P.A. Works announced in June that they would be adapting Sei Hatsuno’s HaruChika mystery novel series into an anime. Now, two months later, new information regarding the adaptation has surfaced. The HaruChika official website reported that the anime series would premiere in January 2016. Along with the announcement of the release month, the website also uploaded character design sketches of the two protagonists of the series: Chika Homura and Haruta Kamijo. The designs and sketches of Chika and Haruta can be seen below.
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HaruChika is a mystery novel series written by Sei Hatsuno. The novel series began publication in 2008 and is published by Kadokawa Shoten. The novel currently has four volumes released with a fifth novel planned for a future release. A synopsis of the first novel titled Exit Game provided by Books from Japan is shown below:
In four chronologically sequenced stories, two members of a high-school wind ensemble display remarkable stores of knowledge and powers of deductive reasoning to solve a series of mysteries.
Narrator Chika Homura is a tenth-grader who plays flute in her school’s wind ensemble, which is on the verge of having to disband due to dwindling membership. Playing Holmes to her Watson is tenth-grader Haruta Kamijo. A friend of Chika from their childhood days, he plays French horn in the ensemble. Their music teacher is Mr. Kusakabe, who in his youth was regarded as a rising star on his way to becoming a world-class conductor; Chika and Haruta, both quite smitten with him, are rivals for his affection. The overarching premise of the stories is that the two friends want to bring the wind ensemble back to full strength under Kusakabe’s direction, and they must unravel the truth about a variety of incidents that occur in the course of their efforts to recruit new members.
In the title story, they are trying to get Maren Sei, an American boy of Chinese ancestry whose father is a professional saxophonist, to switch from the drama club to the wind ensemble, which sets off a contest between the two groups. The showdown takes the form of an improvisational skit, performed before the student body, in which the president of the drama club and its lead actress vie with Chika and Haruta; the winner is to be whoever manages to get Maren off stage in a manner that flows naturally from the development of the action, with a time limit of 15 minutes. Chika and Haruta emerge victorious, but the president of the drama club still attempts to prevent Maren from switching affiliations. Haruta nimbly heads off the attempt, and the wind ensemble gains a new member.
The so-called “Haru-Chika Series” featuring these two characters has been a huge hit, with four volumes of stories to date.
The anime adaption is being handled by P.A. Works. The studio is known for anime such as Angel Beats, Nagi-Asu: A Lull in the Sea, Shirobako, Canaan, and Charlotte. The adaptation will be directed by Masakazu Hashimoto. Hashimoto’s previous works include Tari Tari, Soul Eater Not!, and Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva. The series composition will be handled by Reiko Yoshida whose works include Bakuman, K-On!, Tamako Market and Yowamushi Pedal. The original character design is by Namaniku ATK who also did the character designs for Chaika: The Coffin Princess. Asako Nishida will be adapting the character designs for the anime. Nishida’s previous works include Love Live! School idol project, Vampire Knight, and Angel Links.
If you would like to learn more about the anime please check out the official website here.
