Sentai Filmworks Licenses Hitorijime My Hero Boys-Love Anime

Sentai Filmworks announced on Tuesday that it has licensed the television anime of Memeco Arii's Hitorijime My Hero boys-love manga for the summer simulcast season. The series will stream on Amazon's Anime Strike platform in the United States and on unspecified digital outlets in "certain other countries." Sentai Filmworks is also planning a home video release.

The anime will premiere in Japan on AT-X on July 8 at 11:30 p.m. and will then air later that evening on Tokyo MX, and on BS-NTV on July 11. The series will stream on dTV.

Hitorijime My Hero is a spinoff series of Arii's earlier Hitorijime Boyfriend manga, and it focuses on the high school teacher Kōsuke Ōshiba, and the incompetent delinquent Masahiro Setagawa. Both characters appeared in Hitorijime Boyfriend, and Kōsuke is the brother of the earlier manga's protagonist Kensuke. Sentai Filmworks describes the story:

High schooler Masahiro Setagawa is a fairly helpless delinquent, so much so that the neighborhood bullies use him to run their errands. His life changes when he meets high school teacher Kosuke Oshiba, a man whose fighting abilities have earned him a powerful reputation on the streets. Oshiba finds himself with a desire to protect Setagawa, and despite swearing that he's not interested in men, Setagawa finds himself getting more involved in Oshiba's affairs…

Yukina Hiiro (Gakuen Heaven, Chu-Bra!!) is directing the anime at Encourage Films. Yūsei Naruse is in charge of the series scripts, and Ayana Nishino (Aquarion Logos) is serving as character designer and chief animation director. Wataru Hatano is performing the opening theme song "Heart Signal." The anime's four main cast members — Tomoaki Maeno, Toshiki Masuda, Shinnosuke Tachibana, and Yoshitsugu Matsuoka — are performing the ending theme song.