Anime UK News Summer 2015 Anime Preview Part One
The Summer 2015 anime season is less than a week away and Anime UK News has collected a selection of highlights in TV anime to help you to get a better idea of what you may want to watch.
Spring 2015 turned out to be really great with top titles like Kekkai Sensen, Yahari Ore No Seishun Love Come Wa Machigatteiru. Zoku, Ore Monogatari!!, and Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders each providing quality entertainment, mixing big action (physical and emotional) and comedy with inventive visuals. Other titles like the sports anime provided solid entertainment and Punchline surprised nobody with an open mind and a brain when it became a story that went beyond its early panty focus and became a somewhat charming madcap comedy with some drama. Although not brilliant it showed that there was a lot of life left in original anime ideas. Plaudits have to go to Kekkai Sensen especially with Rie Matsumoto cementing her name as one to watch in terms of anime directors what with her hyperactive and densely-packed visual style.
Summer doesn’t quite have as many interesting titles. Indeed, there doesn’t seem to be as many shows as previous seasons and many of them are adaptations of classic tales, sequels to recent anime titles and it’s a mixed-bag of fantasy action shows with one or two seinen titles thrown in. Early highlights are Prison School, Ushio to Tora, and Gangsta. which are three totally different shows but each with the potential to push the envelope in terms of humour and violence.
One trend that is fizzling out is the otome game/yaoi adaptations full of pretty boys vying for the viewer’s attention although BL fans do get some service and there are fewer mecha and sci-fi shows this season but plenty of fantasy.
There is a lot on offer and so this guide will be split into two and shows will be listed in alphabetical order. Thanks to Anime News Network and My Anime List, Crunchyroll, and Neregate I have been able to compile a lot of the major titles that will launch on TV in Japan next month:
Part One
Akagami no Shirayuki-hime (Snow White with the Red Hair)
Synopsis
Shirayuki is a medicine woman with red hair, a colour that is considered very rare. She attracts the unwanted attention of the prince of her country and so she cuts her hair and runs away to the neighbouring country where she meets its prince, Zen. She respects the young man enough to serve at his side as his court doctor.
Judging by the reaction to the news of this adaptation, this looks like it is one of the big titles for the summer season. Readers of this shoujo fantasy manga seem to love it for its romance and great plot.
The staff are led by Masahiro Ando (Hanasaku Iroha – Blossoms for Tomorrow, Blast of Tempest) who will be director on the series. It will be animated by BONES who have crafted two brilliant TV anime over the last year: Kekkai Sensen and Space Dandy. There’s class throughout the rest of the staff: the scripts are written by Deko Akao (Noragami, Arakawa Under the Bridge), the character designs come from Kumiko Takahashi (Card Captor Sakura, Ouran High School Host Club) and the music is composed by Michiru Oshima who should be more famous for the great soundtracks composed for Patema Inverted and Fuse: A Gun Girl’s Detective Story.
Staff: Masahiro Ando (Director), Deko Akao (Series Composition), Sorata Akiduki (Original Creator), Kumiko Takahashi (Character Designer), Michiru Oshima (Music)
Voice Actors: Saori Hayami (Shirayuki), Ryota Ohsaka (Zen Wistaria Clarines), Akira Ishida (Izana Wistaria), Jun Fukuyama (Raji Shenazard), Kaori Nazuka (Kiki Seiran), Nobuhiko Okamoto (Obi), Toshiyuki Toyonaga (Mihaya)
Studio: Bones
Airing Date: July 06th, 2015
Aoharu x Kikanjuu
Synopsis
Hotaru Tachibana is a girl disguised as a boy. Through strange circumstances she finds herself drawn into the world of survival games by a host, Masamune Matsuoka. The two form a team with ero-manga artist Tohru Yukimura and aim to be the best in Japan.
Survival game anime aren’t that uncommon but the art work for this makes it look so much better than the likes of Sagebu! and other recent titles. There’s an interesting line-up of characters that go beyond schoolgirls in clubs you typically see and they were designed by Junko Yamanaka who has worked on the Detective Conan films. Hideaki Nakano is credited as the director on this one and his resume includes stints as an episode director on Baccano! and My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU. The series composition is by Kenji Konuta Library War, Ace of Diamond.
Staff: Hideaki Nakano (Director), Kenji Konuta (Series Composition), Naoe (Original Creator), Junko Yamanaka (Character Designer/Music)
Voice Actors: Mikako Komatsu (Hotaru Tachibana), Tomoaki Maeno (Masamune Matsuoka)
Yoshitsugu Matsuoka (Tohru Yukimura), Eri Kitamura (Ichi Akabane), Kazuyuki Okitsu (Nagamasa Midori), Ryohei Kimura (Takatora Fujimoto), Yui Horie (Kanae Yajima)
Studio: Brain’s Base
Airing Date: July 06th, 2015
Aquarian Logos
Synopsis
Once upon a time, human voices had defined the true nature of all things, yet the invention of text changed the status quo, while creating a “Logos World” between the voice and the truth. Millennia have passed since then, advancements of civilizations have made the “Logos World” too big to control “texts.” A group of young people dedicate themselves to counter chaotic “texts” with “Creative Voice Power,” and among them, a boy named Akira Kaibuki living in Asagaya.
The Aquarion franchise is back and this latest entry has all sorts of bad-quality alarm bells ringing: the director Eiichi Sato is credited with being part of the production for the awful Nobunaga the Fool mecha anime and the cheesy A.D. Police TV anime is working with Jun Kumagai, one of the writers for the badly written Galilei Donna and the terrible massacre that was Psycho-Pass season 2. Satelight is once again animating, so it should look good.
Staff: Eiichi Sato (Director), Jun Kumagai (Series Script Supervisor), R.O.N. (Music)
Voice Actors: Ayane Sakura (Maia Tsukigane), Nobunaga Shimazaki (Akira Kaibuki), Ari Ozawa (Karan Uminagi), Haruka Chisuga (Kokone Kikogami), Jouji Nakata (Sougon Kenzaki)
Yuichiro Umehara (Hayato Kujo)
Studio: Satelight, C2C
Airing Date: July 02nd, 2015
Bikini Warriors
Synopsis
A team of four brave women, each archetypes, are on a mission to save the world from destruction. The leader is the Fighter who is the daughter of a legendary warrior who saved the country in the past. She is joined by the Paladin, Mage, and Darkelf. In order to achieve the goal they have to barter with villagers and fight against numerous monsters in their sexy and scantily-clad bikinis.
The title for this short anime is pretty self-explanatory. Each episode lasts five minutes with buxom babes battling baddies (forgive me I wanted to get that alliteration in). The show is up-front about being prime cheesecake for audiences who probably watch Queen’s Blade and to help ensure it hits the right spot each character was designed by famous manga/eroge game makers like Rei Hiroe (Black Lagoon). The director is Naoyuki Kuzuya, a journeyman in the anime industry from with stints as director on Persona 4: The Animation and Parasyte being the most notable parts of his career.
Staff: Naoyuki Kuzuya (Director), Go Tamai (Series Composition), Eriko Ito (Character Designer), Kazusa Yoneda (Music)
Voice Actors: Ai Kakuma (Mage), Chiaki Takahashi (Dark Elf), Kana Ueda (Paladin), Yoko Hikasa (Fighter)
Studio: feel. PRA
Airing Date: July 07th, 2015
Charlotte
Synopsis
Special abilities occur among a small percentage of boys and girls in puberty. Yuu Otosaka uses his power without others knowing, and lives a fairly normal, average school life. Before him suddenly appears a girl, Nao Tomori. Due to his meeting with her, the fate of special power-users will be exposed.
This is an original creation of Jun Maeda, a man famous for creating Angel Beats and composing music for shows like Air, Angel Beats, Clannad and more. The highlight of the trailer is definitely the music but the story has been done to death so he must have some magic in store for viewers that is not immediately obvious from the premise and PV. He does have a veteran director on hand to bring his creation to life. Yoshiyuki Arai has worked on classics like Ah! My Goddess to gentle healing anime like Aria – The Natural.
Staff: Yoshiyuki Asai (Director), Jun Maeda (Script/Original Creator), Masahiro Fujii (Character Designer), Kazuki Higashiji (Art Director), Na-Ga (Original Character Designer), Jun Maeda, Anant-Garde Eyes (Music)
Voice Actors: Ayane Sakura (Nao Tomori), Kouki Uchiyama (Yuu Otosaka), Maaya Uchida (Misa Nishimori, Yusa Nishimori), Momo Asakura (Ayumi Otosaka), Takahiro Mizushima (Jōjirō Takajō),
Studio: P.A. Works
Airing Date: July, 2015
Classroom Crisis
Synopsis
With aims to one day reach out into the stars, humanity has colonized all the planets of the solar system. This story takes place in Fourth Tokyo in a Japanese Martian prefecture and the characters are kids with jobs related to space. Lead protagonist Iris Shirasaki is a third year student/aspiring test pilot. Mizuki Sera is her peer/mechanic and Mizuki’s brother Kaito is their homeroom teacher and the young director of the program developing their talents.
This is one of the original series of the season and while the use of school kids isn’t that compelling on paper (because we have seen it done a million times) there are some features to their everyday lives that give this a bit of difference. The original bit is that the characters have part-time jobs and it takes place in space and it looks like a comedy and a sci-fi title. It’s from Kenji Nagasaki director on Gundam Build Fighters who is working at a studio called Lay-duce which was involved in creating some OVAs based on Magi: Adventure of Sinbad. Fumiaki Maruto (Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend, White Album 2) is in charge of scripts.
Staff: Kenji Nagasaki (Director), Fumiaki Maruto (Series Composition), Hiro Kanzaki (Original Character Design), Masahiro Obata, Takashi Aoi (Art Director), Yuuki Hayashi (Music)
Voice Actors: Ari Ozawa (Mizuki Sera), Showtaro Morikubo (Kaito Sera), Sora Amamiya (Iris Shirasaki), Aya Suzaki (Tsubasa Hanaoka), Minami Tsuda (Makoto Ryouke), Shiina Natsukawa (Aki Kaminagaya), Toshiyuki Toyonaga (Kojiro Kitahara)
Studio: Lay-duce
Airing Date: July 03rd, 2015
Danchigai
Synopsis
Based on a four-panel gag manga, the adaptation splits the source into five minute episodes that revolve around a boy named Haruki and his four sisters: Mutsuki, Yayoi, Uzuki, and Satsuki. Haruki’s sisters make his life rather difficult by constantly playing tricks and criticising him.
This series is a collection of shorts and is directed by Hiroshi Kimura who has worked on all sorts of titles like Military! and Naruto. That’s about it.
Staff: Hiroshi Kimura (Director), Kazusa Yoneda (Original Creator), Eriko Ito (Character Designer), Kazusa Yoneda (Music)
Voice Actors: Atsushi Abe (Haruki Nakano), Mikako Komatsu (Yayoi Nakano), Satomi Akesaka (Mutsuki Nakano), Sayaka Horino (Satsuki Nakano), Sora Tokui (Uzuki Nakano)
Studio: Creators in Pack Tokyo
Airing Date: July 09th, 2015
Dragon Ball Super
Synopsis
Reuniting the franchise’s iconic characters, Dragon Ball Super will follow the aftermath of Goku’s fierce battle with Majin Buu as he attempts to maintain earth’s fragile peace. Part of that peace is getting a job on Chichi’s orders!
Dragonball fans are a hard-core bunch and over the last few years they have been treated to anime movies and manga (let us pretend that awful Hollywood movie didn’t happen). On July 5th they get their first new Dragonball television series since Dragon Ball GT (1996 to 1997). It is directed by Kimitoshi Chioka, a veteran of other magical battle franchises such as Precure, Saint Seiya, and Digimon. The story behind this new series is attributed to Akira Toriyama, the mastermind behind the whole Dragonball phenomenon.
Staff: Kimitoshi Chioka (Series Director), Akira Toriyama (Storyboard, Original Creator), Norihito Sumitomo (Music), Tadayoshi Yamamuro (Character Designer)
Voice Actors: Masako Nozawa (Son Goku, Son Gohan, Son Goten), Hiromi Tsuru (Blma), Naoko Watanabe (Chichi), Mayumi Tanaka (Krilin), Ryo Horikawa (Vegeta)
Studio: Toei Animation
Airing Date: July 05th, 2015.
Durarara!!x2 Ten
Synopsis
When Ryuugamine Mikado transferred to a school in Ikebukuro he found his reality took a stark turn into the bizarre and dangerous. Into his life came a collection of vicious and mysterious characters who like to fight and betray each other, a gang war between “Dollars” and “Yellow Scarves,” and the Headless Rider who stalks in the streets on her black motorcycle…
This is the second cours of three from the second season of Durarara!!, the sequel to the 2010 series which has been released in the UK courtesy of All the Anime. It adapts Ryohgo Narita’s light novel series and despite the change in studio with Studio Shuka taking over from Brains Base, the PV reveals that it looks like more of the same action and adventure. Takahiro Omori, director of the first season of Durarara!! is back as is character designer Takahiro Kishida (Baccano!, Btooom!, Oh My Goddess!,Tenchi Muyo!, Ah! My Goddess: The Movie, Haikyu!!) and other titles with an exclamation mark! He has also been joined by Makoto Yoshimori who made the rather excellent music for the first season.
Staff: Takahiro Omori (Director), Noboru Takagi (Series Composition), Akira Ito (Art Director), Takahiro Kishida (Character Designer), Makoto Yoshimori (Music)
Voice Actors: Miyuki Sawashiro (Celty Sturluson), Daisuke Ono (Shizuo Heiwajima), Jun Fukuyama (Shinra Kishitani), Hiroshi Kamiya (Izaya Orihara), Toshiyuki Toyonaga (Mikado Ryuugamine), Kana Hanazawa (Anri Sonohara)
Studio: Studio Shuka
Airing Date: July, 2015
Everyday Life with Monster Girls (Monster Musume no Iru Nichijou)
Synopsis
Three years ago, the world learned that harpies, centaurs, catgirls, and other monsters from fables and myths are all real flesh and blood creatures and thanks to the “Cultural Exchange Between Species Act,” these creatures have assimilated into society, or at least, they’re trying. Hapless human teenager Kurusu Kimihito is a “volunteer” helping creatures settle in our society and his partner is the sexy snake-like lamia named Miia who stays at his house.
Despite a very strict law against interspecies breeding, Kurusu is still a normal teenage boy and things are getting hot between him and Miia but things will get even hotter when a ravishing centaur girl and a flirtatious harpy move in!
In this story, a totally normal guy has a harem of girls with a difference: they are MONSTER girls. People who play visual novels will not be so freaked out by this concept considering titles like Fall in Love with Creatures! Kokonoe Kokoro are floating around. Based on a manga by OKAYADA it has a High School DxD feel to the action and comedy. It is directed by Tatsuya Yoshihara, a man with a long career churning out various fantasy anime in different departments. He most recently directed Yatterman Night. Another person with a long career churning out weird and wonderful titles ranging from action-packed JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure to trashy incest shows like OniAi.
Staff: Tatsuya Yoshihara (Director), Kazeyuki Fudeyasu (Series Composition/Scripts), Takaya Sunagawa (Character Designer), OKAYADA (Original Creator)
Voice Actors: Ari Ozawa (Papi), Natsuki Aikawa (Centorea “Cerea” Shianus), Sora Amamiya (Miia), Haruka Yamazaki (Melo), Mayuka Nomura (Suu), Sakura Nakamura (Rachnera), Yu Kobayashi (Smith)
Studio: Lerche, Seven
Airing Date: July, 2015
Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma☆Ilya 2wei Herz!
Synopsis
This is a spinoff of the Fate/Stay series and it reimagines Illyasviel von Einzbern in an alternate universe as a magical girl.
There’s more of this spin-off to the Fate universe where characters put aside their huge swords and squeeze into school uniforms and magical girl outfits. It looks perfect for an audience who love moe situations rather than grandiose speeches. Shin Oonuma, director of Ef: a Tale of Memories.
Staff: Shin Oonuma (Chief Director), Masato Jinbo (Director), Type-Moon, Hiroshi Hiroyama (Original Creator), Hazuki Minase (Script), Kenji Inoue (Series Composition), Hazuki Minase (Scripts), Nozomi Ushijima (Character Designer)
Voice Actors: Kana Ueda (Rin Tosaka), Mai Kadowaki (Ilyasviel von Einzbern), Haruhi Nanao (Sella), Kaori Nazuka (Miyu Edelfelt), Chiwa Saito (Chloe von Einzbern)
Studio: Silver Link
Airing Date: July 24th, 2015
Gakkou Gurashi!
Synopsis
Four girls decide to stay over at school: the energetic Yuki Takeya, the shovel-loving Kurumi, the centre of the group Yuuri who brings everyone together, and the spacey school adviser Megu. However, through mysterious circumstances, the girls find themselves the final survivors in a zombie attack, and continue to live at the school.
The idea of seeing cute school girls doing their daily-life stuff while surviving a zombie apocalypse isn’t anything new. Indeed, last year people who like doramas (Japanese live-action television) saw Sailor Zombie released on television and the AKB48 idol girls tame their dead-head foes with their singing. It was not that great and not even the presence of a grisly death could pick things up. Perhaps Gakkou Gurashi! wants to contrast the awful carnage with the cute imagery. It’s hard to tell from the unspectacular art which mixes the insufferably cute with little mention of the dreadful dead. The director is Masaomi Ando (director on White Album 2 and episode director on Gintama) and the studio is Lerche (Assassination Classroom, Danganronpa).
Staff: Masaomi Ando (Director), Norimitsu Kaihou (Series Composition), Hauko Iizuka (Character Designer)
Voice Actors: Ari Ozawa (Kurumi Ebisuzawa), Rie Takahashi (Miki Naoki), Inori Minase (Yuki Takeya), Mao Ichimichi (Yuuri Wakasa)
Studio: Lerche
Airing Date: July 09th, 2015
Gangsta.
Synopsis
Nicolas Brown and Worick Arcangelo are “Handymen.” They are two men treading a fine line between good and bad in the city of Ergastulum as they take jobs from both police and criminals, usually the jobs that are too dangerous for the gangsters and the law to be caught doing. When a cop they know on the force requests their help in taking down a new gang muscling in on the territory of a top Mafia family, it seems like business (and mayhem) as usual, but the Handymen are about to find that this job is a lot more than they bargained for.
This anime has the look and feel of Black Lagoon, what with its setting full of gangsters and crooked cops, the seinen attitude, and the bad-ass action. It is definitely one of the hottest titles for the summer and there’s a lot of talent involved!
It is based on a manga created by Koshke and launched in 2010.The mature feel will be helped by director Youhei Suzuki who has so many great titles in his filmography like Gasaraki, Ergo Proxy, and Witch Hunter Robin. The writer is Shinichi Inotsume who helped write a rather excellent adaptation of Akatsuki no Yona. Music comes from Tsutchie (Samurai Champloo) and animation is done by Manglobe who can be truly inspired – House of Five Leaves, brilliant – Ergo Proxy, and sometimes brilliant and awful in the same series – Samurai Flamenco… The animation quality became truly ropey after Episode 7 with that one, but the writing was what killed it. If only it had remained a slice-of-life show…
Gangsta has the potential to really shine in this season so hopefully it does.
Staff: Shukou Murase (Director), Koichi Hatsumi (Series Director), Shinichi Inotsume (Series Composition), Yoichi Ueda (Character Designer), Tsutchie (Soundtrack), Kohske (Original Creator)
Voice Actors: Junichi Suwabe (Worick Arcangelo), Kenjiro Tsuda (Nicolas Brown), Mamiko Noto (Alex Benedetto), Ami Koshimizu (Constance Raveau), Aoi Yūki (Nina)
Studio: Manglobe
Airing Date: July, 2015
Gatchaman Crowds Insight
Synopsis
This is the continuation of the Gatchaman Crowds series: It is the year 2015 and the place is Tachikawa City, the “second metropolis” of the Tokyo area which has a population of 180,000 people. Living amongst the populace are “Gatchaman” – warriors with special suits powered by “NOTE”, the manifestation of special powers in living beings. They are commanded by a council to protect Earth from alien criminals.
In the first season the Gatchaman team faced a mysterious entity known as “MESS”. The new season will depict what comes next for the gang and it will also feature the blue NOTE that did not appear in the first season.
Two years since the last series of Gatchaman we see the main staff and cast reunite to create a new season a social-media super sentai show. The first season was ropey in terms of writing and it didn’t quite have the action scenes to get the blood pumping or the interesting characters to move audiences (the loopy Hajime was delightful to watch although lots of people seem to hate her) but had a unique vision of crowd-sourced superheroes. Director Kenji Nakamura has an interesting filmography with the weird and delightful tsuritama and Mononoke.
Staff: Kenji Nakamura (Director), Toshiya Oono (Series Composition/Scripts), Yuichi Takahashi (Animation Character Designer)
Voice Actors: Daisuke Namikawa (Joe Hibiki), Maaya Uchida (Hajime Ichinose), Ryota Ohsaka (Sugune Tachibana) Aya Hirano (Paiman), Ayumu Murase (Rui Ninomiya), Kana Hanazawa (Gelsadora), Yuichiro Umehara (Rizumu Suzuki), Kaori Ishihara (Tsubasa Misudachi)
Studio: Tatsunoko Productions
Airing Date: July 05th, 2015
Gate: Jieitai Kanochi nite, Kaku Tatakaeri (Gate: The Self-Defense Forces Fight Like This in Another Land)
Synopsis
A mysterious magical gate appears in Tokyo’s Ginza district and from the gate pour monstrous creatures and human knights right from fantasy novels. Carnage ensues and the Japanese government sends a small group of soldiers through the gate and into an alternate world to stem the flow of monsters. Otaku soldier Youji Itami leads his troops and immediately joins forces with an elf girl, a survivor of a village attacked by a dragon.
Many light novel fans are talking this one up but from a cursory glance it looks like another run on Outbreak Company, although it throws in more serious military moments. Takahiko Kyougoku finds that this is his biggest project yet, judging by his previous work which includes experience as an episode director on Love Live! School Idol Project, Natsuiro Kiseki, and some time on a Symphogear anime. He is joined by musician Uoshiaki Fujisawa who had his work heard on the Spring 2015 title Mikagura School Suite. The writer adapting the light novels is Tatsuhiko Urahata, a vastly experienced scribe who handled series composition on Monster and Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere.
Staff: Takahiko Kyougoku (Director), Takumi Yanai (Original Creator), Daisuke Izuka (Original Character Designer), Jun Nakai (Character Designer), Tatsuhiko Urahata (Series Composition), Yoshiaki Fujisawa (Music)
Voice Actors: Junichi Suwabe (Youji Itami), Hisako Kanemoto (Tuka Luna Marso), Haruka Tomatsu (Pina), Hiroki Yasumoto (Akira Tomita), Kaito Ishikawa (Takeo Kurata), Maaya Uchida (Shino Kurebayashi), Nao Tōyama (Lelei la Lelena), Risa Taneda (Rory Mercury), Yōko Hikasa (Yao)
Studio: A-1 Pictures
Airing Date: July 03rd, 2015
God Eater
Synopsis
Set in Japan in the year 2071 where the world has been mostly destroyed and humanity is on the very of extinction thanks to the ravages of mysterious monsters known as the Aragami. An organization known as Fenrir was made to exterminate Aragami using weapons called God Arcs which is made from the cells of an Aragami. Those who specialize in exterminating Aragami are known as God Eaters. Originally God Eaters had one type in which their God Arcs can only keep gun form or blade form, however a new type has been discovered that can switch between gun and blade form. Since then, they have been classified new-types and the previous as old-types.
Video game fans may remember the game God Eater Burst, a Monster Hunter-like action RPG game which was released in the UK on the PSP back in 2011 (which had a sequel released in Japan in 2013). Animation studio ufotable (Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works) are adapting under the direction of Takayuki Hirao, episode director on Death Note and director of the God Eater Prologue OVA released for the first game. He is working with character designs by Keita Shimizu (Minori Scramble! key animation and Fate/Zero animation director on a number of episodes). The music is by Go Shiina whose work can be heard on Kyousogiga, and the God Eater games.
Also returning from the games are some of the voice actors including Maaya Sakamoto (Motoko Kusanagi in Ghost in the Shell) and Hiroaki Hirata (detective Shinichiro Hata in Patlabor WXIII). While the main protagonist in the games was customisable (sex/voice/hair/skin tone/voice) the anime series has a hero and his name is Renka Usugi and he will be played by Ryuichi Kijima. His voice can be heard in bit-parts in many different anime from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure to Star Blazers 2199. His biggest roles to date have been as Argyllo in Beast Saga and Torimaki B in Beyblade: Shogun Steel.
Staff: Takayuki Hirao (Director), Toshiya Oono (Series Composition/Scripts), Keita Shimizu (Character Designer), Go Shiina (Music)
Voice Actors: Ryūichi Kijima (Renka Utsugi), Daisuke Sakaguchi (Kōta Fujiki), Hiroaki Hirata (Lindow Amamiya), Kazuya Nakai (Soma Schicksal), Maaya Sakamoto (Alisa Illinichina Amiella), Sayaka Ohara (Sakuya)
Studio: ufotable
Airing Date: July 05th, 2015
The IDOLM@STER: Cinderella Girls Second Season
The IDOLM@STER: Cinderella Girls is back for another season. A lot of the staff from the first season are returning to this anime with Noriko Takao (episode director on K-On and Lucky Star) directing as well as writing and overseeing the scripts alongside Tatsuya Takahashi (Aikatsu, High School of the Dead).
Staff: Noriko Takao (Director), Noriko Takao, Tatsuya Takahashi (Series Composition), Yuusuke Matsuo (Character Designer), Yuusuke Matsuo (Character Designer), Bandai Namco Games (Original Creator)
Voice Actors: Ayaka Fukuhara (Rin Shibuya), Ayaka Ohashi (Uzuki Shimamura), Sayuri Hara (Mio Honda), Ruriko Aoki (Riina Tada), Natsumi Takamori (Miku Maekawa), Nozomi Yamamoto (Rika Jougasaki) Sumire Uesaka (Anastasia), Tomoya Kurosawa (Miria Akagi)
Studio: A-1 Pictures
Airing Date: July 07th, 2015
Joukamachi no Dandelion (Castle Town Dandelion)
Synopsis
The everyday lives of the nine super-powered siblings of the royal family are monitored by more than 200 surveillance cameras and broadcast nationwide. The people of the nation who are watching the broadcast will have the ability to elect the next monarch. Akane is the third-oldest sister who can manipulate gravity. She is shy and desperately does not want to be caught on camera.
This looks like a magical version of the film, The Truman Show. Noriaki Akitaya (Bakuman.) will helm the series and the writer is Reiko Yoshida (Non Non Biyori).
Staff: Noriaki Akitaya (Director), Ayumu Kasuga (Original Creator), Shinpei Kobayashi (Character Designer/Chief Animation Director), Reiko Yoshida (Series Composition), Yoshiaki Fujisawa (Music)
Voice Actors: Ai Kayano (Aoi Sakurada), Kana Hanazawa (Akane Sakurada), Kaori Ishihara (Kanade Sakurada), Aina Suzuki (Shiori Sakurada), Ayumu Murase (Haruka Sakurada), Eriko Matsui (Misaki Sakurada), M.A.O (Anzu Shirogane), Ryohei Kimura (Shuu Sakurada), Sachika Misawa (Sachiko Komesawa), Saori Hayami (Karen Ayugase), Shiori Katsuta (Teru Sakurada), Yui Ogura (Hikari Sakurada)
Studio: Production IMS
Airing Date: July 02nd, 2015
Junjou Romantica 3
Synopsis
College student Misaki Takahashi’s feelings towards famous novelist Akihiko Usami gradually changes with time being living with him, especially when Misaki is becoming a college senior.
There’s a big following for this sort of material but few properties get the anime adaptation treatment and when they do they tend to be OVAs and they tend to have the same directors. From what I can tell, Chiaki Kon is one of the few high-profile female directors constantly in work in anime and that’s thanks to BL shows like Junjo Romantica and Sekai Ichi Hatsukoi. Fans don’t seem to be too impressed with Junjo Romantica, or at least, the romantic couple focussed on in this adaptation.
Staff: Chiaki Kon (Director), Shungiko Nakamura (Original Creator), Yoko Kikuchi (Character Designer), Yukio Kondoo, Kayo Konishi – MOKA (Music),
Voice Actors: Hikaru Hanada (Akihiko Usami), Takahiro Sakurai (Misaki Takahashi), Hiro Shimono (Mizuki Shiiba), Hozumi Goda (Kyou Ijuuin), Nana Mizuki (Karouko Usami), Noriko Namiki (eri Aikawa)
Studio: Studio DEEN
Airing Date: July 08th, 2015
Kurayami Santa
Synopsis
Set in 1960s Kyushu, Santa, a familiar from Hell, is charged with maintaining the border between Hell and the human world. It is a job that will see him crossing paths with many humans and supernatural creatures.
Based on the PV and images released so far this one is so different from the norm that it deserves to gain an audience. After writing about schoolgirls and fantasy for so long, I face the paradox of being presented with something that uses stock footage and mimics old animation and songs and feeling like it is a breath of fresh air. The show is designed to evoke the look of black and white TV anime from the 1960s and will use archival footage provided by Kyushu Asahi Broadcasting for its backgrounds, particularly from the now-uninhabited Gunkanjima (Battleship Island) island off of Nagasaki. Exterior shots of the island featured in the James Bond film Skyfall.
There is massive potential for this to be dark and funny much like the terribly underrated Yamishibai. Like that anime, it’s a horror title and each episode lasts five minutes. Very few bloggers and review sites cover five minute shorts and it slipped through the cracks.
The show is an original creation of Choji Yoshikawa (Pokémon producer). The director is Manabu Nakamura (Silent Möbius 2) and the writer is Hiromu Kumamoto (Yamishibai: Japanese Ghost Stories). Yasuhiko Fukuda (Kocchi Muite Miko) is composing the music.
Staff: Manabu Nakamura (Director), Hiromu Kumamoto (Script), Choji Yoshikawa (Original Scenario), Yasuhiko Fukuda (Music),
Voice Actors: Kazuko Sugiyama (Santa Kurayami), Ami Himesaki (Mutsuko Tomura), Hidekatsu Shibata Daiou Enma), Katsue Miwa (Jizo Honekami), M.A.O (Ichinosuke Shikabane)
Studio: ILCA
Airing Date: July 08th, 2015
That’s it for the first part of the guide, check back for Part Two.
