Futsal Boys!!!!! TV Anime Reveals New Visual, January 9 Premiere
The official website for Bandai Namco Arts, Bandai Namco Entertainment, and diomedéa's Futsal Boys!!!!! multimedia project revealed the second key visual for the anime on Wednesday. The website also revealed that the show will premiere on January 9 on Tokyo MX, and then on January 11 on BS11 and MBS. The anime will also stream on Abema.
Yukina Hiiro (Hitorijime My Hero, 100 Sleeping Princes and the Kingdom of Dreams: The Animation) is directing the anime at diomedéa, and Shoji Yonemura (script for Fairy Tail, Pokémon, Digimon Fusion) is overseeing the series scripts. R.O.N. (FLCL Alternative, FLCL Progressive) is composing the music. Takao Sakuma will perform the opening theme song "Bravemaker, and STEREO DIVE FOUNDATION will perform the ending theme song.
Mao Marita is credited with the original work. The project features original character design artwork from illustrators Mizuki Kawashita (Koyo Academy), Utako Yukihiro (Adalbert Academy), Tanaka Marumero (also known as Ogeretsu Tanaka; Momomi High School), Ruka Urumiya/Sata/Shirano (Amanogawa Academy), and Lily Hoshino (Okazan Academy) for each of the high school teams. Tomomi Ishikawa (PERSONA 5 the Animation) is adapting those artwork into the final character designs.
The franchise's story is set in a world over a decade after futsal has skyrocketed in global popularity. Protagonist Haru Yamato watches the championship of the U-18 world cup and is inspired by a Japanese player named Tokinari Tennōji. He joins the Koyo Academy High School's futsal team with the goal of becoming a player like Tennōji. There, he finds friends, and together they face their rivals.
The previously announced cast of the project includes:
- Ryōta Takara as Haru Yamato
- Shūto Ishimori as Seiichiro Sakaki
- Kohei Yoshiwara as Toi Tsukioka
- Ryōtarō Yamaguchi as Tsubaki Yukinaga
- Kazuki Furuta as Ryu Nagumo
- Yasunao Sakai as Taiga Amakado
- Hiromu Mineta as Louis Kashiragi
- Yūya Arai as Shin Yuki
- Satoru Murakami as Takumi Kuga
- Junpei Baba as Kaito Kazanin
- Naoya Miyase as Sei Kyogoku
- Tomoya Yamamoto as Tomoe Futaba
- Kazuki Ura as Kyōsuke Aiba
- Keita Tada as Rio Hanamura
- Takao Sakuma as Nozomi Kōmori
- Mizuki Chiba as Natsuki Sogō
- Minato Kamimura as Yukimaru Kurama
- TAKA as Ren Kiryu
- Nobuaki Oka as Shun Shirakawa
- Shōichirō Ōmi as Togo Tachibana
- Ayato Morinaga as Ayato Imazono
- Takeru Kikuchi as Asa Minase
- Takuya Tsuda as Soya Akiduki
- Keito Okuyama as Ao Asahina
- Yoshitsugu Kawashima as Tokinari Tennoji
- Sousuke Shimokawa as Ryutaro Sera
- Takahide Ishii as Ryosuke Minase
- Ryōsuke Kozuka as Emilio Garcia
- Tsubasa Kizu as Saku Hasumi
The project includes an anime, a smartphone game app, and actual futsal matches between the cast members, with the results of the matches affecting the story of the anime and game app. Futsal is a variant of football similar to soccer, but played indoors.
The project's smartphone game launched on November 9.
Sources: Futsal Boys!!!!! project's website, Comic Natalie