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Kadokawa Announces 2 New Anime Titles, Rising of the Shield Hero, Chio's School Road Staff

Anime News Network's coverage of Anime Expo 2017 is sponsored by Aniplex and Yen Press.

Kadokawa announced three new anime titles at its Anime Expo booth on Saturday, and showed promotional videos for all three. The titles are as follows:

Angolmois (Angolmois: Genkō Kassen-ki), based on Nanahiko Takagi's manga about a samurai defending Japan against Mongol invaders.

The anime adaptation's staff includes:

• Director: Takayuki Kuriyama (episode director on Re:CREATORS)
• Series Composition: Shogo Yasukawa (Chivalry of a Failed Knight, Food Wars! Shoukugeki No Soma)
• Character Design: Masayori Komine (animation director on Macross Frontier: Sayonara no Tsubasa, DRAMAtical Murder)
• Animation Production: NAZ

The anime is slated for 2018. The manga debuted in 2014 on Kadokawa's ComicWalker app.

Project D, an original time travel anime from director Takuya Satō (Steins;Gate) with character designs by Yoshitoshi ABe (Haibane Renmei, Serial Experiments Lain, Texhnolyze). Kadokawa describes the story:

When development engineer Delida wakes up in the future from a cold sleep, his girlfriend isn't there... he decides to go back 10 years in time to 'that incident' to keep his promise with her.
The key to get her back is a time leap.

Kadokawa also revealed the staff, English title, and trailer for the of Chio's School Road (Chio-chan no Tsūgakuro) anime, based on Kawasaki Tadataka's manga about a girl whose road to school everyday is interrupted by everything from construction to biker gangs to needing to go to the bathroom.

diomedéa will animate Chio's School Road and Mayuko Matsumoto (Kan Colle, Gingitsune) is designing the characters. The anime is slated for 2018.

Kawasaki launched the manga in Monthly Comic Flapper in 2014, and Kadokawa published the manga's sixth compiled volume on March 23.

Kadokawa also formally announced and debuted a trailer for the anime adaptation of Aneko Yusagi's The Rising of The Shield Hero (Tate no Yūsha no Nariagari) fantasy light novel series.

The staff for the anime adaptation includes:

• Director Takao Abo (Norn9)
• Series Composition: Keigo Koyonagi (Regalia: The Three Sacred Stars)
• Character Design: Masahiro Suwa (Chaika the Coffin Princess animation director)
• Animation Production: Kinema Citrus

One Peace Books is releasing the novel series and Aiya Kyū's manga adaptation in English. The publisher describes the novels' first compiled book volume:

Naofumi Iwatani, an uncharismatic otaku who spends his days on games and manga, suddenly finds himself summoned to a parallel universe! He discovers he is one of four heroes equipped with legendary weapons and tasked with saving the world from its prophesied destruction. As the Shield Hero, the weakest of the heroes, all is not as it seems. Naofumi is soon alone, penniless, and betrayed. With no one to turn to, and nowhere to run, he is left with only his shield. Now, Naofumi must rise to become the legendary Shield Hero and save the world!

Minami Seira illustrates the novels.

Update: Chio-chan background, Project D synopsis added.

Update: Kadokawa producer Rie Ogura spoke further about Project D at Kadokawa's booth on Monday. The science fiction story will have a serious tone and will take place in a country that is not Japan. The protagonist wakes up after a cold sleep and then goes back in time to save a "black-haired girl." Ogura noted that the trailer has two black-haired girls.