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Netflix Lists Akane-banashi Anime's English Dub Cast, Staff Members

Netflix has listed the English dub cast and staff members for the first two episodes of the anime of writer Yūki Suenaga and illustrator Takamasa Moue's Akane-banashi manga.

The English dub cast members are:

• Abby Trott as Akane Osaki
• Xander Mobus as Shinta Arakawa
• Rebecca Wang as Masaki Osaki
• Brook Chalmers as Shiguma Arakawa
• Evan Michael Lee as Issho Arakawa
• Rich Brown as Zensho Arakawa
• Kirk Thornton as Ikken Arakawa/Yanagiya
• Mona Marshall as Yoshino
• Clifford Chapin as Kimihisa Kashio/Emcee (episode 1), Riichi (episode 2)
• Dorah Fine as Mrs. Ozaki
• Matt Shipman as Kaisei Arakawa (episode 2)
• Darius Marquis Johnson as Guriko Arakawa (episode 2)

Darius Marquis Johnson, Matt Shipman, Dorah Fine, Kirk Thornton, and Rich Brown also provide additional voices in the first two episodes.

The English dub staff members are:

• Production: Bang Zoom! Studios
• Executive Producer: Eric P. Sherman
• Co-Producers: Mami Okada, Mio Moroe
• Associate Producer: Misa Shimogata
• ADR Director/ADR Writer: Alex Von David
• Casting Director: Mami Okada, CSA
• Production Assistant: Alisa Ogura-Traxler
• Sound Supervisor: Patrick Rodman, CAS
• Re-Recording Mixer: Michael Brooks
• Recording Engineer: Kenneth Thompson
• Dialogue Editors: Esgardo Valadez, Keeley Pierson (from episode 2)
• Audio Operations Supervisor: Ismael Yanez
• Assistant Engineer: Mara Westgaard
• Video Coordination: Kevin Ross
• Video Editor: Megumi M. Tsuji
• Closed Captions: Kaylyn Saucedo
• Spotting: Breaugh Olson
• Translation Yuki Urakawa

Netflix will debut the English dub for the first two episodes on May 17, and will launch later episodes weekly.

The anime's staff streamed the promotional video for the Karaku Cup arc on Saturday.

The anime began airing on TV Asahi's "IMAnimation" programming block on April 4. The anime also has its own "Akane-banashi Global" YouTube channel, where full episodes stream for free in North America and Latin America, after their television broadcast in Japan.

The anime is also streaming on aniverse in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. ADN is streaming it in France, Monaco, Andorra, Switzerland, Belgium, and Luxembourg. Anime Box is streaming it in Spain and Anime Generation is streaming it in Italy. The Ani-One YouTube channel is streaming the anime in the Asia Pacific (excluding Korea and China). Bahamut, ChungHwa Telecom MOD & Hami Video, LiTV & Ofiii, Line TV, My-Video, Catchplay, and friDay are streaming the anime in Taiwan. Bahamut is streaming it in Hong Kong and Macao. Catchplay is streaming it in Indonesia and TrueID is streaming it in Thailand. playmax.mn STAR TV is streaming it in Mongolia. Laftel and Aniplus Channel are streaming it in South Korea.

TV Asahi describes the story:

"With only your voice and body—master the art."

Akane Osaki, captivated since childhood by the magical performances of her father, Shinta Arakawa, witnesses a shocking incident during his decisive performance for promotion to shin'uchi master rank). Six years later, now a high school student, she sets her sights on becoming a shin'uchi herself—pushing forward in the highly competitive world of rakugo.

A passionate and authentic rakugo drama begins now!

Suenaga and Moue launched the manga in February 2022. Shueisha published the 21st compiled book volume on April 3. The manga was nominated for the 47th Kodansha Manga Awards and the 16th Manga Taisho awards in 2023. The manga ranked at #4 for the top 20 list of manga for male readers in the 2023 edition of Takarajimasha's Kono Manga ga Sugoi! (This Manga Is Amazing!) guidebook.

Viz Media's Shonen Jump service and Shueisha's MANGA Plus service both publish the manga in English. Viz Media is also publishing the manga in print.

The manga made the American Library Association's (ALA's) Young Adult Library Services Association's (YALSA) 2024 list of Great Graphic Novels for Teens, and The New York Public Library also named the manga on its Best Books list for teens in 2023.

Source: Netflix via @animedubupdates.bsky.social‬