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Crunchyroll Adds Bakumatsu Rock Anime
posted on by Lynzee Loveridge
Streaming service Crunchyroll announced on Monday that it will stream the Samurai Jam -Bakumatsu Rock- television anime series. Samurai Jam -Bakumatsu Rock- will premiere for premium members on July 2 at 12:00 p.m. ET. Free members will be able to watch it one week later. The series will also be available in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Latin America.
The story is set in the Bakumatsu era, at the end of the shoguns' rule over Japan in the middle of the 19th century. The Tokugawa shogunate use the brainwashing "Heaven's Songs" by the top idols in Shinsengumi to subjugate the country and its people. In this Japan, writing or singing any songs besides the "Heaven's Songs" is a capital offense. Ryōma Sakamoto and the other rockers rise up and change the world with rock 'n' roll for freedom and justice.
Itsuro Kawasaki (Sengoku Basara: Samurai Kings, The Legend of the Legendary Heroes, Arc the Lad) is directing the anime at Studio Deen. Mitsutaka Hirota (The Prince of Tennis II, X-Men) is in charge of the scripts, and Akiharu Ishii (The Prince of Tennis, Blood+, Loups=Garous - The Motion Picture) is designing the characters. The anime is retaining the main cast from the game:
Tatsuhisa Suzuki as Shinsaku Takasugi
Showtaro Morikubo as Kogorō Katsura
Toshiyuki Morikawa as Toshizō Hijikata
Kensho Ono as Sōji Okita
Marvelous AQL released the game for PSP on February 27, and has filed the trademark "Samurai Jam -Bakumatsu Rock-" in the United States. XSEED Games does not have plans to release the game. A manga adaptation for the game began in March.
