Nurse Witch Komugi (Nurse Witch Komugi-chan Magi Karte), the OVA spinoff of The SoulTaker is receiving a new TV anime series, almost ten years after the original OVAs. The series will be based on the previous anime but will have updated character designs as well as a new voice cast. The new anime will be titled Nurse Witch Komugi-chan R.
Nurse Witch Komugi-chan R will have a “slapstick” story. It will revolve around Komugi-chan and her rivals as they try to juggle their daily lives between school, being idols and being magical girls. The concert sequences will be animated using 3D CG.
The official website for the new series provides a synopsis for the anime (translation from ANN):
Komugi Yoshida is a somewhat clumsy second-year middle-school student whose strong point is her spiritedness. She performs as an idol like Kokona Saionji (her classmate and close friend) and Tsukasa Kisaragi (an idol who dresses in male clothing). However, unlike Kokona whose popularity is skyrocketing and Tsukasa with her charisma in male attire, Komugi’s only gigs are low-end ones like those at the local shopping district. Still, Komugi has her “dream” as she lives her dual lives as a idol and a middle school girl.
One day, a mysterious injured creature named Usa-P appears before Komugi. Komugi gives Usa-P medical treatment, and Usa-P, in consideration of Komugi’s kindness, asks if she wants to be a Legendary Girl who can use magical powers.
Having become a reluctant Legendary Girl, Komugi battles strange masked figures who suddenly appear! As a newly deemed Magical Nurse, she fights still more waves of masked figures. Meanwhile, a Magical Maid, a Magical Sister, and more also appear to make it a three-way battle!? Can Komugi handle the three roles of middle school girl, idol, and Magical Nurse? And, what lies ahead in these battles and her “dream” …!?
The new anime will be produced by Tatsunoko Productions, the studio that produced the original OVAs. It will be directed by Keiichiro Kawaguchi and Momoko Murakami will be supervising the scripts for the series. Kazuyuki Fudeyasu will be co-writing the scripts with Murakami. The original character designs for Nurse Witch Komugi were done by Akio Watanabe, known for working on Bakemonogatari and The World God Only Knows. Watanabe will be credited with the original character designs while Takao Sano will design the character designs for the new anime’s characters. The chief animation directors are Mina Ozawa and Keisuke Goto. Kousuke Yamashita will compose the series’ music while Yuichi Iwaizumi will direct the sound.
Some of the new voice cast for the series were introduced as well. The voice cast announced are as follows:
- Kei Tomoe as Komugi Yoshida
- Erii Yamazaki as Kokona Saionji
- Makoto Koichi as Tsukasa Kisaragi
- Haruko Momoi as Koharu Yoshida (Komugi’s mother)
Along with the new voice cast and new character design, Komugi received a new family name to further differentiate it from the older series. Komugi’s previous family name was Nakahara, this was changed to Yoshida. Yoshida is the family name of the founders of Tatsunoko. Haruko Momoe previously voiced Komugi in the original OVAs as well as in The SoulTaker.
The character designs for Komugi, Kokona and Tsukasa were also released. You can check out their designs below (Koharu is not shown). The designs show the three characters in their school uniform, idol uniform, and magical girl outfits. In case you get confused, Komugi is the pink haired one, Kokona has blue hair, and Tsukasa has blonde hair.
The main voice actresses for the series, Kei Tomoe, Erii Yamazaki and Makoto Koichi will also be forming a singing unit. The singing unit is called “Magical R.” The group has already finished recording the opening theme for Nurse Witch Komugi-chan R and will also appear in web radio shows.
The original Nurse Witch Komugi OVA series began in 2002 and was a spinoff parody of The SoulTaker. The new anime Nurse Witch Komugi-chan R will be the first entry in the series since the sequel OVA series Nurse Witch Komugi-Chan Magikarte Z was released back in 2004.
Nurse Witch Komugi-chan R will premiere in January 2016 on NTV in Japan. If you’re interested in the new series, check out its official site HERE.
