Bandai Visual is now getting their ducks in a row for the upcoming Japanese home video release for the winter 2015 anime series Maria the Virgin Witch as they continue to reveal new pieces about it. The show is getting a standard six volume release that will begin on March 27th, 2015 with new volumes following month. The Blu-ray releases are priced at 7,000 yen each while the DVDs are priced at 6,000 yen each.
With the first volume, there’ll be an art book that will run for sixteen pages and a more standard booklet planned at forty pages. There also looks to be some mini specials for this series as well as the clean opening and closing and the commercials and promos collection. The first two episodes will also contain an audio commentary by the cast.
With the second volume, we get the 16 page art book and the 40 page booklet as the first press materials while on disc extras include an audio commentary for both episodes as well as a mini special that brings in a few characters for some fun with “Challenge from the Chief Researcher”.
The show is animated by Production I.G. and is directed by Goro Taniguchi based on series composition by Hideyuki Kurata and character designs by Yuriko Chiba. It was previously announced that Hisako Kanemoto as Maria, Yoko Hikasa as Artemis, Mikako Komatsu as Priapos, Kana Hanazawa as Ezekiel, Kenshi Ono as Joseph and Kikuo Inoue as Michael would headline it. It will also star Yuuki Ono as Garfa, Bin Shimada as Guillaume, Kenta Miyake as Yvain, Sachiko Kojima as Lolotte, Takahiro Sakurai as Bernard, Natsuki Hanae as Gilbert, Mamiko Noto as Viv, Ai Kakuma as Anne and Miyuki Ichijou as Martha.
The series is based off of the manga of the same name by v Ishikawa which began back in 2008 in good! Afternoon before ending its run last year. The series has gotten a domestic pickup with Kodansha Comics bringing it out in 2015.
Plot concept: In the time of the Hundred Years’ War, a young and powerful witch known as Maria leads a reclusive existence. Shunned by the church – but beloved by certain locals – Maria endeavors to use her magic to bring an end to the warfare she so despises. She assists people of all walks of life with the help of her two familiars: a succubus and an incubus with great powers of seduction. Though she seeks only peace, the archangel Michael despises her use of magic to interfere in human affairs and decrees that should she ever manage to lose her virginity, Maria’s powers will vanish! To ensure that Maria no longer mingles magic with humans, Michael sends the angel Ezekiel to keep a watchful eye on the virgin witch. Don’t miss this intriguing tale of magic, war, and sexual frustration from Production I.G. and the director of Code Geass!
[Source: Junketsu no Maria]
