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Hero TV's 4th Quarter Anime Includes Chaika, Bodacious Space Pirates

Philippine television channel HERO TV began airing a television commercial on Thursday revealing the channel's upcoming anime airing from October to December. The anime include: Free! Eternal Summer, Chaika the Coffin Princess, the fourth episode of the Code Geass: Akito the Exiled OVA, Initial D: Fifth Stage, Bodacious Space Pirates, the third season of Kuroko's Basketball, and the Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection 'F' film.

Free! Eternal Summer is the second season of the Free! - Iwatobi Swim Club television anime. The story of Kyoto Animation's series begins with Haruka Nanase, a high school boy who once swam competitively. After years of separation, his childhood friend Rin challenges him to a swimming match, showing Haruka his overwhelming power. Not wanting it to end like this, Haruka gathers together his former teammates Makoto and Nagisa once again, and also brings a new member named Rei Ryugazaki to create the Iwatobi High School Swimming Club. Haruka, Makoto, Nagisa, Rei, and Rin come together for a story of swimming, youth, and friendship.

The 13-episode sequel series premiered in Japan in July 2014. It also received an unaired episode in the seventh volume of the series' Japanese home video release. High Speed! -Free! Starting Days-, the film inspired by Kōji Ōji and Futoshi Nishiya's High Speed! novel that also inspired the original Free! television anime, will open in Japan on December 5.

HERO TV began airing Free! - Iwatobi Swim Club on October 12.

The Chaika the Coffin Princess fantasy anime centers on the titular protagonist, Chaika Trabant, a 14-year old sorceress who carries a coffin with her. Chaika is soon revealed as the daughter of the deposed Emperor, gathering his scattered remains in the hopes of giving her father a proper funeral. She hires the siblings Toru and Akari, both retired soldiers who are trying to eke out a living as warriors in a now-peaceful world, to help her on her journey. The group is pursued by a small group of military operatives eager to snuff out anyone who might have a claim on the Emperor's throne and who might destabilize the land once more.

The 12-episode anime is based on Ichiro Sakaki's (Scrapped Princess) light novel series of the same name. The anime premiered in April 2014. A second 10-episode season, titled Chaika - The Coffin Princess AVENGING BATTLE, premiered in October 2014.

The Code Geass: Akito the Exiled OAVs are a spinoff of the original Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion TV anime series. Set in between the two seasons of the original series during the Britannian invasion of Europe, the OAV series centers around Akito Hyuga, a member of the "W-0" unit, a suicide outfit of exiled Japanese (Elevens) sent to the battlefield to perform dangerous missions against Britannia, with only a 5% survival rate.

HERO TV has previously aired the first three episodes of the OAV, and premiered the third episode on August 16. The fourth episode was originally slated to premiere on the channel on October 4, but was delayed.

Initial D: Fifth Stage is the third television anime series adaptation of Shūichi Shigeno's Initial D racing manga. The 14-episode series premiered in November 2012. The series continues the story of street racer Takumi Fujiwara. Still working as part of the Project D driving team, Takumi and Keisuke continue to challenge courses and teams in Kanagawa Prefecture. Meanwhile, a young golf phenom catches Takumi's eye, and Ryousuke Takahashi settles a score from his past.

HERO TV previously aired the Initial D TV anime, and it also aired the Initial D: Extra Stage OVA episodes in 2011. The channel aired the Initial D: Third Stage anime film on September 28.

The Bodacious Space Pirates (Mōretsu Pirates) science fiction anime series centers around a spirited high school girl named Marika. She keeps herself busy with the space yacht club and her part-time job at a high-class retro café. One day, two people suddenly appear and claim to be subordinates of her dead father. They demand that she assume command of the space pirate ship Benten Maru. A privateer ship's letter of marque was made during a war of independence a century ago, and according to that letter, the ship must be inherited by the captain's next direct descendant. Marika finds herself embarking on a new life as a space pirate.

The 26-episode series adapted Yuichi Sasamoto's Mini-Skirt Uchū Kaizoku (Mini-Skirt Space Pirates) light novel series. The series originally aired in Japan in January 2012. The anime inspired a film sequel titled Bodacious Space Pirates The Movie: Abyss of Hyperspace (Mōretsu Pirates: Abyss of Hyperspace - Akū no Shinen), which opened in Japan in February 2014.

The third season of Kuroko's Basketball (Kuroko no Basuke) adapts Tadatoshi Fujimaki's manga of the same name. Taiga Kagami has just enrolled into Seirin High School when he meets Tetsuya Kuroko of the school's basketball team. Kuroko happens to be the shadowy sixth member of the legendary "Generation of Miracles" basketball team. Together, Kagami and Kuroko aim to take their team to the inter-high school championship — against Kuroko's former teammates.

The 25-episode third season premiered in Japan on January 10. ABS-CBN aired the first season in the Philippines in its Team Animazing programming block in April-May 2013, and HERO TV also aired the first season in May-June of the same year. ABS-CBN also aired the second season in its Team Animazing block in June-August 2014, before HERO TV also aired the second season in July-September.

The Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection 'F' film is the latest film in the Dragon Ball franchise based on Akira Toriyama's manga. In the film, two villains revive Frieza, who proceeds to train himself and raise his army in order to defeat Goku. The film opened in Japan on April 18, although advance screenings were held before then. The film was the first Japanese film to open in 3D IMAX Digital Theaters. In Japan, Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection 'F' earned approximately 1.29 billion yen (about US$10.9 million) in its first six days, and sold more than 1 million tickets in its first seven days at the Japanese box office.

The film opened in the Philippines on June 10.

[Via Anime Pilipinas]