Aguu: Tensai Ningyō Anime Reveals Visual, Character Designs

Studio DEEN opened a website on Friday for Aguu: Tensai Ningyō (Aguu: Genius Dolls), the television anime adaptation of Yichun Jun's Chinese comic Aguu (Devil Dolls). The website reveals the show's visual and character visuals.



The show stars:

• Noriko Shibasaki as Ai, 16 years old. Her specialty is ballet. She is virtuous, passionate, and a hard worker. She has both courage and a sense of justice, and charms the people around her. But, she believes what others say a bit too easily, and she is sometimes an airhead.
  
  
  
• Eriko Matsui as Machi, 16 years old. Her specialty is ballet. Her wariness and vanity is a bit strong. She had beauty, talent, and money, and was a genius ballet dancer, but one day her life changed in a big way.
  
  
  
• Wataru Takagi as Rashō, 81 years old. His specialty is Go. He is honest and virtuous. His abilities are average, but he has a stout heart that never gives up. He can also be quite stubborn sometimes. He is the 140th generation evangelist of the Savior Brothers and Sisters Association
  
  
  
• Satoshi Shibasaki as Rafu, 15 years old. His specialty is fighting. He has a strong sense of justice but gets easily emotional and is hot-tempered. He also tends to solve everything with violence. He highly respects his grandfather Rashõ.
  

The anime will premiere in July on Tokyo MX, Sun TV, KBS Kyoto, and BS11.

In the story, there are people around us — leaders, entrepreneurs, famous stars, and prodigies — who don't have to put in much effort, and are called geniuses. But these geniuses all have something in common: they all possess a certain "something," a secret that they can't talk about with ordinary people. That secret is "Aguu."

The anime focuses on Ai, who is an ordinary girl and a dancer. Her friend Machi is also a dancer, but Machi is a genius. Watching Machi's talent often makes Ai feel down. But one day, Ai finds out Machi's secret: the existence of the Aguu, palm-size entities who grant genius talent upon those who hold them. In order to save Machi, who has become a "Seamstress" who makes Aguu, Ai becomes a "Savior." The Saviors are a group of people who have fought the Seamstresses for generations.

Bob Shirohata (Hetalia - Axis Powers, Momoiro Sisters, Gravitation, Hiiro no Kakera - The Tamayori Princess Saga) is directing the series at Studio DEEN. Yuiko Katō (live-action Hanabi series) is overseeing the series scripts. Masaaki Kannan (Hetalia: World Series, Gifū Dōdō!! Kanetsugu to Keiji) is serving as both chief animation director and character designer. Maho Aoki is the prop designer, Masakazu Miyake(KonoSuba – God’s blessing on this wonderful world!!, Himōto! Umaru-chan R) is the art director, Imari Katsuragi (Super Lovers, Kabukibu!) is the color designer, and Hozumi Gōda (Vampire Knight, Junji Ito "Collection") is the sound director. Yūki Shibasaki is composing the music.

Yichun launched the comic on the Tencent Comic website in 2014, and it has more than 9.5 billion views as of April 16. The spinoff comic Kyokugen (Utmost Limits) debuted on the Japanese horror manga website Osoroshiya in October 2016.

Studio DEEN and Tencent's television anime adaptation of Guo Wang Bi Xia's (lit. His Majesty the King) popular Chinese online novel and comic titled Cong Qian You Zuo Ling Jian Shan(lit: There Was a Spiritual Sword Mountain) premiered under the title Reikenzan: Hoshikuzu-tachi no Utage in 2016. The sequel television anime series Reikenzan: Eichi e no Shikaku debuted in 2017.