Actors: Songs Connection

Japanese multimedia franchise

Actors: Songs Connection
Created by	Exit Tunes
Anime television series
Directed by	Osamu Yamasaki
Written by	Osamu Yamasaki
Music by	Hideakira Kimura Tomotaka Ōsumi Hiroaki Tsutsumi
Studio	Drive
Licensed by	Funimation
Original network	Tokyo MX, BS NTV, AT-X
Original run	October 6, 2019 – December 22, 2019
Episodes	12 (List of episodes)

Actors: Songs Connection, stylized as ACTORS: Songs Connection, is a Japanese multimedia franchise created by Exit Tunes. It began as a series of drama CDs released in 2014, before having an anime television series for the franchise announced. The television series ran for twelve episodes from October to December 2019.

Characters

Saku Otonomiya (音之宮朔, Otonomiya Saku): Voiced by: Gakuto Kajiwara^[1] (Japanese); Brandon McInnis^[2] (English)
Uta Outa (往田詩, Outa Uta): Voiced by: Yuya Hozumi^[1] (Japanese); Howard Wang^[2] (English)
Sōsuke Kagura (神樂蒼介, Kagura Sōsuke): Voiced by: Wataru Urata^[1] (Japanese); Aaron Campbell^[2] (English)
Mike Enjōji (円城寺三毛, Enjōji Mike): Voiced by: Yūki Ono^[1] (Japanese); Daman Mills^[2] (English)
Mitsuki Akika (鑑香水月, Akiha Mitsuki): Voiced by: Kenji Nojima^[1] (Japanese); Reagan Murdock^[2] (English)
Satsuma Kadonoōji (葛野大路颯馬, Kadonoōji Satsuma): Voiced by: Ryōtarō Okiayu^[1] (Japanese); Josh Bangle^[2] (English)
Ryō Saotome (五月女燎, Saotome Ryō): Voiced by: Tomohiro Tsuboi^[1] (Japanese); Steven Kelly^[2] (English)
Keishi Harumoto (東本桂士, Harumoto Keishi): Voiced by: Noriaki Sugiyama^[1] (Japanese); Ricco Fajardo^[2] (English)
Kai Akizuki (秋月甲斐, Akizuki Kai): Voiced by: Takuya Eguchi^[1] (Japanese); Kyle Igneczi^[2] (English)
Chiguma Marume (丸目千熊, Marume Chiguma): Voiced by: Subaru Kimura^[1] (Japanese); Blake Jackson^[2] (English)
Kagetora Nagano (長野影虎, Nagano Kagetora): Voiced by: Ryō Horikawa^[1] (Japanese); Christopher Wehkamp^[2] (English)
Tsukasa Odawara (小田原牧, Odawara Tsukasa): Voiced by: Show Hayami^[1] (Japanese); J. Michael Tatum^[2] (English)
Washiho Usuki (臼杵鷲帆, Usuki Washiho): Voiced by: Ryōta Takeuchi^[1] (Japanese); David Wald^[2] (English)

Production and release

The series began as a series of drama CDs released by Exit Tunes in March 2014. In November 2018, an anime television series adaptation was announced.^[3] The series was produced by Drive, with direction and script writing by Osamu Yamasaki, character designs by Asako Nishida, and music composed by Hideakira Kimura, Tomotaka Ōsumi, and Hiroaki Tsutsumi.^[1] While the first episode had an advanced screening at Anime Expo on July 7, 2019,^[4] the series officially aired on Tokyo MX and other channels from October 6 to December 22, 2019.^[5] The series ran for twelve episodes.^[6] The series' opening theme is "Titania", while its ending theme is "Inazuma Shock"; both were performed by the series' Japanese and English cast members (Japanese only for the opening and ending movies).^[5]

The series is licensed outside of Asia by Funimation.^[7] An English dub, produced by Sound Cadence Studios, was released on Funimation's streaming service on November 24, 2019.^[2]

Episode list

No.	Title ^[8]	Original air date
1	"Adagio"	October 6, 2019 (2019-10-06)^[a]
2	"con brio"	October 13, 2019 (2019-10-13)
3	"dolente"	October 20, 2019 (2019-10-20)
4	"abandone"	October 27, 2019 (2019-10-27)
5	"traumend"	November 3, 2019 (2019-11-03)
6	"appassionato"	November 10, 2019 (2019-11-10)
7	"stravagante"	November 17, 2019 (2019-11-17)
8	"concerto"	November 24, 2019 (2019-11-24)
9	"agitato"	December 1, 2019 (2019-12-01)
10	"piu mosso"	December 8, 2019 (2019-12-08)
11	"decisivo"	December 15, 2019 (2019-12-15)
12	"piacere"	December 22, 2019 (2019-12-22)

Reception

Rebecca Silverman, Theron Martin, and Nick Creamer from Anime News Network praised the character designs and music, while criticizing the story as basic and the characters as unemotional.^[9] Vrai Kaiser from Anime Feminist praised the music and animation, while also criticizing the characters as bland and unoriginal.^[10]

Notes

^ This episode had an advanced screening on July 7, 2019.^[4]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ Hodgkins, Crystalyn (March 24, 2019). "ACTORS: Songs Connection TV Anime Reveals Promo Video, Staff, Cast, Fall Premiere". Anime News Network. Retrieved February 7, 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ Sherman, Jennifer (November 25, 2019). "Sound Cadence Studios Provides Dub for Funimation's Stream of Actors: Songs Connections Anime". Anime News Network. Retrieved February 7, 2022.
^ Hodgkins, Crystalyn (November 9, 2018). "'Actors' Crossover CD Project Featuring Male Voice Actors Singing Vocaloid Songs Gets TV Anime". Anime News Network. Retrieved February 7, 2022.
^ ^a ^b Hodgkins, Crystalyn (June 27, 2019). "Anime Expo Lists Screenings of Hakubo, Anemone Films; ACTORS, Hensuki TV Anime". Anime News Network. Retrieved February 7, 2022.
^ ^a ^b Sherman, Jennifer (August 30, 2019). "ACTORS: Songs Connection Anime's Video Previews Opening Song". Anime News Network. Retrieved February 7, 2022.
^ Sherman, Jennifer (October 18, 2019). "Actors: Song Connection Anime to Have 12 Episodes". Anime News Network. Retrieved February 7, 2022.
^ Mateo, Alex (October 4, 2019). "Funimation to Stream Actors: Song Connection Anime". Anime News Network. Retrieved February 7, 2022.
^ "Story". actors-anime.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved March 2, 2022.
^ Silverman, Rebecca; Martin, Theron; Creamer, Nick (October 6, 2019). "The Fall 2019 Anime Preview Guide: ACTORS: Songs Connection". Anime News Network. Retrieved February 7, 2022.
^ Kaiser, Vrai (October 6, 2019). "Actors: Songs Connection – Episode 1". Anime Feminist. Retrieved February 7, 2022.