The previously announced ‘cute girls doing cute things’ anime, ‘Pon no Michi’ will be focused on Mahjong, a classic Chinese game of strategy, skill, and summation. While also adding some slice-of-life elements.
This may appear to be an ‘old man’s game’ with rectangular white tiles, but there is a lot of strategy and thought behind every move, which the anime seeks to discover and convey.
On Friday, the official website for the original mahjong anime Pon no Michi (The Way of Pon) revealed that Hibiku Yamamura will play Haneru Emi, a female high school student who takes playing mahjong very seriously. The website also revealed a new key visual for the anime. The anime is set to debut in January 2024.
In the new key visual, we can see Nashiko in the middle with her friends, and also on the extreme top right, we can see the new character design of Hibiku dressed in black and red.
As for the previously revealed main cast, they are as follows:
| Character | Voice Artist | Other Works |
| Nashiko Jippensha | Kaori Maeda | Elka (Summoned to Another World for a Second Time) |
| Pai Kawahigashi | Iori Saeki | Moe Yanagida (Tokyo Mew Mew New) |
| Izumi Tokutomi | Shion Wakayama | Takina Inoue (Lycoris Recoil) |
| Riche Hayashi | Yui Kondou | Road Camelot (D.Gray-man Hallow) |
| Chonbo | Akio Ōtsuka | Rider (Fate/Zero) |
Furthermore, the main staff working behind the scenes include:
| Position | Staff | Other Works |
| Animation Production | Studio OLM | Pokémon, Yo-kai Watch |
| Original Story | IIS-P | – |
| Director | Tatsuma Minamikawa | Fire Force |
| Screenwriter | Tatsuma Minamikawa | Fire Force (Storyboard) |
| Character Design | Negi Haruba | The Quintessential Quintuplets |
| Character Design | Kenji Ōta | One Piece |
If you are a fan of anime like ‘3-gatsu no lion,’ ‘Chihayafuru,’ and ‘After School Dice Club’, then the upcoming anime ‘Pon no Mich’ is something you should check out, as it centers around the most famous Chinese board game.
About Pon no Michi
Pon no Michi (The Way of Pon) is an original anime series written and directed by Tatsuma Minamikawa. IIS-P is credited for the story and the anime is produced by Studio OLM. It will air in January 2024.
Taking place in Hiroshima Prefecture’s Onomichi City, Nashiko Jippensha, a high-school student was kicked out of her house. She finds out that her father’s Mahjong parlor is now vacant.
Nashiko decides to rebuild the place into somewhere everyone can gather, play Mahjong, have tea, and relax.
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