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Crunchyroll Simulcasts Maebashi Witches, Apocalypse Hotel, More Anime in India

Crunchyroll announced on Thursday that it will exclusively simulcast the following anime titles in India:

• The Maebashi Witches original television anime will stream on April 6.
• The second season for the television anime of Asato Mizu's Aharen-san wa Hakarenai (Aharen Is Indecipherable) romantic comedy manga will stream on April 7 and later get an English dub.
• CyberAgent and its Cygames Pictures subsidiary's Apocalypse Hotel original television anime will stream on April 8.
• The television anime of Yashiro's Reincarnated as a Neglected Noble: Raising My Baby Brother With Memories From My Past Life (Shiro Buta Kizoku desu ga Zense no Kioku ga Haeta node Hiyoko na Otōto Sodatemasu) light novel series will stream on April 20.

Maebashi Witches will premiere on April 6 on the Tokyo MX channel at 10:30 p.m. JST, then on BS11 at 24:30 JST (effectively, April 7 at 12:30 a.m.). The anime will air on Gunma TV on April 11 at 11:30 p.m. JST.

The anime's story, set in Maebashi city in Gunma Prefecture, is about the coming-of-age of five high school girls. First year high school student Yuina Akagi lives an ordinary but unsatisfying everyday life. One day, a mysterious frog named Keroppe scouts her and four other girls to become the "Maebashi Witches." Suddenly, a room closet is connected to a mysterious space that brings the girls to a magical flower shop where they sing, dance, and make other people's wishes come true.

Sunrise is credited for the anime's original work. Junichi Yamamoto (Why Raeliana Ended Up at the Duke's Mansion, Anyway, I'm Falling in Love with You) is directing the anime at Bandai Namco Filmworks and PROJECT MBW, and Erika Yoshida (Bocchi the Rock!, Tower of God both seasons) is in charge of series scripts. Nozomi Tachibana (Kemono Jihen) is designing the characters based on Yū Inami's original character designs. Yoshiki Imazu is in charge of "witchverse designs," and Yuri Habuka is composing the music.

The five main characters collectively known as the Maebashi Witches will perform the opening theme song "Sugosugi Maebashi Witches!" (Super Amazing Maebashi Witches!). Producer Tsunku (insert song composition, lyrics for Precure All Stars New Stage 2: Kokoro no Tomodachi film) wrote the opening theme song's lyrics, and TORIENA composed the song. Maebashi Witches will also perform the ending theme song "Sorezore no Door" (Each Door). Haruka Kumoi wrote the lyrics and composed the song, and Yūki Kishida arranged the song.

The second season of Aharen-san wa Hakarenai will debut on Tokyo MX on April 7 at 10:00 p.m., before airing on BS11 later that evening. The show will debut on MBS on April 8 and on AT-X on April 10, and will stream on more than 15 streaming services in Japan.

Iori Saeki will voice the character Henzan-sensei in the new season. She is a rookie teacher who has dreamed of becoming a passionate teacher since she watched a drama as a child.

Inori Minase and Takuma Terashima reprise their roles as Reina Aharen and Raidō, respectively. Nao Tōyama will voice Riku Tamanaha. ZUTOMAYO performs the opening theme song "Binetsuma." shallm performs the ending theme song "Twilight."

Yasutaka Yamamoto (Servant × Service, Valkyria Chronicles) returns as chief director, along with Tomoe Makino (Woodpecker Detective's Office) as the director at Felix Film. Takao Yoshioka (High School DxD, I'm Standing on 1,000,000 Lives., Sekirei, WATAMOTE) is again in charge of the series scripts, and is also writing them with Kotsukotsu and Masanao Akahoshi. Yūko Yahiro (Diabolik Lovers, Kaguya-sama: Love is War, Katana Maidens: Toji no Miko) is designing the characters.

Tomoko Iwasa returns as a chief animation director with Yumiko Ishii and Saori Yamamoto. The Chinese streaming service bilibili is presenting the project.

The first season of the anime aired in April 2022.

Mizu launched the manga on Shonen Jump+ in January 2017. The series ended in April 2023.

The teen romantic comedy follows the "indecipherable" daily life of short, quiet Reina Aharen and Raidō who sits next to her in class. Aharen is not so good at gauging the distance between people (or personal boundaries), and Raidō initially sensed some distance between the two of them. Then one day, when Raidō picked up the eraser that Aharen had dropped, the distance between them suddenly became uncomfortably close. From "way too distant" to "way too close" ... Aharen is simply unpredictable.

Saho Shirasu plays the protagonist Yachiyo, the hotel manager robot of the Ginzarō hotel.

Kana Shundo (episode director for Saga of Tanya the Evil, Princess Connect! Re:Dive, Luminous Witches) is directing the anime at Cygames Pictures. As previously announced, manga creator Izumi Takemoto (Teke Teke My Heart, Garden Shimai) is designing the characters. Natsuki Yokoyama is designing the characters for animation. Shigeru Murakoshi (Ninja Kamui, Zombie Land Saga, I Parry Everything) is in charge of the series scripts. Yoshiaki Fujisawa is composing the music.

The anime is set in a solitary hotel in Tokyo's Ginza district in a time when society has collapsed and humanity has disappeared, and nature has begun to reclaim most of the land. Ther anime centers on Yachiyo, a hotel management robot who continues to manage the Ginzarō hotel in Ginza alongside other robots, despite the lack of guests. Together, they continue to maintain the hotel while awaiting the return of its owners and guests.

The anime will have a spinoff manga titled Apocalypse Hotel Pusupusu (Apocalypse Hotel Sputtering) that will launch in Takeshobo's Storia Dash manga website in April. Izumi Takemoto, the anime's original character designer, is drawing the manga.

Cygames Pictures' latest original anime production was Masami Ōbari's Brave Bang Bravern!, which premiered in January 2024. The studio is also producing the Uma Musume: Cinderella Gray, based on Taiyo Kuzumi's manga, itself based on Cygames' Uma Musume Pretty Derby franchise.

Masafumi Satō (Denki-Gai, Drug Store in Another World - The Slow Life of a Cheat Pharmacist, A Salad Bowl of Eccentrics) is directing the anime at Studio Comet. Mitsutaka Hirota (Rent-A-Girlfriend, Bibliophile Princess, Tonbo!) is in charge of the series scripts. Tomoko Miyakawa (Jewelpet, Fairy Ranmaru, Sweet Reincarnation) is designing the characters. Arisa Okehazama is composing the music.

The novels' story centers on Ageha, a five-year-old obese child and the eldest son of a count in a corrupt but powerful country. Ageha was born with his memories of his previous life as a Japanese man intact. Ageha meets his half-brother Regulus, and discovers that Regulus will grow up to kill him over the right to inherit the title. Ageha accepts his future and decides to raise his younger brother.

Yashiro launched the ongoing light novel series on the Shōsetsuka ni Narō website in August 2018. TO Books published the novels' first volume with illustration by keepout in January 2020. TO Books released the 13th volume on January 15.

Source: Press release