According to the official website, TV anime “Asakiyumemishi – The Tale of Genji” based on the manga “The Tale of Genji (Asakiyumemishi)” was canceled and replaced with a new original anime “Genji Monogatari Sennenki Genji“. The airing schedule was allegedly not changed and the new anime will be aired from January 2009.
Accoring to Mainichi News, the Director Dezaki Osamu made the decision in order to describe Genji Monogatari (a Japanese classic novel written 1000 years ago) carefully.
Source: New Official Website of Genji
Source: Old Official Website of Asakiyumemishi
Source: Mainichi news
The character designer was changed from Tominaga Mari (“Angelique”, “Detective Conan”) to Sugino Akio (“Ultraviolet: Code 044″,”Black Jack – The Movie”).
According to Tominaga Mari’s blog, her character designs were already approved by Dezaki and Yamato Waki (the author of manga “Asakiyumemishi”). Dezaki and other staff tried to dissuade her from quitting but Tominaga refused to stay in the production staff.
MyCom Journal
Tominaga Mari’s blog
Edited on Nov 11th=================
The Production Studio In Panic
According to Excite News, the change of the project put the production company of Genji (formerly Asakiyumemishi) into a terrible turmoil. It’s an extraordinary situation that an anime project was altered two month before the airing. The draft plot written by Director Dezaki completely disagreed with the story of the manga, so the anime staff and the the manga publishers tried to find a point of compromise but failed in the end.
Source: Excite News
Edited on Nov 19th==========
Cast of Genji Announced
Hikaru Genji: Sakurai, Takahiro
Kokiden no Nyougo: Fujita, Toshiko
Murasaki no Ue: Endo, Aya
Fujitsubo no Nyougo: Tamagawa, Sakiko
Kiritsubo no Mikado: Horiuchi, Kenyuu
Tou no Chuujyou: Sugita, Tomokazu
Aoi no Ue: Hirata Eriko (“Crying Wolf” in PS3 game “Metal Gear Solid 4”)
Rokujyou no Miyasundokoro: Tsuru, Hiromi
Source: New Official Website of Genji
