News
Phantasy Star Online 2 Anime Commercial Debuts
posted on by Karen Ressler
Japanese television network CBC aired a commercial for Phantasy Star Online 2: The Animation, the television anime of Sega's Phantasy Star Online 2 (PSO2) role-playing game. The video features Shōta Aoi's theme song "Zessei Stargate" (Unrivaled Stargate).
The series will premiere on the TBS station on Thursday, January 7 at 1:46 a.m., and then run on the CBC, MBS, and BS-TBS channels. A special pre-broadcast talk show with Aoi, the director, and the producers will screen the first episode at Tokyo's Theatre Shinjuku on December 29. The "Zessei Stargate" CD single will go on sale on February 3.
The Phantasy Star Online 2: The Animation series will have a completely original story, and the story will follow PSO2 players "who may be near you" on Earth in the near future.
The show will star:
Ayaka Suwa (Assassination Classroom's Tōka Yada, Yowamushi Pedal's Miki Kanzaki) as Rina Izumi
M.A.O (School-Live!'s Yūri, Durarara!!×2 Shō's Vorona) as Aika Suzuki
Takuya Satō as Masaya Kudō
Rie Murakawa as Mika Konoe
Aki Kanada as Yutaka Sasaki
Shun Horie as Seiya Urisaka
Minami Kabayama as Mayu Urisaka
Tesshô Genda as SORO
Katsuyuki Konishi as Last Samurai
Emi Nitta as Silva
Kazuhiko Inoue as Kid
Hiroki Takahashi as Mamoru Monzen
Halko Momoi, Atsuko Enomoto, Ichitarō Ai as guest characters
Marika Kōno as Marika
Riko Kohara as Riko
Keiichiro Kawaguchi (Hayate the Combat Butler, Psychic Squad, Sket Dance) is directing the series at Telecom Animation Film. Mitsutaka Hirota (The Prince of Tennis II, X-Men, Persona 4 The Animation) is writing and overseeing the scripts, and Minoko Takasu (O-jii-san no Lamp, key animator for Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood) is designing the characters.
The anime will be the eighth project to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the Phantasy Star Online franchise.
Sega released the free-to-play Phantasy Star Online 2 role-playing game for Windows PC in Japan in 2012, followed by a PlayStation Vita release in 2013, and an Android and iOS release in April and May 2014, respectively. The game has more than 3.5 million registered users. The game is heading to PlayStation 4 in spring 2016.
The game inspired the "Phantasy Star Online 2-ON STAGE-" stage play in December 2014.
Thanks to Kagayaki for the embedded video.
