Earlier today, the official Sarazanmai anime website updated with a new key visual and trailer, as well as a new cast member.
We break the details down below.
Trailer
The minute-long teaser is a sing-along video for theme song Houkago Kappa by Teiko Kagohara. The video features the silhouette of new character Sara, who is dancing along to the song’s offbeat melody.
Key Visual
The image features the main voice cast, as well as their kappa forms riding a wave that’s similar in style to Hokusai’s The Great Wave off Kanagawa.
Cast
The show will add the following:
- Sara: Teiko Kagohara
A visual for the character was also revealed, which you can check out below.
Sarazanmai will hit Japanese TV in April. The show will air as part of Fuji TV’s NoitaminA block.
Kunihiko Ikuhara (Revolutionary Girl Utena, Yurikuma Arashi) will direct the project at studios Mappa an Lapin Track, with Kayoko Ishikawa providing of character designs. The team of Teruko Utsumi and Kunihiko Ikuhara will take charge of series composition.
Other confirmed crew members include:
- Original Concept: Ikunirappa
- Chief Director: Nobuyuki Takeuchi
- Original Character Design: Miggy
- Chief Animation Director: Kayoko Ishikawa
- Conceptual Designs: Katsunori Shibata
- Conceptual Designs: Maimu Matsushima
- Art Director: Ayaka Fuji (Studio Pablo)
- Background: Ayaka Fuji (Studio Pablo)
- Music: Yukari Hashimoto
The confirmed voice cast includes:
- Kazuki Yasaka: Ayumu Murase
- Yū Kuji: Kouki Uchiyama
- Enta Jinnouchi: Shun Horie
- Keppi: Junichi Suwabe
- Reo Shinsei: Mamoru Miyano
- Mabu Akutsu: Yoshimasa Hosoya
The series is set in Tokyo’s Asakusa ward. It’s here that a trio of second-year junior high students encounter a strange creature named Keppi, who calls himself the King of the Kappa. The three boys students are transformed into kappa, themselves, after Keppi steals their shirikodama.
With his soul in hand, Keppi proclaims that “If you want to go back to your former selves, you need to come together in ‘that way.’ Together you must obtain and bring back the shirikodama of zombies.” Will the boys be able to conquer this challenge?
Meanwhile, something was going down at the police box for officers Reo Shinsei and Mabu Akutsu…
Editor’s Note: A shirikodama is a mythical organ said to contain a person’s soul. Kappa remove this organ by extracting it from the victim’s anus.
This is the first original project from Kunihiko Ikuhara since his 2015’s Yurikuma Arashi.
Ikuhara, himself, has been active in the anime industry since 1986. He started his career at Toei Animation, where he cut his teeth as assistant director on shows like Maple Town Monogatari and Akuma-kun.
Ikuhara received his big break in 1993, when he took the director’s chair for Sailor Moon R and Sailor Moon S.
In 1996, Ikuhara left Toei to form the Be-PaPas creative group with manga artist Chiho Saito, animator Hasegawa Shinya, producer Okuro Yuuichiro, and writer writer Yōji Enokido. The collective crafted Revolutionary Girl Utena, which consisted of a manga by Saito and an anime that Ikuhara directed at J.C. Staff.
Following the Utena franchise, Ikuhara collaborated on manga title The World Exists for Me and novel Schell Bullet. He also served as supervisor for the English dub for Revolutionary Girl Utena: The Movie – Adolescence of Utena.
In 2011, Ikuhara returned to the director’s chair with Mawaru Penguindrum. In 2015, he directed and took charge of series composition for Yurikuma Arashi.
Source: Ota-suke
Sarazanmai Gets New Trailer, Visual, & Cast Member – Samantha Ferreira
