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The superb Japanese voice actor Hiro Shimono is back, this time as the voice of the latest character to be announced for the ongoing comedy fantasy anime Bikkuri-Men, which premiered on October 5th in Japan, but has yet to get a legal western release.
According to the official Bikkuri-Men website, Hiro Shimono will play Manseira Type-II, the first person protagonist Yamato (voiced by Daishi Kajita) ever traded the Lotte’s chocolate wafer stickers with, and Takayan’s friend.
Yes, the anime is a brilliant promotion for the popular Lotte brand of snacks, and you can only imagine how high the sales of those snacks will go in Japan, eh?
The anime’s website also released a Manseira Type-II visual showing the young sticker collector looking jubilant as he finds a Bikkuri-Man sticker he has always wanted. (see above)
Who is Hiro Shimono?
The now 43-year-old Hiro Shimono is probably the most-known for his portrayal of Zenitsu Agatsuma in Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, but also has a long career of voicing anime characters behind him before he even signed up for Demon Slayer.
He also recently voiced Peter Grill in Peter Grill and the Philosopher’s Time, Issa Kaburagi in Yowamushi Pedal, Mizuto Irido in My Stepmom’s Daughter is My Ex, and Wanibe in The Dungeon of Black Company just to name a few of his hundreds of anime voice roles.
Hiro Shimono’s Bikkuri-Men role is also only one of many new anime he is acting in this year.
You can learn more about Hiro Shimono via the actor/singer’s official website.
Bikkuri-Men‘s opening theme ‘Collection‘ by Dannie May gets lyric video
Along with the announcement of Hiro Shimono joining the Bikkuri-Men cast, we also got an official lyric video for the Bikkuri-Men opening theme song ‘Collection‘ by Dannie May.
That Bikkuri-Men opening theme song video was released via the Apex Pictures YouTube channel but, as of now at least, only features lyrics in Japanese.
Not a huge surprise there though, as the anime has not yet been officially released outside Japan. Fingers crossed it will be.
The Bikkuri-Men anime details
The anime is being directed by Tomohiro Tsukimisato (Yurumates), with Yuniko Ayana (The Seven Deadly Sins: Signs of Holy War) in charge of series composition, and Ayano Oowada (How Clumsy You Are, Miss Ueno) creating the cute character designs.
Lesprit (Yes, No or Maybe?) is in charge of anime production.
The plot of the Lotte snack-focused anime goes something like this:
The new anime will feature characters who appear on the collectable stickers packaged with the snacks. The story is set in a world where the value of Bikkuri-Man stickers are so high that they have to be transported in a cash transport vehicle. There was also the famous robbery case one year ago, called the “300 million Bikkuri-Man sticker case.”
One day, a high-school delivery part-timer named Yamato gets involved in a battle over stickers between two competing convenience stores.
The Angel Mart owned by the Phoenix store manager is famous for its easy-to-use glitter stickers, while the Devil Store across the street also tries to attract Bikkuri-Man fans to their store.
Former comrades are divided into allies and foes, and the battle of destiny begins.
Watch the Bikkuri-Men opening theme song’s official lyric video below, and keep your eyes and ears open for a western release announcement for the comedy anime, as this one looks like fun.
I am a Brit-American journalist, former radio DJ at 97X WOXY, and Founder/CEO of Leo Sigh. I’m also obsessed with music, anime, manga, and K-dramas. Help!