Voice actresses Mitsuki Saiga and Masumi Tazawa have joined the cast of new fantasy anime Nina the Starry Bride (aka Hoshifuru Oukoku no Nina), which premiered on October 10th and is due to stream its fifth episode this week.
Mitsuki Saiga (God in Dark Gathering) is playing Hikami, Nina’s always calm maid, while new servant Ann is being voiced by Masumi Tazawa (Chiaki in Classroom of the Elite).
You will recognize both characters from the Nina the Starry Bride opening animation, as they are nicely featured there.
Both characters also got cute character designs for their first appearance in the Signal MD-animated series, showing them very well put together while wearing their flattering palace uniform.
Both voice actresses also commented on their new roles, with Mitsuki Saiga saying:
I have always loved and read the original story, and I never thought I would be able to jump into that world as Hikami, so I am very happy about it. I hope you will enjoy the story to the very end!
and Masumi Tazawa commenting:
My name is Mazumi Tazawa, and I will be playing the role of Anne.
Anne had already appeared in the OP, but I was looking forward to this day as she will finally enter the anime. I love the relationship between Nina and Anne in the original story, so I am very happy to see their conversation in the anime as well!
The two of them are really cute and adorable when they are together…it’s a healing experience. I hope you will enjoy it! Thank you very much!
Along with the new VAs announcement via the anime’s official X account, and those character designs, we also got a new Nina the Starry Bride trailer.
That latest trailer (watch down below) shows the complex relationships Nina has with both her captor Prince Azure, and the tyrant prince Sett, as well as how resilient Nina can be.
Nina the Starry Bride staff
Nina the Starry Bride, by the way, is a much better fantasy anime than you might think. Especially if you read the manga, and thought it was beautifully illustrated but a little dull (I did!).
Its animated version, however, is fast-paced, nicely-written and Nina is incredibly wild and spirited, which makes for a fun protagonist.
Director Kenichiro Komaya (Shinkalion: Change the World) has also done a very nice job of bringing the quite involved plot together, Yuka Yamada (My Sweet Tyrant) has provided nicely-written scripts, and the character designers (a whole slew of them) have created some utterly beautiful people.
Nina the Starry Bride is based on the ongoing manga series written and illustrated by Rikachi, which means we also may get a lot more than just one season.
Its plot goes something like this:
A young girl called Nina, who lost her parents in a recent plague, is forced to survive by stealing food for herself and the two young boys she lives with. Nina dresses as a boy and hides her blue eyes with her hair, as her eyes are so unusual the rich would pay big money to steal them.
But, after one of the boys gets sick and dies, things take a tragic turn and Nina soon finds herself kidnapped by two men and taken to the palace.
It turns out, one of those men is Prince Azure, and he needs Nina to pretend to be his half-sister Alisha, who has just died in a carriage accident on her way to the palace. Alisha had the same colored eyes as Nina.
Nina then finds out her kidnapping occurred because, if Alisha does not marry the crown prince of the neighboring kingdom of Galgada as planned, war could break out between the two countries.
Nina becoming Alisha could prevent that.
The problem is, Nina is a bit of a savage due to her years on the streets, so a lot of training needs to go into her becoming good enough to perfectly impersonate Alisha and fool everyone.
Nina the Starry Bride is currently streaming on Crunchyroll, with Episode 5, which will introduce Hikami and Ann, dropping soon.
Meanwhile, watch Nina in the anime’s latest trailer at her most resilient.
More information: Nina the Starry Bride official website
