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Utena Director Kunihiko Ikuhara's Sarazanmai Anime Unveils Staff, Cast With 5th 'Linked' Promo

The official YouTube channel for Kunihiko Ikuhara's original television anime project Sarazanmai began streaming the anime's fifth and final "linked promotional video" on Friday. The anime begins with the same clips as last week's video, but adds more footage and a different character at the end. The fifth character is Mabu, who has previously been announced.

The official Twitter account also revealed a new visual and the anime's cast and staff. The cast includes (Note: Name readings not confirmed):

• Ayumu Murase as Kazuki Yasaka
• Kōki Uchiyama as Yū Kuji
• Shun Horie as Enta Jinnouchi
• Junichi Suwabe as Keppi
• Mamoru Miyano as Reo Shinsei
• Yoshimasa Hosoya as Mabu Akutsu

Ikuhara is directing the series and, along with Teruko Utsumi, writing the series composition. Nobuyuki Takeuchi (Fireworks) is serving as chief director. Migi is providing the original character designs and Kayoko Ishikawa is adapting the designs for animation and serving as chief animation director. Katsunori Shibata (Penguindrum) and Maimu Matsushima are credited with conceptual design. Ayaka Fujii (FLCL Alternative, Kill la Kill) is handling the background art with Studio Pablo and Yukari Hashimoto (Penguindrum, Yuri Kuma Arashi) is composing the music.

As previously announced, the studios MAPPA (Yuri!!! on Ice, In This Corner of the World, Rage of Bahamut Genesis) and Lapin Track (Yuri Kuma Arashi) are producing the series. "Ikunirappa" is credited with the original story; the original story of Ikuhara's earlier Yuri Kuma Arashi anime was similarly credited to "Ikunigomamonaka."

The two characters below are Reo and Mabu, who are a policemen team and are key to the show's plot.

A spinoff manga titled Reo to Mabu: Futari wa Sarazanmai (Reo and Mabu: We are Sarazanmai) launched in Gentosha's Rutile magazine on May 22. Gentosha is publishing Rutile in odd-numbered months. The sister web comic site "Rutile Sweet" is publishing the manga in even-numbered months. Misaki Saitō is drawing the manga (manga image previewed below). The spinoff tells "another story" that links to the anime, chronicling the heartwarming daily life of Reo and Mabu.

Ikuhara is perhaps best known as the director of the Revolutionary Girl Utena anime, a 1997 series he co-created with the Be-PaPas creative group, which consisted of him, writer Yoji Enokido, animator and character designer Hasegawa Shinya, manga creator Chiho Saitō, and producer Yūichirō Oguro. Before Revolutionary Girl Utena, he worked at Toei Animation, where he directed Sailor Moon R, S and SuperS. After Revolutionary Girl Utena, he did not direct another anime series until Mawaru Penguindrum in 2011. Until now, his most recent directorial work is Yuri Kuma Arashi in 2015.

Source: Sarazanmai anime's YouTube channel, Twitter account, (link 2)