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America's Cartoon Network to Run Blue Dragon This Spring
posted on by Egan Loo
The North American anime distributor Viz Media has announced that America's Cartoon Network will run the Blue Dragon fantasy adventure anime series this spring. The anime's American television premiere will follow its April 2007 Japanese broadcast premiere by only a year.
The story centers on Shu, a boy whose village faces another attack from a longtime mysterious enemy. While trying to fend off the attack, Shu and his two friends, Jiro and Kluke, gain the ability to emanate monsters from their own shadows. With his Blue Dragon Shadow monster, Shu seeks to defend his home from the enemy.
Director Yukihiro Matsushita (Maria-sama ga Miteru, Zipang) and Studio Pierrot (Bleach, Naruto) based the anime on the Xbox 360 role-playing game of the same name. The game features Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi, Dragon Ball creator and Dragon Quest designer Akira Toriyama, and Final Fantasy music composer Nobuo Uematsu. For the anime version, Tsuneo Ninomiya (Maple Town Stories, Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie) adapted Toriyama's designs and Megumi Oohashi (Mobile Suit Gundam MS IGLOO, The Third: The Girl with the Blue Eye) expanded upon Uematsu's music. Viz Media began releasing the loosely related Ral Ω Grad manga from writer Tsuneo Takano and artist Takeshi Obata (Death Note, Hikaru no Go) this month.
