Sakugan Anime Reveals Hikaru Midorikawa's Character

The official website for Sakugan (Sacks&Guns!!), Satelight's anime of Nekotarō Inui's Sakugan Labyrinth Marker (Drilling Labyrinth Marker) novel, revealed on Sunday that previously announced cast member Hikaru Midorikawa will play Rufus, Gagumber's former colleague who used to travel around Labyrinth together with Gagumber before Memempu was born.

The anime was delayed to 2021 from its originally slated 2020 broadcast. The show will now debut this fall.

The novel's description on the Everystar website reads:

The distant future, long after the Western calendar is no longer used.

Humans live shoulder-to-shoulder, cramped in the "Labyrinth," an underground world deep below the surface.

There are many colonies where people live in the underground Labyrinth. The place is known for extreme high temperatures, but also for lodes of gold, silver, and other riches.

In one of the colonies named Pin-in, a curious nine-year-old girl named Memempu and her father Gagumber board a two-person work robot and mine for ore. They eke a living as the lowest of lowest "Worker" occupations.

One day, Memempu begs her father Gagumber to set out as Markers — those who chart the innards of the Labyrinth as a spelunker — to search for her mother who left their home.

If they encounter a "mysterious giant creature" lurking in the caves, the survival rate is less than 5%. Since discovering an unknown world is dangerous work, "maps" hold great value in the world of Labyrinth and fetch high prices on the market.

A Marker is the most dangerous, but also the most lucrative, job.

Gagumber decides he cannot hold back the ever-curious Memempu from going off on her own countless times, and finally gives in. The two embark on a journey together in the work robot.

However, the "cost" of curiosity …

The "truth" they finally uncovered …

This is a father and daughter's epic journey with the theme of family love.

The anime's cast includes:

Kanon Amane as the heroine Memempu. 1,400 people applied in the auditions for the heroine role, including 300 professional applicants and 1,100 amateur applicants. 10 judges chose Amane, a college student, from among seven finalists.

Hiroki Touchi as Gagumber, a father who is no good at anything

Kana Hanazawa as Zackletu, a mysterious woman tracking Memempu and Gagumber

Toshiyuki Toyonaga as Yuri, a cunning hacker in a youth gang

Yoshimasa Hosoya as Merooro, a staff member of the "Control Bureau" that manages the colony

Minami Tsuda as Linda, a childhood friend and older sister figure for Memempu. Together with her father Walsh, they make a living as Markers.

Jun'ichi Wada (WorldEnd, Caligula) is directing and supervising the series scripting at Satelight. Yuji Iwahara (King of Thorn, Darker than Black, Dimension W) drafted the the original character designs, and Shunpei Mochizuki adapted them for animation.

Kazuma Kōda (Pokémon, NieR, NieR: Automata) is credited with conceptual designs, and Shoji Kawamori designed the kaijū concepts. Studio No Border's Stanislas Brunet (Macross Delta) is the mechanical designer. Yūri Shibamura (Marginal Operation) was previously credited for scenario cooperation. Eriko Kimura is the sound director at Tohokushinsha Film Corporation.

Masaaki Endoh will perform the opening theme song "Kо̄kotsu Labyrinth" ("Enchanted Labyrinth"), and Thai YouTuber MindaRyn will perform the ending theme song "Shine."

The visual below depicts the underground colony of Pin-in, where the father Gagumber and his daughter Memempu — the story's protagonists — live.

Project Anima accepted story submissions from the general public through DeNA's MangaBox, Everystar, and similar user-submitted content platforms. DeNA, Sotsu Co., Ltd., Nippon Cultural Broadcasting, and MBS hosted competitions in three categories. Inui's Sakugan Labyrinth Marker novel was the runner-up in the "Science-Fiction/Robot" category. (The judges did not award the novel a grand prize.) The contest also had an "Alternate World/Fantasy" and "Kids/Game" categories.