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BanG Dream! Project Reveals 8 More Band Cast Members

The staff of the BanG Dream! mixed-media project announced at the "BanG Dream! Girls Band Party!" event on Friday eight more cast members for the Hello, Happy World! and Pastel*Palettes bands. The new cast members, along with the previously revealed cast members for the bands' lead singers Kokoro Tsurumaki and Aya Maruyama, are as follows:

(from left to right in image above)

• Yuri Yoshida as Hagumi Kitazawa, Hello, Happy World! bassist
• Moe Toyota as Kanon Matsubara, Hello, Happy World! drummer
• Miku Itō as Kokoro Tsurumaki, Hello, Happy World! vocalist
• Tomoyo Kurosawa as Michelle/Misaki Okusawa, Hello, Happy World! DJ
• Azusa Tadokoro as Kaoru Seta, Hello, Happy World! guitarist

(from left to right in image above)

• Sumire Uesaka as Chisato Shirasagi, Pastel*Palettes bassist
• Ikumi Nakagami as Maya Yamato, Pastel*Palettes drummer
• Ami Maeshima as Aya Maruyama, Pastel*Palettes vocalist
• Sawako Hata as Eve Wakamiya, Pastel*Palettes keyboardist
• Ari Ozawa as Hina Hikawa, Pastel*Palettes guitarist

Bushiroad launched the BanG Dream! multimedia project in January 2015, and the company formed the Poppin' Party band for the project in February 2015. The band's members consist of voice actresses who portray the characters in the story, and they play the same instruments as their characters. The cast includes:

• Aimi as Kasumi Toyama on guitar and vocals
• Aya Saitō as Arisa Ichigaya on keyboard
• Rimi Nishimoto as Rimi Ushigome on bass
• Sae Ootsuka as Tae Hanazono on lead guitar
• Ayaka Ōhashi as Saaya Yamabuki on drums

Sentai Filmworks has licensed the television series for digital and home video releases, and it describes the story:

When she was a child, Kasumi Toyama (played by Poppin' Party's lead singer, Aimi) felt a heart-pounding thrill every time she gazed at the stars, and she's been looking without success for something that could inspire the same feeling ever since. One day, she comes across a star-shaped guitar in a rundown pawnshop and, for the first time, discovers the thrill she's been searching for. Kasumi becomes determined to form an all-girl band, and her search leads her to four like-minded souls: Saya, Arisa, Rimi, and Tae (all brought to life by the members of Poppin' Party). Does this band have what it takes to make their dreams of stardom come true?

Bushiroad and OLM's joint anime brand ISSEN is credited with the original work, and is also handling animation production alongside XEBEC. Novelist Kō Nakamura is credited with the original story, and Hitowa designed the original characters. Atsushi Ootsuki (Wagnaria!!2, To Love Ru: Darkness, Argevollen) is directing the anime, and Yuniko Ayana (Locodol, Girls Beyond the Wasteland, Hello!! KINMOZA) is handling the series composition. Matsuko Nitta is adapting Hitowa's characters for animation, and Noriyasu Agematsu and Junpei Fujita from Elements Garden are producing the music.

The 13-episode television series premiered in Japan on the Abema TV streaming service on January 21 at 10:00 p.m., and it also runs on the Tokyo MX, Sun TV, KBS Kyoto, AT-X, TV Aichi, Teletama, BS11, BS Fuji, tvk, and Miyagi TV channels. Anime Network Online is streaming the anime into several countries as it airs in Japan.

[Via Nijipoi]