SANTA MONICA, CA (May 18, 2018) – Attendees at Bang Zoom! Entertainment’s panel were thrilled as Aniplex of America announced their plans to produce the English dub of the second season for the heartfelt TV series March comes in like a lion at Anime Central in Rosemont, Illinois. The announcement also revealed that the Open Auditions hosted by both companies at Anime Central would be for the beloved, heartwarming series’ second season. Now in its sixth year, the Open Auditions provide a unique opportunity for fans to test out their skills as a voice actor and be in an anime series. The winner of the Open Auditions will be featured alongside the series’ phenomenal English voice cast including, Laura Post (KILL la KILL, Magi: The Kingdom of Magic), Kayli Mills (Fate/Apocrypha, Occultic;Nine), Xanthe Huynh (anohana –The Flower We Saw That Day-, Sword Art Online) and Kwoi Dao (Katsugeki Touken Ranbu) under the direction of English ADR Director and seasoned veteran, Wendee Lee (Cowboy Bebop, Blue Exorcist, Your lie in April). Each participant in the Open Auditions will receive a special March comes in like a lion button featuring one of the series’ iconic shogi cats, with past winners of the Open Auditions involved on the English dub for shows including Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic,Magi: The Kingdom of Magic, ALDNOAH.ZERO, Asterisk War, and Your lie in April.

March comes in like a lion is by Chica Umino, who has won many prestigious accolades in Japan including the grand prize for the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize and is best known as the creator of Honey and Clover. The second season tackles the difficult yet relatable subject of bullying through character Hina Kawamoto, while main character Rei Kiriyama makes positive strides in his career as a shogi player. Nick Creamer of Anime New Network writes in his 2018 review of the second season, “March comes in like a lion has been both compassionate and unflinching in its portrait of bullying, acknowledging the humanity of all its players while refusing to embrace convenient solutions or easy emotional shifts.” While the series takes on these hard hitting topics, Gabrielle Ekens of Anime News Network also notes, “I’d also be remiss not to mention the show’s comedic sensibilities, which do a lot to generate its overwhelming sensation of warmth despite the heavy subject matter. There’s a lot of ‘cute,’ ‘funny,’ and ‘cozy’ going on in this show.”

The anime series features a notable creative team from animation production powerhouse studio SHAFT (Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Fate/EXTRA Last Encore) led by Director Akiyuki Shimbou (BAKEMONOGATARI, KIZUMONOGATARI) and Character Designer Nobuhiro Sugiyama (NISEKOI, HANAMONOGATARI).

About March comes in like a lion:
As a child, professional shogi player and high school student, Rei Kiriyama, lost his family in an accident. We meet Rei living on his own in Tokyo, despondent and still burdened by a profound sense of loneliness. One day, Rei meets three sisters named Akari, Hinata, and Momo. Little by little, they, with the help of his self-declared best-friend and shogi rival, Nikaido, open Rei’s world and his heart.

March comes in like a lion is a heartfelt tale about various people recovering that “something” they have lost as they discover that life is both a journey and a battlefield.

For details on March comes in like a lion, please visit: http://www.3lion-usa.com/

About Aniplex of America Inc.

Aniplex of America Inc. (Santa Monica, California) is a subsidiary of Aniplex Inc. (headquartered in Tokyo, Japan), a group of Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc. and a leading provider of anime content and music production and distribution in Japan. Aniplex of America has launched fan-favorite Blu-ray and DVD releases includingFate/stay night [Unlimited Blade Works], Fate/Zero, the Sword Art Online series, Your lie in April, KILL la KILL, Bakemonogatari, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Blue Exorcist, anohana -The Flower We Saw That Day-, NISEKOI, the OREIMO series, DURARARA!!×2, Magi series, Expelled From Paradise, The irregular at magic high school, and ALDNOAH.ZERO. The company’s ever-growing line-up of shows include: March comes in like a lion, Blue Exorcist: Kyoto Saga, ERASED, The Asterisk War,OWARIMONOGATARI, KIZUMONOGATARI, Charlotte, Occultic;Nine, WWW.WAGNARIA!!, GRANBLUE FANTASY, Eromanga Sensei, Katsugeki TOUKEN RANBU, BLEND-S, Fate/stay night [Heaven’s Feel] I. presage flower, Slow Start, Record of Grancrest War, Today’s MENU for EMIYA Family, PERSONA5 the Animation, and Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online. In June 2017, the company launched the English version of the popular mobile game, Fate/Grand Order, which has exceeded two million downloads.

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