4th Kingdom Anime Series Unveils Theme Song Artists, Main Visual

The official website for the Kingdom anime posted information on the theme songs and the main visual for the fourth anime series on Thursday.

Suiren, a musical unit that made its debut in summer of 2020, is performing the opening theme song "Rei -ray-". Haku, a singer-songwriter who debuted in December 2020, is performing the ending theme song "Genyō" (Dazzling).

The new series will depict the aftermath of the Coalition Army Arc and the largest battle in history, which tore a great gash across Qin as well as all of China. Ei Sei tells Prince Sei Kyou (Cheng Jiao) of his lifelong ambition: to become the ruler who unites China. Shin and Ei Sei take another step closer to that ambition upon a new battlefield in the next series.

The new series' teaser visual (pictured right) features Sei Kyou and the tagline, "I'm next." The visual debuted after the 26th and final episode of the third Kingdom anime series in October 2021.

The fourth series will premiere on NHK General on April 9 at 24:00 (effectively April 10 at 12:00 a.m.).

The returning cast includes:

Masakazu Morita as Shin

 

Jun Fukuyama as Ei Sei

 

Yoshimasa Hosoya as Ō Hon

 

Yasuhisa Hara's historical manga centers around the slave boy Xin and his dream of becoming a great general for the state of Qin. Xin helps Ying Zheng, the young Qin king who shares his desire to unify China, rise to power within the state. Xin does all he can to become a superior commander of an army capable of defeating the Seven Warring States.

The record-setting manga launched in Shueisha's Weekly Young Jump magazine in 2006. Hara said he is considering writing up to 100 volumes. A television anime adaptation premiered in 2012, and a second series premiered in 2013. Funimation streamed the series in North America and released both anime series on DVD in 2016.

The third anime series premiered on NHK General in April 2020. The anime's production committee announced later that month that it was delaying the broadcast of the series' episode 5 and later episodes due to the Japanese government's first state of emergency against COVID-19. The third series resumed airing on NHK General in April 2021. The anime restarted its airing from the first episode. Funimation streamed the anime as it aired in Japan.

The third series had a new production staff compared to the previous series.

The manga inspired a live-action film by Shinsuke Satō that opened in Japan on April 2019. Funimation began screening the film in theaters in the United States and Canada in August 2019. The sequel film Kingdom II: Harukanaru Daichi e (To Distant Lands) will open this summer.

The manga also inspired a smartphone game titled Kingdom Dash!! that launched in 2021.

Sources: Kingdom anime's website, Comic Natalie

The Eminence in Shadow Anime Announces Seven Shades' Cast Asami Seto, Inori Minase, Suzuko Mimori, Ai Fairouz, Hisako Kanemoto, Ayaka Asai, Reina Kondo join cast

The official website for the television anime of Daisuke Aizawa's The Eminence in Shadow (Kage no Jitsuryokusha ni Naritakute!) light novel series announced the cast members for the Seven Shades, the secret Shadow Garden organization's elite operatives, on Thursday.

Asami Seto as Alpha

Inori Minase as Beta

Suzuko Mimori as Ganma

Ai Fairouz as Delta

Hisako Kanemoto as Epsilon

Ayaka Asai as Zeta

Reina Kondo as Eta

Yen Press licensed both the light novels and the manga adaptation, and it describes the first volume:

Even in his past life, Cid's dream wasn't to become a protagonist or a final boss. He'd rather lie low as a minor character until it's prime time to reveal he's a mastermind...or at least, do the next best thing-pretend to be one! And now that he's been reborn into another world, he's ready to set the perfect conditions to live out his dreams to the fullest. Armed with his overactive imagination, Cid jokingly recruits members to his organization and makes up a whole backstory about an evil cult that they need to take down. Well, as luck would have it, these imaginary adversaries turn out to be the real deal-and everyone knows the truth but him!

THe previously announced main cast members are:

Seiichirō Yamashita as Cid Kagenou / Shadow

 

Kana Hanazawa as Alexia Midgar

 

Yōko Hikasa as Iris Midgar

 

Kazuya Nakanishi (chief animation director for Darwin's Game) is directing the anime at Nexus (Darwin's Game, Granbelm). Makoto Iino (Suppose a Kid From the Last Dungeon Boonies Moved to a Starter Town, Demon Lord, Retry!) is adapting Tōzai's original character designs for animation. Kanichi Katou (Black Clover, Those Snow White Notes) is overseeing the series scripts.

The anime will premiere in 2022.

Aizawa began serializing the story on the "Shōsetsuka ni Narō" (Let's Become Novelists) website in May 2018, and Kadokawa began publishing the story in physical volumes with art by Tōzai, beginning with the first volume in November 2018. Anri Sakano launched the manga adaptation in Kadokawa's Comp Ace magazine in December 2018. Seta U launched a spinoff manga titled Kage no Jitsuryokusha ni Naritakute! Shadow Gaiden (The Eminence in Shadow - Shadow Side Story) in Comp Ace in July 2019.

Sources: The Eminence in Shadow anime's website, Comic Natalie