1st videos to feature animated footage from Bakumatsu-era fantasy series

The official website for the Bakumatsu Gijinden Roman anime began streaming the series' second promotional video on Sunday. The video and an earlier television commercial are the first to feature animated footage from the series. They also preview Yukino's "RanTiKi," which is the opening theme song for the series.

In the fantasy historical story, the main character is a "helper" named Manjirō by day and a phantom thief "retriever" named Roman by night. Roman steals back people's precious items that were unfairly taken from them.

Nippon Columbia revealed last month that the CR Ginroku Gijinden Roman pachinko game is getting a television anime series that will premiere on January 7, 2013. The game's story follows Roman in the Genroku era (1688-1704). The anime Bakumatsu Gijinden Roman will shift the timeframe to Bakumatsu, the era that spelled the end of the shoguns' rule over Japan.

The main cast is as follows:

Kazuya Nakai as Roman

Eri Kitamura as Koharu

Kenichi Suzumura as Magoichi

Maaya Uchida as Okuni

Chihiro Suzuki as Yasuhiro

Saori Sudo as Kanade

Takashi Matsuyama as Hans

Kenichi Ogata as Gennai

Fumihiko Tachiki as Yanagisawa

Hirofumi Ogura (Black Butler II, The Knight in the Area) is directing at TMS Entertainment. Tatsuto Higuchi (scripts in Inazuma Eleven, Hanasaku Iroha, Phi Brain: Puzzle of God) is in charge of the series scripts, and Satoshi Hirayama (Lupin III specials, Glass Mask) is adapting Monkey Punch's designs for anime. Hiroshi Takaki (AKB0048, Kyousogiga) is scoring the music.