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Blood Lad's Kodama, 428's Kitajima Preview Hamatora Anime in 2nd Video

Avex began streaming the second promotional video for the television anime of Hamatora, the "super-powered mystery x battle entertainment" mixed-media project, on Thursday. The video features the opening theme song "Flat" by Livetune featuring Yūki Ozaki (from Galileo Galilei). It begins with the character Koneko announcing that a client is coming for a case.

The story revolves around "Minimum" or "minor miracle"— special hereditary powers discovered only in an extremely limited number of humans. Those who possess such powers are known as "Minimum Holders."

Partners Nice and Murasaki form a detective agency called "Hamatora" in Yokohama in 2014 — but their "office" is a table at Cafe Nowhere where they and their friends wait for clients. An old acquaintance of theirs, a cop named Art, hires them for a serial murder case he is investigating, and they discover that the murder victims are all "Minimum Holders." As Minimum Holders themselves, Nice and Murasaki are drawn into this case, whether they like it or not.

The cast members include:

Ryota Ohsaka (Blood Lad) plays Nice, the independent-thinking partner in the "Hamatora" detective agency

Wataru Hatano (The Unlimited - Hyōbu Kyōsuke) plays Murasaki, Hamatora's empathetic partner

Emiri Katō (Pretty Rhythm Rainbow Live) plays Hajime, the amnesiac girl who eats a lot and often

Hiroshi Kamiya (Sayonara Zetsubō Sensei) plays Art, the cop who has known the Hamatora detectives from way back

Kiyono Yasuno (The Severing Crime Edge) plays Koneko, a go-between for the Hamatora detective agency

Jun Fukuyama plays Birthday, the carefree handyman in Yokohama

Yūichi Nakamura plays Ratio, the doctor who helps out on the handyman business

Eri Kitamura plays Honey, the brilliant scientist

Katsuki Murase plays Three, the kind "beast" who protects Honey

Atsushi Ono plays Master, the owner of the Cafe Nowhere where the Hamatora agency meets

Yousuke Akimoto plays Gasuke, a cop and Art's subordinate

Takuya Eguchi plays Mao, an underworld information broker who lives in Chinatown

Nobuhiko Okamoto plays Seo, a high school student who takes a certain case to Hamatora

Ayaka Ōhashi plays Rei, a high school student and Seo's childhood friend

The project is a collaboration between chief director Seiji Kishi (Danganronpa, Persona 4 The Animation, Angel Beats!), project composition writer Yukinori Kitajima (428 ~Fūsa Sareta Shibuya de~, Senran Kagura, Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney) and original character designer Yūki Kodama (Blood Lad manga). Touko Machida (The IDOLM@STER) and Jun Kumagai (Persona 4 scripts) are in charge of the anime series scripts, while Fantasista Utamaro is in charge of color art direction. Makoto Yoshimori (Durarara!!) is scoring the music at DIVE II Entertainment. Yū Wazu is adapting Kodama's designs at the relatively new anime studio NAZ (Take Your Way, assistance on Danganronpa and Devil Survivor 2). Hiroshi Kimura (Haitai Nanafa, Recorder and Randsell) is directing.

The series will premiere on TV Tokyo on January 7 at 25:40 (effectively January 8 at 1:40 a.m.). In addition to the anime, Kitajima and Kodama launched the manga in the 51st issue of Shueisha's Young Jump magazine on November 21. A video game "and more" will then follow.

Images © Café Nowhere/Hamatora Production Committee