News
Karakuri Circus Anime's 2nd Promo Reveals More Cast, Bump of Chicken Opening, October 10 Debut
posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
This year's 44th issue of Shogakukan's Weekly Shonen Sunday magazine revealed more cast members and the October 10 debut of the television anime of Kazuhiro Fujita's Karakuri Circus (Le Cirque de Karakuri) manga on Wednesday. The anime's official website also began streaming the second promotional video which announces and previews the BUMP OF CHICKEN band's opening theme song "Gekkō" (Moonlight Rainbow). It also previews Takahiro Sakurai's voice as Eiryō Ashihana:
The additional cast includes:
Marina Inoue as Vilma Thorne, a master knife-thrower who harbors a strong hatred for automated puppets due to a past incident
Hisao Egawa as Shinobu Nakamachi, the head of the Nakamachi Circus
Ryōta Iwasaki as Noriyuki "Nori" Nakamachi, who has a reliable side as the big-brother figure of the Nakamichi Circus
Kaito Ishikawa as Hiroo 'Hiro" Nakamachi, who performs as part of Nakamichi Circus with Nori
The anime will premiere on October 11 on Tokyo MX at 10:30 p.m. and on BS11 on 24:00 (effectively, October 12 at midnight), but Amazon will stream the anime's first episode ahead of both on October 10 at 24:00 (effectively, October 11 at midnight). Amazon will exclusively stream the anime in Japan and overseas.
The members of BUMP OF CHICKEN said that they are huge fans of Fujita's works. They remember discovering his Ushio and Tora manga as teenagers, and still keep up with the latest volumes of Fujita's newest series, Sou-Bou-Tei Kowasu Beshi. They were really shocked when they received the offer to contribute the opening theme to Karakuri Circus, and as adults now, the members wish they could have given themselves this song to listen when they were teenagers.
The story centers on Masaru Saiga, a fifth-grade boy who aims to become a puppeteer. After Sadayoshi Saiga — the CEO of the giant home telephone maker Saiga and Masaru's father — passes away, Masaru inherits 18 billion yen. Masaru is targeted for his wealth, and is saved by two people. Narumi Katō is a man who has studied Kung-Fu and has a weird illness called "Zonapha Syndrome," and Shirogane is a silver-haired woman who controls the puppet "Arurukan" (Harlequin). Together, Masaru, Narumi, and Shirogane get thrown into various conspiracies by those who would try to steal Masaru's fortune.
The anime stars:
Rikiya Koyama as Narumi Katō
Megumi Hayashibara as Shirogane Saiga
- Takahiro Sakurai as Eiryō Ashihana
- Nozomu Sasaki as Gii Christoph Resh
Studio VOLN (Ushio & Tora, Idol Incidents) is animating the television anime series for Twin Engine. Satoshi Nishimura (Ushio & Tora, Trigun, Fighting Spirit) is directing the series, and Takahiro Yoshimatsu (2011 Hunter × Hunter, Trigun) is designing the characters and serving as chief animation director. Toshiki Inoue (Ushio & Tora, Death Note) and original manga author Kazuhiro Fujita are handling the series scripts. Yuuki Hayashi (My Hero Academia, Haikyu!!) is composing the music.
The main animators are Toshiyuki Kanno and Yoshihiro Kanno, and Takaaki Hirayama is the action animation director. Tomoyuki Shimizu is directing the art, while Yoshinori Horikawa is the color key artist. Uehama Makishi is the director of photography, and Masato Takahashi is the CGI director. Yumi Jinguji is editing, and Masafumi Mima is directing the sound.
Fujita (Ushio & Tora) published Karakuri Circus in Weekly Shonen Sunday from 1997 to 2006, and Shogakukan published 43 volumes for the manga. Shogakukan published the manga in a new wide edition with 23 volumes from 2011-2013. The manga has more than 15 million copies in print.
Fujita's Ushio & Tora manga ran from 1990 to 1996 in Weekly Shonen Sunday with 33 volumes. The manga was adapted into an original video anime series in 1992 and a television anime that began in July 2015. Sentai Filmworks licensed the television series and Crunchyroll streamed the series as it aired in Japan. Fujita's Bakegyamon manga also inspired a television anime in 2006. Another manga, the "Karakuri no Kimi" short story in Fujita's Yoru no Uta collection, inspired the Puppet Princess original video anime project.
Sources: Weekly Shonen Sunday issue 44, Karakuri Circus anime's website
