"Pon's Way," featuring the distinctive combination of mahjong and high school girls, is an original TV anime scheduled to air in January next year. The story is set in Onomichi and loosely depicts the daily lives of high school girls who use a former mahjong parlor as their playground. As an original work without a source material, there's already been much talk about what the story will be like. But what about the cast and staff? This article will provide some background information before you watch!
Director and Screenwriter: Tatsuma Minamigawa
Tatsuma Minamigawa serves as both director and screenwriter for this series. Normally, even just one of these would be difficult, so it's amazing that he managed to balance both. The works that Minamikawa has been involved in so far have varied in their roles, with some being involved in production progress, others in charge of directing, and others in charge of storyboards, but overall it seems that he has been in charge of directing more often. He has been involved in many famous works, including the film versions of "NARUTO" and "BLEACH," as well as "Attack on Titan" and "Love Live!". Looking at the list of works that Minamikawa has directed, there are many well-known titles that any anime fan will have heard of, so if you're interested, we definitely recommend checking it out.
Character Design: Negi Haruba
The character design is handled by Negi Haruba. He is a male manga artist from Aichi Prefecture and also a YouTuber. His pen name, Negi Haruba, is derived from Negi Springfield from "Negima! Magister Negi Magi." "Haruba" is the Japanese translation of "spring" and "field." It's fascinating to learn the origins of pen names like this! "The Quintessential Quintuplets" is an essential work when talking about Haruba. Both the manga and anime were huge hits, making it one of Haruba's signature works. When you look at the characters in "Pon's Michi," you'll notice a similar atmosphere to the characters in "The Quintessential Quintuplets." It wouldn't be out of place if their characters appeared in each other's works. Some people may have recognized Haruba's work from the artwork.
Sound: Tsuyoshi Takahashi
The music is by Tsuyoshi Takahashi. As a sound director, he has worked on a variety of projects, including television anime. Takahashi's work is particularly focused on foreign films, and he has provided voiceover direction for famous movies and TV dramas. "Evil Dead II" is one of the most memorable works he has worked on, and it was this project that led him to focus more on horror films. This work could be said to have been a turning point for Takahashi.
Kaori Maeda (Nashiko Topensha)
Kaori Maeda plays the protagonist, Nashiko Topensha. Maeda is best known for her role as Shizuku Sakurazaka in Nijigasaki School Idol Club in the Love Live! series. Many people may have heard of Maeda through her role as Shizuku Sakurazaka. She has also played a variety of other characters, including Nice Nature in Uma Musume. The turning point for Maeda was her role in Aikatsu Stars! She said that it was her role as Futaba Aria in "Pon no Michi" that inspired her, as she seemed to identify with the character in some ways. Next year, she is set to appear in two other works in addition to "Pon no Michi," playing major characters in both. This looks set to be a year of great progress for Maeda. She is also known for her love of alcohol, especially sake. Many people may associate Maeda with alcohol.
Iori Saeki (Pai Kawahigashi)
Iori Saeki is the voice of Pai Kawahigashi. Before becoming a voice actress, she was a singer. When she was in high school, she applied for an open call for entries for the arcade game "Pop'n Music" and was selected, making her singing debut with a song from the Bemani series. This led to her also being in charge of the music for other Bemani series games. She is also in charge of all the songs that appear in the trading card arcade game "Otocador". This shows that she has made an extremely high contribution to arcade games. She began working as a voice actress around 2018, and has voiced a variety of characters, including King Halo in Uma Musume and the protagonist Menou in "The Executioner's Way of Life".
Shion Wakayama (Izumi Tokutomi)
Shion Wakayama voices Izumi Tokutomi. She has been involved in the entertainment industry since she was a child, and was invited to join the Himawari Theater Company at the age of three while accompanying her older sister. She first became interested in voice acting in junior high school, but first tried it at age eight. She began working as a voice actress full-time in 2021, appearing in numerous popular works, including Takina Inoue in "Lycoris Recoil" and Ai Mie in "The Girl I Like Forgot Her Glasses." She has also appeared in three anime films to date, all as leading characters. She's a voice actress whose future promises are sure to grow!
Kondo Yui (Hayashi Rieche)
Kondo Yui plays Hayashi Rieche, and like Maeda and Saeki, she also appears in Uma Musume (as Biwa Hayahide). She's wanted to be a voice actress since elementary school and considered attending a training school after graduating from junior high, but her family convinced her to go on to high school. Her desire to become a voice actress persisted throughout high school, and she joined an agency while working and taking lessons once a week. Her first main character role was as Yukihira Furano in "My Mental Choices Are Completely Interfering with My School Romantic Comedy."
Hibiki Yamamura (Jump Emi)
Hibiki Yamamura plays Jump Emi. The pronunciation of "hibiki" (voice) is "hibiku," not "hibiki." She's loved singing since she was a child, and began her singing career around the same time she became a voice actress. While singing, she used the name "hibiku," but since 2019, she has unified her name as Hibiki Yamamura for both voice acting and singing. She is active in theater and other fields, and also works as an illustrator. She publishes a column called "Arpeggio Theater" in the monthly King Young Hours GH. Coincidentally, his first name and kanji are the same as those of Hibiki Hagyu, the character he played in "An-Hapi," but in this case, they are pronounced "hibiki."
Akio Otsuka (Chonbo)
This work doesn't just feature young voice actors. The veteran voice actor Akio Otsuka, known for his roles as Snake in the "Metal Gear Solid" series, will be appearing as Chombo. He has also voiced many other major characters in well-known anime, including Blackbeard in "One Piece," Blackjack in "Black Jack," and Batou in "Ghost in the Shell." Otsuka usually plays characters that make the most of his dandy voice, so a mascot-like character like this is quite unusual for him. In the promotional video for the series posted on YouTube, you can hear a few scenes of Chombo speaking. You can hear a unique voice that's hard to imagine from the characters Otsuka has played so far. While this is purely my imagination, it would be interesting to imagine him playing Chombo in his usual low voice.
Summary of Staff and Character Introductions
Learning about the people involved in the production, such as the staff and cast, can lead to discovering other works and leading to new discoveries. Becoming familiar with the staff and cast can even be something to brag about to those around you! There are more ways to enjoy anime than just watching it. Why not try enjoying anime from various perspectives, too? That's all for today. Thank you for reading.
