Viz Media has had some good luck with Aya Kanno’s work before, such as with Blank Slate and then with Otomen, so it was no surprise that they went after another of her works with Requiem of the Rose King. The series, which is known as Bara Ou no Souretsu in Japan, launched in October 2013 in Princess magazine and Viz Media began releasing it in 2015 with it catching up close to the fifteen volumes that are now out in Japan.
We learned in September 2020 that an anime adaptation is coming for it and that it’s being scheduled for a fall 2021 debut. Now, the official site has updated to reveal that the show is being pushed back due to the usual “circumstances” that lacks detail to a January 2022 production. At this point, it could be pandemic-related delays in terms of production or just broadcast networks still reshuffling from shows being pushed back last year with delays.
The series will be directed by Kentaro Suzuki based on the scripts written and supervised by Hiroki Uchida. Tsutomu Hashizume is handling the character designs with J.C. Staff handling the animation production.
“Aya Kanno’s unique take on the era of the Wars of the Roses, REQUIEM OF THE ROSE KING, will resonate with her current fans and hopefully bring even more awareness to her lush, masterful work,” said Joel Enos, Viz Media Editor, back in 2015. “Aya Kanno returns to a darker, gothic-inspired aesthetic, reworking Shakespeare’s classic tragedy about poisonous Machiavellian ambition into a ruthless and beautiful new series. Her Richard is a cunning, flawed prince determined to secure the throne for his family!”
【お詫びとお知らせ】
TVアニメ「薔薇王の葬列」放送時期変更のお知らせを公式HPに掲載いたしました。
この度、放送時期を2021年秋から2022年1月に変更させて頂くこととなりました。https://t.co/z4b313nSVD楽しみにお待ち頂いておりました皆様には、心よりお詫び申し上げます。#薔薇王の葬列
— TVアニメ『薔薇王の葬列』公式アカウント (@baraou_anime) July 2, 2021
Check out the official site and Twitter.
Plot concept: In the series, Richard, the ambitious third son of the House of York, is a tortured soul who believes he is damned from birth to eternal darkness. But is it truly fate that sets him on the path to personal destruction? Or his own tormented longings? Aya Kanno’s dark fantasy finds the man who could be king standing between worlds, between classes, between good and evil.
In the opening volume, set in medieval England during the age of the Wars of the Roses, a fierce battle rages between the House of York and the House of Lancaster. Young Richard of the House of York is determined that his family will ascend the throne…but he’s hiding a secret that could destroy everything he desires.
