Ai Kakuma joins The Unaware Atelier Meister cast voicing Akuri – even the manga illustrator loves her

Well-known Japanese voice actress Ai Kakuma has been announced as joining the cast of the ongoing fantasy action adventure anime The Unaware Atelier Meister.

She will voice Akuri who, according to the anime’s official website, is a “mysterious little girl born from an egg received as a reward for completing a quest”.

The site goes on to say:

Akuri has looked about three years old since birth, and looks just like Kurt. She calls Kurt “Daddy” and Yulishia and Liselotte “Mummy”.

Naharu Furukawa, illustrator of The Unaware Atelier Meister manga series also sweetly commented on her X account:

During the recording, her voice was so cute that I was constantly thinking in my mind, “I want a Super Chat…! I want to send a Super Chat!”

Most anime fans will know Ai Kakuma from roles like Kurea in the ongoing Food for the Soul, Albis in That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, Eris in Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation, and Miyako in A Sister’s All You Need.

The Unaware Atelier Meister production details

The anime adaptation of the light novel series written by Yousuke Tokino and illustrated by Zounose, premiered on April 6th and is set to run for 12 episodes.

The anime is being directed by Hisashi Ishii (Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear), with the incredibly prolific Deko Akao (Doctor Elise: The Royal Lady with the Lamp) in charge of series composition, and Miyuki Nakamura (Psycho-Pass Movie) providing the character designs.

EMT Squared (Train to the End of the World) is in charge of animation production.

Known as Kanchigai no Atelier Meister: Eiyuu Party no Moto Zatsuyougakari ga, Jitsu wa Sentou Igai ga SSS Rank Datta to Iu Yoku Aru Hanashi in Japan (yep, another crazy long Japanese title), the plot of The Unaware Atelier Meister is described like this in its original Japanese light novel:

One day, Kurt, a jack-of-all-trades for the hero’s party, is kicked out of the party because he’s “useless and can’t even defeat a slime.”

After taking tests, he finds that he has zero aptitude for combat. In other words, he’s hopeless as an adventurer…

To earn a living, Kurt begins to helps out with various jobs, where he shows incredible talent in all areas, from mining to cooking to building!

His talent, which rivals that of the country’s top engineer, the “workshop owner,” overwhelms those around him, but Kurt himself is unaware of it–!?

The first seven episodes of The Unaware Atelier Meister are now streaming internationally on Crunchyroll.