Rental Magica (レンタルマギカ, Rentaru Magika) is a Japanese animated television series . Its episodes are directed by Itsuro Kawasaki and produced by the Japanese animation studio ZEXCS[1] and Victor Entertainment. ZEXCS produced the animation and Victor Entertainment was responsible for developing the music. They are based on the light novel series Rental Magica by Makoto Sando and illustrated by pako, and adapt the source material over twenty-four episodes. The plot of the episodes follows Itsuki Iba, the newly appointed president of Astral, a company that dispatches magicians to perform jobs involving supernatural phenomena, and his interactions with his employees and Astral's competitors.
The episodes aired from October 7, 2007 to March 23, 2008 on Chiba TV and TV Saitama, with the episodes later broadcast on KBS Kyoto, Sun TV, Tokyo MX TV, TV Aichi, TV Hokkaido, TV Kanagawa, and TVQ Kyushu Broadcasting Co. The order that the episodes air in is nonlinear; for instance, the first episode broadcast is the sixth episode chronologically. The exceptions are episodes four, eight, and episodes sixteen through twenty, which are in the same broadcast and chronological order.[2]
Four pieces of theme music are used for the episodes; two opening themes and two ending themes. The two opening themes are "Sora ni Saku" (宇宙に咲く) and "Faith"; both are by Lisa Komine. The ending themes are Jungo Yoshida's "Aruite Ikō" (歩いていこう.) and an a cappella version of "Aruite Ikō", sung by the Astral members' voice actors, used in episodes twelve and twenty-one. A single containing both opening themes was released on November 21, 2007,[3] and a single for the closing themes was released on the same date.[4]
Several DVD compilations have been released by Kadokawa. The compilations contain two episodes of the series, with the first four released on December 21, 2007,[5] January 25, 2008,[6] February 22, 2008,[7] and March 21, 2008 respectively.[8] The fifth compilation is set for release on April 25, 2008.[9]
- ^ "Rental Magica, Sketchbook to Become Television Anime". News. Anime News Network. 2007-04-26. Retrieved 2009-04-07.
- ^ "Rental Magica - Episode List" (in Japanese). Kadokawa. Archived from the original on 2007-10-12. Retrieved 2007-01-01.
- ^ "@Victor Entertainment 作品詳細 コミネリサ(lisa) TVアニメーション「レンタルマギカ」オープニングテーマ 「宇宙(そら)に咲く」" (in Japanese). Victor Entertainment. Retrieved 2008-02-23.
- ^ "@Victor Entertainment 作品詳細 吉田 旬吾 TVアニメーション「レンタルマギカ」エンディングテーマ 「歩いていこう.」" (in Japanese). Victor Entertainment. Retrieved 2008-02-23.
- ^ "Amazon.co.jp: Rental Magica - DVD (Vol. 1)" (in Japanese). Retrieved 2008-01-01.
- ^ "Amazon.co.jp: Rental Magica - DVD (Vol. 2)" (in Japanese). Retrieved 2008-01-01.
- ^ "Amazon.co.jp: Rental Magica - DVD (Vol. 2)" (in Japanese). Amazon.com. Retrieved 2008-03-24.
- ^ "Rental Magica - DVD" (in Japanese). Kadokawa. Archived from the original on 2008-01-01. Retrieved 2008-01-01.
- ^ "Amazon.co.jp: Rental Magica - DVD (Vol. 5)" (in Japanese). Amazon.com. Retrieved 2008-03-24.