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New Akuma Kun Anime Series Reveals Fall Netflix Premiere

The official Twitter account for the Kitarō Tanjō: Gegege no Nazo (Kintarō Birth: The Mystery of Gegege) anime film revealed on Wednesday that the upcoming anime series project of Shigeru Mizuki's Akuma Kun manga will debut on Netflix simultaneously worldwide this fall.

Netflix describes the story:

Akuma Kun is the story of a boy trying create a society where humanity realizes it's true potential and lives happily, with the help of some unlikely allies

The new anime's story is set over three decades after the earlier 1989-1990 anime's story. Yūko Mita and Toshio Furukawa are returning from the previous anime to voice Akuma I / Shingo Umoregi and Mephisto II, respectively. Furukawa will also play Mephisto III. Yūki Kaji will voice the protagonist, Akuma II / Ichirō Umoregi.

The anime is part of four "big projects" commemorating the 100-year anniversary of Shigeru Mizuki's birth. Mizuki passed away in 2015 at 93 years old. Another project is the Kitarō Tanjō: Gegege no Nazo (Kintarō Birth: The Mystery of Gegege) anime film, which will also open this fall.

Junichi Satō (Aria franchise, Sailor Moon) is the Akuma Kun anime project's chief director, while Fumitoshi Oizaki (A Centaur's Life, Romeo × Juliet) is the series director. Sato previously directed Akuma-kun TV anime and its two films in 1989-1990.Hiroshi Ohnogi (2018 Gegege no Kitarō, Noein - to your other self) is overseeing the series scripts.

The manga previously inspired a television anime in 1989-1990. Two anime films premiered in 1989 and 1990. The new anime is the first new one in 33 years. The manga also inspired several live-action adaptations.

Mizuki drew the original manga in 1963-1964, and he drew several other series in the franchise in the 1970s and 1980s. The manga follows the titular "Akuma-kun," a boy who uses the powers of demons to help the world stay at peace.

Sources: Kitarō Tanjō: Gegege no Nazo anime film's Twitter account, Mainichi Shimbun's Mantan Web