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Crunchyroll Also Streams BanG Dream! Anime
posted on by Karen Ressler
Media distribution service Crunchyroll announced on Monday that it will stream the BanG Dream! anime as it airs in Japan. The first episode is currently available, and future episodes will launch at 9:00 a.m. EST on Saturdays. The stream is available in North America, United Kingdom, Ireland, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, The Netherlands, Scandinavia, Turkey, and Latin America.
Anime Network Online premiered the series on Saturday.
Sentai Filmworks has licensed the series for digital and home video releases, and it describes the story:
When she was a child, Kasumi Toyama (played by Poppin' Party's lead singer, Aimi) felt a heart-pounding thrill every time she gazed at the stars, and she's been looking without success for something that could inspire the same feeling ever since. One day, she comes across a star-shaped guitar in a rundown pawnshop and, for the first time, discovers the thrill she's been searching for. Kasumi becomes determined to form an all-girl band, and her search leads her to four like-minded souls: Saya, Arisa, Rimi, and Tae (all brought to life by the members of Poppin' Party). Does this band have what it takes to make their dreams of stardom come true?
Bushiroad launched the BanG Dream! multimedia project in January 2015, and the company formed the Poppin' Party band for the project in February 2015. The band's members consist of voice actresses who portray the characters in the story, and they play the same instruments as their characters. The cast includes:
- Aimi as Kasumi Toyama on guitar and vocals
- Aya Saitō as Arisa Ichigaya on keyboard
- Rimi Nishimoto as Rimi Ushigome on bass
- Sae Ootsuka as Tae Hanazono on lead guitar
- Ayaka Ōhashi as Saaya Yamabuki on drums
Bushiroad and OLM's joint anime brand ISSEN is credited with the original work, and is also handling animation production alongside XEBEC. Novelist Kō Nakamura is credited with the original story, and Hitowa designed the original characters. Atsushi Ootsuki (Wagnaria!!2, To Love Ru: Darkness, Argevollen) is directing the anime, and Yuniko Ayana (Locodol, Girls Beyond the Wasteland, Hello!! KINMOZA) is handling the series composition. Matsuko Nitta is adapting Hitowa's characters for animation, and Noriyasu Agematsu and Junpei Fujita from Elements Garden are producing the music.
