Hieda voices Makoto Mitsuki in series debuting in April
The official website for Kujima: Why Sing, When You Can Warble?, the anime based on Akira Konno’s Kujima Utaeba Ie Hororo manga, revealed one new cast member on Friday.
Nene Hieda as Makoto Mitsuki, Arata’s childhood friend with a bright and caring personality. She goes to a private middle school that is different from Arata’s middle school, and so they have not been able to meet as often.
Image via Kujima: Why Sing, When You Can Warble? anime’s X/Twitter account
©紺野アキラ／小学館／クジマ製作委員会
Image via Kujima: Why Sing, When You Can Warble? anime’s X/Twitter account
©紺野アキラ／小学館／クジマ製作委員会
The series will debut in April and will air on Tokyo MX, MBS, BS-TBS, and AT-X. The series will also stream in Japan on U-NEXT and Anime Hōdai. Crunchyroll will stream the anime as it airs.
The anime will star:
Noriyuki Nomata (episode director for Assassination Classroom, Carole & Tuesday, The Case Study of Vanitas) is directing the anime at Studio Hibari. Shinichiro Kimura (A Little Snow Fairy Sugar, Venus Versus Virus) is the series director. Yasunori Yamada (Venus Versus Virus, Motto To Love Ru) is overseeing the series scripts, Sakurako Mitsuhashi (animation director for Hula Fulla Dance, My Happy Marriage) is designing the characters, and Manami Kakudō is composing the music.
The “bird(?) home comedy” manga’s story starts when first-year middle school student Arata Kouda meets a mysterious bird-looking creature named Kujima in autumn. Hungry and craving Japanese food, Kujima ends up staying with the Kouda family at their house, where the atmosphere is tense because of Akira’s older brother who failed the college entrance exam. Kujima lives with the Kouda family until winter passes and warm spring arrives.
Konno launched the manga in Shogakukan’s Monthly Shonen Sunday magazine in September 2021. The series ended in April 2024. Shogakukan published the manga’s first compiled book volume in April 2022, and the fifth and final volume in May 2024.
The manga was nominated in the print category of the eighth “Next Manga Awards” (Tsugi ni Kuru Manga Taishō) in 2022. The manga was also included in the top 20 list of manga for male readers in the 2023 edition of Takarajimasha’s Kono Manga ga Sugoi! (This Manga Is Amazing!) guidebook.
Sources: Kujima: Why Sing, When You Can Warble? anime’s website, Comic Natalie
