As previously reported, media conglomerate ABS-CBN will revive the HERO Zone anime timeblock on their cable entertainment channel Jeepney TV this Sunday, March 11.
The network clarifies in a press release sent to Anime Pilipinas that the anime block will air two anime series every week: the first of New Initial D the Movie trilogy (not the series as initially reported) and Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V.
New Initial D the Movie – Legend 1: Awakening will air at 10:00am, while Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V will air at 11:00am.
New Initial D the Movie – Legend 1: Awakening
新劇場版「頭文字D」 Legend1 -覚醒-
When aspiring racer Koichiro Iketani witnesses an unplanned street duel between Keisuke Takahashi, a member of a rival race team, and a mysterious Toyota Sprinter Trueno AE86, Koichiro’s totally blown away by the skill of the 86’s driver. What Koichiro doesn’t know is that the driver is fellow gas station attendant Takumi Fujiwara, who was making a late-night tofu delivery for his father, a legendary Mt. Akina driver himself. Unforeseen events are about to springboard Takumi into the center of the street-racing world, turning the rivalry between Iketani’s Akina Speedsters and Takahashi’s Akagi Red Suns into an all-out street war! (Synopsis from Sentai Filmworks)
New Initial D the Movie is a film trilogy based on the popular racing manga series by Shuichi Shigeno, published from 1995 to 2013. “Legend 1: Awakening” is the first of the three-part movie, which is a retelling of the manga’s early stages, released in Japanese theaters in August 2014.
The movie is handled by an entirely new staff, which will be directed by Masamitsu Hidaka, who worked on the Pokemon: Indigo League anime series, while Destiny Warriors (Hero Tales) scriptwriter Mayori Sekijima handled the movie’s scripts.
Koji Haneda, who worked on the sci-fi anime series Scared Rider Xechs, handled character designs for the movie, which was produced by LIDEN FILMS and SANZIGEN Animation Studio.
The anime movie first premiered on defunct anime channel HEROtv in October last year.
Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V
遊☆戯☆王ARC-V
Yuya Sakaki is a 14-old year student who wants to become a professional entertainment duelist to give everyone a smile, but one day, he ends up fighting an exhibition match against the current champion of the Pro Duel World. This fight will lead him to make a decision, and confront the difficulties to make his dream come true. (Synopsis from Anime News Network)
Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V is the fourth spin-off to the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise, which was produced by anime studio Gallop and directed by Kasumi Ono, who also directed the Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’sanime series.
Tsutomu Kamishiro, who worked as a scriptwriter for the 2011 anime adaptation of Hunter × Hunter, also handled the scripts for the anime.
The anime series first premiered on the defunct anime channel HEROtv in November 2016.
Jeepney TV was launched by media conglomerate ABS-CBN’s cable channels division in October 2012 as a channel dedicated to air classic and archive shows of the network. The channel eventually aired their own programming, particularly Korean dramas, that were aired first on the channel.
The channel’s HERO Zone anime block will be the first time that ABS-CBN will air a Japanese anime show on its cable channels since the anime channel HEROtv was shut down last February 1, which was then revamped as a “digital portal” by ABS-CBN Lifestyle division a couple of days later.
“HERO Zone” was the name of the anime block of the terrestrial channel ABS-CBN that ran from 2006-2007, which featured titles like The Law of Ueki and Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny. The anime block was relaunched as “Team Animazing”, and ran from 2010 until 2016.
The media conglomerate also announced on Saturday that the popular music idol anime Love Live! Sunshine!! and Makoto Shinkai’s top-grossing anime movie your name. are set to air on the anime block soon.
