To commemorate the 25th anniversary of the TV anime "Collector Yui," which aired on NHK Educational TV from 1999 to 2000, a new commemorative visual drawn by Kia Asamiya, the original creator, has been released. It was also announced that a digitally remastered version of the work will be distributed on various video distribution services. The first series will begin streaming on December 25th, followed by the second series in February 2025. There are also plans to release merchandise using the commemorative visual.
Asamiya commented, "This work began with just the two of us, the producer and I, with a single A4 page of bullet points. The story is based on the legend of Hakkenden, and is about a girl who performs various feats in the cyber world. I loved Shin Hakkenden, which aired on NHK when I was a child, and I've also worked on many magical girl projects as a staff member, so the work was a lot of fun. After making it through several planning meetings, it finally saw the light of day. And so, here is the "Collector Yui" that everyone knows. Now is the time for me to visit ComNet!"
Fumie Muroi, who was in charge of character design, said, "Collector Yui was still made from cel animation in the analog era, so the lines were all incomprehensible to me. Computer terminology that is now commonplace was something I'd never heard of before at the time. Although it's a fairly old-fashioned magical girl transformation anime, I think the outrageous storyline means it can still be enjoyed by people of all ages and genders. Looking back at the subtitles, I think that a lot of people who are now amazing were involved in the series."
"Collector Yui" depicts the daily life of a middle school sophomore, Yui Kasuga, who is not good at computers, as she fulfills her duties as Collector Yui in a computer network called ComNet. The first series was broadcast in 1999, and the second series in 2000.
◇Staff of the first series (titles omitted)
Original story: Kia Asamiya▽Series composition: Katsuyuki Sumisawa▽Director: Yuji Muto▽Character design: Fumie Muroi▽Art director: Masaaki Kawaguchi▽Director of photography: Seiichi Morishita▽Music: Kenji Kawai ▽Sound director: Hiroyuki Hayase▽Animation production: Nippon Animation
◇Cast of the first series (titles omitted)
M. Omoto, T. Nishimura, M. Mugihito, K. Kazuki Yao, Y. Amano, K. Mitsuishi, et al.
◇Staff of the second series (titles omitted)
Original story: Asamiya Kia▽Series composition: Nishizono Satoru▽Director: Muto Yuji▽Character design: Muroi Fumie, Nakajima Yoshiko▽Art director: Kawaguchi Masaaki, Kawamoto Seihei▽Director of photography: Morishita Seiichi▽Music: Kenji Kawai ▽Sound director: Takahashi Hideo▽Animation production: Nippon Animation
◇Cast of the second series (titles omitted)
M. Omoto, T. Nishimura, M. Mugihito, K. Araki, Kazuki Yao, Y. Amano, K. Mitsuishi, et al.
