Monster Strike Gets New 5-Episode Idol Spinoff Anime Special

The smartphone game Monster Strike is inspiring a five-episode original anime special titled Mon-Soni! D'Artagnan no Idol Sengen (Monster Sonic! D'Artagnan's Idol Declaration) this summer. The new anime will begin streaming on the YouTube service at 7:00 p.m. (6:00 a.m. EDT) on June 14.



The story of Mon-Soni! D'Artagnan no Idol Sengen is set in a different world from Monster Strike's existing, ongoing net anime series. However, it will also feature familiar characters from the game.

As the title indicates, the new anime centers around the popular character D'Artagnan. Having heard Lucifer's singing, D'Artagnan becomes interested in her own music career, and the anime follows her as she aims for her idol debut.

When D'Artagnan went to Tokyo for a little fun, she spotted an unforgetable sight: Lucifer singing while basking in moonlight in a park. From that moment, no matter if she was asleep or awake, D'Artagnan's heart would not stop throbbing for some reason.

One day, D'Artagnan sees a concert by the popular idol act Angely Diva at her friend Izumo's invitation. There, she resolved to follow her idol dreams, and the story of song and miracles begins.

Up-and-coming voice actress Kaede Hondo is voicing D'Artagnan.

Mon-Soni! D'Artagnan no Idol Sengen features a different staff than the ongoing Monster Strike net anime series, although it shares many staff members with a special about Lucifer that debuted during the Golden Week holidays earlier this month. Kyōto Idei is directing the new anime at LIDEN FILMS, and XFLAG Pictures is producing. Teppei Sunamura is in charge of planning and the original project concepts, and Yoichi Kato supervised and wrote the scripts. Minami Yoshida designed the characters with Haruka Sagawa, and also joined Kōdai Kitahara as chief animation directors. MONACA composed the music.

Takayuki Hamana directs the ongoing web anime series at XFLAG Pictures, Yokohama Animation Lab, and SANZIGEN. The second anime season premiered on April 1, and the series is streaming episodes with English subtitles on YouTube. The first season of the anime premiered in October 2015, and the 50th and final episode aired on December 1. The first season is also streaming on YouTube with English subtitles. Crunchyroll is streaming both seasons of the anime.

The Monster Strike The Movie prequel opened in December and topped the Japanese box office in its first weekend. A Rhapsody Called Lucy -The Very First Song- (Zenritsu no Lucifer: Tada Hitotsu no Hajimari no Uta) special debuted with English subtitles on YouTube earlier this month. However, the English version of the original game will shut down on August 1.