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Tetsuya Kakihara, Rie Tanaka Star in Leiji Matsumoto's Ozuma

The cast for Ozuma, the first major new anime from creator Leiji Matsumoto (Space Pirate Captain Harlock, Space Battleship Yamato, Galaxy Express 999) in five years, has been announced on Tuesday. Tetsuya Kakihara (Fairy Tail's Natsu, Gurren Lagann's Simon) will star as SAM, the young man pursuing the enigmatic lifeform Ozuma. Rie Tanaka (Hayate the Combat Butler, Time of Eve) will play the mystical girl Maya. Ayumi Fujimura plays another girl named Mimei, and Atsuko Tanaka will be the female ship captain Bainasu. Gido Gairaa, the mysterious commander of the Theseus army, will be voiced by Shō Hayami.

The other cast members include:
General Danga: Takaya Kuroda
Bokusu Rafu: Takehito Fujinuma
Runa Noguchi: Sakiko Uran
Tom: Kazuma Horie
Yamu: Yumiko Kobayashi
Kun: Takurō Nakakuni
Ejibōra Gii: Toshiharu Sakurai
Rokusanda Umai: Kazuya Tatekabe

Kousuke Yamashita composed the music for the Nobunaga's Ambition game series, the live-action Hana Yori Dango, and Digimon Xros Wars before tackling this project. As previously announced, Ryousuke Takahashi (Armored Trooper Votoms, Aoki Ryūsei SPT Layzner, episode in The Cockpit) is the chief director, while the actual hands-on director is Takahiro Ikezoe (Slap Up Party: Arad Senki-) at LandQ studios (with assistance on every episode by Gonzo). Nobuteru Yūki (Record of Lodoss War, Escaflowne, Space Battleship Yamato 2199) designed the characters.

The story is set on Earth in the future when abnormal activity on the sun devastates Earth's atmosphere and covers the entire planet in a sea of sand. SAM pursues Ozuma, an enemy of his brother. One day, Samu encounters Maya, who is being chased by the Theseus army.

The six-episode series will premiere on the Japanese premium television channel WOWOW on March 16.

Source: Anime!Anime!

Image © 2012 Leiji Matsumoto (original work) © 2012 Ozuma Production Committee