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Shikizakura Sci-Fi Battle Anime Reveals New Cast Member, October 9 Premiere

The official website for Chukyo TV and Sublimation's original "near-future science-fiction battle action" anime Shikizakura announced on Friday that the series will premiere on October 9. The series also cast actor Jirō Satō (Mary and The Witch's Flower, live-action Gintama) as a middle-aged hardcore fan. The anime's official YouTube channel streamed a 30-second commercial narrated by Sato.

Sato is from Kasugai City in Aichi Prefecture, which is in the Tōkai region where the anime takes place.

The anime will premiere on October 9 on Chukyo TV at 1:55 a.m. JST (effectively, October 10). The series will also air on NTV, Akita Broadcasting System, Fukuoka Broadcasting Corporation, Kumamoto Kemnin TV, and BS Nippon TV. Hulu will also stream each episode in Japan the day after broadcast, followed by other services four days later.

The first episode of the anime debuted on the Anime Expo Lite online event on July 4. Anime Expo describes the anime:

In the place of Shikizakura (cherry trees), where autumn leaves and cherry blossoms are flourishing and where the human world intersects with the demon world, a ritual to save the human world is about to begin…

Kakeru Miwa, a high school student, gets involved in a battle between powered suits and oni that emerge from the demon world to prey on Onis manifest themselves in this world by possessing humans. Only “Yoroi,” powered suit that is a fusion of ancient secrets and cutting-edge technology, can protect people from onis. Kakeru puts on a Yoroi by chance and becomes a semi-official member of a team that fights against onis.

Determined to become a hero, Kakeru battles Onis to protect Ouka Myojin, the shrine maiden destined to save the world. In the season of Shikizakura, in midst of autumn leaves and a flurry of cherry petals, Ouka performs a dance as a shrine maiden. At the place where the past and the future, this world and the alien world, people's thoughts and hopes all meet, a tale of heroic action-adventure begins!

The anime is set in the Tōkai region, and most of the series' main staff members are based in the area. Shin'ya Sugai (Walking Meat) is directing the anime at Sublimation (Love Live! Sunshine!!, Ghost in the Shell Arise, Yamato 2202 CG animation), with Tomoyasu Nishimura (Maria the Virgin Witch, Moribito - Guardian of the Spirit) as producer. Both Sugai and Nishimura are board members of Sublimation. Ryōga Inoue (K&K Design) is credited for character designs, and Manabu Nakatake (Sket Dance) is designing those characters for animation. Takumi Saitou is credited as both composer and sound director.

Asuka will perform the opening theme song "Believe Myself," and May'n will perform the anime's ending theme song "Shikizakura."

The Shikizakura anime is set in the Tōkai region, and most of the series' main staff members are based in the area. The other staff members include:

• CGI Director: Makoto Satō, Yū Satō
• Art Director: Toshihiko Kojima (Plantago Games)
• Color Design: Hironori Nochi
• Director of Photography: Tadaaki Yamazaki (Studio Hibari)
• Editing: Manabu Kamino (Sony PCL)
• Casting: TYK Promotion

Aside from Chukyo TV, the production committee also includes Sublimation, Tamakoshi, Nakanihon Kōgyō, and K&K Design. The companies are all based in the Nagoya area. Sublimation established its Nagoya studio in 2017.

TYK Promotion, which is based in Nagoya, Aichi, held auditions for new voice actors for the anime's seven main characters. The staff also held an audition for an English-speaking role in the anime at Anime Expo in July 2019. The anime's main staff judged the audition.

Source: Shikizakura anime's website, Comic Natalie