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Francesca: Girls Be Ambitious TV Anime Project Green-Lit

A flyer passed out at the AnimeJapan 2014 event on Saturday announced that a television anime titled Francesca: Girls Be Ambitious featuring the moe personification of Japan's Hokkaido area has been green-lit, and will air on the Hokkaido Bunka Hōsō TV station in July. The project's official website was also updated.

The cast will feature:

Yui Makino (Sketchbook ~full color'S~'s Hazuki, Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE's Sakura) as Francesca, the heroine of the story. She's an "undead idol" who's a little spacey, but has a lot of energy. Francesca is a zombie girl with a big appetite, and her favorite foods are dishes from Hokkaido.
Although she can separate her body parts from each other, she is very clumsy, so she often puts them back in the wrong places.
Asami Tano (Smile Precure!'s Cure Sunny, Toriko's Rin) as Exorcist, a girl who is always chasing after Francesca and always gets the short end of the stick because she does so. As Francesca does not pay attention to her much, she is unhappy, but considers the zombie idol her rival. However, she has problems dealing with Francesca's dog, Franken.

The website is also streaming a promotional video for the project. The video features the song "Hungry Zombie Francesca!! Club Mix" by Yui Makino, and previews the Francesca MMD module, which is available to download for free:

In addition to the anime, Francesca will also be getting her own line of sweets, such as sweet bean buns and pudding. Updates will be made on the franchise's official Facebook page.

The "local moe character" Francesca was created in 2012 to help promote Hokkaido. A Sapporo-based taxi company had used Francesca at the end of last year in its "Ita Taxi" (a pun on the word itasha or decorated car) campaign. Francesca has her own Twitter, Facebook, and Google+ accounts, and is also inspiring merchandise and an Android app.