A new show to join the Funimation streaming service lineup was announced on Thursday. The dubbing and streaming company announced that the Show By Rock!! Stars!! television anime will be a part of its anime lineup for the winter 2021 season. The anime is set to stream in a variety of countries and territories, with Funimation streaming in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland. Subsidiaries of Funimation, AnimeLab and Wakanim, will be streaming in Australia and New Zealand, as well as France, Russia, Germany, and Scandinavian countries respectively.
The series made its debut in Japan on the Tokyo MX on January 7th at 11:00 pm local time. The series also had premieres on multiple channels. It then debuted on the BS Fuji Channel on January 8th at 1:05 am and January 9th at 12:30 am on the Sun TV channel. The series is also set to broadcast on the local prefecture channel of Hokkaido Bunka Hoso, but at a later date not yet known.
The anime is part of the larger Show By Rock!! franchise and will feature a plethora of existing bands in the show’s universe. All previous cast members are reprising their respective roles for the cast of the new anime series.
Takahiro Ikezoe is returning to the series as his role as chief director. He will be assisted by Daigo Yamagishi, who previously directed episodes for the original Show By Rock!! series. The series is being produced at Kinema Citrus, known for Yuyushiiki and Tate no Yuusha no Narigari.
Multiple members of the staff are coming back from the previous Show By Rock!! anime. A couple recurring staff members are Touko Machida, who is handling the new series’ scripts, and animation director Tomokatsu Nagasaku, who is returning to design the new characters. Hiroki Yoshioka joins the series as CG producer and is in charge of a CG team with ENGI productions. Fumiyuki Go is returning from the previous series Show By Rock!! Mashumairesh!! as lead sound director and is being assisted by Pony Canyon, the company handling sound production for the series. Yasuharu Takanashi (Team-MAX), Funta7, and Akiya Suzuki (Team-MAX) are coming to the series for the anime’s soundtrack.
The first show in the Show By Rock!! franchise was the anime of the same name, which premiered in April 2015. Upon its success, Funimation picked up the series as it aired in Japan for simulcast. Funimation was also in charge of distribution rights for the home video release in December 2016. The franchise had a further series of short spin-offs titled Show By Rock!! Short!! This came to televisions and Funimation simulcast streaming in July 2016.
The first season was followed by a sequel the following year titled Show By Rock!!#, which premiered in October 2016. Both Crunchyroll and Funimation picked up the series to stream on their respective websites as it aired. The latest series, Show By Rock!! Mashumairesh!!, premiered in Japan on January 20th, with Funimation picking up the series again for simulcast. The franchise has inspired several stage production musicals as well.
Sanrio, the brand behind mega franchise Hello Kitty, began distributing the Show By Rock!! game developed by Geech for mobile devices in 2012. The hit smartphone game had a long-running lifespan, with Geech only discontinuing the game for IOS and Android in December 2019. Following this first mobile game, a brand new mobile game was announced, which was released for smartphone devices last March. The game is titled Show By Rock!! Fes A Live and is a rhythm game also developed by Geech. It boasts shiny new features, such as full, 2D-animated scenes and the return of old characters, with new characters joining the party as well.
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