Horizon on the Middle of Nowhere in October; Friends: Mononoke Shima no Naki in December
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Bandai's Lantis label began streaming a new 64-second promotional video for Manabu Ono and Sunrise's Kyōkai Senjō no Horizon (Horizon on the Middle of Nowhere) anime on the Nico Nico Douga and YouTube websites on Saturday. This new video reveals the cast for the anime:
Jun Fukuyama as Tōri Aoi
Minori Chihara as Horizon Ariadust/P-01s
Miyuki Sawashiro as Masazumi Honda
Chiwa Saito as Kimi Aoi
Ami Koshimizu as Tomo Asama
Marina Inoue as Neito Mitotsudaira
Minoru Kawakami's school fantasy light novel series is set in a distant future when Japan is divided into feudal territories and conquered by other countries. There is a floating city named Musashi that is composed of eight ships in the skies. A war that will determine the fate of the world will be fought by students on the Musashi. The anime will premiere in October.
The official website for Friends: Mononoke Shima no Naki (Friends: Naki of Monster Island), a 3D computer-animated film written and directed by the live-action Space Battleship Yamato film's Takashi Yamazaki, is now streaming a trailer for the film. The trailer can be accessed by clicking the bottom-right-most link (ムービー) above the orange "12.17" text.
The film will star Shingo Kotori, of the Japanese boy band SMAP, and Kouichi Yamadera, a veteran voice actor who played Cowboy Bebop's Spike and Evangelion's Kaji, as two oni (ogres) named Naki and Gunjō who stumble upon a human child and must figure out how to deal with him.
Sadao Abe (Ikebukuro West Gate Park, Maiko Haaaan!!!) plays Gōyan, a supernatural creature tied to the gōya (bitter melon). Seishirō Katō (You Are Umasou, Nintama Rantaro) plays Konaki, which is Naki in his early childhood. The actress You plays a feline supernatural creature named Mikke. The one-man computer-animaton studio FROGMAN (Himitsu Kessha Taka no Tsume/Eagle Talon franchise, Keihin Kazoku) also stars.
The film will open in Japan on December 17.