15-minute anime series premiering on January 10 will air for 2 cours

The January 2016 issue of Shueisha's Bessatsu Margaret (Betsuma) magazine (cover pictured at right) revealed on Saturday that the television anime of Minami Mizuno's Nijiiro Days (Rainbow Days) manga will premiere on January 10 on Tokyo MX TV at 10:00 p.m. The series will also air on Yomiuri TV, Chukyo TV, Sapporo TV, and BS11.

Additionally, the issue reveals that the series will air as a 15-minute anime, and it will air for two cour (two quarters of a year). An live-action spinoff program of the anime titled club Rainbow ~Nijiiro Days~ will premiere on Tokyo MX TV at 10:15 p.m., and it will also air on the other channels that will air the anime. The program will feature the anime's main four cast members taking on various challenges.

The anime will feature the same cast as a previous drama CD:





Yoshitsugu Matsuoka (Sword Art Online's Kirito) as Natsuki "Nacchan" Hashiba, teased by all for his idealistic fantasies

Yoshitsugu Matsuoka (Sword Art Online's Kirito) as Natsuki "Nacchan" Hashiba, teased by all for his idealistic fantasies

Takuya Eguchi (My Love Story!!'s Takeo Gōda) as Tomoya "Mattsun" Matsunaga, a narcissistic playboy



Nobunaga Shimazaki ( Free!'s Haruka Nanase) as Keiichi "Keichan" Katakura, an athletic boy who is actually sadistic



Kouki Uchiyama (Nisekoi's Raku Ichijō) as Tsuyoshi "Tsuyopon" Naoe, an otaku with a grifriend



Minami Tsuda (Yuruyuri - Happy Go Lily's Yui Funami) as Anna Kobaya



Yumi Uchiyama (Saki Episode of Side A's Arata Sagimori) as Mari Tsutsui



Ai Kayano (anohana's Menma) as Nozomi Matsunaga



Shizuka Ishigami (A Lull in the Sea's Akira Shiodome) as Yukiko Asai

The manga centers on a group of four male high school students who are close friends: Natsuki, Tomoya, Keiichi, and Tsuyoshi. The four boys have no club activities, and they hurry through their studies so they can spend their days having fun. Their main topic of interest: love. Natsuki has an unrequited crush on Anna, a girl from another class, and his friends keep meddling in their relationship.

Tetsuro Amino (Broken Blade, Macross 7, Shiki) is serving as chief director, and Tomihiko Ohkubo (Brave Story unit director, Final Fantasy: Legend of the Crystals, Kiss wa Me ni Shite director) is directing the series at Production Reed (Onsen Yōsei Hakone-chan, Hōkago no Tinker Bell). Aki Itami (Mushi-Shi, Flowers of Evil) is handling the series scripts.

Matsuoka, Eguchi, Shimazaki, and Uchiyama will perform the ending theme song titled "Rainbow Days." Tomotaka Oosumi composed, arranged, and wrote the lyrics for the song. The single will ship in February. Sonar Pocket will perform the opening theme song "Best Friend." The band stated that they wrote the lyrics to reflect the friendship between the four main characters. The single will ship on January 20.

Minami Mizuno launched the manga in Bessatsu Margaret in the February 2012 issue, and Shueisha published the 10th compiled book volume on September 25. The manga inspired a drama CD that Shueisha bundled with a limited edition of the seventh volume in October 2014.

A tentatively titled "Nijiiro Days Appli" game will debut on iOS and Android devices early next year.

Betsuma cover image via Comic Natalie