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 while it was originally set for a fall 2021 debut, it was pushed back to January 2022. Recently, the official site has revealed a January 9th, 2022 premiere for the two-cour series. The latest update brings us a great new promo, a new key visual, and two more cast additions with:
- Riho Sugiyama as Henry Stafford
- Aoi Yūki as Joan of Arc
The previously announced cast includes:
- Mitsuki Saiga as Richard
- Hikaru Midorikawa as Henry
- Sho Hayami as Richard, Duke of York
- Kousuke Toriumi as Edward
- Yasuaki Takumi as George, Duke of Clarence
- Satoshi Mikami as the Earl of Warwick
- Satoshi Hino as William Catesby
- Sayaka Ohara as Queen Margaret
- Kōhei Amasaki as Edward of Westminster
- Sayumi Suzushiro as Lady Anne Neville
- Ayumi Mano as Lady Isabel Neville
- Shizuka Itou as Queen Elizabeth
- Aya Hisakawa as Cecily Neville
- Houchu Ohtsuka as the narrator
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!”
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.
Previous promos and visuals:
[Source: ANN]
