Ex-Arm

Alternate Title
EX-ARM エクスアーム

Synopsis

In 2014, Akira Natsume, a high school student who has a dislike for machines, decides he wants to change. He takes the first step but is then suddenly killed when he is hit by a truck. In 2030, a Tokyo police officer named Minami Uezono and her android partner Arma infiltrate the scene of an arms deal for an unknown weapon called “Ex-Arm.” The story follows the duo of Minami and Arma as they retrieve and activate the highly advanced AI and superweapon to discover that it is actually Akira’s brain.

Background

Ex-Arm began as a science-fiction manga series written by HiRock and illustrated by Shinya Komi. It was serialized from February 2015 to June 2019, first in Shueisha’s Grand Jump magazine before moving to the Shonen Jump+ website. It has been released as 14 tankobon volumes. A sequel manga titled Ex-Arm EXA began serialization in Grand Jump Mucha in August 2019. A novel written by Ataro Kumo titled Ex-Arm the Novel Deus Ex Machina has also been released, as has a manga adaptation of the novel, titled Ex-Arm Another Code.

A anime adaptation was announced with the release of the 12th volume of the manga in December 2018. It is being produced by Visual Flight and features a newcomer staff in the world of anime that includes Yoshikatsu Kimura as director with Tommy Morton handling series composition and So Kimura aka FIQTIV handling the music. The opening theme song is "Rise Again” by J-pop/rock band Airflip, while the ending theme song is "Diamonds Shine” Dizzy Sunfist. The anime was originally set to premiere in July 2020 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It will now premiere on Jan. 10, 2021 on Tokyo MX and Sun TV.

Characters

Akira Natsume (Voiced by: Soma Saito)
Akira is a mechanically illiterate high school student who is killed in a car accident and wakes up in the year 2030 to discover he is now only an armored “brain.” Known as Ex-Arm No. 00-Alpha, he is adept at hacking and begins working with the Ex-Arm Countermeasure Division in order to uncover his lost memories and regain his body.

Minami Uezono (Voiced by: Mikako Komatsu)
Minami is a compassionate police officer and a top-notch marksman, fighter, and pilot. She along with her partner Arma are transferred from the Traffic Division to the Ex-Arm Countermeasure Division.

Arma (Voiced by: Akari Kito)
Arma is a female android police officer jointly developed by the National Police Agency and Iriya Heavy Industries in 2028. She is a prototype equipped with fourth-generation AI, which uses artificial synaptic intelligence for learning and development. She is partnered with Minami.

Soushi Shiga (Voiced by: Daisuke Namikawa)
Soushi is the section chief of the Ex-Arm Countermeasure Division. He is from the National Defense Force and has a strong relationship with the military. He hats Ex-Arm and views it as the “enemy of all mankind.”

Chikage Rokuoin (Voiced by: Sumire Uesaka)
Chikage is the head of the Ex-Arm Countermeasure Division. She is also a police inspector and is good at FPS games.

Alisa Himegami (Voiced by: Yui Ishikawa)
Alisa is an engineer who was dispatched from Iriya Heavy Industries to work exclusively with the Ex-Arm Countermeasure Division. She is a talented young woman who earned a degree from the California Institute of Technology when she was 17. She supports the team with her wealth of knowledge.

Kimura (Voiced by: Taku Yashiro)
Kimura is a member of the Ex-Arm Countermeasure Division. He is an exoskeleton soldier of the U.S. Army and fought to hold the Ex-Arm Countermeasure Division headquarters when it was raided by the Reconstruction Committee.

Kondo (Voiced by: Shomaru Zoza)
Kondo is a member of the Ex-Arm Countermeasure Division and is an expert sniper who previously served in the National Defense Force as part of the special ops team S.S.A.T.

Shuichi Natsume (Voiced by: Koji Yusa)
Shuichi is Kaori’s junior and Akira’s older brother. He studies androids in the Iriya Laboratory at the university.

Soma (Voiced by: Yu Kobayashi)
Soma is a boy who works with Al-Jaad. He is Minami’s younger brother who was separated from her some time ago.

Yggdrasil (Voiced by: Miyu Tomita)
Yggdrasil is a quantum computer developed by Iriya Heavy Industries and is a daughter of the battlefield.

Kaori Munakata (Voiced by: Satomi Arai)
Kaori is the CEO of Iriya Heavy Industries and Shuichi’s girlfriend. She is a senior at the Iriya Laboratory at the university who studies androids and met Akira during high school in 2014.

Elmira (Voiced by: Azumi Waki)
Elmira is a sexroid who works for “Master” Morau at the sexroid brothel True Eve in the Yokosuka Special District.

Throughhand (Voiced by: Takaya Kuroda)
Throughhand is a member of the smuggling group Batohara and is equipped with Ex-Arm No. 8.

Music

• Opening Theme Song: "Rise Again” by Airflip
• Ending Theme Song: "Diamonds Shine” Dizzy Sunfist

International Streaming

Crunchyroll

• Anime Site (Japanese)
• Manga Site (Japanese)
• Portal Site (Japanese)
• Twitter (Japanese)

• Original Creator: HiRock, Shinya Komi
• Director: Yoshikatsu Kimura
• Series Composition: Tommy Morton
• Music: So Kimura aka FIQTIV
• Animation Production: Visual Flight