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Bikkuri-Men Anime Casts Hiro Shimono
posted on by Alex Mateo
The official website for Bikkuri-Men, Japan-based confectionery maker Lotte's new anime based on its Bikkuri-Man line of wafer snacks, revealed on Monday that Hiro Shimono is joining the cast as Manseira Type-II in the anime's third episode on Thursday. Manseira Type-II is the first person Yamato exchanged Bikkuri-Man stickers with.
The website also began streaming a special video of the opening theme song "Collection" by Dannie May with lyrics:
The anime's cast includes:
- Daishi Kajita as Yamato
- Shūta Morishima as Ushiwaka
- Tatsumaru Tachibana as Jack
- Sōma Saitō as Phoenix
- Yōhei Azakami as Hood
- Yuki Sakakihara as Peter
- Katsuyuki Konishi as Maris
- Yuichiro Umehara as Ippontsuri
- Mitsuhiro Ichiki as Shokoshi
- Atsushi Tamaru as Alibaba
- Yui Ogura as Cross
- Yū Kobayashi as Oasis
- Katsuhisa Houki as Khan
- Shinnosuke Tokudome as Takayan
Lotte is credited for the original work, and Shaman King manga creator Hiroyuki Takei is drafting the original characters and mechanic design.
Tomohiro Tsukimisato (How Clumsy you are, Miss Ueno, Anime Kapibarasan) is directing the anime at Shinei Animation and Lesprit. Yuniko Ayana (BanG Dream!, The Idolm@ster SideM) is in charge of series scripts, Ayano Ōwada (How Clumsy you are, Miss Ueno) is designing the characters, and Yasuhiro Misawa (Hinamatsuri, How Clumsy you are, Miss Ueno) is in charge of music. Dannie May performs the opening theme song "Collection," and the anime's cast including Daishi Kajita, Shūta Morishima, and Tatsumaru Tachibana perform the ending theme song "Seishun☆Whatcha Gonna Do."
The anime features characters who appear on the collectable stickers packaged with the snacks. The story is set in a world where the value of Bikkuri-Man stickers are so high that they have to be transported in a cash transport vehicle. There was also the famous robbery case one year ago, called the "300 million Bikkuri-Man sticker case." One day, a high-school delivery part-timer named Yamato gets involved in a battle over stickers between two competing convenience stores. The Angel Mart owned by the Phoenix store manager is famous for its easy-to-use glitter stickers. The Devil Store across the street also tries to attract Bikkuri-Man fans to their store. Former comrades are divided into allies and foes, and the battle of destiny begins.
The anime's announcement coincided with "Bikkuri-Man Day" in Japan on April 1. Bikkuri-Man snacks became a huge success in Japan since their 1977 launch, and they have inspired various tie-ins, including five television anime and two films. The original Bikkuri-Man television anime premiered in 1987.
Sources: Bikkuri-Men anime's website, Mainichi Shimbun's Mantan Web
