Appare-Ranman!
An inventor and a samurai race across America.
From April to September 2020, P.A. Works produced the original anime series Appare-Ranman!, with Masakazu Hashimoto directing. A manga version by Ahndongshik ran in Kadokawa Shoten's Young Ace magazine between April 2020 and January 2022.
Quick Facts
- Episodes
- 13
- Original network
- AT-X
- Original run
- April 10, 2020 – September 25, 2020
- Director
- Masakazu Hashimoto
- Music by
- Evan Call
- Opening theme
- "I got it!" by Mia Regina
- Ending theme
- by Showtaro Morikubo
Facts from the source article.
Plot
Set around the start of the Meiji era in Japan, eccentric inventor Appare Sorano decides to set off on an adventure. Samurai Kosame Isshiki, tasked with keeping Appare in check, accidentally strands them both at sea. Rescued by a passing American steamship, they end up in Los Angeles with no money. They enter the Trans-America Wild Race, where Appare builds a custom automobile and Kosame hopes to earn enough to return home. Together they face rival racers, bandits, and other challenges.
Characters
Appare Sorano is the second son of the Sorano merchant family. He ignores social norms and the family business, preferring to invent gadgets and study scientific texts. Inspired by Jules Verne's From the Earth to the Moon, he enters the Trans-America Wild Race in his own steam-powered vehicle. Kosame Isshiki is the head instructor of his family's dojo and a samurai under Lord Kuroda. He was tasked with controlling Appare but was dragged to America after accidents. Despite his strength, he has PTSD from a past incident and struggles to attack others. Hototo is a Native American boy from a northeastern tribe whose father was killed by a man with a snake tattoo. After being rescued from thugs in Los Angeles, he joins Appare and Kosame to hunt the killer. Jing Xialian is a Chinese-American general assistant for an auto-racing team who dreams of racing but faces prejudice against women. She secretly drives at night and befriends Appare and Kosame; after an altercation, the owner provides her an old car to race. Al Lyon is a wealthy European from the family that owns Bright New Works (BNW), one of the three B.I.G. Boss auto companies. He seeks to win the race to prove he should be the heir. Sofia Taylor is Al's self-proclaimed chaperone and assistant, whose mother is a domestic maid for Al's family. Seth Rich Carter is an engineer for Great Motors (GM) and an organizer of the race, with ambitions of running the company. Dylan G. Oldin is a top racer for GM and a skilled gunman, one of the legendary "Thousand Three" outlaws known as "Dylan the Hero." TJ, known as Crazy TJ, is another of the Thousand Three outlaws hired by Iron Motor Company to drive. Tristan the Bad drives for Tlaloc, beginning the race under the identity Gil T. Cigar, later revealing he is Tristan of the Bad Brothers. Chase the Bad is his partner and brother. Richard Riesman is also known as Gil T. Cigar.
Production and release
P.A. Works first revealed the original anime series Appare-Ranman! on October 12, 2019. Masakazu Hashimoto both directed and wrote the 13-episode show. Character designs were created by Yurie Oohigashi, based on Ahndongshik's original concepts, while Shiho Takeuchi oversaw mechanical designs and Evan Call composed the music. Mia Regina performed the opening theme "I got it!" and Showtaro Morikubo sang the ending theme. The series originally aired on AT-X and other networks from April 10 to September 25, 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, broadcasts of episode 4 and later episodes were postponed as of April 17, 2020. The anime resumed on July 3, 2020, with the fourth episode premiering on July 24, 2020. A manga adaptation by Ahndongshik ran in Kadokawa Shoten's Young Ace magazine from April 3, 2020, to January 4, 2022, and was compiled into three volumes. Yen Press acquired the English-language license for the manga at Anime NYC 2022.
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