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Kaina of the Great Snow Sea: Star Sage Anime Film Sequel's Trailer Reveals Yorushika Theme Song

The official website for Kaina of the Great Snow Sea (Ōyukiumi no Kaina), the television anime from BLAME! and Knights of Sidonia collaborators Tsutomu Nihei and Polygon Pictures, unveiled a new trailer and visual on Friday for the Kaina of the Great Snow Sea: Star Sage (Ōyukiumi no Kaina: Hoshi no Kenja), film sequel. The trailer reveals and previews the film's theme song "Gekkōyoku" (Bathing in Moonlight) by yorushika.

The film will open in Japan on October 13. Anime Expo hosted the film's United States premiere on July 2, and there will be an advance screening with the cast at Tokyo's TOHO Cinemas Shinjuku on October 8.

Natsuki Hanae plays Byōzan, a new character in the film who aims to destroy the Orbital Spire Trees.

The television anime premiered in Fuji TV's Ultra+ block in Japan on January 12. The anime also airs on Kansai TV, Tokai TV, TV Nishinippon, Hokkaido Cultural Broadcasting Co., Ltd., and BS Fuji. The television series ended on Wednesday. Crunchyroll is streaming the anime outside Asia. Crunchyroll hosted the anime's world premiere of the first four episodes at Crunchyroll Expo on August 6.

The "boy-meets-girl high fantasy" is set in a world where land is being swallowed by the encroaching Great Snow Sea. Humanity ekes out a harsh life above the Canopy (Tenmaku, a wordplay on the Japanese word for tent) that stretches from the roots to the tops of giant Orbital Spire Trees. The story centers around Kaina, a boy who lives above the Canopy, and Liliha, the princess of the small country Atland in the Great Snow Sea.

The main cast members are:

• Yoshimasa Hosoya as Kaina
• Rie Takahashi as Liliha
• Ayumu Murase as Yaona
• Maaya Sakamoto as Amerote
• Katsuyuki Onishi as Olinoga
• Tomokazu Sugita as Ngaboji
• Nobuyuki Hiyama as Handagil
• Kenyuu Horiuchi as Halesola

Hiroaki Ando (Ajin, Listeners) is directing the anime, and Sadayuki Murai (Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters, Juni Taisen: Zodiac War, Natsume's Book of Friends) and Tetsuya Yamada (episodes of Knights of Sidonia, Juni Taisen: Zodiac War) are writing the scripts. The anime commemorates Polygon Pictures' 40th anniversary.

The manga version of the story launched in Kodansha's Monthly Shonen Sirius magazine in February 2022. Crunchyroll is offering the manga outside Asia. Nihei is credited with the original story, and Itoe Takemoto (The Beast Player novel illustrator and manga artist) is drawing the manga.

Sources: Kaina of the Great Snow Sea anime's website, Comic Natalie