5d ago
Koki Maeda's brief role as a mercenary in VIVANT Season 2 episode 16 became a talking point after he delivered all his lines in Chinese. Director Yohei Miyazaki thanked him on SNS for attending every rehearsal with the mercenary group despite a lead role elsewhere, noting the casting was decided at the last minute. Maeda posted practice videos on September 3, drawing praise for his pronunciation, including from a Taiwanese viewer who said the Chinese was understandable without subtitles.
Aug 28
Bandai Namco Entertainment announced on August 28, 2026 that voice actor Koki Ino will succeed Ayumu Murase as the voice of Kanon Himeno in The Idolmaster SideM. Murase's graduation from the role was announced on August 18, following amicable discussions between both parties about the character's future. Ino expressed his intention to cherish what has been built so far while giving his best in the role. A special live stream to welcome Ino is scheduled for September 1 at 19:00 JST on YouTube and Niconico Live. The stream will feature Shugo Nakamura as Teru Tendo, Sho Kano as Yukihiro Kamiya, Shogo Yano as Nao Okamura, Keisuke Furuhata as Shiro Tachibana, and Ino as Kanon Himeno. During the program, staff will announce Kanon Himeno's future voice schedule and share details about the event 315 Production presents FANTASIC BATTLE FES ~Wanna step in~. The announcement notes that existing audio in 315 Production episodes will not be replaced for now, though some audio may be replaced in future operations. Ino will appear in the upcoming FES performances and related content announced after August 28.
Jun 30
The official website and social media accounts for Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 announced the Japanese and English voice casts on Tuesday. The Japanese cast includes Momoka Terasawa as Roman Carax, Akari Kito as Talia Yang, Koki Uchiyama as D, and Kentaro Tone as Weak Kingsley. Their English counterparts are Valeria Rodriguez, Kimoy Lee, Nazeeh Tarsha, and Clancy Brown, respectively. Rapper RICO NASTY wrote and performed the song "YOU CAN'T RUN FROM ME," which appeared in the second teaser trailer. The first episode will premiere at Anime Expo on Friday at 7:30 p.m. PDT at the Crypto.com Arena. The 10-episode standalone series is set to stream on Netflix this fall. Kai Ikarashi, a storyboard artist and animator on the first series, is directing his debut feature. Bartosz Sztybor returns as producer and writer, with Ichigo Kanno as lead character designer and Masahiko Otsuka as scriptwriter. The first Cyberpunk: Edgerunners series debuted on Netflix in September 2022.