Series about 30 people on a shady bus tour premieres Friday

Media distribution service Crunchyroll announced on Friday that it will stream the original TV anime series The Lost Village (Mayoiga) as it airs in Japan. The stream will premiere worldwide outside of Asia on Friday, April 1 at 9:30 p.m. EDT.

The anime will premiere in Japan on WOWOW on April 1 at 11:30 p.m., before premiering on MBS, TBS, and CBC on April 8, and on BS-TBS, Video Pass, and J:COM On Demand on April 9. The series will air on MBS's "Animeism" programming block.

The website describes the story:

30 young men and women who came together on a shady bus tour. The tour's destination: an illusive, possibly nonexistent village called Nanakimura. In Nanakimura, one can lead a utopian existence, free of the world's obstacles … or so it was rumored, like an urban legend. "In despair over the real world ... wanting to escape the tedious daily life … wanting to restart your life from scratch…" The bus headed deep into the mountains, carrying 30 people each harboring their own expectations and wounds in their hearts… And so, the place these 30 arrived at, was an uninhabited village with the lingering faint scents of life, even though it was falling apart. What is the truth of Nanakimura facing the 30? You can't miss even one episode!

The anime staff launched a crowdfunding campaign and met its goal of its 3,330,000 yen (about US$29,500) goal. As of press time the project has earned 4,882,000 yen (about US$43,658)

Tsutomu Mizushima (Girls und Panzer, Shirobako, Prison School) is directing the series at anime studio Diomedea (KanColle). Mari Okada (anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day, The Anthem of the Heart, Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans) is serving as series script supervisor, Naomi Ide (KanColle) is designing the characters, and Mizushima is personally directing the sound at Studio Mausu. Masaru Yokoyama (The Anthem of the Heart, Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans) is composing the music at Pony Canyon.

Rina Katahira will perform the ending theme song for the series, titled "Ketsuro" (Dew). The single will ship on April 27.

Ponycan USA promoted the series at Seattle's Sakura-Con on Saturday. The company is considering localizing the series in English, but has not yet decided whether or not it will.