Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens

Background

Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens initially began as a light novel series written by Chiaki Kisaki and illustrated by Hako Ichiiro. Published by ASCII Media Works, the light novel series is still going strong with eight volumes published as of February 2018. A manga series (illustrated by Kisara Akino) is also currently serialized in Square Enix’s Monthly G Fantasy.

Anime Adaptation

The first season of the anime adaptation premiered on Jan. 12, 2018 on Japan’s AT-X, Tokyo MX, BS11, and TVQ. It is also available for streaming on Crunchyroll and FUNimation. The opening theme is “Stray” by Kishida Kyodan & The Akeboshi Rockets, while the ending theme is “Dirty Bullet” by TRI4th.

Staff

Director: Kenji Yasuda (Arata the Legend, Croisee in a Foreign Labyrinth)
Scriptwriter: Shogo Yasukawa (Aria the Scarlet Ammo, Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma - The Third Plate*)
Music Director: Kotaro Nakagawa (Code Geass, Prison School)
Studio: Satelight (Log Horizon, Fairy Tail)

Cast

Daisuke Ono: Zenji Banba
・Notable roles: Erwin Smith (Attack on Titan), William Vangeance (Black Clover)

Yuki Kaji: Lin Xianming
・Notable roles: Shoto Todoroki (My Hero Academia), Bananya (Bananya)

Yusuke Kobayashi: Saitoh
・Notable roles: Zenji Marui (Food Wars: Shokugeki no Soma), Subaru Natsuki (Re:Zero)

Kensho Ono: Enokida
・Notable roles: Akutagawa Ryuunosuke (Bungo Stray Dogs), Akagi Masafumi (Tsurezure Children)

Daisuke Namikawa: Jiro
・Notable roles: North and South Italy (Hetalia: The Beautiful World), Kei Tachikawa (World Trigger)

Aoi Yuki: Misaki
・Notable roles: Yuuki Konno (Sword Art Online II), Funako Nakai (Case Closed)

Yuichi Nakamura: Shunsuke Saruwatari
・Notable roles: Gray Fullbuster (Fairy Tail), Renji Yomo (Tokyo Ghoul)

Characters

Zenji Banba (CV: Daisuke Ono)
Tall and handsome, Zenji is a private detective born and raised in the local area. He owns his own agency called the Banba Detective Office, though he may or may not be a famous assassin when he isn’t doing that. Despite that, he is a calm and gentle man who usually looks more unkempt than most.

Lin Xianming (CV: Yuki Kaji)
Quite the beauty, isn’t he? Sharp eyes and long locks do wonders for this crossdressing hitman originally from Taiwan. Exceptionally skilled with a knife, Lin came to Japan to search for his long lost sister and to pay off family debts. However, when his search leads him to an undesirable and tragic truth, he partners with Zenji to right wrongs.

Saitoh (CV: Yusuke Kobayashi)
Saitoh is a former baseball player and recent college graduate who is transferred to the Fukuoka Branch of Murder Inc. His cute face and youthful eyes almost makes it impossible to believe he’s an assassin (though not a particularly skilled one)!

Enokida (CV: Kensho Ono)
Eccentric in appearance with his bright and gaudy clothing, Enokida is a long-time associate of Zenji. He makes his living as a hacker and an information broker, even having enough skills ot manufacturer robots to gather information around town. He is quite confident in his own abilities but, as you can imagine, also quite playful.

Jiro (CV: Daisuke Namikawa)
This fashionable man used to be a hairdresser until his beloved as assassinated. Ever since then, he has taken up the helm of a hitman that runs his own agency, while simultaneously caring for a wayward elementary girl, Misaki.

Misaki (CV: Aoi Yuki)
This smart little elementary school student is actually an assistant at Jiro’s hitman agency. After a certain incident led her to him, these two have been in each other’s hair ever since.

Shunsuke Saruwatari (CV: Yuichi Nakamura)
Saruwatari is an assassin who’s thirst for blood makes him more dangerous than most. He is essentially enemies with Zenji.

Broadcast Information

Tokyo MX/BS11: Every Friday at 12:30 am
AT-X: Every Friday at 10:30 pm

Theme Songs

Opening Theme: “Stray” by Kishida Kyodan & The Akeboshi Rockets
Ending Theme: “Dirty Bullet” by TRI4th