News

Saki Ono, Taishi Murata Star in Onsen Yōsei Hakone-chan TV Anime

The official website for the television anime adaptation of Daisuke Yui's Onsen Yōsei Hakone-chan (Young Hot Spring Spirit Hakone-chan) manga revealed the show's cast on Thursday, alongside character line art.

The cast includes:

Saki Ono (Himegoto's President Unko) as Hakone-chan, one of the seven spirits of Hakone

Taishi Murata (Baby Steps' Eiichiro Maruo, Aldnoah.Zero's Calm) as Toya, the son of the owners of a steamed buns shop in the hot spring quarter of Hakone

Yūki Kuwahara (Himegoto's Hime, Freezing Vibration's Rattle) as Miya, another hot spring spirit and one of the seven spirits of Hakone

M.A.O (School-Live! As Yūri, Durarara!!×2 Shō's Vorona) as Haruna, the daughter of the owners of a Japanese-style inn

Ayaka Asai (Sound! Euphonium's Hazuki Katō) as Aki, Haruna's younger sister

Aoi Yūki (Madoka Magica's Madoka, Gangsta.'s Nina) as Goura, a Hakone hot spring spirit

Ayana Taketatsu (Dog Days' Eclair, Sword Art Online's Suguha) as Ashinoko, a Hakone hot spring spirit

The "warm slapstick hot spring comedy" takes place in the Japanese resort town of Hakone, and it follows Hakone-chan, a hot spring spirit who descended to a spa resort on Earth. However, with her long slumber, she looks like a little girl on the outside. (The "Yōsei" in the title is a wordplay on the Japanese words for fairy and a young child.) The high school boy Toya stumbles across her at a hot spring and ends up joining Hakone-chan in retrieving her original powers.

Takeyuki Yanase (Himegoto) is directing the anime at Asahi Production and Production Reed. Korie Tomonaga (writer on Soreike! Anpanman, Funassyi no Funafunafuna Hiyori) and Momoko Murakami (writer on Pretty Rhythm Aurora Dream, Futsū no Joshikōsei ga Locodol Yattemita) are in charge of the series scripts. Yanase and Masaaki Sakurai (Nisekoi, Survival Game Club!) share the chief animation director role, and Yanase is also designing the characters. petit milady (Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal II), the singing unit featuring Aoi Yūki and Ayana Taketatsu, will perform the show's opening theme song.

The anime series will premiere in October and run for 13 episodes on Animax, Teletama (TV Saitama), tvk, KBS Kyoto, Sun TV, and other stations.

Yui launched the manga in Aplix's Comic Metor website in 2012, and Holp published the second compiled book volume in April 2014. Comic Meteor reposted the first three chapters to celebrate the announcement of the television anime. Hakone is the real-life locale inspiration for many anime such as Evangelion and Initial D.

Images © 2015 Daisuke Yui / Comic Meteor / Hakone-chan Production Committee

[Via Ota-suke]