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The official website for Studio 4°C's anime film of Daisuke Igarashi's Children of the Sea (Kaijū no Kodomo) manga revealed more cast members and a new poster visual for the film on Wednesday.
The new cast members include, from left to right in image below, Sumiko Fuji as Dede (a mysterious figure who watches over Umi and Sora), Goro Inagaki as Masaaki Azumi (Ruka's father who works at an aquarium), Yuu Aoi as Kanako Azumi (Ruka's mother, whose relationship with both Riku and Masaaki is strained), and Toru Watanabe as Sensei (the coach in charge of Ruka's hand-ball team).
The main cast includes, from left to right in the image below, Hiiro Ishibashi as Umi, Mana Ashida as Ruka Azumi, and Airu Kubodzuka as Sora.
Viz Media published the manga in English, and it describes the story:
When Ruka was younger, she saw a ghost in the water at the aquarium where her dad works. Now she feels drawn toward the aquarium and the two mysterious boys she meets there, Umi and Sora. They were raised by dugongs and hear the same strange calls from the sea as she does.
Ruka's dad and the other adults who work at the aquarium are only distantly aware of what the children are experiencing as they get caught up in the mystery of the worldwide disappearance of the oceans' fish.
The film will open on June 7. Joe Hisaishi of Studio Ghibli fame is composing the music for the film. Ayumu Watanabe (Space Brothers, After the Rain) is directing, and Kenichi Konishi (Tokyo Godfathers, The Tale of the Princess Kaguya) is the animation director and character designer. Other staff members include:
- Art Director: Shinji Kimura
- CGI Director: Kenichiro Akimoto
- Color Key: Miyuki Itou
- Sound Director: Koji Kasamatsu
- Producer: Eiko Tanaka
Igarashi launched the manga in Shogakukan's IKKI magazine in 2007, and ended it in 2011. Shogakukan published five compiled book volumes for the manga, and Viz Media published all five volumes in English. The manga earned nominations and awards of excellence from the 38th Japan Cartoonist Awards, the American Library Association's Young Adult Library Services Association, the School Library Journal, and the 13th Japan Media Arts Festival Awards.
<!–Igarashi's Little Forest manga inspired two live-action films in 2014 and 2015.
Igarashi launched a new manga titled Designs in Kodansha’s Afternoon magazine in 2015, where it is currently ongoing. Kodansha published the manga’s third compiled book volume on January 23.–>
Sources: Children of the Sea film's website, Comic Natalie
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