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Monkey Punch's Phantom Thief Anime Roman Previewed in Promo

The official YouTube channel for TMS Entertainment began streaming the first promotional video for the Bakumatsu Gijinden Roman anime with original character designs by Lupin III creator Monkey Punch. The video plays Yukino's "RanTiKi," which is the opening theme song for the series.

The fantasy historical story, the main character is a "helper" named Manjirō by day and a phantom thief "retriever" named Roman by night. Roman steals back people's precious items that were unfairly taken from them.

Nippon Columbia revealed last month that the CR Ginroku Gijinden Roman pachinko game is getting a television anime series that will premiere on January 7, 2013. The game's story follows Roman in the Genroku era (1688-1704). The anime Bakumatsu Gijinden Roman will shift the timeframe to Bakumatsu, the era that spelled the end of the shoguns' rule over Japan. 

The main cast is as follows:

• Kazuya Nakai as Roman
• Eri Kitamura as Koharu
• Kenichi Suzumura as Magoichi
• Maaya Uchida as Okuni
• Chihiro Suzuki as Yasuhiro
• Saori Sudo as Kanade
• Takashi Matsuyama as Hans
• Kenichi Ogata as Gennai
• Fumihiko Tachiki as Yanagisawa

Hirofumi Ogura (Black Butler II, The Knight in the Area) is directing at TMS Entertainment. Tatsuto Higuchi (scripts in Inazuma Eleven, Hanasaku Iroha, Phi-Brain - Puzzle of God) is in charge of the series scripts, and Satoshi Hirayama (Lupin III specials, Glass Mask) is adapting Monkey Punch's designs for anime. Hiroshi Takaki (AKB0048, Kyousogiga) is scoring the music.