Magic Knight Rayearth Unveils Four More Cast Members, Theme Songs and Half-Year Run
The new adaptation of CLAMP's manga premieres October 7 on TV Asahi's “IMAnimation W” block and affiliated channels.
Magic Knight Rayearth's second main trailer introduces songs by Toaka and Yurina Kawaguchi. The anime also announced four additional cast members and will air for two consecutive cours.
Sunday's KyoMAF special stage unveiled the second main promotional video and four more cast members for the new anime adapting CLAMP's Magic Knight Rayearth manga. The event also confirmed two consecutive cours, each a quarter-year, for a half-year run.
The anime premieres October 7 at 11:45 p.m. (10:45 a.m. EDT) in the “IMAnimation W” programming block on TV Asahi and affiliated channels.
The promotional video revealed and previewed Toaka's opening song, “Otome no Tsurugi” (A Young Lady's Sword), and Yurina Kawaguchi's ending song, “Hoshiakari” (Starlight).
The newly announced cast members are:
- Mamiko Noto as Alcione
- Ayumu Murase as Ascot
- Hitomi Ueda as Caldina
- Hiroki Yasumoto as Lafarga
The previously announced stars are:
- Ayane Sakura as Hikaru Shidō
- Rumi Ōkubo as Umi Ryūzaki
- Rie Takahashi as Fū Hōōji
- Saori Hayami as Emeraude
- Yūki Ono as Zagato
- Mika Kikuchi as Mokona
- Yūki Kaji as Clef
- Emiri Katō as Presea
- Yoshitsugu Matsuoka as Ferio
Yui Miura makes his series directing debut with the anime at E&H production. His previous work includes episode directing on Ninja Kamui and Bullet/Bullet. UNLIMITED PRODUCE by TMS is producing the project.
The main creative staff also includes:
- Series scripts: Shigeru Murakoshi (Zombie Land Saga, Ninja Kamui, Apocalypse Hotel)
- Character design: Satomi Watabe (Escha Chron, Aikatsu Friends!)
- Music: Yuki Kajiura, Takumi Ozawa and Shiho Terada
Additional staff members are:
- Assistant director: Takayuki Sano
- Chief animation director: Satomi Watabe
- Rune God design/Rune God mechanic director: Hiroki Mutaguchi
- Art director: Kazumaru Ando
- Color key artist: Chiho Nakamura
- 3D supervision: Tomohiko Kan
- Compositing director of photography: Hitoshi Tamura
- Editing: Keisuke Yanagi
- Sound director: Shūhei Abe
- Creative producer: Sunghoo Park
The story follows high school girls Hikaru, Umi and Fuu, who are magically transported to the fantasy world of Cephiro during a class trip to Tokyo Tower. The mage Clef immediately meets them and explains that their new surroundings are dying.
The priest Zagato has kidnapped Princess Emeraude, whose prayers sustain the world. Without her singing, Cephiro faces collapse. Granted magical powers as the Magic Knights, the three girls must learn to cooperate to survive and save Cephiro.
The manga previously received two television anime seasons. The first aired from October 1994 to March 1995; the second, Magic Knight Rayearth 2, ran from April to November 1995.
A three-episode original video anime followed in 1997 under the title Rayearth. It offered an alternate version of the story.
Media Blasters initially released the television anime in the United States on VHS and DVD. Discotek Media licensed it in 2014 and released a complete collection on DVD and Blu-ray Disc in 2017. That collection excluded the Rayearth OVA series.
Creative circle CLAMP serialized the six-volume Magic Knight Rayearth manga in Kodansha's Nakayoshi magazine from 1993 to 1996.
Sources: Press release via ANN
