100studio's Black Torch anime is set to premiere this week and Crunchyroll has now confirmed the English dub will release alongside the original Japanese version.
Black Torch is scheduled to premiere on Crunchyroll on Saturday, July 4th. Ahead of its premiere, the streamer revealed the English dub cast and crew for the first episode.
The English dub cast of Black Torch features AJ Beckles (Tokyo Revengers) as Jiro Azuma, Ben Balmaceda (Undead Unluck) as Toshimasa Azuma, and Ben Diskin (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure) as Amagi/Crow. Erin Yvette (Digimon Adventure) lends her voice to Ichika Kishimojin, while Keith Silverstein (Hunter x Hunter) voices Rago and Kellen Goff (My Hero Academia) voices the Huge Mononoke. The Hoodlums are brought to life by Kyle McCarley (Mob Psycho 100), Mick Lauer (Demon Slayer), and Ben Diskin (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure), with Mick Lauer also voicing Stray Cat. Rounding out the cast, Ryan Bartley (Re:ZERO) voices Nachi and Ryan Colt Levy (Chainsaw Man) voices Ryosuke Shiba.
Black Torch is based on Tsuyoshi Takaki's supernatural action manga, and it's all about the ongoing war between ninjas and mononoke, as seen through the eyes of teenage ninja Jiro Azuma. Azuma's trained in ninja arts, but he's also got this handy ability to talk to animals, which comes in clutch when he ends up nursing an injured cat back to health. But this cat isn't just a regular cat. He's Rago, an immortal mononoke who got jumped by other mononoke for refusing to help them out. Things take a turn when Azuma gets stabbed in the chest by an enemy mononoke, and Rago fuses with him, basically giving Azuma a second shot at life. Now, with their powers combined, the two of them are teaming up to take down even more mononoke.
Viz Media, which bpulishes the original manga in English, offers the following story synopsis:
Although he may appear rough-and-tumble, Jiro Azuma’s compassionate side emerges when it comes to the furry critters he can communicate with. But Jiro's soft spot for animals gets him in major trouble when a suspicious stray cat fuses with him, granting him exceptional power but also dragging him into humanity's hidden battle against powerful Japanese spirits, mononoke.
The anime is directed by Kei Umabiki (Quality Assurance in Another World) at 100studio, with series composition by Gigaemon Ichikawa (The Fruit of Evolution: Before I Knew It, My Life Had It Made), character designs by Go Suzuki (Sword Art Online: Alicization), and music by Yutaka Yamada (VINLAND SAGA).
The previously released creditless opening video is set to the song "FREEZE ME UP" by SiM, which is featured on the upcoming HOOMAN AFTER ALL album. It drops on September 2.
Black Torch will premiere on Netflix on July 4th, with both the original Japanese and English dub available.