Bandai to Air Kurokami with Japan and Korea on US TV in January 2009 with English Dub (Updated)

Bandai Entertainment has announced its secretive plans to air Kurokami simultaneously with Japan and Korea in January 2009 today at the “Black Sunday” event in Los Angeles, which marks the first time a Japanese anime has been simulcast over three regions near simultaneously.

The cast list for the English dub will consist of Laura Bailey, Jason Griffith, Julie Ann Taylor, Stephanie Sheh, and Christopher Kromer as Kuro, Keita, Akane, Excel, and Daichi, respectively. Bandai has voluntarily selected the services of the aforementioned SAG (Screen Actors Guild) members for further access to the broader talent pool available.

The dubbed version will air 8 hours after Japanese airing on the Imaginasian TV premium cable network at 8PM EST/7PM CST/8PM PST beginning January 8th.  The director for the dubbed version will be Mike Sinterniklaas (Freedom director) and Toshifumi Yoshida (director of Gurren Lagann) is handling dub production.

The Sunrise anime studio and staff director Tsuneo Kobayashi are animating the production in Japan while the anime has its own story direction with major differences from the manga verison for the sake of adaptability.

The story revolves around an ordinary high school boy named Keita who gets caught in a battle being fought by Kuro. Kuro is a Tera Guardian, or a guardian who maintains the Coexistence Equilibrium. Kuro saves Keita’s life and regenerates a part of his body after losing it in an attack.

Update: The show will be streamed for free on the Japanese Biglobe VOD service for one week after the newest episode airs, with older episode viewing requiring a subscription to the service. The show will also be released on DVD after the show ends its first broadcast run, with release format details unknown at this time