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Tiger Mask W Casts Yuichiro Umehara, Kenichi Suzumura, Suzuko Mimori, More

posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
Masakazu Morita, Taku Yashiro also cast, Shōnan no Kaze performs theme song

The official website of Toei Animation's new Tiger Mask anime Tiger Mask W (pronounced "Double") revealed the anime's cast and theme song artist on Wednesday. The cast includes Yuichiro Umehara, Kenichi Suzumura, Suzuko Mimori, Masakazu Morita, and Taku Yashiro.

Reggae band Shōnan no Kaze will perform the anime's theme song.

The anime will have an event on August 17 as part of TV Asahi's "Roppongi Hills Natsu Matsuri Summer Station" event. The cast along with Shōnan no Kaze will be present, and the staff will announce the cast's roles, and preview the theme song during the event. In addition, New Japan Pro Wrestling wrestler Kazuchika Okada, who will appear in the anime as himself, will also attend the event to talk about the anime.

The site previously streamed a promotional video for the anime last month.

The video reveals a new story description:

The protagonists are two young pro wrestlers, Naoto Azuma and Takuma Fujii. Both were trainees of "Jipang Pro Wrestling," a small pro wrestling team, until it was crushed by the evil "Global Wrestling Monopoly (GWM)" team. To plan their revenge, Azuma trained at the foot of Mount Fuji, becoming the "New Tiger Mask," while Takuma entered "The Tiger's Hole," the organization that manipulates GWM, becoming "Tiger the Dark."

The site revealed the visuals for both characters' normal appearances and wrestling personas.

Naoto Azuma/Tiger Mask: 21 years old. Once a young trainee of the Jipang Pro Wrestling team, until the wrestling team GWM destroyed their dojo. He trains to defeat "The Tiger's Hole," which manipulates GWM, and in order to do so, he starts using the Tiger Mask persona, as Tiger Mask once dealt a defeat against The Tiger's Hole.

Takuma Fujii/Tiger the Dark: 21 years old. Naoto's friend, and was similarly affiliated with Jipang Pro Wrestling. When GWM destroyed Jipang's dojo, Takuma's father was gravely injured. It was then that he swore revenge. He enters The Tiger's Hole, enduring its grueling training regimen, to become Tiger the Dark. He plans to destroy the organization from within.

Toshiaki Komura (Kinnikuman Nisei, Ring ni Kakero 1, Futari wa Precure Splash Star) will direct the series at Toei Animation, with Katsuhiko Chiba (Rune Soldier, Baby Steps, Onmyou Taisenki) supervising the series' scripts. Hisashi Kagawa (Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo, SaiKano, Fresh Pretty Cure) is designing the characters, while Junichi Hayama (Fist of the North Star 2, Casshern Sins, A Town Where You Live) is the action animation director. Yoshito Watanabe (Dragon Ball Z, Digimon Frontier, One Piece Special – Adventure of Nebulandia) is credited for art design. Yasuharu Takanashi (Naruto Shippūden, Fairy Tail Zero) and -yaiba- (Naruto Shippūden, Boruto -Naruto the Movie-) will compose the music.

The new production will be "revamped" for a new digital era by blending a touch of classic cell animation with current 2D and 3DCG animation.

The New Japan Pro Wrestling organization is collaborating with Toei Animation on the project. According to the organization, its wrestlers will appear in the project under their own names. The two companies plan to release the anime not only in Japan, but also stream it throughout the world.

The original "Tiger Mask" is the alter ego of the character Naoto Date, a pro wrestler who goes against an evil wrestling organization and fights for children in an orphanage. The original manga ran from 1968 to 1971 in Kodansha's Bokura magazine, Weekly Shōnen Magazine, and other magazines. Along with the baseball manga Kyojin no Hoshi, Tiger Mask is considered Kajiwara's life work. The manga already inspired two anime series in 1969-1971 and 1981-1982. The 1969 television anime series recorded 31.9% as its highest rating. There are even real-life wrestlers who have been inspired by the manga and anime to compete under the Tiger Mask persona.

The manga became a popular topic in the national news in Japan in recent years after an anonymous donation of backpacks at a child guidance center sparked a charity movement. The "Tiger Mask movement" spread to almost every corner of Japan.

Source: Comic Natalie


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