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Rhapsody Music Project to Stream as 4 Anime Episodes in Japan on November 20

The official website for the rockin'on group's Rhapsody music anime project announced on Sunday that the anime portion will stream on U-NEXT, d Anime Store, and other streaming services in Japan starting on November 20. The animation from the project's "live" concert anime performance were re-edited and turned into a 4-episode anime series.

The project's anime features the bands' stories through animation, and the bands' voice actors perform music on stage. The anime does not play at movie theaters or traditional stage theaters, but on a giant LED screen installed at a live concert venue. Since July 2, regular performances are being held at the harevutai Live House venue in Ikebukuro, Tokyo. The "live" concert anime will have its final performance on December 24.

The cast in their respective bands includes:

Pink Flag

• Jun Suetsugu as Kazuma Mochino (vocalist/guitarist)
• Junta Terashima as Itsuki Mikai (guitarist)
• Kōhei Yanagi as Taku Kitase (bassist)
• Takuya Masumoto as Arata Kosegawa (drummer)

Haru no Jūjika (Spring Cross):

• Tatsuya Sugawara as Nijiro Shisui (vocalist)
• Sōma Saitō as Toji Tsukishima (guitarist)
• Hiromu Mineta as Shion Kagami (bassist)
• Shūichirō Umeda as Kosei Tayo (drummer)

Bluebird:

• Reon Tanie as Rakki Kokonoe (vocalist/guitarist)
• Haruki Asada as Soten Natsume (vocalist/guitarist)
• Katsuyuki Miura as Nazuna Chikarashi (keyboardist)

System of Romance

• Yuri Yamamoto as Kinji Abiko (vocalist)
• Daiki Kawamoto as Ginji Abiko (DJ/composer)

Additional casts include:

• Jun Fukuyama as Junya Tōsaka
• Kenjiro Tsuda as Kyōji Tōsaka
• Aya Endō as Akari Tōsaka

Yōichi Shibuya and rockin'on are credited for the original work, and Shibuya is the project's chief production supervisor. Original character design by Yūki Kodama and character design by Momoko Kawai, and planning assistance by MIXER. NAZ is in charge of animation production, and Graphinica is the 3DCG director of the re-edited full episodes.

The tagline of the project is, "…Rock is a story of grief and hope." The story depicts the dedication and drive of four bands under the Rhapsody label: the four-member rock band Pink Flag with personal trauma, the loud rock band Haru no Jūjika (Spring Cross) of high school students, the folk unit Bluebird composed of childhood friends, and the EDM brother duo System of Romance (SOR).

Yuhki Kamatani published in advance the first chapter of the anime project's spinoff manga titled Kanashimi no Rock o Narase ~Rhapsody~ (Let's Play The Rock of Sadness ~Rhapsody~) in rockin'on group's CUT magazine on July 19. The manga's regular serialization started on October 11 on the LINE Manga app.

Sources: Rhapsody project's website, Comic Natalie