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Crunchyroll Adds Gunma-chan Mascot Anime

Crunchyroll announced on Monday that it has added the first episode of the television anime based on Gunma Prefecture's mascot character Gunma-chan. It will stream the anime in North America, Central America, South America, Europe, Africa, Oceania, the Middle East, the Commonwealth of Independent States, and India.

The anime premiered on Tokyo MX, TV Kanagawa, TV Saitama, Chiba TV, Gunma TV, Tochigi TV, Sun TV, and KBS Kyoto in October 2021. The first season had 39 episodes with each episode running for seven minutes, and it aired on television three episodes at a time (similarly to how the Sazae-san anime airs). The final episode aired in December 2021. The anime will get a second season that will premiere in April. The main cast and main staff will return for the second season at the studio Ascension.

Mitsuru Hongo (Ascendance of a Bookworm, Outlaw Star, World Trigger, Deltora Quest) directed and wrote the anime at Ascension (Dino Girl Gauko). Karin Takahashi voiced the titular protagonist Gunma-chan. Aya Uchida and Yui Ogura voiced Gunma-chan's friends Aoma and Mimi.

The current pony mascot debuted as the "Yūma-chan" mascot for a sports competition in 1994, and became the prefecture's Gunma-chan mascot in 2008. It replaced an earlier Gunma-chan design that the prefecture used since the 1980s.

Source: Crunchyroll (Joseph Luster)