Interest
Original Shaman King Anime Director Comments on Anime-Original Material
posted on by Kim Morrissy
Seiji Mizushima, director of the original 2001 Shaman King television anime, recently commented on his involvement in the series after the new television anime released a promotional video. Although he is not involved in the new anime, he tweeted that he is looking forward to the new anime because he can see the progress of digital technologies, even as it captures the feel of the original anime.
In a later tweet, Mizushima went on: "With the series getting a new anime 20 years later, I think it would have been really cool for a veteran director to take up the helm again. That said, I think it's absolutely great how the staff is new, and how the voice cast and sound team are linked to the previous anime! It seems that this anime will adapt the entire manga, so I'm looking forward to seeing the new Shaman King through director Furuta's hand!"
Finally, Mizushima commented a little on some of his own experiences with the original anime, revealing that the anime-original material in the latter half of the show "wasn't something I did on my own accord," but that it was a request from Shueisha. He also mentions that it was a similar case for the 2003 Fullmetal Alchemist anime that he also directed, emphasizing that he wasn't simply changing the story to suit his own whims.
Jōji Furuta (The Seven Deadly Sins: Revival of The Commandments, Uta no Prince Sama Maji Love Kingdom, Double Decker! Doug & Kirill, ēlDLIVE) is directing the new anime scheduled at Bridge (Fairy Tail, The Royal Tutor). Shoji Yonemura (Pokémon franchise, Wave, Listen to Me!) is in charge of the series scripts. Satohiko Sano (Heybot!, Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-kun, Talentless Nana) is designing the characters. Yuki Hayashi (My Hero Academia, Haikyu!!) is composing the music, with King Record as the music producer.
Yōko Hikasa plays protagonist Yoh Asakura in the new series. Katsuyuki Konishi, Megumi Hayashibara, and Minami Takayama are all reprising their respective roles from the 2001 anime version as Amidamaru, Anna Kyōyama, and Hao Asakur, respectively. As in the previous series, Masafumi Mima is the audio director.
The anime will premiere on TV Tokyo and its affiliates in April 2021, and will adapt all 35 volumes of the manga's new complete edition, which Kodansha started publishing in print volumes in Japan on June 17. The first anime adaptation of Hiroyuki Takei's Shaman King manga premiered in 2001 and was directed by Seiji Mizushima at Xebec.
Shaman King debuted in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine in 1998. The series abruptly ended in 2004, although a reprinting of the manga revealed a "true ending" in 2009. Viz Media published 32 volumes of the original Shaman King manga from 2003 to 2011, but it no longer holds the license to the manga. Japanese publisher Kodansha is now listed as the trademark owner for "Shaman King" in Japan, Europe, and the United States. Shueisha originally held the rights to the manga in Japan.
