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Crunchyroll, Funimation to Stream Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka Anime

Crunchyroll and Funimation announced on Thursday that they will stream the Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka television anime based on Makoto Fukami and Seigo Tokiya's Magical Girl Special Ops Asuka (Mahō Shōjo Tokushūsen Asuka) manga. Crunchyroll will simulcast the anime as it airs in Japan, starting on January 11 at 2:10 p.m. EST. The anime will stream worldwide excluding Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and French, German and Russian speaking territories. Funimation will stream the anime on its FunimationNow service.

Crunchyroll began streaming a trailer with English subtitles.

Crunchyroll describes the story:

Legends, myths, magic... Humanity has finally had a chance encounter with a world that had been all but forgotten among all its scientific developments. However, this reunion is not a happy one. Monsters invading from the world of the dead render modern weapons useless, leaving the fate of humanity uncertain. But with help from the Otherworld Trade Agreement, mankind gains a possible means of returning from the brink of death in the form of magical girls. These girls, who have obtained immense magical powers, finally lead humanity to victory despite the many physical and emotional wounds it causes them. However, even this victory proves to be no more than the beginning of a new battle. With the rise of international crime, indiscriminate terrorism, civil war, and public unrest, the work of the magical girls is never done...

The anime will premiere on the "Animeism" programming block. The show will air on MBS and TBS on January 11 at 26:25 (effectively January 12 at 2:25 a.m.), before airing later on BS-TBS, AT-X, and CBC. The anime will stream on Amazon Prime Video in Japan only.

The cast includes:

• Aya Suzaki as Asuka Ōtorii, or Magical Girl Rapture Asuka
• Akira Sekine as Kurumi Mugen, or Magical Girl War Nurse Kurumi
• Eriko Matsui as Mia Cyrus, or Magical Girl Just Cause Mia
• Ayana Taketatsu as Chisato Yonamine
• Chinami Hashimoto as Sayako Hata
• Rie Takahashi as Nozomi Makino
• Kenji Nomura as Yoshiaki Iizuka
• Kokoro Kikuchi as Sacchū
• M.A.O as Tamara Volkova
• Yōko Hikasa as Rau Peipei

Hideyo Yamamoto (Strike the Blood, Code:Realize -Guardian of Rebirth-) is directing the series at LIDEN FILMS (The Heroic Legend of Arslan, Terra Formars). Makoto Fukami (Berserk, Yuruyuri San Hai!) and Norimitsu Kaihō (School-Live!, Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School: Despair Arc) are in charge of series composition, and Yoko Suzuki (animation director for Bleach, Polar Bear's Café) is designing the characters. R.O.N (FLCL Alternative, Kuroko's Basketball) is composing the music.

nonoc is performing the opening theme song "KODO," and music group GARNiDELiA is performing the ending theme song "Rebel Flag."

Seven Seas Entertainment licensed the manga series in English, and it released the fourth compiled book volume on September 25.

Fukami (Psycho-Pass script) writes the series, and Tokiya (Teizokurei Monophobia) provides the art. Naoya Tamura collaborates on the military setting. The creative team launched the series in Square Enix's Monthly Big Gangan magazine in June 2015, and Square Enix shipped the ninth volume on December 25.

Sources: Crunchyroll, Funimation's Twitter account