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Minarai Diva to Be First Anime Broadcasted 'Live' With MikuMikuDance

Japanese smartphone video streaming service NOTTV announced at its stage event at AnimeJapan 2014 on Sunday that Minarai Diva (Diva-in-Training), an anime series animated with the MikuMikuDance software and motion-capture technology, will begin airing this summer.

The staff promotes the show as the first ever live anime program. The lines and songs of the characters are being performed live, along with their movements through motion-capture technology. The staff explained that the program will be similar to radio.

Rie Murakawa will play Ruri Aoi (name literally means “blue lapis lazuli”; pictured above left), while Nozomi Yamamoto will play Ui Harune (above right). In addition, NTV emcee Hisanori Yoshida will voice a wolf version of himself. During the program, the two voice actresses will try to think up lyrics for a new song. As the program is live, they will even accept suggestions for lyrics from Twitter and email submissions.

Kōtarō Ishidate is directing, writing scripts, and planning the series, and Shingo Adachi (Servant × Service, Sword Art Online) is designing the characters. Yoshida will serve as executive producer, while Yaoyorozu's Yoshitada Fukuhara will produce the animation with assistant producer Yūsuke Tsuruoka. Junichi Inoue and Hajime (from LiLi) are composing the soundtrack. Murakawa and Yamamoto are singing and writing the theme song "Run Diva Run" with music by "Ghost Writer" — a tongue-in-cheek reference to the controversy of Mamoru Samuragochi.

The animator cort will serve as animation director, and Uri Uri, Rannou Kaneko, Sekken, Tantai, and Ahiru will animate the project. Rewo, POARO, Hime, and Akasaka are signed on as illustrators, and the artist mao is serving as designer. CG modeling is being done at studio Saboten, and DxL CREATION (Masatada Suzuki on production, producer Tadashi Nagamatsu, operator Shintarō Mukai) is handling the realtime CG. Satcchaso is in charge of choreography and will be used as the motion capture actor. Tōru Nakano is producing the sound at HALF H·P STUDIO with sound effects by Yoshiaki Tokunaga.