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Sumikko Gurashi Franchise Gets 1st TV Anime Narrated by Perfume Music Group (Updated)

San-X announced on Tuesday that the music group Perfume will narrate the first television anime adaptation of Yuri Yokomizo's Sumikko Gurashi character, specifically of Sumikko Gurashi Sorairo no Mainichi (Sumikko Gurashi: Sky-Colored Everyday) picture book. The first episode will air on October 26 on NTV, and then all five episodes will air on November 5 on NTV.

Hazumu Sakuta (Eiga Sumikko Gurashi: Tsugihagi Kōjo no Fushigi na Ko, Uchū Nanchara Kotetsu-kun) is directing the anime, and Reiko Yoshida (The Cat Returns, Tamako Market, A Silent Voice, Violet Evergarden) is penning the scripts. Perfume narrates the anime along with actress Manami Honjō.

The anime celebrates the release of the Eiga Sumikko Gurashi: Tsugihagi Kōjo no Fushigi na Ko (The Mysterious Child of the Makeshift Factory) movie, which debuts in theaters on November 3. Perfume performs the theme song.

Hazumu Sakuta (Neko no Dayan, Uchū Nanchara Kotetsu-kun) is directing the third film at Fanworks. Takashi Sumita (Europe Kikaku) is returning from the first film to pen the third film's script. Yoshihiko Inohara and Manami Honjō will return from the first and second film to narrate the third film.

In the third film's story, the characters find an old building deep in the forest. The building turns out to be a toy factory. They all begin to make toys in the factory, with Shirokuma using his skill to operate the sewing machines, and Penguin? inspecting toys with a magnifying glass. But the factory itself hides something more special.

Sumikko Gurashi debuted in 2012 as slightly negative characters who like to stay in the corner of a room. The characters include "Shirokuma," a polar bear who is sensitive to cold; "Penguin?" (with a question mark in its name), a penguin who is unsure if it is actually a penguin; "Tonkatsu," a piece of pork cutlet that was left uneaten; "Neko," a shy cat; and "Tokage," who hides his nature as one of the last dinosaurs.

The first anime film, titled Sumikkogurashi – Good to be in the corner, opened in Japan in November 2019. The film eventually sold a total of 1.22 million tickets, and it earned 1.4 billion yen (about US$12.8 million) at the box office in Japan as of February 2020. The film won the award for Best Animation of the Year at the 29th Annual Japan Movie Critics Awards in June 2020.

Eiga Sumikko Gurashi: Aoi Tsukiyo no Mahō no Ko (The Magical Child of the Blue Moonlit Night), the second film, opened in Japan in November 2021, and sold about 200,000 tickets to earn about 250 million yen (about US$2.22 million) in its first three days.

Update: Title's English translation corrected. Thanks, Ryusui.

Source: Music Natalie