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Crunchyroll Adds Major 2nd, Amanchu! ~Advance~ Anime Simulcasts

Crunchyroll announced on Friday that it will simulcast the Major 2nd and Amanchu ~Advance~ (Amanchu! Advance) anime.

Crunchyroll will debut Major 2nd worldwide outside of Asia on April 7. The series will stream on Saturdays at 7:00 a.m. EDT.

Crunchyroll describes the anime adaptation of Takuya Mitsuda's manga:

Shigeno Daigo is an elementary school student whose father, Goro, is a professional baseball player. Inspired by his father, who was once a Major League player, Daigo started playing baseball with the Mifune Dolphins, a youth league team. He was unable to live up to the expectations of being the son of a professional, however, and quit baseball after less than a year. Then, in the spring of his sixth-grade year, Daigo's school welcomes a transfer student who's just returned from America. The transfer student is Sato Hikaru, and it turns out his father is Sato Toshiya, a former Major League player and Goro's close friend. The fate of these two young men begins to move forward!

Ayumu Watanabe (Doraemon films, Space Brothers, After the Rain) is directing the anime at NHK Enterprises. Michihiro Tsuchiya, Kenji Konuta, Mitsuyo Suenaga, and Kenichi Yamashita are penning the scripts. Kenichi Ohnuki (Gundam Build Fighters Try, Gurazeni, Golden Kamuy) is designing the characters. Kotaro Nakagawa (Code Geass, Cross Game) is composing the music.

Mitsuda launched the manga in Weekly Shonen Sunday in March 2015 as the first new installment in the manga series in five years. Mitsuda serialized the original Major in Weekly Shonen Sunday from 1994 until 2010.

Crunchyroll will premiere Amanchu! Advance on April 7 in the United States (and its territories), Canada, Latin America (Central and South America including the Caribbean), the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Scandinavia, and the Netherlands. The series will stream on Saturdays at 11:00 a.m. EDT.

Crunchyroll describes the story:

Kohinata Hikari and Ooki Futaba have together found joy in many things through scuba diving and the most everyday of events. Hikari was born and brought up in a small oceanside town on Izu, and Futaba moved there from Tokyo, but the two polar opposites met at Yumegaoka High and instantly hit it off. The always-reserved Futaba found her perfect foil in the cheery and optimistic Hikari, and their friendship gave her the courage to take the first step and experience many of the smaller joys in life. She also took the Open Water Diver exam and passed, and now she has her sights set on the Advanced Open Water Diver certification.

This once-in-a-lifetime high school life is still only beginning. Their magical days filled with wonder won't end as long as they keep walking together.

Junichi Satō (Sailor Moon, Princess Tutu, Aria the Animation) is returning as chief director. Kiyoko Sayama is replacing Kenichi Kasai as director of the series at J.C. Staff, with scripts by returning Deko Akao (Yes! Precure 5, Arakawa Under the Bridge, Snow White with the Red Hair) and Hiroko Fukuda. Yōko Itō (Love Stage!!) is again designing the characters. Gontiti is composing the music, and Flying Dog is producing the music.

The first Amanchu! season based on Kozue Amano's manga premiered in July 2016 on AT-X, and also aired on Tokyo MX and other channels. Crunchyroll streamed the series in some territories as it aired in Japan.