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Sakura Quest Anime Promo Shows Main Characters

The official website for P.A. Works' new original television anime Sakura Quest began streaming a new promotional video on Wednesday. The video introduces the main characters.

The anime will premiere at 12:00 a.m. at night on Tuesday, April 4 (effectively Wednesday morning) on Amazon Prime Japan, and future episodes will stream at 12:30 a.m. on Wednesday nights. The series will premiere at 12:00 a.m. at night on Wednesday, April 5 (effectively Thursday morning) on Tokyo MX and AT-X, and also air on ABC, BS11, and Tulip TV. It will also stream on Niconico Anime Channel.

Anime studio P.A. Works announced the anime in December. The studio describes the anime as the third in P.A. Works' "working" series about people and their jobs, after Hana-Saku Iroha and Shirobako.

The story centers on five girls who work in the tourism bureau of their small rural town. The town revives its "micro-nation" tourism program, which originated from a nationwide movement during Japan's bubble economy period, and hires the five girls as "monarchs" (tourism ambassadors). The anime will depict one year in their jobs in the tourism industry, and show how they change and grow.

During the bubble economy in Japan, a micro-nation fad arose, where regions in Japan declared themselves "micro-nations" to revive tourism and industry in their region, starting with the "Shin Yamatai Koku" nation in 1977. The micro-nations coordinated with local governments and tourism bureaus, and some even had their own chambers of commerce. At its height, there were over 200 such micro-nations in Japan.

The anime stars:

Ayaka Nanase as Yoshino Koharu, the main character. She hates rural life and longs to be in the city. Seeking to become something "special," she once went to Tokyo, but couldn't find what she wanted to do. 30 companies turned her down while job hunting. By coincidence, she is hired to be the "monarch" of the micro-nation Chupacabra Kingdom, and she heads to the town of Manoyama. She easily befriends everyone, but is actually a very serious person. While a very normal girl, she has a complex about how "normal" she is.

Reina Ueda as Shiori Shinomiya, an employee of the Manoyama tourism bureau who works together with Yoshino. She loves her hometown and is very conservative. She prefers order in her life. She has a bright, optimistic personality, and won't hesitate to help anyone. Her housework abilities are high.

Chika Anzai as Maki Midorikawa. After her dreams of being an actress were crushed, she headed back to her hometown of Manoyama. She is used to taking a lot of part-time jobs during her time as part of a small theater troupe. She is cool and has a big-sisterly attitude.

Chiemi Tanaka as RIRIKO Oribe, a girl who hates rural Manoyama, but doesn't have the courage to strike out. Since graduating high school, she hasn't been able to find a proper job, and has resorted to locking herself up in her house and surfing the net every day. She becomes anxious towards strangers, and her only friend is Shiori Shinomiya.

Mikako Komatsu as Sanae Kōzuki, a woman who made the move to the countryside half a year before Yoshino, and is very conscious about appearing interesting to other people. She was born and raised in Tokyo, and got a job at an I.T. company after graduating college, but she eventually quit. She longed for a healthy lifestyle of conservation and sustainability, and began renting an old Japanese-style house. She does web design for a living.

Katsuyuki Konishi as Takamizawa, the bus driver for the route to Manoyama. He often has meals at Angelica's restaurant. For some reason, he is wearing down.

Hiro Shimono as Yamada, a staff member at Manoyama's tourism bureau. He is a restraint on the bureau's head, and looks after Yoshino and the others.

Daiki Hamano as Mino, a staff member at Manoyama's tourism bureau. Like Yamada, he helps restrain Atsushi when he is being reckless.

Vinay Murthy as Mr. Sandal, a mysterious foreigner who wanders into Manoyama. His interests are musical instruments and musical performance.

Nanako Mori as Angelica, a restaurant owner who also offers fortune-telling.

Tomoyo Kurosawa as Erika Suzuki, Angelica's daughter, a second-year in middle school. She helps out at the restaurant in various ways, including serving customers. She hates the country, but seems disinterested in everything.

"Alexandre S. D. Celibidache" is credited for the original work. Sōichi Masui (Chaika the Coffin Princess, Crayon Shin-chan: Arashi o Yobu Ōgon no Spy Daisakusen) is directing the anime, and Masahiro Yokotani (Free! - Iwatobi Swim Club, The Devil Is a Part-Timer!, Re:Zero) is supervising the series' scripts. BUNBUN (Yuki Yuna Is a Hero, Izetta: The Last Witch) is designing the characters, and Kanami Sekiguchi (Hana-Saku Iroha, Shirobako, Charlotte) is adapting those designs for animation.

(K)NoW_NAME will perform the opening theme song "Morning Glory" and produce the anime's music. (K)NoW_NAME is a new project founded by Toho Animation Records. The project provided opening, ending, and inserts songs, as well as back ground music, for the Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash television anime that premiered in January 2016.