MAPPA is one of the most acclaimed anime production studios around, with many of its series going on to become absolute hits with both critics and audiences alike. Soon, with the upcoming Re-Main, the talented studio looks to bring its trademark quality animation to the world of water polo in an all-new anime original. Here's everything that MAPPA fans need to know about the new sports series before it begins airing this summer.
The Plot of Re-Main
The story follows a young high schooler named Minato Kiyomizu, who was once a water polo prodigy in middle school. A traumatic accident forced him to give up the sport, leaving a wide hole in Minato's life. But, thanks to encouragement from his friends, Minato plans to pick the sports back up in high school.
Unfortunately, they face a number of setbacks in their goal of becoming a winning team, not least of which is the fact that most of the water polo team isn't very good at water polo. Other major characters include Minato's friend Eitaro Oda, the water polo team captain Jo Jojima and Chinu Kawakubo, a girl who knows about Minato's past and what forced him to initially give up the sport.
Re-Main: Trailer and News
A teaser trailer was recently released for the series, giving a glimpse at how the story will unfold. The teaser mainly focuses on Minato's harrowing past and the effect that it had on him before showing his friends and classmates in the present day. As expected, the show's animation is striking and vividly colorful, emphasizing not only the wetness of each droplet of water but also the Free!-like hotness of its toned male cast members.
Produced by Bandai Namco and MAPPA, the brains behind the series also include Masafumi Nishida, the writer of the superhero anime Tiger & Bunny. The character's handsome designs are being handled by Aori Fujika, with Shiho Tanaka overseeing the animation and Kana Utatane composing the music for the series.
The voice cast includes Yuto Uemura as Minato Kiyomizu, Kotaro Nishiyama as Eitaro Ota, Subaru Kijima as Jo Jojima and Lynn as Chinu Kawakubo. Other announced characters include Shugo Amihama, Takekazu Eijiri, Yutaka Babayaro Inomata and Yoshiharu Ushimado, who are all voiced by Soma Saitou, Makoto Furukawa, Tasuku Hatanka and Daisuke Hirose, respectively.
Re-Main's Release Date
First announced in March of this year, information beyond a basic synopsis for the show is scarce for now. However, what is known is that Re-Main will begin its run this July 4 as a part of TV Asahi's NUMAnimation programming block. This block has shown such classics as Steel Jeeg, as well as more recent anime like World Trigger.
Hopefully, the series will do a few laps before bringing home the gold in viewers' discerning eyes when it hits Japanese broadcast this summer.