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Crunchyroll to Simulcast Rio – Rainbow Gate! Anime
posted on by Egan Loo
The media distribution website Crunchyroll has confirmed on Monday that it will begin streaming the Rio - Rainbow Gate! television anime series "worldwide outside of Japan" this month. The anime features a casino dealer named Rio Rollins (Marina Inoue) who has starred in several pachi-slo (pachinko parlor slot machine) games from Net and Temco. The anime will premiere in Japan on Tuesday.
In the story, Rio is a popular casino dealer at the Howard Resort, an entertainment resort hotel where people from all over the world gather. She competes for the greatest honor among dealers — "Most Valuable Casino Dealer" (MVCD) — by collecting 13 legendary cards known as "Gates." "The Goddess of Winning" first appeared in 2003 in the Super Black Jack game franchise from the pachi-slo company Net, thanks to Net's collaboration with Tecmo (Dead or Alive) to create female characters. Rio's popularity led to several more games, including 2005's Rio Carnival, 2007's Rio Paradise, and 2009's Rio 2 -Cruising Vanadis-.
Paid Crunchyroll subscribers can watch the first episode beginning on Tuesday, while other user can begin watching next Tuesday. Crunchyroll lists the series as ending on March 22.
Update: More background information and promotional video added.
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