Blade & Soul Fantasy MMORPG Gets Anime by GONZO

An anime adaptation of NCSoft's Blade & Soul MMORPG has been green-lit. NCSoft describes the game's story:

Rise. Strike. Avenge.
Blade & Soul brings the world of Asian martial arts fantasy to life in this massively multiplayer online universe. Enter a lush world drawn from myth and legend, and bursting with action and intrigue!

Based on the distinctive visual style of acclaimed artist Hyung-Tae Kim, Blade & Soul combines martial arts inspired combat and Qing Gong action! Good and evil clash in a story of betrayal, revenge, battling factions, and warring gods.

Create your hero. Hone your martial arts skills. Unlock the secrets of Qing Gong. Choose your faction. Conquer your enemies. Bring honor to your clan.

You will have your revenge.

Voice actress Aoi Yūki (Puella Magi Madoka Magica's Madoka, Valvrave the Liberator's Akira) will lead the cast (pictured below from left to right) as Jin Valel. Ayahi Takagaki plays Dan Roana, Sora Amamiya plays Jin Hazuki, and Sayaka Ohara plays Elle Karen.Hiroshi Hamasaki (Steins;Gate, Texhnolyze) and Hiroshi Takeuchi (Bodacious Space Pirates chief animation director) will direct the anime at studio GONZO from scripts by Atsuhiro Tomioka (Inazuma Eleven, Pokémon XY). Eri Nagata (Leviathan: The Last Defense, Psycho-Pass sub-character design) is adapting Hyung-Tae Kim's game character designs for animation and serving as chief animation director.

The South Korean MMORPG game is currently in development for South Korea, Japan, and North America. An English website for the game is open.

The game lets players make a character from four different races: the tall and strong Gon, the curious and wise Jin, the beautiful and graceful Kun, and the cute and spiritually-tuned Lyn. The player can then train their character to become an Assassin, a Blademaster, a Destroyer, a Force Master, a Kung Fu Master, or a Summoner.

The anime adaptation will begin airing on Japan's TBS and BS-TBS channels in April. The Anime Japan 2014 event will host a cast talk show on March 23 with Yuki, Ohara, Amamiya, Takagaki, and others.