to watch once you got past some of the awkward drama which is why it is great to see it come back!
The anime has a solid foundation since it is adapted from a manga created by Tsutomu Nihei. The anime sees the assistant director of the first season, Hiroyuki Seshita, take on the role of director. Series composition is once again handled by Sadayuki Murai, writer of screenplays for Kino’s Journey and the great live-action Mushishi movie.
Staff: Hiroyuki Seshita (Director), Sadayuki Murai (Series Composition/Screenplay), Yuki Moriyama (Character Designer), Tsutomu Nihei (Original Manga), Noriyuki Asakura (Music)
Voice Actors: Ryota Ohsaka (Nagate Tanikaze), Aki Toyosaki (Izana Shinatose), Atsuko Tanaka (Samari Ittan), Eri Kitamura (Honoka Series), Sayaka Ohara (Captain Kobayashi)
Studio: POLYGON PICTURES
Airing Date: April 10th, 2015
Diamond no Ace: Second Season
Synopsis
In the first season of Diamond no Ace we followed Eijun Sawamura who is a pitcher in a baseball team at an elite high school. Also on the team is Kazuya Miyuki, a brilliant catcher, and together they aim to succeed in Japan’s Koushien championships.
Diamond no Ace is a baseball anime that has a lot of episodes (75) after starting in the autumn of 2013. Staff and cast information is thin on the ground at the moment. The director of the first season is Mitsuyuki Masuhara (Polar Bear’s Café).
Staff: (FIRST SEASON) Mitsuyuki Masuhara (Director), Takeshi Konuta (Series Composition), Yuuji Terajima (Original Creator)
Voice Actors: (FIRST SEASON) Ryota Ohsaka (Eijun Sawamura), Takahiro Sakurai (Kazuya Miyuki), Nobunaga Shimazaki (Satoru Furuya), Natsuki Hanae (Haruichi Kominato)
Studio: Madhouse / Production I.G.
Airing Date: April 06th, 2015
Seraph of the End
Synopsis:
After an unknown virus wiped out all adults on earth, vampires appeared and ruled over the surviving children, treating them like livestock. Yuichiro Hyakuya survived along with other orphans by giving their blood to vampires, until Yuichiro escaped four years ago. Now he is a member of the Moon Demon Company, a unit in the Japanese army dedicated to hunting down the vampires he blames for the death of his family.
Seraph of the End has a great premise but it is hard to call its potential for greatness because there are no real stand-out names and the people who are involved have mixed records as far as I am concerned.
This is by Wit Studio, the animation house behind quality anime titles Attack on Titan and Hoozuki no Reitetsu. So far so good. It is directed by Daisuke Tokudo who has worked as an episode director on great titles like Attack on Titan and Tokyo Magnitude 8.0. Here’s where it gets tricky. It is written by Hiroshi Seko who worked on Zankyou no Terror’s worst episodes (most of the second half) and it is based on a manga by the novelist Takaya Kagami (The Legend of the Legendary Heroes) and manga-ka Daisuke Furuya and Yamato Yamamoto. Kagami also wrote A Dark Rabbit Has Seven Lives which is, quite frankly, ridiculous. It features music by Hiroyuki Sawano (was anybody else having horrible flashbacks to Aldnoah.Zero while watching the trailer?) who is working with Asami Tachibana (Robotics;Notes), Megumi Shiraishi, and Takafumi Wada (High School of the Dead).
Staff: Daisuke Tokudo (Director), Hiroshi Seko (Screenplay/Series Composition), Daisuke Furuya, Takaya Kagam, Yamato Yamamoto (Original Creator), Satoshi Kadowadi (Character Designer), Asami Tachibana, Hiroyuki Sawano, Megumi Shiraishi, Takafumi Wada (Music)
Voice Actors: Miyu Irino (Yuichiro Hakuya), Kensho Ono (Mikaela Hyakuya), Kaito Ishikawa (Shiho Kimizuki), Saori Hayami (Shinoa Hiragi), Yuka Iguchi (Mitsuba Sangu)
Studio: Wit Studio
Airing Date: April 04th, 2015
Houkago no Pleiades
Synopsis:
Subaru is a young girl who discovers that her best friend Aoi is part of an afterschool club of magical girls who are trying to gather engine fragments so that a little alien from Pleiades can return to his home. Subaru considers joining them as she was chosen by the Pleiadian, president of this afterschool club.
A few year ago, anime studio Gainax and car maker Subaru teamed up to create a new magical girl anime named Hokago no Pleiades (Afterschool Pleiades), which was streamed over the internet. The anime was a magical girl take on Subaru’s name (Pleiades is the English name for the star cluster in the Taurus constellation that the Japanese call “Subaru” — the origin of the car maker’s name and six-star logo). Gainax do weird things with familiar genres but can the same be said about this?
There’s something sad about Gainax since a lot of the staff left to form Khara and Trigger and, if we were to be cynical, we would regard this is as little more than a commercial for a car maker. On the positive side, it is Gainax and they have some studio talent behind it including director Shouji Saeki who has worked on FLCL, Mahoromatic: Tadaima Okaeri and Strike Witches 2. Who knows how this will turn out.
Staff: Shouji Saeki (Director), Hiroshi Kato (Art Director), Mai Otsuka (Character Designer)
Voice Actors: Natsumi Takamori (Subaru), Ayuyu Ohashi (Aoi), AHouko Kuwashima (Minato), Saki Fujita (Nanako), Kanako Tateno (Itsuki), Yui Makino (Hikaru)
Studio: GAINAX
Airing Date: April 08th, 2015
Ghost in the Shell Arise: Alternative Architecture
Kazuchika Kise is director. He has a long and impressive filmography filled with many anime titles from Dominion Tank Police to Patlabor to Giovanni’s Island. He has been heavily invested in the Ghost in the Shell franchise working on the first two movies and the forthcoming summer title. The writer involved is Tow Ubukata who has written some great anime like Mardock Scramble and some not so great anime like Psycho-Pass 2.
Staff: Kazuchika Kise (Chief Director, Character Designer), Tow Ubukata (Series Composition), Masamune Shirow (Original Creator), Cornelius (Music), Takamasa Masuki, Yusuke Takeda (Art Director)
Voice Actors: Maaya Sakamoto (Motoko Kusanagi), Kenichirou Matsuda (Batou), Tarusuke Shingaki (Togusa), Ikkyuu Juku (Daisuke Aramaki)
Studio: Production I.G
Airing Date: April 05th, 2015
Gintama
Synopsis:
Gintoki Sakata, Kagura, and Shinpachi Shimura continue to scrape together a living as the freelance jack-of-all-trades group Yorozuya in Edo while living among the several odd humans and aliens that inhabit the peculiar metropolis.
Gintama is back with a new series and the director is Chizuru Miyakawa, a lady with much experience in different departments in the anime industry. Her filmography includes Cute High Earth Defense Club LOVE!, Monster and Haibane Renmei.
Staff: Chizuru Miyawaki (Director), Hideaki Sorachi (Original Creator), Yoichi Fujita (Supervising Director)
Voice Actors: Tomokazu Sugita (Gintoki Sakata), Rie Kugimiya (Kagura), Daisuke Sakaguchi (Shinpachi Shimura), Kazuya Nakai (Toshiro Hijikata)
Studio: Sunrise
Airing Date: April 08th, 2015
And this is some of what is on offer in terms of TV anime and I hope you found this useful. There are some shows I left off like children’s television anime Future Card Buddyfight 100 and Nyuru Nyuru!! Kakusen-kun Second Season as well as movies for Detective Conan, Crayon Shin-Chan and Dragonball but chances of these being licensed are slim… Well, Dragonball may make it to the UK. Head over to the News Forum to see what has been licensed for streaming in the West!
