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Monster Hunter Stories RIDE ON Reveals 5 Anime-Original Characters

The official website for the Monster Hunter Stories RIDE ON television anime series revealed five new cast members on Friday.

The cast includes (from left to right in above image, character name romanizations aren't official):

• Ayaka Asai as Mil, a young girl the same age as Ryuto who is a hard worker and honest.
• Michiyo Murase as Hyoro, a young man the same age as Ryuto who is a bit timid. He's Jini's younger brother.
• Yūma Uchida as Jini, a young man one year older than Ryuto who is a Rider. He's Hyoro's older brother.
• Itaru Yamamoto as Stone, a Rider the same age as Jini who values his friends above all else. He doesn't talk much.
• Takanori Ohyama as Noel, a Rider who is a senior to Jini. He's mature and shy, but is always thinking about how to protect Hakum Village.

All of the new characters are anime-original characters, and they are all from the Hakum Village. Fuji TV also began streaming a video on Friday that previews the show's background music by Masaru Yokoyama (Your Lie in April, Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans). The video is region-locked to Japan.

The cast joins the previously revealed cast: (note: character name romanizations aren't official):

• Mutsumi Tamura as Ryuto
• M.A.O a Naviloo
• Ryota Ohsaka as Shuval
• Minami Takahashi as Lilia
• Yui Makino as Ayuria
• Tetsuo Gotō as Village Chief Omuna
• Tomokazu Sugita as Riveruto
• Nana Mizuki as Shimonu
• Junichi Yanagita, as Dan-sempai

The anime will air on Fuji TV on Sundays at 8:30 a.m. starting in October. Fuji TV is creating a new morning anime timeslot for the series for the first time in 10 years. The show is also airing on Hokkaido Bunka Hōsō, Sendai Broadcasting, Tokai TV, Kansai TV, Okayama Broadcasting, and TV Nishinippon. The show was previously listed at 48 episodes, with each episode being 30 minutes long.

Funimation has licensed the series for home entertainment, video on demand, and broadcast distribution, and will also begin streaming the series in October for subscribers in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland.

The anime's official website describes the story:

Creating bonds with monsters, the rider's journey begins.

This is a world where both men and monsters exist. Those who hunt the monsters are called Hunters. But in a small corner of the Hunter's world, there are those called Riders who bond with and coexist with monsters. With their Kizuna Ishi (Bonding Stones) that allow them to awaken the hidden power inside monsters, Riders live in secrecy together with their Otomon, the monsters they have formed a connection with.

Ryuto, a young boy living in the Rider village of Hakum, dreams of becoming the world's best Rider. Having just turned 12, he sets out to find his own Otomon for himself before the ceremony where he is given his own Kizuna Ishi. Together with his kind-hearted childhood friend Shuval, his inquisitive childhood friend Lilia, and his partner Naviloo, he sets out deep into the forest, and has a miraculous encounter with a Rathalos.

A story begins where a Rider and his Otomon will deepen their bond.

CAPCOM is credited with the anime's original work, and Mitsuru Hongo (World Trigger series director, Battle Spirits: Shōnen Toppa Bashin director) is directing the anime at david production (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure). Natsuko Takahashi (My Love Story!!, 07-Ghost) is writing and overseeing the scripts, and Takuya Saitō (Macross Zero, Outlaw Star) is designing the characters. Male idol group KANJANI Eight is performing the anime's theme song "Panorama."

The series is the first anime based on CAPCOM's Monster Hunter game franchise, and is inspired specifically by the upcoming Monster Hunter Stories Nintendo 3DS role-playing game. The game will ship in Japan on October 8.

Key visual images courtesy of FUNimation Entertainment

Source: MoCa News