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Former KAT-TUN Idol Yūichi Nakamaru's Chikyū Daisuki! Kikkun Story Gets Short Anime in July

Japanese singer, actor, and former KAT-TUN boy band member Yūichi Nakamaru announced during the Okinawa International Culture Festival on Sunday that his original story Chikyū Daisuki! Kikkun is inspiring a short anime that will start airing every Wednesday within Tokyo MX's 5-ji ni Muchū! morning program in July. The anime will air for 52 two-minute episodes. The anime's cast and staff members were also revealed on Sunday.

The anime centers on Kikkun, an extraterrestrial life form who came from a distant planet to invade Earth. But the invasion team members assigned in Japan finds the country comfortable, and now wants to protect Japan and Earth, forgetting their original motive. 

The anime will star:

• Yūichi Nakamaru as Kikkun
• Shūgo Nakamura as Ha-kun
• Yoshino Nanjō as Tsuntsun, Kikkun's mechanically-inclined son with 600 IQ
• Akio Ōtsuka as Mogura ("Mole"), who hides underground
• Tomokazu Sugita as Ika, a worker skilled at mimicry
• Emi Nitta as Edamame
• Azusa Tadokoro as Soramame

Nakamaru is credited for the original story. He is also designing the characters and co-writing the scripts with  Takeshi Onaka (Buppu na Mainichi, Kintamani Dog, Nukko.), who is also directing the anime at Kachidoki Studio. Tatooine Sound is in charge of sound production, and Yū Saitō (Kintamani Dog, Totonoe! Sakuma-kun by &sauna, three Ohiru no Shocker-san seasons) is the sound director. Edamame (as voiced by Emi Nitta) and Soramame (as voiced by Azusa Tadokoro) are performing the anime's theme song. 

Nakamaru has been working on the story for about 15 years, and it was featured as a daily four-panel manga during the COVID-19 pandemic. The short anime also played at the Okinawa International Culture Festival, which was held on Saturday and Sunday. 

Sources: Comic Natalie, Dengeki Online