Shopping Guide
Information was revealed regarding the new anime TERRAFORMARS at Nico Nico Cho Kaigi on April 26. Original author Yuu Sasuga, voice actors Joji Nakata and Chiaki Takahashi, and Tetsuro Satomi, producer of Lidenfilms, the studio undertaking the production of the anime, went on the Kickoff Stage in the Cho Anime Area and unveiled new information about the anime. Also, Good Smile Company established a target practise corner themed around TERRAFORMARS.
The anime TERRAFORMARS is based on the popular manga by the same title that is currently being serialized in Weekly Young Jump. Over 6 million copies of the eight volumes published so far have been sold (as of April 26), and it is enjoying enthusiastic support from fans.
The focus of this work is cockroaches. The stage is Mars in the year 2599. In order to make it a new residence for the continuously growing human race, 500 years prior, as part of a terraforming project, moss and cockroaches were sent to Mars in order to warm up its climate. Five hundred years later, the expedition landing on Mars finds itself faced with human-sized cockroaches (terraformars) that mutated in the harsh environment. The expeditions, although one-sidedly overrun, stand up to the fight using their newly acquired enhancement surgery in an effort to eliminate the overwhelming gap in war potential!
Also during the stage show on the Kickoff Stage, besides the main staff and the production studio, the cast of the OVA Bugs 2 Arc was announced before the TV anime adaptation, Annex I Arc.
Sitting in the director’s seat is Hamasaki, the talented director who also supervised the anime Steins;Gate. The producer, Satomi, made it clear that they would be making an adaptation truthful to the original work “with nothing added and nothing taken.” He also said they were obsessing about portraying the Terraformars. They were created with a combination of animation and CG after gathering an unrealistic amount of materials on cockroaches. Satomi also took part in the few months of selecting the extravagant voice acting cast. “Even though I put so much effort in choosing, some of the voice actors only have five minutes of screentime,” he said, revealing his heartache. Sasuga, who was also present on stage, appealed to the sense of security of those who haven’t read the manga yet: “Although it’s themed around cockroaches, real cockroaches aren’t portrayed that much.”
Meanwhile, at the Target Practice Corner established by Good Smile Company, they implemented a project where the characters of the original manga would be made into figures (Nendoroid scale figures) if the total number of hits by all the participants reached 5,000 and 10,000. The lines were long every day, giving a grasp of how vast the series’ fanbase is.
Also, the players got stamps on their stamp cards according to the number of terraformars defeated during the shooting practice, and in accordance with the number of stamps, they were presented with “Terraformars Original Tin Badges” (4 kinds in total, not for sale). It was also announced that the 18-centimeter figma of terraformar that was exhibited at the company’s booth would be released by Max Factory.
––Staff and Voice Cast––
Director: Hiroshi Hamasaki
Series Composition: Shogo Yasukawa
Main Character Design: Masanori Shino
Character Design: Satoshi Kimura
Assistant Director: Takaharu Ozaki
Animation Studio: Lidenfilms
––OVA Bugs 2 Arc Cast––
Komachi Shokichi: Hidenobu Kiuchi
Hiruma Ichiro: Tomokazu Sugita
Akita Nanao: Ayako Kawasumi
Thien: Tomohisa Hashizume
Donatello K. Davis: Rikiya Koyama
Zhang Ming-Ming: Ayahi Takagaki
God Lee: Kenjiro Tsuda
Maria Viren: Nana Mizuki
Victoria Wood: Ami Koshimizu
Honda Ko: Hiroshi Yanaka
Alexander Gustav Newton: Joji Nakata
––Original Work Trivia––
*TERRAFORMARS* was launched in synch with the first issue of Miracle Jump in 2011. In the same year, a non-serialized prequel was published in Weekly Young Jump, and in 2012, the serialization also moved there, and is continuing to enjoy popularity.
This is a Tokyo Otaku Mode original article.
