Crunchyroll has announced that the upcoming shonen anime series, The Rising of the Shield Hero, is getting same day English simuldubs. This will be Crunchyroll's first simultaneously launched dub title. Both sub and dub versions will be available as soon as the episode airs in Japan on January 9, episodes streaming every Wednesday. The company also revealed the cast behind the English version of the show:
English Dub Cast
Naofumi Iwatani - Billy Kametz
Raphtalia - Erica Mendez
Filo - Brianna Knickerbocker
Ren Amaki - Alan Lee
Motoyasu Kitamura - Xander Mobus
Itsuki Kawasumi - Erik Scott Kimerer
Fellow anime streaming company, Funimation, also announced that it will be streaming the simuldub of the series but will not have the subtitled version available. The dub will premiere on the same day as Crunchyroll's, January 9.
The series is described as being a "2-cour" series. If a series is described as "Cour" it means that it will run for three months and have anywhere from 10 to 14 episodes, maybe even a full season. Shield Hero is a 2-cour series, so expect a minimum of 20 episodes.
The series will have a pre-stream on December 27, broadcasting the first episode of the first season before its official release of January 9, 2019. Nico Live and AbemaTV will be streaming the episode. Here are the new cast members for the subtitled version:
New Japanese Cast
Sarah Emi Bridcutt
Yutaka Nakano
Hiroki Yasumoto
Kinema Citrus is behind the animated adaptation of the series of light novels by Yusagi Aneko. Takao Abo (Norn9) directs this animated series with a screenplay by Keigo Koyanagi (Regalia: The Three Sacred Stars). Masahiro Suwa, director of animation at Hitsugi no Chaika, is in charge of adapting the character designs of Minami Seira to the anime. Kevin Penkin is credited as the author of the musical composition.
Here are the previously-announced voice actors (Japanese) and their roles:
Asami Seto - Raphtalia
Kaito Ishikawa - Naofumi Iwatani
Makoto Takahashi - Motoyasu Kitamura
Yoshitaka Yamaya - Itsuki Kawasumi
Yoshitsugu Matsuoka - Ren Amaki
Yusagi Aneko writes and Seira Minami illustrates this series of light novels since 2012. The Kadokawa publishing house publishes this work under the seal of MF Bunko, which have released 19 volumes in Japan. An adaptation to the manga of this series by Kyu Aiya has been serialized since 2014 in the Comic Flapper magazine of Media Factory, of which there are already 10 compilation volumes.
Iwatani Naofumi, a run-of-the-mill otaku, finds a book in the library that summons him to another world. He is tasked with joining the sword, spear, and bow as one of the Four Cardinal Heroes and fighting the Waves of Catastrophe as the Shield Hero.
Excited by the prospect of a grand adventure, Naofumi sets off with his party. However, merely a few days later, he is betrayed and loses all his money, dignity, and respect. Unable to trust anyone anymore, he employs a slave named Raphtalia and takes on the Waves and the world.
But will he really find a way to overturn this desperate situation?
The curtain rises on a fantasy adventure about the rise of a man who has lost it all.
The Rising of the Shield Hero is out on January 9, 2019