'Basilisk: The Ouka Ninja Scrolls' Premiere Date, Latest News: Series Returns With New Conflict Between Two Warring Clans
A new season of the "Basilisk" anime adaptation is coming in 2018, more than ten years after its first installment aired and ended in 2005.
The upcoming anime, which is titled, "Basilisk: Ouka Ninpouchou (Basilisk: The Ouka Ninja Scrolls)," will reportedly be comprised of 24 episodes and is set 10 years after the events of the first season. It will serve as the sequel story to the manga series written and illustrated by Masaki Segawa, which was inspired by the 1958 novel, "The Kouga Ninja Scrolls," by Futaro Yamada.
The basic premise of the story, which takes place in the 1600s, is the centuries-old hatred brought about by the warring ninja clans, Tsubagakure of Iga and Manjidani of Kouga, who battle each other in a bid to determine which grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu is more worthy of becoming the next Shogun.
The series is being animated by Seven Arcs Pictures, whose previous works include "Trinity Seven," and "Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha: Reflection." Junji Nishimura serves as the director, while Shinsuke Ohnishi takes care of the series composition. Takao Maki is serving as both chief animation director and character designer.
The four-member Japanese heavy metal band, Onmyo-Za, who performed the opening theme for the 2005 series, will also be performing the opening theme for the sequel anime. On the other hand, singer/voice actress Nana Mizuki performed the ending theme as well as provided the voice for the adopted heir to the Iga Clan, Oboro, in the first season, will once again be performing the ending theme.
Additionally, an advance screening event has been scheduled for Friday, Dec. 29, wherein the series' first two episodes will be shown along with a talk show with the voice actors, Tasuku Hatanaka and Inori Minase, who will be voicing the characters, Hachiro Kouga and Hibiki Iga respectively. The event will be held at Tokyo's Shinjuku Wald 9 Theater.
"Basilisk: The Ouka Ninja Scrolls" premieres on Monday, Jan. 8, at midnight JST on Tokyo MX, Sun TV, KBS Kyoto, and BS 11. It will also air 30 minutes later on AT-X. Information on other broadcast schedules and online resources can be found on the series' official site. Episodes will also be streamed in selected regions outside Japan via Crunchyroll and Funimation.