News

XFlag, Tatsunoko's Pandora to Akubi Crossover Anime Film Reveals Cast, Staff, Promo Video

The official website for XFLAG and Tatsunoko Production's new anime project Pandora to Akubi (Pandora and Yawn) revealed on Friday that the project is an anime film that will open at the EJ Anime Theater Shinjuku in Tokyo on April 5. The film will then open in four other theaters in Japan on April 12.

The site also revealed the film's staff, cast, story, promotional video, and visuals.

The film stars Yui Ogura as Pandora and Sally Amaki as Akubi. The cast for the first half of the film, subtitled "Arano no Jūgekisen" (The Shootout on the Wasteland), includes:

• Yūko Kaida as Louise (Doronjo)
• Hiroyuki Yoshino as Gō Mifune (Speed Racer)
• Masuo Amada as Braiking Boss

The cast for the second half of the film, subtitled "Shōryō to Kaijū no Machi" (The Town of Spirits and Monsters), includes:

• Mutsumi Tamura as Kanna
• Masashi Ebara as Mysterious Monster
• Kenjiro Tsuda as Winter Spirit

The overall story of the film is that Pandora and Akubi are crossing dimensions to collect the "fragments of disaster," which have the power to destroy worlds. The first half of the film takes place in the setting of an American Western (first visual below), and the second half of the film takes place on a snowy mountain where mysterious spirits exist (second visual below).

The staff includes:

• Original Work: XFlag, Tatsunoko Productions
• Director: Jun Soga
• Character Designer, Chief Animation Director: Keisuke Ōkura
• Art Director: Yūsuke Takeda
• Art Setting: Satoshi Takabatake, Seiki Tamura
• Director of Photography: Shinichi Igarashi
• Color Design: Yuko Kobari
• Editing: Tomoki Nagasaka
• Music: Takahiro Obata
• Music Production: TMS Music
• Sound Director: Ryō Tanaka
• Sound Production: Sonilude
• Animation Production: Bakken Record
• Distribution: Kadokawa Animation
• Production: XFlag

The character Akubi (the character on the left in the image above) originates from the 1969 Hakushon Daimaō (The Genie Family) anime, where the Akubi-chan ("Ya-ahn" in Tatsunoko's official English descriptions) character appears as the daughter of the titular genie character Hakushon ("Hasshoo"). Meanwhile, Pandora (character on the right) is a "girl of wishes" from the Monster Strike smartphone game.

XFLAG and Tatsunoko Production describe the anime as "battle entertainment for girls." The band Shiggy Jr. will perform both the anime's opening theme song "D.A.Y.S." and the ending theme song "B.U.R.N."

Sources: Pandora to Akubi anime film's website, Anime! Anime! (MoA), Comic Natalie