Manaria Friends
Manaria Friends (Japanese: マナリアフレンズ, Hepburn: Manaria Furenzu), formerly Rage of Bahamut: Manaria Friends (神撃のバハムート マナリアフレンズ, Shingeki no Bahamūto Manaria Furenzu), is a Japanese anime television series based on the Rage of Bahamut social game. It was originally scheduled to premiere in April 2016, before being postponed and rescheduled to January 2019. The anime series is licensed worldwide excluding Asia by Sentai Filmworks.
| Manaria Friends | |
 Old promotional art for the series, featuring Grea (left) and Anne (right) | |
| マナリアフレンズ (Manaria Furenzu) | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy[1], slice of life |
| Manga | |
| Rage of Bahamut: Manaria Friends | |
| Written by | Cygames |
| Illustrated by | Kenji Mizuda |
| Published by | Cygames |
| Imprint | Cycomics |
| Demographic | Seinen |
| Original run | 8 May 2016 – 26 November 2017 |
| Volumes | 2 |
| Anime television series | |
| Mysteria Friends | |
| Directed by | Hideki Okamoto |
| Produced by | Tatsushi Moriya Kaneiwa Makoto |
| Written by | Satoko Sekine |
| Music by | Takashi Watanabe |
| Studio | CygamesPictures |
| Licensed by | Sentai Filmworks (Worldwide rights excluding Asia) |
| Original network | Tokyo MX, BS11, AT-X, J:COM TV |
| Original run | 20 January 2019 – 24 March 2019 |
| Episodes | 10 |
Characters
- Anne (アン, An)
- Voiced by: Yōko Hikasa[2] (Japanese); Cat Thomas (English)[3]
- Grea (グレア, Gurea)
- Voiced by: Ayaka Fukuhara[2] (Japanese); Avery Smithhart (English)[3]
- Hanna (ハンナ, Han'na)
- Voiced by: Nana Mizuki (Japanese); Juliet Simmons (English)[4][5]
- Owen (オーウェン, Ōwen)
- Voiced by: Wataru Hatano (Japanese); Adam Gibbs (English)[6][5]
- Lou (ルゥ, Rū)
- Voiced by: Kimiko Koyama (Japanese); Hillary Haag (English)[6][5]
- Miranda (ミランダ, Miranda)
- Voiced by: Kikuko Inoue (Japanese); Heidi Hinkel (English)[6][5]
- William (ウィリアム, Wiriamu)
- Voiced by: Yuma Uchida (Japanese); Adam Noble (English)[6][5]
- Heinlein (ハインライン, Hainrain)
- Voiced by: Chiharu Sawashiro (Japanese); Jay Hickman (English)[6][5]
Production
Originally titled Rage of Bahamut: Manaria Friends, the series is an adaptation of the "Mysteria Academy" or "Manaria Mahō Gakuin" event in the Rage of Bahamut social game, and is unrelated to the earlier Rage of Bahamut anime, which was also adapted from the game.[2] Cygames announced the adaptation in August 2015.[2][8] The series was originally announced as being written and directed by Takafumi Hoshikawa, with animation by Studio Hibari. Megumi Ishihara was to provide the series' character designs and serve as chief animation director. Kenichi Kurata was the art director for the anime, and the music was to be composed by Takashi Watanabe.[1][9] However, on 8 March 2016, all of the series' staff was removed "due to various circumstances."[10] On 2 October 2018, it was announced that the series would be released as Manaria Friends, with CygamesPictures stepping in to animate the series.[11] Additionally, Hideki Okamoto directed, Satoko Sekine wrote the scripts, Minami Yoshida is provided character designs, and Takashi Watanabe composed the series' music.[11]
Broadcast and release
The series was scheduled to air as part of the Ultra Super Anime Time program of anime shorts from Ultra Super Pictures,[4] alongside Space Patrol Luluco and the second season of Kagewani.[12] It was to have premiered on 1 April 2016,[4] and been broadcast on Tokyo MX, BS11, and AT-X.[13] However, on 8 March 2016, it was announced that the series' broadcast had been delayed until further notice,[10] and its slot in Ultra Super Anime Time block was filled by a rebroadcast of the 2014 series Puchim@s!! Petit Petit Idolm@ster, a spinoff of The Idolm@ster franchise.[14] After the staff was replaced, it was rescheduled to premiere from 20 January 2019 to 24 March 2019.[11][15]
Sentai Filmworks announced that they had acquired worldwide rights, excluding Asia, to the anime series.[16] It was released under the title Mysteria Friends. The series ran for 10 episodes.[17] On April 21, 2019, Sentai Filmworks released an English dub on HIDIVE.[18][3]
| No. | Title[lower-alpha 1] | Original airdate | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Anne & Grea" Transcription: "An to Gurea" (Japanese: アンとグレア) | 20 January 2019 | |
| Anne and Grea are chitchatting during school breakfast, when an incident in the library forces Anne to leave her and try to fix it. | |||
| 2 | "Agony of Grea" Transcription: "Tatsuki modaeru" (Japanese: 竜姫悶える) | 27 January 2019 | |
| Grea is suddenly struck with a high fever and Anne goes through the "forbidden" archives of the library trying to find a way to cure her. | |||
| 3 | "Princess's Holiday" Transcription: "Hime-sama no Kyūjitsu" (Japanese: 姫様の休日) | 3 February 2019 | |
| Anne and Grea spend the day shopping in town. | |||
| 4 | "Test Time" Transcription: "Shiken kikan" (Japanese: 試験期間) | 10 February 2019 | |
| It is exam time at the school, and with everyone studying, Anne does not get to spend a lot of time with Grea. | |||
| 5 | "Academy Down" Transcription: "Gakuin kanraku" (Japanese: 学院陥落) | 17 February 2019 | |
| Monsters suddenly attack the school from within, and Anne sneaks in to find and rescue Grea. | |||
| 6 | "Floating at Sea" Transcription: "Umi ni uku" (Japanese: 海に浮く) | 24 February 2019 | |
| While the rest of the class is having fun at the beach, Anne and Grea go on their own private adventure. | |||
| 7 | "Hide-and-Seek" Transcription: "Kakurenbo" (Japanese: かくれんぼ) | 3 March 2019 | |
| Anne and Grea are on library duty and, in order to pass the time, they decide to play a game of hide-and-seek. | |||
| 8 | "Backstage Confidential" Transcription: "Matsuri En no Ura" (Japanese: 祭演の裏) | 10 March 2019 | |
| The school play is about to begin when Grea starts to have stage fright and it is up to Anne to calm her down. | |||
| 9 | "A Slice of Life" Transcription: "Aruhi…" (Japanese: 或る日…) | 17 March 2019 | |
| It is winter season and Anne is sad and not on speaking terms with Grea, which may have dire consequences not just for the two of them, but also for the entire world. | |||
| 10 | "The Pair's Promise" Transcription: "Futari no chikai" (Japanese: ふたりの誓い) | 24 March 2019 | |
| Summer break is about to start, and with almost everyone leaving the school for the holidays, Grea realizes that Anne and her will soon be graduating and that they have very little time left together. | |||
Notes
- All English titles are taken from Crunchyroll.
Reception
The series was highly appreciated by Western critics, both because of the high quality of the animation and the attractively depicted relationship between the main characters with a large number of homoerotism and lesbian subtext, which allowed Theron Martin from Anime News Network to relate this show to the best examples of the "slice of life yuri" works. Although he agreed that overly measured telling a story might seem boring and thereby repel many viewers, Theron recommended this series to those who like to enjoy the slice of life anime or are looking for a show with a lot of yuri potential.[19]
References
- "Rage of Bahamut: Manaria Friends Anime's Staff, Visual, April Premiere Revealed". Anime News Network. 15 January 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
- "Rage of Bahamut: Manaria Friends TV Anime Announced for 2016". Anime News Network. 31 August 2015. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
- "Sentai Filmworks Announces Dubs for Cutie Honey Universe, Mysteria Friends". Anime News Network. 19 April 2019. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
- "Rage of Bahamut: Manaria Friends Anime's Cast, Character Designs Revealed". Anime News Network. 7 February 2016. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
- "Mysteria Friends Official English Cast List". Sentai Filmworks. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
- "Rage of Bahamut: Manaria Friends Anime Casts Kikuko Inoue, Wataru Hatano, More". Anime News Network. 19 February 2016. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
- "Manaria Friends Anime Casts Lynn as Poppy". Anime News Network. 30 November 2018. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
- Komatsu, Mikikazu (31 August 2015). "VIDEO: "Rage of Bahamut: Manaria Friends" TV Anime to be Aired in 2016". Crunchyroll. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
- Komatsu, Mikikazu (15 January 2016). ""Rage of Bahamut: Manaria Friends" TV Anime Set for April 2016". Crunchyroll. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
- "Rage of Bahamut: Manaria Friends Anime Announces Indefinite Delay, Removes Staff Listing". Anime News Network. 8 March 2016. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
- Sherman, Jennifer (2 October 2018). "Manaria Friends TV Anime Shorts Reveal Video, Visuals, January 2019 Premiere". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
- "Kagewani Monster Suspense Anime Gets 2nd Season in April". Anime News Network. 7 February 2016. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
- "On Air". manaria.jp. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
- Chapman, Paul (29 March 2016). ""Puchim@s!" Pinch-Hits for "Rage of Bahamut: Manaria Friends"". Crunchyroll. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
- Sherman, Jennifer (10 December 2018). "Manaria Friends/Mysteria Friends Anime Premieres on January 20". Anime News Network. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
- "Sentai Filmworks Snaps Up "Mysteria Friends" Series Adapted from Cygames Hit Franchise". Anime News Network. 16 November 2018. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
- Hodgkins, Crystalyn (16 December 2018). "Manaria Friends/Mysteria Friends Anime's 2nd Promo Video Streamed". Anime News Network. Retrieved 16 December 2018.
- Sentai Filmworks (12 April 2019). "Newest Recipe from our kitchen:
1 part dragon girl
1 part princess
1 part magic school
2 parts ...friendship
Mix accordingly. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Enjoy.
Mysteria Friends dub... coming soon to @HIDIVEofficial". @SentaiFilmworks. Retrieved 13 April 2019. - "Mysteria Friends Episodes 1-10 streaming". 15 April 2019. Retrieved 14 June 2019.