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Daisuke Ono Joins Cast of New Pokémon TV Anime as Leon/Dande
posted on by Jennifer Sherman
The official Twitter account for the new Pocket Monsters television anime revealed on Sunday that Daisuke Ono will play Dande (Leon in English), the Galar region Pokémon League Champion. Dande will debut in the anime's episode 12, "Daimax Battle! Saikyō Ōsha Dande!!" (Dynamax Battle! The Strongest Champion Leon!!), on February 9.
The anime's upcoming episode will show a battle between Dande and Wataru (Lance in English) in the Pokémon World Championships. Wataru is a Dragon-type Trainer and a member of the Indigo Elite Four from the Kanto region.
The new anime premiered on TV Tokyo and its affiliates on November 17, two days after the Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield games shipped worldwide. The series is airing on Sundays at 6:00 p.m., the same timeslot as Pokémon Sun & Moon.
The new series features two protagonists: Satoshi (Ash) and the new character Gō. Gō's partner Pokémon is the starter Pokémon Hibunny (Scorbunny) from the Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield games. Daiki Yamashita voices the character Gō. Gō is 10 years old, and his dream is to capture all Pokémon.
Daiki Tomiyasu (Pokémon Sun & Moon) is serving as chief director of the anime at OLM, and Maki Odaira (Pokémon Sun & Moon episode director) is directing the series. Kunihiko Yuyama is the creative supervisor, Shoji Yonemura is in charge of series construction, and Shūhei Yasuda is the character designer. Yuki Hayashi is composing the music, and Masafumi Mima is the sound director. Scriptwriters include: Reiko Yoshida, Shoji Yonemura, Deko Akao, Jun'ichi Fujisaku, Michihiro Tsuchiya, Touko Machida, Yuka Miyata, Aya Matsui, Atsuhiro Tomioka, and Akemi Omode, among others.
The new series features all of the regions covered in the franchise so far, from the Kanto to the Galar region. Machito Gomi is drawing a manga adaptation of the new anime.
Pokémon: Twilight Wings (Hakumei no Tsubasa) — Studio Colorido's net anime short series for the Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield Nintendo Switch role-playing games — debuted on YouTube on January 15. The series will consist of seven five-minute episodes, and a new episode debuting every month.
Sources: Pocket Monsters anime's Twitter account, Comic Natalie
