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Gonzo to Animate Korean MMORPG Dungeon & Fighter (Update 2)

GONZO has announced the production of Slap Up Party: Arad Senki-, an anime adaptation of the massively multi-player online role-playing game (MMORPG) Arad Senki that is maintained by NHN Japan Corporation through the game portal Hangame. The anime was announced with a promotional video at the Hangame 2008 Natsu Matsuri (Summer Festival) event in Tokyo on Sunday. The side-scrolling action role-playing game (RPG) currently has 800,000 registered players in Japan. However, it was originally developed under the name Dungeon & Fighter in South Korea, where NHN Japan says it is the most popular action RPG.

The anime will follow the adventures of Baron, a man living on continent of Arad in the year 981 after "the cursed light of Kazan" has fallen across the land. Thanks to the curse, one of his arms has become possessed. After finding a sword that has been possessed by the spirit Roxy, he embarks on a quest to unravel the secret of the curse and meets various people who also join his party.

Takahiro Ikezoe (episode director on Red Garden, Xam'd: Lost Memories) will direct off the scripts that will be supervised by Kazuki Yamanobe (Fafner, Onegai My Melody). Tomokatsu Nagasaku (animation director on Red Garden, Xam'd: Lost Memories) is designing the characters. Gonzo and GK Entertainment are producing the project. As the character Baron, the voice actor Takashi Kondō (Scrapped Princess' Leopolde Scorpse) leads the cast that includes Sakura Nogawa (Ryunmei), Kenichi Suzumura (Kabenshisu), Ayumi Tsuji (Ixia), Takaya Kuroda (Jeda), Ryōtarō Okiayu (Irbek), Rie Tanaka (Hiria), Mitsuo Iwata (Harusen), and Akeno Watanabe (Roxy). Ikezoe, Kondo, Nogawa, and Tsuji appeared at Sunday's event to promote the anime.

Image © 2008 Neople/D&F Production Committee

Source: 4Gamer.net via Moon Phase

Update: Moon Phase Comments notes that the offical website has opened and revealed that the anime series will broadcast in 2009.

Update 2: Gonzo has informed ANN of a recent edit made to the Japanese 4Gamer.net article to clarify that Gonzo made the announcement, and not NHN Japan. The first sentence in ANN's article has been edited to reflect 4Gamer.net's change.