Anime & Manga News

Mixed Media Project 'Mikagura Gakuen Kumikyoku' Gets Anime Adaptation [Update 12/14]

by tsubasalover
Dec 12, 2014 2:59 AM | 65 Comments
An anime adaptation of the mixed media project Mikagura Gakuen Kumikyoku was decided upon, according to the front cover of the January 2015 issue of Comic Gene.

The project includes a manga series serialized in Comic Gene and a light novel, written by Last Note., who composed the Vocaloid songs that the project is based off of.

There will be a nico live tonight to announce the news.

Update
Staff
Director: Tarou Iwasaki
Series Composition, Screenplay: Masahiro Yokotani
Character Design: Manamu Amasaki
Animation Studio: Doga Kobo

Anime official website: http://mikagura-gakuen.com/

Source: Amazon Japan, Tweet, Official site

News submitted by Stark700

Mikagura Gakuen Kumikyoku on MAL

20 of 65 Comments Recent Comments

Ok, so since most people seem to have decided to Judge the series entirely from the synopsis (which I can agree is a bit bland) without checking any of the source material; Here's (hopefully) some help / more useful info to kick your butts into motion:

Song Series:
* Composed by the famous Last Note and illustrated by Akina
* Currently has 5 songs, all focused on one of the main characters (there are about 10-11 of them and I'll list some of them later). They mostly depict Euna, the protagonist's, interaction with the rest of the cast
* They follow a pattern where when a female lead is in focus, the song depicts/ follows parts of the storyline. And when a male lead is in focus it depicts said lead's past

* First song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLqu8uAXO8s

Novels:
* All written by the original author and illustrated by the original PV-maker/designer
* Currently are about 5-6 volumes released all which are named after the songs
* None have been translated to english yet
Manga:
* Not much info. 17 chapters released. I prefer the novels' storytelling

Plot ( Things about the school that you didn't get out of the synopsis)

* It is like Deadman Wonderland's inmate system (non-lethal version), in a school similar to Dangan Ronpa's Hope Peak Academy or the Exorcist school from AnE.
* The synopsis says that the battles affect their school life, but since all students LIVE on the school grounds, winning is alot more crucial. Losing could mean that you have no bed to sleep in, decent food to eat, good clothes or school material.
* That's why, if you join a club with a good economy or strong members, your life will take a turn for the better. But then you must also pass the entrance exam for the club.
* The protagonist had to sleep in a sack in the girl's dormitory corridor

* The characters' abilities are really obscure and more or less related to the particular club the character is in. They are manifested through an object (it can be anything from a ribbon to a chair) that their holder receives and all but TWO characters (haha, can you guess who?) can't use their abilities without them

*Most of the characters have suffered from sever bullying, abuse and other sad stuff in their past

Okay, so off to the characters. I have heard people complaining, stating that they are all probably just generic trash, but GOSH what characters AREN'T generic anymore? With the shit-ton of literature that exists today it is practically IMPOSSIBLE to create a character that doesn't share a trait with another one and NOT HAVE PEOPLE COMPLAINING ABOUT IT BEING WEAK.
But back to the subject: the main character is actually a bit out of the norm. The overall cast is actually extremely relatable, with realistic and human depictions/personalities/values.

ERUNA ICHINOMIYA (Song: Houkago Stride)
* The Protagonist
* She is homosexual and came for the lolis, but inevitably ends up rejected by everyone.
* Despite not seeming like the brightest bulb in the box, she is actually a pretty clever and strong minded person
* Hates her cousin and her ability allows her to shoot light-beams with her fingertips

BIMII
* Is only with Eruna because he was ordered to by the principal
* Has to stand out with her sh*t every day poor guy

SHIGURE NINOMIYA
* Third year student and representative of the Manga Research society
* Eruna's cousin and the person who brought her to the school
* Has a crush on Eruna and is a real attention whore when it comes to her
* One of the Academy's strongest students, a role he shares with Kyoma and Seisa Mikagura, but idk what his power is

YUTO AKAMA (Song: A Lethargic Coup d'Etat)
* Second-year and representative of the Drama Club
* Is like a mentor to alot of the characters and also Eruna's battle-trainer
* Has an intense fear of abandonment. Issues with depression. Best-buds with Imizu
* Fights with a giant scythe and can move at hyper-speed

ASUHI IMIZU (Song: Izayoi Seeing)
* Freshman and Representative of the Astronomy-club
* True innocent shota and Eruna's first friend
* Quickly gets attached to people
* Fights with a giant telescope that shoots star-lasers

HIMI YASAKA (Song: Uchouten Vivace)
* Second-year representative of the Calligraphy club
* Genki loli-girl
* Napoleon Complex
* Anything she draws with her giant brush comes to life

SADAMATSU MINATOGAWA
* 2nd year. Sole member of the Flower Arranging club
* Stoic, weirdo. He mostly just sits and drinks tea
* Imagine Konoha from Kagerou Project without the Super-human strength
* Can control flowers and plants but mostly just ends up sitting on them

KYOMA KUZURYU (Song: Garakuta Innocence)
* 3rd year. Representative of the Art-club
* Severe trust-issues (due to pretty obvious reasons if you know his past). Seems to be constantly angry and glares 24/7, but is actually really nice.
* He likes freedom and milk (yes you heard me. Milk is life to him)
* Don't know how his powers work but it seems like he uses telekinesis to fight with his art-tools

SEISA MIKAGURA
* 2nd year. Going-Home Club representative
* She is the granddaughter of the School's founder, the strongest student and the reason Eruna's idol/crush
* Mysterious powers, has a scar from a time when a student backstabbed her

USAMARU (-ssu) AND TONKYUN
* Freshmen and members of the Drama Club
* Happy-go-lucky / Cool-guy duo
* Usa doesn't have an ability yet and fights solely by willpower, Ton has a really cool one. Mentioning it would ruin the fun

Dec 30, 2014 4:58 AM by Helbram

Adair said:
Misaorin said:
Apparently Last Note. is a two-person unit.

Adapting series of songs into manga/anime may not be a good idea, but stop despising anything related to Vocaloid just because you didn't like Mekakucity Actors, it's stupid...


Insulting them even though you've probably never heard any of their songs, nor read the manga/light novel.

Ugh.


Agreed. The MCA adaptation failed because they didn't have a proper writer behind it. As much as I respect Jin, he's definitely more of a musician than a screenwriter. Hopefully the Mikagura anime will be better.

I don't think most people realize how incredible the Vocaloid community actually is. These are literally just normal people with (or sometimes even without) some music background that decide to write and produce their own music in their free time using a fairly difficult voice synthesizing software. Vocaloids are notoriously hard to tune, and it's very impressive how realistic a lot of producers can make them sound. Vocaloid is literally as indie as you can get with music, and yet producers like Jin and now Last Note are able to get their work on a professional level. Other producers who started out as average joes with a computer are now composing anime and game openings. Many singers who uploaded covers of Vocaloid songs on NND in their spare time have gone on to become professional singers, like ChouChou, nano, Piko, ClariS, etc. I find it quite disrespectful when people simply write off Vocaloid as "annoying loli jpop" out of ignorance, especially considering the variety of genres Vocaloid music covers beyond the silly popular stuff, as well as the amount of work producers put into creating songs, for the most part with no compensation other than maybe selling albums at Comiket. I'm not asking everyone to go out and become huge Vocaloid fans, but I do wish people would be a little less quick to judge something they don't really know much about.

Also, I wasn't aware Last Note was a two-person unit though, so that's pretty interesting. I heard him in a live a couple weeks ago and it was just one guy, but I guess someone writes lyrics and the other guy does the actual music. It kind of makes sense...and it makes me wonder how many other VocaloPs are actually more than one person.

Yes, it really pisses me off how ignorant some people here can be. They don't even know anything about the work and already call it shit. -_-
I'm pretty anxious to know how it will come out. I have only listen to the songs(I love them) and looked at the raw of the first chapter of the manga when it came out XD I'll try to catch up before the anime's release =)
I agree with erevything you said about Vocaloid, my thoughts exactly. And about the producers that work as a pair, the only ones that come to my mind now are the obvious ones: Wonderful*Opportunity(who are the siblings, JesusP and MinusP) and HitoshizukuxYamaΔ.
And where it's said that Last Note are actually two people? I want to know o.o

Dec 18, 2014 11:56 AM by Milenart

Misaorin said:
Apparently Last Note. is a two-person unit.

Adapting series of songs into manga/anime may not be a good idea, but stop despising anything related to Vocaloid just because you didn't like Mekakucity Actors, it's stupid...

Zeta986 said:
Oh Boy another generic LN adaptation.
The Author is just another typical Japanese Chimpanzee.

Ugh.

Insulting them even though you've probably never heard any of their songs, nor read the manga/light novel.

Ugh.


Agreed. The MCA adaptation failed because they didn't have a proper writer behind it. As much as I respect Jin, he's definitely more of a musician than a screenwriter. Hopefully the Mikagura anime will be better.

I don't think most people realize how incredible the Vocaloid community actually is. These are literally just normal people with (or sometimes even without) some music background that decide to write and produce their own music in their free time using a fairly difficult voice synthesizing software. Vocaloids are notoriously hard to tune, and it's very impressive how realistic a lot of producers can make them sound. Vocaloid is literally as indie as you can get with music, and yet producers like Jin and now Last Note are able to get their work on a professional level. Other producers who started out as average joes with a computer are now composing anime and game openings. Many singers who uploaded covers of Vocaloid songs on NND in their spare time have gone on to become professional singers, like ChouChou, nano, Piko, ClariS, etc. I find it quite disrespectful when people simply write off Vocaloid as "annoying loli jpop" out of ignorance, especially considering the variety of genres Vocaloid music covers beyond the silly popular stuff, as well as the amount of work producers put into creating songs, for the most part with no compensation other than maybe selling albums at Comiket. I'm not asking everyone to go out and become huge Vocaloid fans, but I do wish people would be a little less quick to judge something they don't really know much about.

Also, I wasn't aware Last Note was a two-person unit though, so that's pretty interesting. I heard him in a live a couple weeks ago and it was just one guy, but I guess someone writes lyrics and the other guy does the actual music. It kind of makes sense...and it makes me wonder how many other VocaloPs are actually more than one person.

Dec 13, 2014 8:44 PM by _mahoushoujos_

Red_Keys said:
Sounds stupid.


my thought exactly

Dec 13, 2014 1:49 PM by Mr_Gutts

I totally feel like I need to watch this. I need something silly. If it's good, it could be like Baka to Test, maybe even Koichoco to some extent...

Dec 13, 2014 12:04 PM by einonymous

yeah, this is definitely something i wouldn't watch

Dec 13, 2014 7:35 AM by alpha_shadow

Apparently Last Note. is a two-person unit.

Adapting series of songs into manga/anime may not be a good idea, but stop despising anything related to Vocaloid just because you didn't like Mekakucity Actors, it's stupid...

Zeta986 said:
Oh Boy another generic LN adaptation.
The Author is just another typical Japanese Chimpanzee.

Ugh.

Insulting them even though you've probably never heard any of their songs, nor read the manga/light novel.

Ugh.

Dec 13, 2014 7:29 AM by Misaorin

Stark700 said:
Found the premise:
The story of the original light novels and manga revolves around high school girl Eruna Ichinomiya, who enters the Mikagura Academy dreaming of a boarding school life filled with beauty. However, Eruna finds out that in the culture clubs, there is a rule that battles that are fought with special powers decide a club representative's treatment. Through various circumstances, Eruna becomes a representative of a club, and is thrown into the fray.


I bet Shaft will adapt this. Hoping for some decent OST or songs at least. I wonder if this will debut next April. My bet is on Summer or maybe Fall though.


Sounds normal to me.
Typical school shits.

Dec 13, 2014 1:59 AM by Tengai

Stark700 said:
AO968 said:


If they do, I'm sold. Else, I might wait for trailers and which seiyuu will be used.


They are not this time. I was making a guess but they announced it a few hours later. The studio is apparently Dogakobo.


That's fine, too.

Dec 12, 2014 9:17 PM by Firelord76

The only anime adapted from a song I've seen is Black★Rock Shooter, and it was horrible.

It could be good depending on (1) how much room for creativity the original song/story allows for and (2) how good the writers who adapt the series are.

Dec 12, 2014 7:14 PM by TripleSRank

Romedbaumann said:
sevendeadlywins said:


Probably. The more that I think about it, the more I agree.


Please no.

Thankfully that wasn't the case.

Dec 12, 2014 3:02 PM by vegetablespirit

Something like mekakucity actor huh, well let's see how it turned out later

Dec 12, 2014 2:15 PM by ccdewa

Sounds weird

Dec 12, 2014 2:00 PM by PriestSlayer

No Mekakucity Actors 2.0

Please

Dec 12, 2014 1:50 PM by Comic_Sans

Zelot said:

Scratch what I said about the amount of songs
Found out that one more song is dropping in December and an album with 11 songs for each main character is dropping in Febuarary.


That's what worried me the most about this announcement: the lack of material to base it off of. For the longest time we've been stuck with up until Izayoi Seeing and wherever the Light Novels may be (which according to my limited Google abilities, it's up until Trashy Innocence IIRC). Though it's slightly comforting to know that more songs are incoming and I can only hope that it provides enough material for a solid Anime adaptation. Because I want to to see this succeed. I really really do.

...that and I'm hoping with everything that's coming out, I can finally settle a debate that's been tearing me apart for the longest time:

Eruna or Seisa for best girl? @_@

But I have to give credit where it's due: Ecstatic Vivace is HELLA catchy.

Dec 12, 2014 12:05 PM by KirikaYuiko

TheNaturalPerm said:
belatkuro said:
The keyword is 'Light Novel'. And we're in MAL, where people like to assert their 'right' opinions on a series based on what little information is available to them.

Anime is an extremely transparent medium. The information on this is more than enough to be able to judge it.

But did people look up the information to judge it? Besides reading one synopsis, did they look up the songs? Character information?
Yes a synopsis is enough to deter people away from wanting to begin a series, but it's not enough to judge a series and claim it is bad.

Dec 12, 2014 10:42 AM by Zelot

I instantly think of Mekaku Shitty Actors...No Shaft, pls.

Will wait for more news.

Dec 12, 2014 10:28 AM by Mayuka

belatkuro said:
Zelot said:
Surprised a lot of people dislike this news... Feels like people are to quick to judge.
The keyword is 'Light Novel'. And we're in MAL, where people like to assert their 'right' opinions on a series based on what little information is available to them.

Anime is an extremely transparent medium. The information on this is more than enough to be able to judge it.

Dec 12, 2014 10:27 AM by NaturalPerm

Zelot said:
Super hyped!
I love this song series and I have been wanting to read the manga.
Surprised a lot of people dislike this news... Feels like people are to quick to judge.

One thing though... The series itself is fairly short atm with only 5-6 songs within the series. Mekakucity Actors had 20+ and the adaption came out bad.
Hope the buffer content is good.

Oh, the Caligraphy Club has the best character if this series! Though I hope her design stays more like the music videos. I personally prefer the art of the music videos to what the character designs look like for the anime.

Scratch what I said about the amount of songs
Found out that one more song is dropping in December and an album with 11 songs for each main character is dropping in Febuarary.

Dec 12, 2014 10:21 AM by Zelot

Zelot said:
Surprised a lot of people dislike this news... Feels like people are to quick to judge.
The keyword is 'Light Novel'. And we're in MAL, where people like to assert their 'right' opinions on a series based on what little information is available to them.

Dec 12, 2014 10:14 AM by belatkuro

It’s time to ditch the text file.
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