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Futari H's New Original Video Anime to Star Yūichi Nakamura

The June issue of Hakusensha's Young Animal Arashi magazine is revealing the main cast and staff of the new video anime series for Aki Katsu's Futari H (Manga Sutra) manga on Friday.

Tetsuro Amino (Macross 7, Broken Blade, Shiki) is directing and storyboarding the anime off of scripts by Kazuki Yamanobe (Fafner, Onegai My Melody, Potemayo) at Production Reed. Toshihide Masudate (Strike Witches, Elf Princess Rane) is serving as both chief animation director and character designer.

The series will feature the following cast:

Yūichi Nakamura as Makoto Onoda
Chiwa Saito as Rika Kawada
Sarah Emi Bridcutt as Narrator
Akari Harashima as Rui Tsutsumi
Iori Nomizu as Miyuki Kikuchi

Yura Onoda's actress will be announced at a later date.

The new anime, which is the first new anime for the franchise in 12 years, will have three volumes and will tell an all-new original story. The first episode will be titled "Futari no First Christmas" (Our First Christmas). The story will revolve around Makoto and Yura's First Christmas together after they have gotten married and had sex for the first time.

The second episode is titled "Toaru Joshi Gakusei no Second Impression" (The Second Impression of A Certain Female Student), and the third episode is titled "Totsuzen Office de Third Love" (A Sudden Third Love in the Office).

The new video anime is slated to debut this fall.

Katsu (Psychic Academy, The Vision of Escaflowne) has been drawing Manga Sutra, which describes itself as a "love bible" or a "user's manual" for people in love, in Young Animal and Young Animal Arashi since 1997. The manga has sold 24 million copies so far.

Tokyopop published Katsu's The Vision of Escaflowne, Psychic Academy, and Manga Sutra in North America before closing its doors in 2011. Media Blasters licensed and released the 2002 OVAs on DVD in North America under the title Step Up Love Story.

A third live-action film based on the manga shipped on home video in Japan in 2012.