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Bandai Launches Zenonzard Card Game App With Anime by Studio 8 bit
posted on by Egan Loo
Update: Episode 0's streaming features English subtitles.
Bandai launched its smartphone card game app Zenonzard on Tuesday, and it began streaming "Episode 0" of the Zenonzard: The Animation series on the same day at 8:45 p.m. (7:45 a.m. EDT) to expand upon the game's world.
Zenonzard is the first project in AI Carddass, Bandai's new brand that combines artificial intelligence (AI) with its long-running Carddass trading card franchise. Boogiepop series author Kouhei Kadono is collaborating on the project's story concepts and world-building. Players wage card game battles with the assistance of AI known as Codeman.
Bandai describes the story:
The year 20XX … People are excited about The Zenon world tournament for the Zenonzard card game, in which human Concord players team up with ultra-high-end Codeman AI units. One day, ordinary high school student Sōta Azuma is challenged to a Zenonzard battle by a mysterious female named Eilietta Lash. She reveals her true identity as a Codeman AI, and she aims to team up with Sōta to battle in The Zenon. The reluctant Sōta and Eilietta's first opponents are Shion Saionji, a mega-popular player who happens to be Sōta's schoolmate, and the Codeman AI Ash Claude.
Zenonzard: The Animation is part of the overall Zenonzard media franchise. In addition to Tuesday's streaming, the anime's episode 0 will run on the Tokyo MX and BS11 television channels on September 13.
Kei Oikawa (Uma Musume Pretty Derby, Hinamatsuri) directs the anime at the studio 8 bit (That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, Infinite Stratos). Kenichirō Katsura (ToHeart2ad, Macross 7) designs the characters.
The cast members in both the game and the anime include:
Saori Hayami as Eilietta Lash
Shinnosuke Tachibana as Yorusuke Yorraiha
The anime also features original characters:
- Nobunaga Shimazaki as Sōta Azuma
- Megumi Han as Shion Saionji
- Ai Fairouz as Ruri Minamino
Sources: Comic Natalie, Anime! Anime! (MoA), Animate Times
Disclosure: Bandai Namco Filmworks Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings Inc., is a non-controlling, minority shareholder in Anime News Network Inc.
