Masako Nozawa appears in "SANDA"

It has been announced that Masako Nozawa will be appearing as a voice actress in the TV anime "SANDA," based on the manga by Paru Itagaki, known for "BEASTARS." Nozawa will play Tetsudome Juyo, the chairman of Daikoku Aid Academy. A character promotional video for Tetsudome Juyo has also been released on YouTube.

Tetsudome Juyo is a wrinkled 95-year-old man who is the polar opposite of Oshibu, the principal of Daikoku Aid Academy, who pursues youth. In the character trailer, he says, "The more decent a person is, the more they will go back and forth between being an adult and a child," and he becomes one of the adults who guides the main character, Mita.

Nozawa commented, "Though Juyo is an old woman who is nearly 100 years old, she is incredibly agile and strong. I found that refreshing and loved her. I always thought, 'This is great!' and enjoyed playing her. I think this is a story that will make you look forward to the next episode, so please do watch it!"

When asked, "What would you like to ask Santa Claus for?" she answered, "I guess I'd like for the world to continue to be a peaceful place to live in. I think the best world is one where we can live peacefully, even if it's ordinary."

It was also announced that the opening video for the series will be released on YouTube at noon on September 28th, and the ending video at noon on September 27th. The opening video was storyboarded by Abel Gongora, director of the second season of the TV anime "Dandadan," and directed by Gan Haotian, and is said to be a cool video set to the song "Adult Chick Children" by yama. The ending video will be created by Li Xiaofei, who has worked on many color scripts for Science SARU works, and will be a heartwarming video depicting "the daily life of Mita and friends as it might have been."Soushi Sakiyama will be in charge of the ending theme, "Diary."

"SANDA" is a manga serialized in "Weekly Shonen Champion" (Akita Shoten) from July 2021 to July 2024. It is a unique "Santa Claus" hero action story set in a near-future Japan where children are overly protected in an era of extremely low birth rates. The anime is directed by Shimoyama Tomohisa, who also directed "Yurei Deco" and "SUPER SHIRO," and produced by Science SARU. Ayumu Murase plays Mita Kazushige, and Tochi Hiroki plays Santa Claus. It will begin airing on October 3rd on the late-night anime slot "Animeism" on MBS, TBS, and other stations.

*Staff (titles omitted)

Director: Tomohisa Shimoyama▽Series composition and script: Kimiko Ueno▽Music: Tomoyuki Tanaka (FPM)▽Character design and chief animation director: Masanobu Ishiyama▽Art director: Hitoshi Higaki▽Color design: Saori Goda▽Director of photography: Hikari Ito▽Editing: Kiyoshi Hirose▽Sound director: Keiichiro Miyoshi▽Animation production: Science SARU

*Cast (titles omitted)

Mita Kazue: Ayumu Murase ▽Santa Claus: Hiroki Tochi▽Fuyumura Shiori: Umeka Shoji▽Ono Kazue: Anna Nagase▽Amaya Isshi: Yuki Shin ▽Fuyu Erhu: Misato Matsuoka ▽Oshibu Hifumi: Toshihiko Seki▽Yagyuda Saburo: Hiroaki Hirata▽Tetsudome Juyo: Masako Nozawa