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Märchen Mädchen Anime Reveals 2 More Cast Members, January 11 Premiere

The January issue of Shueisha's Jump SQ. magazine revealed two more cast members for the television anime adaptation of late author Tomohiro Matsu and artist Kantoku's Märchen Mädchen (Fairy Tale Girls) light novel series on Monday.

The new cast members members include:

Maya Yoshioka as Li Xuemei, the leader of the Chinese school. She always has a gentle smile on her face but she is actually a battle enthusiast. She is chosen by The Eight Immortals Depart and Travel to the East story.

Yuna Kamakura as Mahakali, the leader of the Indian school. She naturally loves beautiful things, and has the demeanor of a queen. She is chosen by The Ramayana story.

The show's website also revealed a new visual, theme song titles, and the show's January 11 premiere date on Monday. The show will air on AT-X at 9:00 p.m. before airing later that evening on Tokyo MX and BS11. The show will also stream on dAnime Store, Niconico, AbemaTV, and the Bandai Channel.

fhána (The Eccentric Family, Tales of Zestiria the X, Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid) are performing the opening theme song "Watashi no tame no Monogatari ~My Uncompleted Story~" for the series, and Reina Ueda is performing the ending theme song "sleepland."

The show stars:

Tomori Kusunoki as Hazuki Kagimura, a girl who loves reading and daydreaming. She has no friends, and is generally a loner. She is chosen by the Cinderella story.

Rie Suegara as Shizuka Tsuchimikado, the chosen of the Kaguya-hime no Monogatari story, one of the world's oldest stories. She inherited the story as a scion of the Tsuchimikado family. She is a very serious and hardworking girl.

LYNN as Yumilia Qazan, a foreign exchange student who has been chosen by the Shuten-dōji folk tale, and wields lightning powers. She has a big sisterly attitude.

Rina Hidaka as Lynne Daves, who is the leader of the American school. She is a cruel girl who always has a smiling cutesy face. She is chosen by The Little Matchstick Girl story.

Airi Ootsu as Maria Rasputin, who is the leader of the Russian school. She is chosen by The Gigantic Turnip story. She likes to help others and is meddlesome.

Ai Kakuma as Agathe Arier, who is the leader of the German school. She is chosen by the Der Freischütz/The Marksman story. She's so perfect it's worrisome.

Reina Ueda as Arthur Pendragon, the leader of the British school. She has an atmosphere like she is completely disconnected from reality, but she bonds easily with animals. She is chosen by The History of the Kings of Britain (Historia regum Britanniae) book, specifically "The Legend of King Arthur."

Kaede Hondo as Ariko Kasumi, Shizuka's childhood friend. The Kasumi family has historically had a servant-master relationship with Shizuka's Tsuchimikado family. She gets very angry if anyone refers to her figure as childlike. She is chosen by the "Issun-bōshi" ("Little One-Inch") fairytale.

Akemi Okamura as Headmaster. She is the headmaster of the Japanese school, Kuzunoha Women's Magic Academy. Her age is unknown, and she has the ability to mysteriously appear out of nowhere. It is unknown what her book is.

Hisashi Saito (Haganai, Fantasista Doll, Bamboo Blade) is the chief director for the anime, and Shigeru Ueda (RIN - Daughters of Mnemosyne, Senran Kagura: Estival Versus - Festival Eve Full of Swimsuits) is directing the anime at Hoods Entertainment. Yūki Morikawa (Fantasista Doll, If Her Flag Breaks, animation director) is adapting Kantoku's original character designs for animation. Matsu is credited for series composition and script. Asaura, Yūichi Monda, and Ryunosuke Kingetsu are also credited with the script. Reina Ueda is also performing an image song for the anime titled "Daremo Watashi o Shiranai Sekai e" (To a World Where Nobody Knows Me).

Additional staff includes:

• Color Design: Maki Saitou
• Art Director: Tomoko Shimomoto
• Director of Photography: Yuusaku Murakami
• Editing: Kiyoshi Hirose
• Music: rionos
• Music Production: Lantis
• Sound Director: Hiroto Morishita
• Sound Production: Kanon Co., Ltd.

The novels center on Hazuki Kagimura, a normal girl who is usually alone. With her relationship with her new family not going so well, she retreats every day to the world of stories and books. One day, after school, one of the library's bookshelves send her to another world with a magic school, where she meets Shizuka Tsuchimikado. She finds out that girls (called "mädchen") who attend the school are selected by old fairy tales and folk stories to wield their magic, and are taught how to wield it in the school, all to compete at the annual Hexen Nacht (Witch's Night) competition, where girls represent their schools in magical duels. The winner of the competition gets to have one wish magically granted. The school has girls who are chosen by such stories as Kaguya-hime no Monogatari, Issun-bōshi, Der Freischütz, Shuten-dōji, The Little Matchstick Girl, The Gigantic Turnip, Arthurian legends, and The Ramayana. Hazuki herself is chosen by the Cinderella story. She begins her new life at the school to become a magic user, and to be friends with Shizuka.

The light novel series is based on a concept that Matsu had worked on for three years and completed before he passed away. The work is still credited to him, with assistance by StoryWorks. Kantoku (Garakowa -Restore the World-, Imōto Sae Ireba Ii., One Room) is illustrating the novels. Shueisha published the first novel under its Dash X Bunko imprint on February 24, and the second novel on July 25.

The novels also inspired an ongoing manga adaptation that launched in Shueisha's Jump SQ. magazine on October 4. Takatoshi Nakamura (Densetsu no Yūsha no Konkatsu) and newcomer artist Kiyotsugu Yamagata are collaborating on the series. DMM Games is developing an online game.

Matsu's Mayoi Neko Overrun! and Listen to Me, Girls. I Am Your Father! (Papa no Iu Koto o Kikinasai!) light novel series both inspired television anime series. He published 12 volumes of the Mayoi Neko Overrun! novels from 2008 to 2012, and the anime premiered in 2010. He published 18 volumes of the Listen to Me, Girls. I Am Your Father! novels from 2009 to 2015, and the anime premiered in 2012. Matsu is also credited with series composition and scripts for the Queen's Blade: The Exiled Virgin television anime series, as well as story concept cooperation on the Ixion Saga DT anime.

Matsu's Hatena Illusion light novel series is also getting an anime adaptation. The series remains unfinished. Kentarō Yabuki (To Love-Ru -Trouble-) illustrated the novels.