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The Eccentric Family 2 Anime Reveals Theme Song Artists, New Cast, Staff, Visual

P.A. Works announced the theme song artists, more cast members, more staff members, premiere date, and a new main visual for The Eccentric Family 2 (Uchōten Kazoku 2) sequel anime series at the "Tanuki Gathering At The Forest Of Tadasu" event in Kyoto on Thursday.

The anime will premiere on April 9, and will air on Tokyo MX, KBS Kyoto, and Kitanihon Broadcasting. The anime will stream in Japan on Docomo Anime Store.

The new cast members include:

• Junji Majima as Junior
• Yōko Hikasa as Gyokuran
• Yūichi Nakamura as Kureichiro
• Bin Shimada as Tenmanya

The event also revealed the following returning cast members:

• Kikuko Inoue as Mother (Tosen)
• Hideyuki Umezu as Akadama
• Shūya Nishiji as Kinkaku
• Kosuke Hatakeyama as Ginkaku
• Ayane Sakura as Kaisei
• Takehiko Higuchi as Professor Yodogawa

milktub and fhána will return to the franchise to perform the anime's theme songs. milktub will perform the opening theme song "Nasugamama, Sawagumama," and fhána will perform the ending theme song "Moon River."

The previously revealed main returning cast includes:

• Takahiro Sakurai as Yasaburō Shimogamo, the third son of the family
• Junichi Suwabe as Yaichirō Shimogamo, the eldest son of the family
• Hiroyuki Yoshino as Yajirō Shimogamo, the second son of the family
• Mai Nakahara as Yashirō Shimogamo, the youngest son of the family
• Mamiko Noto as Benten, the bewitchingly beautiful woman

The anime is P.A. Works' first sequel series. The first season's main staff members are returning for the sequel. Masayuki Yoshihara is directing the series at P.A. Works, Kōji Kumeta (Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei, Kakushigoto) is designing the characters, and Lantis is handling the music production. Additionally, Kousuke Kawazura is adapting Kumeta's designs for animation and is serving as animation director, and Yūsuke Takeda and Harumi Okamoto are serving as art directors.

The event also revealed that Ryō Higaki is returning from the first season to write the series. Additional staff members include:

• Compositing Director: Satoshi Namiki
• Color Design: Katsue Inoue
• 3D Director: Kōhei Ogawa
• Editing: Ayumu Takahashi
• Sound Director: Jin Aketagawa
• Music: Yoshiaki Fujisawa

The 2013 anime adapted the original novel of the same name by Tomihiko Morimi (The Tatami Galaxy). The comedy drama is set in Kyoto, where tanuki (shape-shifting raccoon-dogs), tengu (long-nosed goblins of Japanese folklore), and humans intermingle. The story follows the tanuki Shimogamo Yasaburō, the third son of the Shimogamo family who live in the Tadasu no Mori forest of Shimogamo Shrine. One day, Yasaburō's father is eaten as a hot pot by human members of a group known as the "Friday Club." As Yasaburō takes care of his teacher, an old tengu, fights with other tanuki, and plays with a psychic human girl, Yasaburō approaches the truth about his father's death.

Gentosha published Morimi's original Uchōten Kazoku novel in 2010, and then published a sequel novel titled Uchōten Kazoku Nidaime No Kicho in 2015. The original novel has sold more than 360,000 copies. The Eccentric Family 2 is based on the second novel volume.

Images © Tomihiko Morimi, GENTOSHA / Uchoten-Kazoku 2 Committee