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Karakuri Circus Manga by Ushio & Tora's Kazuhiro Fujita Gets TV Anime
posted on by Crystalyn Hodgkins
This year's 16th issue of Shogakukan's Weekly Shonen Sunday magazine is revealing on Wednesday that Kazuhiro Fujita's Karakuri Circus (Le Cirque de Karakuri) manga is getting a television anime adaptation. The magazine's 15th issue had teased last Wednesday that the 16th issue would have an "important announcement" related to Fujita or his Sou-Bou-Tei Kowasubeshi manga, which is currently running in the magazine.
Fujita published Karakuri Circus in Weekly Shonen Sunday from 1997 to 2006, and Shogakukan published 43 volumes for the manga. Shogakukan published the manga in a new wide edition with 23 volumes from 2011-2013. The manga has more than 15 million copies in print.
The anime's staff will host an audition for a voice actor to play protagonist Masaru Saiga.
The story centers on Masaru Saiga, a fifth-grade boy who aims to become a puppeteer. After Sadayoshi Saiga — the CEO of the giant home telephone maker Saiga and Masaru's father — passes away, Masaru inherits 18 billion yen. Masaru is targeted for his wealth, and is saved by two people. Narumi Katō is a man who has studied Kung-Fu and has a weird illness called "Zonapha Syndrome," and Shirogane is a silver-haired woman who controls the puppet "Arurukan" (Harlequin). Together, Masaru, Narumi, and Shirogane get thrown into various conspiracies by those who would try to steal Masaru's fortune.
Fujita's Ushio & Tora manga ran from 1990 to 1996 in Weekly Shonen Sunday with 33 volumes. The manga was adapted into an original video anime series in 1992 and a television anime that began in July 2015. Sentai Filmworks licensed the television series and Crunchyroll streamed the series as it aired in Japan. Fujita's Bakegyamon manga also inspired a television anime in 2006. Another manga, the "Karakuri no Kimi" short story in Fujita's Yoru no Uta collection, inspired the Puppet Princess original video anime project.
