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Crunchyroll Adds Heybot! Simulcast, Your Lie in April English Dub
posted on by Karen Ressler
Crunchyroll announced on Friday that it will stream the Heybot! children's television anime series as it airs in Japan. The first episode will premiere streaming worldwide outside of Asia on Saturday, September 17 at 7:00 EDT.
Crunchyroll describes the story:
The story takes place on Screw Island, a screw-shaped island nation where people make audiences laugh through the practice of "VocabBattles," heated gag contests in which "VocabBots" place "VocabScrews" on their heads and compete to come up with the funniest joke. Everything in this world is decided through VocabBattles!The unlikely duo of Heybot!, the bungling VocabBot protagonist, and his partner, the easygoing prince Nejiru, are the stars in this ridiculous gag story! Various other unique, silly-but-cute VocabBot characters appear throughout the series, challenging Heybot! and Nejiru to one VocabBattle after another. And thus begins the day-to-day adventures of Heybot! and Nejiru as they strive to win VocabBattles and collect more screws!
BN Pictures is credited with the planning, original work, and animation production for the series, while Bandai is credited with the original plan. Bridge is providing animation cooperation. Shinji Ishihira (Fairy Tail, Log Horizon, Tokyo Majin) is directing the series, and Atsuhiro Tomioka (various Battle Spirits, Inazuma Eleven anime series) is handling the series composition. Satohiko Sano (key animator for Yo-kai Watch, Beyblade: Metal Fury) is designing the characters, Kenichi Takase (mechanical design for Nobunagun) is designing the Bokyabots, and Tomotaka Ohsumi (Dagashi Kashi) is composing the music. MISOKKASU is performing the opening theme song "Hōkago Nejimaki Dance," and Wa-suta is performing the ending theme song "Gūchoki Pantsu no Masayoshi-san."
Bandai is selling toys based on the series and is also developing a free-to-play Nintendo 3DS game.
In addition, Crunchyroll announced that it has added the English dub of Your Lie in April. The dub is available in North America, Central America, South America, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and Ireland.
Aniplex of America streamed the 22-episode series on the Aniplex Channel, Hulu, and Crunchyroll as it aired in Japan in 2014, then released the series on Blu-ray Disc with an English dub this year.
Naoshi Arakawa's original shōnen manga that inspired the anime follows Kōsei Arima, a former child prodigy who lost his ability to play the piano when his mother died. His daily life is monochrome, but it begins to gain color when he meets a female violinist by chance. Kaori Miyazono is an audacious go-getter who is overflowing with personality. Enchanted by the girl, Kōsei starts to move forward with his own legs at the age of 14.
