is a Japanese
superhero
A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...
anime
is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
television series
created and written by
Shō Aikawa, directed by
Seiji Mizushima
is a Japanese anime director who is known for such series as ''Shaman King'', ''Fullmetal Alchemist'', ''Mobile Suit Gundam 00'', ''Un-Go'', and ''Concrete Revolutio''. His first directorial film project, '' Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conque ...
, produced by
Bones
A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, an ...
, and featuring character designs by Yoshiyuki Ito. It began airing in Japan in October 2015.
A second season debuted on April 3, 2016.
Plot
In the year Apotheosis 41 (
AD 1962), Earth is currently home to superhumans and paranormal phenomena of all kinds, from aliens and magical girls to ghosts and transforming robots. However, official knowledge of these beings is officially kept under wraps by the governments of the world. The Japanese government has quietly set up the "Super Population Research Laboratory", the "Superhuman Bureau", to keep track of all superhuman beings in the country and eliminate them if they pose a threat to humanity. In the present, Bureau member Jiro Hitoyoshi finds himself recruiting new superhumans for the Bureau in the course of his job. However, five years later in Apotheosis 46, Jiro turns into a vigilante on the run from the Bureau while the rest of its members deal with the consequences of their earlier actions.
Characters
Superhuman Bureau
;
:
(Japanese),
Greg Ayres
Greg Ayres is an American voice actor who works on a number of English versions of Japanese anime series at ADV Films, Funimation and Sentai Filmworks. He voiced Hideki in ''Nerima Daikon Brothers'', Koyuki Tanaka in '' Beck: Mongolian Chop Squa ...
(English)
:The male protagonist of the series, the point-man of the Superhuman Bureau and the only real human of the group. He is an "ally of justice" and seeks to protect all superhumans, both heroes and villains. In episode 4, it is revealed that he has a superhuman ability himself: the ability to produce and control large crimson flames from his left arm. These flames tend to burn anything they come in contact with, though he tends to lose control over it. Jirō's left arm has white straps with red markings and three gears inside his arm, which can be unlocked to activate his power. Once the third gear is unlocked, he loses control of himself and goes berserk. Emi is the only one who can close up and seal the gears back into his arm, reverting him back to normal. He drives a silver-plated supercar that can transform into a quadrupedal mech named "Equus." Jirō is later revealed to be a Kaiju from another dimension, which is where his powers originate.
;,
:
(Japanese),
Jād Saxton
Jad Saxton (, born September 27) is an American voice actress and ADR Director who works for Funimation and Sentai Filmworks.
Early life
Her name is an acronym of her parents' names, Jimmi and David, and is pronounced "Jayd". She grew up with ...
(English)
:A magical girl with an interest in
manga
Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...
, especially for its fictional portrayals of magical girls. Ullr mentions that Kikko is actually a demon from another dimension who gains power by indirectly forming a sort of contract with those she saves. As a demon, she is a candidate to become the queen of the demon world and was sent to the human world in search of a husband. When she transforms into her magical girl form, her hair turns lavender and she wears an extravagant dress. Kikko uses a staff that is topped with a star ornament, although she can also use this staff while untransformed. In her devil realm outfit, Kikko is wearing full-on black with much less coverage. She wears a cape, unusual helmet that borders her face and uses a weapon called "Comet Tail" that seems to come out of Ullr's star. While in her devil form, her personality is ruthless and she is much more powerful. Kikko develops feeling for Jirō and is a rival to Emi for his affection.
;
:
(Japanese),
Anastasia Muñoz
Anastasia Muñoz is an American voice actress affiliated with Funimation. She has provided voices for a number of English-language versions of Japanese anime films and television series. Her major characters include Tobias in '' .hack//Quantum'', ...
(English)
:A half-human half-yōkai who has lived with Jirō since they were young and whose powers include controlling birds and shape-shifting. She is very protective of Jirō and has had feelings for him ever since they were young and once claimed to be his fiancée. She hates when Kikko gets close to him as she sees her as a rival for his affection. Emi wears a white and blue outlined coat. Underneath the coat, she wears a dark gray long-sleeved shirt with the sleeves coming up and cutting off at her knuckles. This is coupled with a cranberry pencil mini skirt and very high dark gray boots with heels and golden buttons. She is also the only one who can restore the locks holding Jirō's flames at bay without getting killed. Emi is also able to control spirit-like foxes that are able to follow and track people.
;
:
(Japanese),
Alison Viktorin
Alison Ruth Viktorin (née Retzloff; born February 1, 1981) is an American former voice actress who has worked with Funimation, her most notable role being Conan Edogawa in the detective series ''Case Closed''. She also voiced Kuroko Shirai in ''A ...
(English)
:A ghost who can change shape at will and phase through inorganic objects. He loves playing childish pranks on people, and is stuck forever with a child's body and personality. Jirō recommends him in joining the Superhuman Bureau.
;
:
(Japanese),
Christopher Bevins
Christopher Bevins is an American voice actor, ADR director and scriptwriter who has worked on English language adaptations of Japanese anime shows for Funimation and Bang Zoom! Entertainment. He dubbed roles in anime including Yasuhiro Hagakure ...
(English)
:Usually called "Mr. Jaguar", Yoshimura is a man from the 25th century who was sent by the Time Patrol to destroy the Advocates of Free History. His powers include transformation into a jaguar and stopping time using his pocket watch. He is also a genius physicist and created Equus. He decided that he could make the future better if he changed the past, thus leaving the Time Patrol and forming IQ.
;
:
(Japanese); Mark Stoddard (English)
;
:
(Japanese),
Ian Sinclair
Ian McCahon Sinclair (born 10 June 1929) is a former Australian politician who served as leader of the National Party from 1984 to 1989. He was a government minister under six prime ministers, and later Speaker of the House of Representative ...
(English)
:A formerly-human detective who was killed during a case, his personality was implanted in the body of an android by an unnamed scientist. Raito is the only detective in the
Tokyo Metropolitan Police
The serves as the prefectural police department of Tokyo Metropolis. Founded in 1874, it is headed by a Superintendent-General, who is appointed by the National Public Safety Commission, and approved by the Prime Minister.
The Tokyo Metro ...
who works on superhuman cases, though he finds himself stymied by the Superhuman Bureau as they cover up evidence.
;
: (Japanese),
Jason Douglas
Jason Douglas is an American film, television and voice actor, known as Tobin on AMC's '' The Walking Dead'', as the voice of Beerus in the anime film '' Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods ''and the series Dragon Ball Super, and Krieg in the video ...
(English)
:A professor who serves as the technical expert of the Superhuman Bureau. Though his knowledge is mainly in physics and robotics, he also has studied enough anthropology to deal with organic superhumans.
;
: (Japanese),
David Wald
David Wald is an American voice actor who voices in English dubs of Japanese anime. Some of his major roles include: Gajeel Redfox in ''Fairy Tail'', Hannes in '' Attack on Titan'', Bulat in ''Akame ga Kill!'', and Master Chief in ''Halo Legen ...
(English)
:Kikko's
Daruma-like assistant.
;
: (Japanese),
Orion Pitts
Orion Pitts (born March 18, 1980) is an American voice actor who provides voices for English versions of Japanese anime series. He is known for his anime roles as Hyakunosuke Ogata from ''Golden Kamuy'', Rintaro Kira from '' Kenka Bancho Otome: ...
(English)
:A chilled and clever man.
Superhumans
;
: (Japanese);
Anthony Bowling
Anthony Wesley Bowling is an American voice actor and director who has provided voices and directed for English-language versions of Japanese anime films and television series at Funimation. Some of his major roles include Ukyo in Samurai 7, Sh ...
(English)
:A police officer named Akira fuses with a crash-landed alien, Grosse Augen. He used the alien's power to fight giant monsters and outer space threats, while sharing his own life to ensure Augen's safety. However, when the Superhuman Bureau sees him as a threat due to his size, Hitoyoshi was sent to kill him but in reality he ordered Akira to give his life to Augen for the alien to leave this planet while taking an unconscious S Planeterian as a substitute, allowing him to fight as a superhero once again. In Apotheosis 46, he assisted Hitoyoshi after he was on the run from the Superhuman Bureau.
;
: (Japanese); Shawn Gann
(English)
:An alien invader and Grosse Augen's nemesis. He was defeated by Augen with the help of Equus. He was shrunken and rendered unconscious, allowing Akira to use his body while Augen return to his home planet. His body has blue markings, which changed to red when being possessed by Akira.
;
:A race of prehistoric bugs from the ancient years, they maintained their existence in the modern era and signed a contract with humanity to reside the forest. But after corrupted politicians ordered the deforestation of their homes, they sought vengeance until Fuurouta threw a canister of ancient virus which successfully halted their attack but endangered their race.
;
: (Japanese);
Monica Rial
Monica Jean Rial (born October 5, 1975) is an American voice actress and ADR script writer affiliated with Funimation and Seraphim Digital/Sentai Filmworks. She provides voices for English language versions of Japanese anime films and televisi ...
(English)
:The queen of the Tartarus Bugmen, one day she was caught by a bug salesman and offered for sale at Yen until Fuurouta rescued her. She is able to take a human form of a young girl, which later changed into an adult woman seven years later. She sparked an interest on Fuurouta and befriended him but after he killed the majority of the Bugmen, she tried to take revenge seven years later in Apotheosis 48, though Hiyotoshi's interference halted her assaults. Despite having ceased her vengeance, she is incapable of befriending Fuurouta due to his age and appearance.
Development
Bones
A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, an ...
first unveiled the project on 1 July 2015. The series is directed by
Seiji Mizushima
is a Japanese anime director who is known for such series as ''Shaman King'', ''Fullmetal Alchemist'', ''Mobile Suit Gundam 00'', ''Un-Go'', and ''Concrete Revolutio''. His first directorial film project, '' Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conque ...
and written by
Shō Aikawa.
Yoshiyuki Ito provides character designs and animation direction;
Noizi Ito
is a Japanese light novel and video game artist. She is employed by the H-game maker UNiSONSHIFT and is a part of the circle Fujitsubo-Machine. Unlike most romanized Japanese words and names, Noizi Ito's name uses the Kunrei-shiki romanization f ...
,
Hekiru Hikawa, and Ryō Hirao are in charge of character creation and concept design; and
Kanetake Ebikawa
is an anime mechanical designer from Japan.
Anime
* Blue Submarine No. 6 (1998, mechanical design, monitor graphics)
*Melty Lancer (1999, mechanical design)
* Gate Keepers (2000, monitor graphics)
*Vandread (2000, mechanical design)
* Vandread ...
, Takayuki Yanase, Toshiaki Ihara, and Hideyuki Matsumoto are in charge of SF concept design. Ken Ohtsuka is the series mechanical animation director, and Hiroki Matsumoto provides the series art design.
Masafumi Mima is the series' sound director.
Anime Consortium Japan co-produced the series.
Media
Manga
The manga has been licensed by
Seven Seas Entertainment
Seven Seas Entertainment is an American publishing company located in Los Angeles, California. It was originally dedicated to the publication of original English-language manga, but now publishes licensed manga and light novels from Japan, as we ...
.
Anime
The anime began airing on 4 October 2015,
to run for two cours (half a year),
airing on
Tokyo MX
JOMX-DTV, branded as Tokyo MX (officially stylized as TOKYO MX), is an independent television station in Tokyo, Japan, owned by the . It is the only television station that exclusively serves the city. It competes with Nippon TV, TV Asahi, NH ...
,
Sun TV,
KBS Kyoto
is a commercial broadcasting station headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It is doing business in Kyoto Prefecture as and in Shiga Prefecture as
Its radio station serves Kyoto and Shiga Prefectures and is a member of National Radio Network (NRN) ...
, and
BS11.
The series is
streamed
Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...
worldwide by
Daisuki,
and in North America by
Funimation
Crunchyroll, LLC, previously known as Funimation from 1994 to 2022, is an American entertainment company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony as a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex that specializes ...
. The opening theme song, , is performed by
ZAQ, and the closing theme song is performed by Yohske Yamamoto.
The second season premiered in April 2016.
Episode list
=Season 1
=
=Season 2
=
Manga
A
manga
Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...
adaptation with art by Nylon began serialization in the September 2015 issue of
Kadokawa Shoten
, formerly , is a Japanese publisher and division of Kadokawa Future Publishing based in Tokyo, Japan. It became an internal division of Kadokawa Corporation on October 1, 2013. Kadokawa publishes manga, light novels, manga anthology magazines su ...
's ''
Young Ace
is a monthly ''seinen'' manga magazine in Japan published by Kadokawa Shoten, started in 2009. A spin-off web manga magazine titled ''Young Ace UP'' began publication in December 2015.
Series ''Young Ace''
*''Akuma no Ikenie'' ('' Devil's Sacri ...
'' magazine.
Reception
Nick Creamer of
Anime News Network
Anime News Network (ANN) is a news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, video games, Japanese popular music and other related cultures within North America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The website offers reviews and oth ...
praised the show for its "rousing exploration of the nature of justice in the context of post-war Japan", but criticised the narrative for being confusing at times.
References
External links
*
*
* at ''
Young Ace
is a monthly ''seinen'' manga magazine in Japan published by Kadokawa Shoten, started in 2009. A spin-off web manga magazine titled ''Young Ace UP'' began publication in December 2015.
Series ''Young Ace''
*''Akuma no Ikenie'' ('' Devil's Sacri ...
''
*
{{Young Ace
2015 anime television series debuts
2016 anime television series debuts
Anime with original screenplays
Bones (studio)
Funimation
Films with screenplays by Gen Urobuchi
Films with screenplays by Shō Aikawa
Kadokawa Shoten manga
Seinen manga
Seven Seas Entertainment titles
Superheroes in anime and manga