Over the course of the weekend, there has been a couple of announcements concerning upcoming anime that have piqued my interest. I figured I’d share them with you, since I haven’t posted much on here recently.
First is an original TV anime by animation studio Sunrise. It is called Cross Ange: Tenshi to Ryu no Rondo (Cross Ange: Rondo of Angels and Dragons). It is due to premier in October.
The story has humanity living in a period of peace, thanks to data technology known as ‘Mana’. The main character is the first princess of the Misurugi Empire, Angelize. She discovers she is a ‘Norma’; someone who cannot use Mana. Since there is heavy prejudice against such people, Angelize isolates herself on a remote island. She meets a group of Norma girls who have only known battle. The girls ride humanoid robot weapons known as ‘Barameiru’, and hunt dragons that have come from another dimension to invade.
The cast looks like this:
Nana Mizuki as Ange. She was the much beloved Princess Angelize before discovering she was a Norma. Afterwards, she changes her name to Ange and becomes a soldier that fights dragons. She has a large amount of pride and is very stubborn; her nature often leads her into conflicts with others.
Eri Kitamura as Salia, the leader of the first company of the Barameiru. She is a superior soldier with a serious personality, though she only sticks to what she knows. Salia also has a secret hobby.
Yukari Tamura as Hilda, an attacking soldier in the first Barameiru company and the favourite of captain Zora. She is ambitious and cynical, and considers newcomer Ange an enemy.
Houko Kuwashima as Vivian, an attacking soldier in the first Barameiru company. She is the ace of her team, though she is very cheerful. Her hobbies are quizzes.
Kaori Ishihara as Rosalie, a light arms soldier in the first Barameiru company. She possesses little skill, only surviving by staying near those with power. She also dislikes Ange, due to her quickly building up her battle record.
Ami Koshimizu as Ersha, a heavy arms soldier in the first Barameiru company. She is better at cooking than fighting, and many children like her. She is a motherly figure to the company, though getting her angry might just be a bad idea…
Yui Ogura as Chris, a heavy arms soldier in the first Barameiru company. She is a negative girl who only opens up to people she knows. She quietly hides behind Hilda and Rosalie.
Sumire Uesaka as Momoka, the head maid of imperial princess Angelize. She enjoys taking care of her mistress.
Mamoru Miyano will be Tasuku, and Yui Horie will be Sara.
The anime will be directed at Sunrise by Yoshiharu Ashino (Tweeny Witches), and series composition will be handled by Tatsuto Higuchu. Concepts for the characters are being provided by Yuusuke Matsuo, and character design is being done by Sayaka Ono. The soundtrack will be scored by singer and songwriter Akiko Shikata (Ar Tonelico series, Tales of Symphonia the Animation: The United World Episode theme song performance). Nana Mizuki will perform the opening theme, whilst Eri Kitamura will perform the ending theme.
The creative producer is Mituso Fukuda; Junichi Akutsu is responsible for Barameiru design; Kazutaka Miyatake is responsible for dragon design; Heiin is responsible for costume design.
Here’s a promo video, as well:
Right, that’s the first one. Next up is Kantai Collection -Kan Colle-. This anime is due to air in January 2015.
Here’s a promo video:
The cast:
Sumire Uesaka as Fubuki
Saki Fujita as Akagi
Yuka Iguchi as Kaga
Kantai Collection is being directed by Keizou Kusakawa (Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha franchise, Problem children are coming from another world, aren’t they?) at studio Diomedea (Squid Girl, Problem children are coming from another world, aren’t they?). Jukki Hanada (Love Live! School idol project, Steins;Gate) is in charge of the series scripts.
So, there’s a couple of series I’ll probably be watching in the future. Looking forward to those, and whatever else the future may bring.
Rory Muses 
It indeed looks noteworthy.