News

Crunchyroll Streams Spy×Family, Tomodachi Game, In/Spectre, A Couple of Cuckoos More 2022 Anime

Crunchyroll announced during its panel at the Anime NYC event on Saturday that it will stream the following upcoming anime: Spy×Family, Aoashi, A Couple of Cuckoos, Dance Dance Danseur, The Dawn of the Witch, Shikimori's Not Just a Cutie, the second season of In/Spectre, and Tomodachi Game.

Crunchyroll also unveiled a trailer for Spy×Family.

The television anime adaptation of Tatsuya Endō's SPY×FAMILY manga will premiere in 2022.

Kazuhiro Furuhashi (Mobile Suit Gundam UC, Rurouni Kenshin, Getbackers, 2019 Dororo) is directing the anime at WIT Studio and Cloverworks. Kazuaki Shimada (The Promised Neverland) is designing the characters, and [K]NoW_NAME (Fairy Gone, Dorohedoro, Sakura Quest) is the music producer.

Takuya Eguchi will star in the anime as Loid Forger.

Viz Media is publishing the manga in English, and it describes the story:

Master spy Twilight is the best at what he does when it comes to going undercover on dangerous missions in the name of a better world. But when he receives the ultimate impossible assignment—get married and have a kid—he may finally be in over his head!

Not one to depend on others, Twilight has his work cut out for him procuring both a wife and a child for his mission to infiltrate an elite private school. What he doesn't know is that the wife he's chosen is an assassin and the child he's adopted is a telepath!

Endō launched the manga in Japan on Shueisha's Shonen Jump+ service in March 2019. Shueisha began offering the manga in English on its Manga Plus service on the same day. Viz Media added the manga to its app as part of its Shonen Jump subscription in September 2019. The company is also publishing the manga in print.

The television anime of Yūgo Kobayashi's Aoashi manga will premiere in April 2022.

Akira Sato (Release the Spyce) is directing the anime at Production I.G. Masahiro Yokotani (Free! - Iwatobi Swim Club, All Out!!, Tropical-Rouge! Precure) is in charge of the series scripts. Manabu Nakatake, Toshie Kawamura, Asuka Yamaguchi, and Saki Hasegawa are all credited for character design, with Natake and Yamaguchi also credited as chief animation directors. Naho Seike, Yukiko Watabe, Miho Daidouji, and Eisuke Shirai are credited as sub-character designers. Kenichi Takeshita, Jun Soga, and Kenji Iizuka are credited for soccer supervision. Masaru Yokoyama is composing the music.

The manga centers on third-year middle school student Ashito Aoi, who lives in Ehime prefecture. Ashito has a strong talent in soccer, but he tries to hide it. Due to his very straightforward personality, he causes a disaster that serves as a huge setback for him. Then, Tatsuya Fukuya — a veteran of the strong J-Club team Tokyo City Esperion and coach of the club's youth team — appears in front of Ashito. Tatsuya sees through Ashito and sees his talent, and invites him to try out for the youth team in Tokyo.

Kobayashi launched the manga in Shogakukan's Weekly Big Comic Spirits magazine in January 2015. Shogakukan published the 25th compiled volume on August 30. The manga is based on an original story concept by Naohiko Ueno. The manga was nominated for the 10th Manga Taisho awards in 2017. The manga won the Best General Manga award in the 65th Shogakukan Manga Awards in 2020.

The television anime of Miki Yoshikawa's A Couple of Cuckoos manga will premiere in 2022. The anime will star Kaito Ishikawa as Nagi Umino, Akari Kitō as Erika Amano, Nao Tōyama as Hiro Segawa, and Konomi Kohara as Sachi Umino.

Hiroaki Akagi (Karakai Jōzu no Takagi-san, Those Snow White Notes) is the chief director of the anime and Yoshiyuki Shirahata (episode director for Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle, Great Pretender) is directing the anime at Shin-Ei Animation and SynergySP. Yasuhiro Nakanishi (Kaguya-sama: Love is War both seasons, Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun) is overseeing the series scripts, and Aya Takano (Karakai Jōzu no Takagi-san, Polar Bear's Café) is designing the characters.

Yoshikawa (Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches, Yankee-kun to Megane-chan) launched the A Couple of Cuckoos (Kakkō no Iinazuke) manga in Kodansha's Weekly Shonen Magazine in January 2020. Kodansha published the manga's eighth compiled book volume on September 17. The manga received a novel that shipped on April 14.

Kodansha Comics publishes the manga in English, and it describes the manga:

16-year-old super-studier Nagi Umino, second-year student at the Megurogawa Academy high school, was switched at birth. On his way to a dinner to meet his birth parents, he accidentally meets the brash, outspoken, Erika Amano, who is determined to make Nagi her fake boyfriend as she never wants to actually marry. But once Nagi makes it to dinner, he finds his parents have decided to resolve the hospital switch by conveniently having him marry the daughter his birth parents raised...who turns out to be none other than Erika herself!

The television anime adaptation of George Asakura's Dance Dance Danseur manga will premiere in 2022. The project marks the first time a manga by Asakura is getting an anime.

Munehisa Sakai (Zombie Land Saga) is directing the anime at MAPPA. Yoshimi Narita (My Senpai Is Annoying, Our love has always been 10 centimeters apart.) is in charge of series composition. Hitomi Hasegawa (Twittering Birds Never Fly: The Clouds Gather animation director) is designing the characters.

The manga centers on Junpei Murao, who was fascinated with ballet as a child, but in his second year of middle school, his father passed away and he decided he needed to become more "masculine," and he gave up on his aspirations. While still having an attachment to ballet, he takes up the martial art of Jeet Kune Do, and becomes popular in his class. Then one day, a new transfer student named Miyako Godai arrives in Junpei's class, and her mother runs a ballet studio. Miyako realizes that Junpei is interested in ballet, and invites him to do ballet together.

Asakura (A Perfect Day for Love Letters, Piece of Cake, Drowning Love) launched the manga in Shogakukan's Weekly Big Comic Spirits magazine in 2015. The manga's 21st volume shipped on September 10.

The television anime adaptation of writer Kakeru Kobashiri's The Dawn of the Witch (Mahōtsukai Reimeiki) light novel series will premiere on TBS in April 2022.

Satoshi Kuwabara (The Quintessential Quintuplets, Girlfriend, Girlfriend) is directing the anime and handling series composition at Tezuka Productions. Kobashiri and Mayumi Morita (Black Jack 21) are credited for literature. Reina Iwasaki is designing the characters. Minoru Nishida (Yasuke) is in charge of the art setting, and Yumi Aburaya (Adachi and Shimamura) is handling the color design. Wataru Uchida (Conquest) is in charge of editing. Satoshi Motoyama (The irregular at magic high school) is the sound director, and Bit Grooove Promotion is the sound producer. Kobashiri is credited with the original work. Light novel illustrator Takashi Iwasaki is credited for the original character design.

The light novel series is set in the same fantasy world as Kobashiri's (Grimoire of Zero) Zero Kara Hajimeru Mahō no Sho light novel series, now at peace after having endured a conflict between the church and witches for 500 years. However, embers of war still burn in some regions of the world. The story centers on Cervil, a hopeless student at the Kingdom of Wenias' College of Magic. Cervil has somehow lost all memory of his time before attending the college. The school's headmaster Albus sends him for special training to the southern part of the continent, where persecution against witches runs strong.

Kobashiri launched the novel with the first volume in August 2018. Takashi Iwasaki (Zero Kara Hajimeru Mahō no Sho manga) provides the art, and Zero Kara Hajimeru Mahō no Sho illustrator Yoshinori Shizuma has partial credit for character designs. Kodansha published the fourth volume on November 2.

The anime of Keigo Maki's romantic comedy manga Shikimori's Not Just a Cutie (Kawaii Dake Ja Nai Shikimori-san) manga will premiere in April 2022.

Ryota Itoh (My Senpai is Annoying) is directing the anime at Doga Kobo, with Shōhei Yamanaka as assistant director. Yoshimi Narita (HappinessCharge Precure, Our love has always been 10 centimeters apart., My Senpai is Annoying) is in charge of the series scripts. Ai Kikuchi (Engaged to the Unidentified, New Game!, How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift?) is designing the characters.

Kodansha Comics is publishing the manga in English, and it describes the story:

Shikimori seems like the perfect girlfriend: cute, fun to be around, sweet when she wants to be... but she has a cool dark side that comes out under the right circumstances. And her boyfriend Izumi loves to be around when that happens! A fun and funny high school romance with a sassy twist perfect for fans of Nagatoro-san and Komi Can't Communicate!

Maki launched the manga on Magazine Pocket in February 2019. Kodansha published the 10th compiled book volume on October 8. Kodansha Comics published the sixth volume on September 28.

The second season of the television anime of Kyo Shirodaira and Chasiba Katase's In/Spectre (Kyokō Suiri or Invented Interface) manga will premiere in 2022.

Keiji Gotoh (Kiddy Grade, Endride, Sengoku Collection) is returning to direct the second season of the anime at Brain's Base, and Noboru Takagi (Durarara!!, Golden Kamuy, Kuroko's Basketball) is again in charge of the series scripts. Kentarou Matsumoto (D-Frag!, animation director for In/Spectre season 1) is the character designer and chief animation director. NAS is producing the project.

The anime's first season was a Crunchyroll co-production and part of the Crunchyroll Originals slate. The series premiered in Japan in January 2020, and it aired 12 episodes. Crunchyroll also streamed an English dub for the anime.

Takatoshi Honda (RIN-NE conceptual design) designed the characters and served as chief animation director for the anime's first season.

Kodansha Comics is publishing the manga in English, and it describes the supernatural mystery romance:

When she was still just a girl, Kotoko was kidnapped by yokai. These spirits made her into a powerful intermediary between the spirit and human worlds, but this power came at a price: an eye and a leg. Now, years later, she watches out for dangerous yokai while developing feelings for a young man named Kuro, who is also special: an incident with a yokai has given him healing powers. He's surprised when Kotoko asks him to team up to handle renegade yokai, preserving the thin line between reality and the supernatural.

Katase launched the manga based on a 2011 novel by Shirodaira (Spiral, The Record of a Fallen Vampire, Blast of Tempest) in Kodansha's Shōnen Magazine R in April 2015. The manga's 16th compiled book volume will ship on December 16.

The television anime adaptation of Yuki Sato Tomodachi Game (Friends Games) manga will premiere in April 2022.

Hirofumi Ogura (Cells at Work!!, Black Butler II) is directing the anime at Okuruto Noboru, and Kenta Ihara (Saga of Tanya the Evil, Tsukimichi -Moonlit Fantasy-) is supervising and writing the series scripts. Satomi Miyazaki is designing the characters. Studio Tulip's Si Man Wei (Edens Zero) is the art director, while Studio Tulip's Tsukasa Ohira (No Game, No Life) is in charge of art setting. Aiko Mizuno (Cells at Work!) is the color key artist. Yomogiko Murano (Attack on Titan The Final Season, Kono Oto Tomare!: Sounds of Life) is the compositing director of photography. MICHIRU (BEM, Ascendance of a Bookworm) is composing the music. Hiroto Morishita (Higurashi: When They Cry – GOU) is directing the sound at Studio Mouse.

The story, based on Mikoto Yamaguchi's original concept, centers on Yūichi Katagiri, a young man with a perfect student life who has four friends with difficult lives. His peaceful daily life comes to an end when 2 million yen (about US$20,000) in school trip fees goes missing. Riddles unfold as Yūichi gets caught up in a mysterious game for money and must decide whether friendship or money matters more.

Sato (Sherlock Bones, Yokai Doctor) launched the manga in Kodansha's Bessatsu Shonen Magazine in December 2013. The manga went on hiatus in December 2019, returned for one chapter in February 2020, and then went back on hiatus. The manga entered its final arc in August 2020.

Kodansha published the manga's 19th volume on November 9.

The manga has inspired two live-action films. The first film, Tomodachi Game Gekijōban, opened in June 2017 after a live-action television drama series premiered in April 2017. The second film screened in Japan in September 2017.

Source: Press release