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Funimation to Stream Horimiya, Back Arrow, Wonder Egg Priority, Hortensia Saga Anime

Funimation announced on Monday that it will stream the Horimiya, Back Arrow, Wonder Egg Priority, Hortensia Saga anime as part of the winter 2021 season. All four anime will stream on Funimation in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland; on AnimeLab in Australia and New Zealand; and on Wakanim in France, Germany, and Scandinavian countries. Horimiya and Hortensia Saga will also stream on Wakanim in Russia.

Funimation will begin streaming the television anime of Daisuke Hagiwara's Horimiya manga on January 9. The anime will premiere in Japan on January 9 at 24:30 (effectively, January 10 at 12:30 a.m. or January 9 at 10:30 a.m. EST) on Tokyo MX, Tochigi TV, Gunma TV, and BS11. It will then air on MBS at 26:08.

Yen Press publishes the manga in English, and it describes the story:

At first glance, the ultra-popular Hori-san seems like a frivolous high school girl, but in reality, she's plain, pragmatic, and family-oriented. On the other hand, the bespectacled Miyamura-kun comes across as an average, gloomy high school fanboy, but he's actually an attractive young man who has a bad-boy streak and is covered in piercings and tattoos. When these two unexpectedly similar classmates have a random run-in outside of the classroom, a bubbly, sweet tale of school life begins!

Masashi Ishihama (PERSONA 5 the Animation, From the New World) is directing the series at Cloverworks. Takao Yoshioka (High School DxD, WATAMOTE) is in charge of series composition and the script. Haruko Iizuka (Ensemble Stars!, Children of the Whales) is designing the characters. Masaru Yokoyama (Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans, Queen's Blade: The Exiled Virgin) is composing the music. Asuka Yokota is serving as the color key artist, and Yasunao Moriyasu and Hisayo Usui are directing the art. Yūya Sakuma is the compositing director of photography, and Katsuaki Miyaji is directing the CG. Yoshiaki Kimura is editing, and Jin Aketagawa is directing the sound.

Funimation wilil begin streaming the Back Arrow television anime on January 8. The anime will premiere on Tokyo MX, Gunma TV, Tochigi TV, and BS11 on January 8 at 24:00 (effectively January 9 at 12:00 a.m.). The series will then debut on ABC TV on January 9 at 26:30 (effectively January 10 at 2:30 a.m. The anime will also stream on Abema. The series will run for two cours (quarters of a year).

The anime's website describes the story:

Ringarindo is a land surrounded by a wall. The wall covers, protects, cultivates, and nutures this land. The wall is god ... it is the foundation of this land of Ringarindo.

One day, a mysterious man named Back Arrow appears in Essha village on the outskirts of Ringarindo. Arrow lost his memories, but says that all he knows is, "I came from beyond the wall." To restore his memories, Arrow heads out beyond the wall, but is embroiled in a battle with himself as the stakes.

Director Goro Taniguchi (Code Geass) and writer Kazuki Nakashima (Promare, Gurren Lagann, Kill La Kill) are collaborating with Aniplex on the project. Studio VOLN is animating the series. Nakashima is not only credited for series composition, but he is also writing the scripts for every episode himself. Toshiyuki Kanno is adapting Shinobu Ohtaka's original character designs for animation and also serving as chief animation director. Kohei Tanaka is composing the music.

CloverWorks' original television anime Wonder Egg Priority will premiere on January 12 on NTV and Sapporo TV; on January 13 on BS NTV; on January 14 on Yamaguchi Broadcasting, Chukyo TV, Miyagi TV, and Fukuoka Broadcasting System; on January 16 on Nankai Broadcasting; on January 18 on Yomiuri TV and Nihonkai Telecasting; on January 20 on TV Kanazawa; and on January 22 on Aomori Broadcasting.

The anime's story begins when the protagonist, a 14-year-old girl named Ai Ohto, hears a mysterious voice while walking around town late at night. It gives her an egg, and beckons to her: "If you wish to change the future, you need only choose now. Now, believe in yourself, and smash the egg."

Scriptwriter Shinji Nojima is credited for the original work, and is also writing the scripts after penning such popular live-action series as KōKō Kyōshi (High School Teacher), Ie Naki Ko (Homeless Child), and Takane no Hana (Born To Be A Flower or Unattainable Flower). The project will be his first time writing for anime. Shin Wakabayashi (22/7: The Diary of Our Days, promotional video for Boku wa Robot Goshi no Kimi ni Koi wo Suru novels) is directing the anime at CloverWorks. Saki Takahashi (animation director on Her Blue Sky) is designing the characters, and also serving as the chief animation director. Hiroyuki Ueno (NTV) and Nobuhiro Nakayama (Aniplex) are the planning producers. Other staff members include taracod as concept artist, Yuta Yamazaki (Love Rice) as assistant director, Yusuke Kawakami as action director, Keisuke Kobayashi as core animator, Iori Hisatake as guest character designer, DE DE MOUSE and Clammbon bassist Mito as music composers. The four main voice actresses are performing the anime's main theme song under the unit name "Anemoneria."

The television anime adaptation of Sega's Hortensia Saga smartphone role-playing game will premiere in Japan on January 6.

Yasuto Nishikata (Killing Bites, The Seven Deadly Sins the Movie: Prisoners of the Sky) is directing the anime at Liden Films. Rintarou Ikeda (The Seven Deadly Sins: Wrath of the Gods, Magical Sempai) is overseeing the series scripts, Takayuki Onoda (animation director for Granblue Fantasy the Animation, The Seven Deadly Sins) is the character designer, and ZENTA is composing the music.

Sega launched the game for iOS and Android devices in April 2015. The player takes on the role of a young feudal lord who learns the hidden truth of the Kingdom of Hortensia through battles and encounters. The free-to-play game (with fees for certain in-game items) allows players to field up to five characters in a party comprising different classes with different abilities in battle. Combat consists of each party's characters standing in a 3x3 grid. Each class is able to attack and influence a different specific section of the grid.

Source: Funimation