Shaman King's Hiroyuki Takei Designs Short Net Anime Mecha Samurai
TV Tokyo announced on Monday that it is collaborating with the short net anime production company Plott to produce Mecha Samurai, a new short anime that will stream on YouTube and other online services starting in November. Shaman King creator Hiroyuki Takei drafted the anime's original main character designs. The anime's website also opened on Monday and started streaming a teaser video, and announced the anime's cast members.
The anime's "unorthodox samurai action" story is set in present-day Japan, where "Yōkai" (the Japanese term consists of the kanji for "ghost" and "machine"), or mechanical ghosts that appear from the "Demon Gate" from another dimension, have begun to attack and threaten humans. A young man named Chiaki Kuzumi, who fights as a samurai, battles the "Yōkai" with a katana imbued with the very power of the mechanical ghosts.
The anime will star:
Kentarō Mashiro as Chiaki Kuzumi, a young man chosen by the legendary katana "Benitora" as its wielder.
Riona Yamashita as Sana Fujimiya, a high-energy gamer girl from the prestigious Fujimiya family, who wields the "Tsukutsuku Denden" katana. Sana's katana gives her the ability to command "Tsukumogami," the spirit that dwells in household appliances.
Ayumu Mizukami as Kiyoharu Obana, a die hard money grubber who will not work for free. He wields the gun-shaped katana "Murakumo."
Ayumu Mizukami as Kaoru Rindō, a special instructor who teaches Chiaki and the others at a samurai training institute
Masaaki Mizunaka will also voice a character in the anime.
The creative studio TO2KYO2 is handling the graphic designs.
The anime will start streaming vertical shorts on November 2 on its YouTube, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and TikTok accounts. The first pre-season episode will stream on YouTube on November 20, and the main series will stream in spring next year. This is TV Tokyo's first anime production that is based on streaming and social media distribution.
Plott is known for producing web anime shorts such as the adaptation of Torinosasami.'s Teikō Penguin manga, and Konketsu no Karekore (Karekore of Mixed Blood), the adaptation of Momota Inoue's Karekore manga. Plott recently launched on YouTube a new short anime titled Rakuraku Hanten on September 18. Plott also launched the first episode of Tengu Tōsen (Tengu Demon Sword Fight), a short anime project it is producing with Bandai Namco Entertainment, on YouTube on July 24.
The company previously produced the Anti-Hero Generations short anime adaptation based on Keita Uehara's "Anti-Hero Generations" manga submission in 2022, which won the company's first "New Generation YouTube Manga Award" in 2021.
Plott recently announced its plan to produce over-the-air television anime next year, starting with three short anime series.
The company garners over 900 million monthly views across all its channels on YouTube, has over 14 million total subscribers, and its total number of views has exceeded 24 billion.
Sources: Mecha Samurai anime's website, Mainichi Shimbun's Mantan Web, PR Times
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