Satelight's Sacks&Guns!! Sci-Fi Anime Casts Yoshimasa Hosoya

The official website for Sacks&Guns!!, Satelight's anime of Nekotarō Inui's Sakugan Labyrinth Marker (Drilling Labyrinth Marker) novel, revealed on Thursday that the series has cast Yoshimasa Hosoya as Melо̄lo, a staff member of the "Control Bureau" that manages the colony. He has extensive on-hand knowledge and refined manners that are the exact opposite of Gagamba, who warily refers to him as a "that preening ikemen."

The series will have a live-streamed "Super Dig Festival" special on April 24 during the Niconico Net Chōkaigi 2021 event with Yoshimasa Hosoya, Kanon Amane (voice of Memenpu), and Hiroki Touchi (voice of Gagamba) in attendance.

The anime was delayed to 2021 from its originally slated 2020 broadcast.

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 Memenpu and her father Gagamba board a two-person work robot and mine for ore. They eke a living as the lowest of lowest "Worker" occupations.

One day, Memenpu begs her father Gagamba 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.

Gagamba decides he cannot hold back the ever-curious Memenpu 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 Memenpu. 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 Gagamba, a father who is no good at anything

Kana Hanazawa as Zackletu, a mysterious woman tracking Memenpu and Gaganbaa

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

Hikaru Midorikawa (character role not yet announced)

Minami Tsuda (character role not yet announced)

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 Pinyin, where the father Gagamba and his daughter Memenpu — 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.