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Sentai Filmworks Adds Nobunaga the Fool Anime

North American anime licensing company Sentai Filmworks announced on Friday that it has licensed Shōji Kawamori and Satelight's Nobunaga The Fool television anime series. The company plans to stream the series digitally with a home video release to follow. Crunchyroll is streaming the series as it airs.

Kawamori (Macross, Escaflowne, Aquarion) is credited as the original creator for the show, and he is also handling the series composition and the main mecha design. Hidekazu Satō (Basquash!, Slayers Next, Fortune Quest L) is directing the series at studio Satelight. Artist Yone Kazuki (Hakuōki, Hiiro no Kakera - The Tamayori Princess Saga) is handling the original character design, and Hirotaka Marufuji (Aquarion Evol, Legends of the Dark King: A Fist of the North Star Story) is adapting Kazuki's character designs for animation. Minori Chihara is performing the opening theme song "Fool the World" while Stero Dive Foundation is performing the ending theme song "Axis."

The series premiered in Japan on January 5.

The main television voice cast is the same as the voice cast for the December 8 stage play.

Mamoru Miyano will voice Oda Nobunaga, a character loosely inspired by the real-life Japanese warlord of the same name. Oda is the legitimate heir of the country of Owari on the Eastern Planet.

Yōko Hikasa will voice Jeanne Kaguya d'Arc, a girl raised in the country of Donremi on the Western Planet.

Takahiro Sakurai will play Akechi Mitsuhide, a captain who handles strategy for the Oda clan.

Yūki Kaji will play Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Oda Nobunaga's vassal. He is always cheerful and friendly with unmatched prowess in both womanizing and in battles.

Other cast members include:

Nao Tōyama as Himiko, the queen of the Yamatai country in the east. She inherits the ancient civilization of her ancestors, and has inherited a special power from them as well. It appears she is old acquaintances with Nobunaga.

Yūichi Nakamura as Gaius Julius Caesar, a member of the “Roundtable of Kindred Souls,” an organization that controls the Western Planet. He is such a lover of women that he checks to make sure there are no women in the enemy line. He has a bright personality, but in battle, he changes into a cold and calm man.

Ibuki Kido and Haruka Ishida as Nell and Bianchi, twin girls who came to the Eastern Planet in order to keep an eye on Caesar. Although the appear to be children, they change into war-loving demons in the midst of battle. Neru has a shy personality, while Bianki has a strong one.

Nobunaga Shimazaki as Oda Nobukatsu, the second son of the Oda clan and Nobunaga's younger brother. A young man who has a kind personality and does not like war. His voice towards pushing Nobunaga into the position of the next head of the family is also very small.

Hiroki Nanami as Uesugi Kenshin, the head of the powerful country, the country of Echigo. He is one of the great generals alongside Shingun, and he loves chaos..

Rikiya Koyama as Takeda Shingen, the brave general of the country of Kai. In battle, he puts himself in the front lines to defeat the enemy. In order to unite the Eastern Planet, he begins his invasion of Owari.

Kazuya Nakai as Alexander, a person of importance at the “Roundtable of Kindred Souls.” Just by existing, his force has the ability to overpower others.

Yoshitsugu Matsuoka as Magellan, a member of the “Roundtable of Kindred Souls.” He is the head of an armada that dominates the single sea route from the East and West planets.

Minori Chihara as Ichihime, the princess of the country of Owari and Nobunaga's younger sister. It is said that her beauty puts even flowers to shame, and her singing voice overflows in the heavens. She is one of the only people in the world who understands Nobunaga and his actions.

Tomokazu Sugita will play Leonardo da Vinci, the brilliant scientist of the Western Planet. He is a leading figure in the Renaissance that revived the legacy of the prehistoric civilizations such as the Ikusa Yoroi (Battle Armor).

The anime is a part of Kawamori's The Fool "multi-dimensional" project. The Fool project will host three stage productions between this December and next summer, starting with the Nobunaga The Fool play on December 8. The play combines original animation produced Satelight with live stage performances produced by Avex Live Creative. The project will have both onstage actors and a voice cast to embody characters. The project also includes an online novel.

Kazuki is also designing the characters for the play, and Thomas Romain (AKB0048, Basquash!, Senki Zesshō Symphogear) is contributing image art. Ryō Yoshimata is scoring the music after working on the live-action television period dramas Gō: Himetachi no Sengoku and Atsuhime.

The staff of the stage play describes the story:

The Western Planet and the Eastern Planet.

Once upon a time, the two sides were bound by the "Dragon Pulse" spanning the heavens.

The civilization that once had prospered has now turned to a tale of dreams, as the inextinguishable flames of war tear the realm asunder. The two planets remain engulfed in endless battles.

The return of the super technology known as "sacred treasures" could revolutionize the world order, but no one knows of them but one person — a "heretical girl."

A girl from the Western Planet, Jeanne Kaguya d'Arc, saw heavenly visions of the birth of a "Star Messiah" who will save the world. She embarks on a journey to the Eastern Planet With Leonardo da Vinci, "the one who observes the world." They come across the heretic of the Eastern Planet and "the greatest fool of the day," Oda Nobunaga.