While we do get a few of these every year, there’s something exciting about a potentially big project being announced without any real knowledge of it beforehand with just weeks before it premiers. That helps to keep it fresh and interesting without months – or years – of speculation in some cases. We got a good bit of information through the main site for M3 – That Black Steel that opened last week with cast, staff and the key visual, and now they’ve put out a new minute long promo for it that highlights the opening theme song.
The series is coming from Satelight and we knew that it had a pretty interesting core trio that are designing the project. Junichi Sato is directing based on the scrpits by Mari Okada and mechanical designs by Shoji Kawamori. They’re working with Hideki Inoue who is adaptating the character designs from Onigusnso’s original designs while Takatoshi Hamano is doing sound direction. Hajime Sakita is doing the soundtrack and it’s been revealed that May’n will be doing the opening theme. With news that Flying Dog is handling the music, we expect a lot of promotional pieces coming out for this.
The series is scheduled to debut on April 21st, 2014, as one of the later new series of the season.
Cast:
Tetsuya Kakihara as Minashi Maki
Kotori Koiwai as Sasame Izuriha
Tsugumi (cast member not announced yet)
Yoshitsugu Matsuoka as Akashi Saginuma
Kasane (cast member not announced yet)
Yōko Hikasa as Emiru Hazaki
Kairi (cast member not announced yet)
Ayumu Murase as Heito Isaku
Susaki (cast member not announced yet)
Sayuri Yahagi as Raika Kasumi
Tomoaki Maeno as Iwato Namito
Misato Fukuen as Maamu Yuzuki
Plot concept: There is distorted, deep blackness everywhere.
That place, in which blackness swallowed everything and took away everything, has become known as the avidya zone.
Strange beings assume the very form of the despair and chaos of humanity.
They are known by this name: Imashime.
An expedition surveys the avidya zone which consumes human spirits.
So, in the intricate intersection between the present in impending crisis and the destiny of the past … can eight boys and girls, assembled to confront the Imashime, find the bright future that lies before the avidya zone?