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Crunchyroll Streams Nekogami Yaoyorozu, Usagi Drop, R-15 (Updated)

The media distribution site Crunchyroll is currently listing Cat God (Nekogami Yaoyorozu) and Usagi Drop on its lineup page as two more titles it will be simulcasting for the summer season.

In Nekogami Yaoyorozu, director Hiroaki Sakurai (Cromartie High School, Di Gi Charat) and the studio AIC are adapting FLIPFLOPs' Nekogami Yaoyorozu "neighborhood deity comedy" manga of the same name.

The story follows a cat goddess (nekogami) named Mayu-sama (Haruka Tomatsu) who lives at Yaoyorozu-dō, an antique shop run by Yuzu Komiya (Yui Horie). Unexpected visitors in the form of other goddesses stop by the antique shop.

Cat God will premiere on Crunchyroll on Friday, July 8 at 8:00 p.m. EDT. The anime will be available worldwide except for Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Macau, Taiwan, Andorra, Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Monaco, and Switzerland.

On Friday, Crunchyroll posted an Usagi Drop banner on its site.

In Usagi Drop, 30-year-old bachelor Daikichi (Hiroshi Tsuchida) discovers a little girl named Rin (Ayu Matsuura) in his grandfather's garden while at his grandfather's funeral. Rin is the unwanted 6-year-old daughter of Daikichi's grandfather, and Daikichi decides to take her in when no one in the family accepts the responsibility.

The Bunny Drop manga, by Yumi Unita, began in 2006. The title was nominated for this year's Eisner Awards. A live-action film version will open in Japan on August 20 with director Sabu, lead actor Ken'ichi Matsuyama (Death Note, Detroit Metal City, Gantz), and lead actress Mana Ashida.

The anime will premiere in Fuji TV's Noitamina block on Thursday, July 7 at 24:25 (effectively Friday, July 8 at 12:45 a.m.). It will premiere on Crunchyroll on Thursday, July 7 at 12:30 p.m. EDT. It will be available on Crunchyroll in the United States, Canada, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Iceland, Netherlands, Brazil and Portugal.

Crunchyroll already announced at its Anime Expo panel on Saturday that it will stream Natsume Yūjin-Chō San, Yuruyuri, and Kamisama Dolls this summer, along with 13 other continuing titles.

Update: Areas where simulcasts are available listed, more background information added.

Update 2: Crunchyroll also announced that it will simulcast R-15. The simulcast will be available in North and South America, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Africa and the Middle East.

The anime, based on Hiroyuki Fushimi and Takuya Fujima's light novel series, centers around Taketo Akutagawa, a student with a secret: he is a talented pornographic novelist with a newspaper-serialized work. He enrolls in a school that only accepts geniuses, and risque trouble ensues there.

Munenori Nawa (D.C.S.S. ~Da Capo Second Season~, Kiss×sis, Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu) is directing off scripts supervised by Sumio Uetake (Angel Heart, Burn-Up Scramble, Destiny of the Shrine Maiden) at the studio AIC. R-15♡, the group composed of the main voice actresses, is performing the opening theme song "Maji Yaba Mōsō Love" and the ending theme "Hirameki! Peace (≧▽≦)v." The anime will premiere in Japan on July 9.

Niconico.com, the international English version of the popular Japanese video website Nico Nico Douga, is listing that it will also stream the show, starting on July 9.