The staff for the TV anime adaptation of Rumiko Takahashi’s MAO manga series revealed that boy group 20th Century, formerly V6, will perform the new opening theme song “Bokura ga Uwagaki suru Sekai (The World We Overwrite)” for cour 2. Former V6 members Masayuki Sakamoto, Hiroshi Nagano, and Yoshihiko Inohara are back to perform the MAO cour 2 theme song nearly 26 years after V6 performed the opening theme song “CHANGE THE WORLD” for the InuYasha anime.
New MAO episodes release on Saturdays at 2:15 p.m. PT / 5:15 p.m. ET on Hulu.
Kis-My-Ft2 performed the first opening theme song “HEARTLOUD,” and TRUE performed the first ending theme song “Juai (Cursed Love).”
The cast of MAO includes:
- Yūki Kaji as Mao
- Natsumi Kawaida as Nanoka Kiba
- Hiro Shimono as Hyakka
- Toshiyuki Toyonaga as Kamon
- Momoka Terasawa as Otoya
- Kazuyuki Okitsu as Shiranui
- Motoko Kumai as Funa Uozumi
- Yōko Hikasa as Tenko
- Risa Shimizu as Sana
- Reina Ueda as Yurako
- Takashi Matsuyama as Byōki
The staff includes:
- Director: Teruo Sato
- Series Script Supervisor: Yūko Kakihara
- Character Designer, Chief Animation Director: Yoshihito Hishinuma
- Art Director: Hiroshi Katō, Izumi Hoki
- Color Key Artist: Masumi Ōtsuka
- CG Director: Tomohiro Fujie
- Compositing Director of Photography: Akane Fushihara
- Editing: Kazuhiro Nii
- Sound Director: Hiromi Kikuta
- Music: Shū Kanematsu
Takahashi launched the MAO manga in Shogakukan’s Weekly Shonen Sunday magazine on May 8, 2019, and VIZ Media publishes the manga in English.
Here’s an overview of the manga’s first volume, via VIZ Media:
Nanoka passes through a portal into the Taisho era, where exorcist Mao reluctantly rescues her from the jaws of a grotesque yokai. When Nanoka gets back to the present, she discovers she has some new, incredible abilities. She returns to the past looking for answers, only to get caught up in Mao’s investigation of a series of gruesome murders. As her questions about herself multiply, Nanoka learns that Mao is cursed by a cat demon named Byoki—and so is his sword. If anyone but Mao attempts to wield it, they are doomed. But when Mao’s life is in jeopardy, Nanoka picks up his blade and swings!
