BNA: Brand New Animal

Brand New Animal (ビー・エヌ・エー) is an ongoing anime series by Studio Trigger.

Production
On July 5th 2019, Studio Trigger unveiled BNA: Brand New Animal at Anima Expo, along with its director Yoh Yoshinari and scriptwriter Kazuki Nakashima. Yoshinari drew character line art for the anime during the panel, and the official poster designed by Genice Chan was revealed. In the official poster, Yoh Yoshinari drew the line drawings of the characters while Genice worked on the background art and coloring.

Sushio completed animation direction work in February. Episode 11 was finished around late February according to a director on Twitter.

Synopsis
The story takes place in the 21st century where anthropomorphic animals called Beastmen, who had been living in the shadows of history, finally come to light. One day, Michiru Kagemori, a normal high-school student, suddenly transforms into a tanuki Beastman. To escape from Beast Hunters, she makes her journey to Anima City, where Beastmen can live in peace as themselves. There, Michiru meets a wolf Beastman named Shirou Oogami who investigates the truth behind her transformation. Why did Michiru become a beast? They two dive into this unexpected mystery and even deeper secrets rooted in the origins of the city.

Staff

 * Director - You Yoshinari
 * Writer - Kazuki Nakashima
 * Concept Art - Genice Chan, James Gilleard
 * Character Design - Yusuke Yoshigaki
 * Chief Animation Director - Naoki Takeda
 * Background Art Director - Masanobu Nomura
 * Color Design - Yukiko Kakita
 * Director of Photography - Nozomi Shitara
 * Editing - Kentarou Tsubone

Cast

 * Sumire Morohoshi - Michiru Kagemori
 * Yoshimasa Hosoya - Shirou Oogami
 * Maria Naganawa - Nazuna Hiwatashi
 * Kaito Ishikawa - Alan Sylvasta
 * Gara Takashima - Barbara Rose
 * Michiyo Murase - Marie Itami

Inspiration
Nakashima cites Osamu Tezuka’s manga Vampire (also translated as Vampires and The Vampires) as a visual inspiration, noting a desire to create fun human-to-beast transformation sequences that animation can capture so wonderfully and interestingly.

Original Soundtrack
The original soundtrack was produced by mabanua. Ready To is the opening track, and is composed by Jin Tanaka, arranged by RON, lyrics produced by Rihoco, and sung by Sumire Morohosi who plays Michiru. The ending track is Night Running and is composed by Shin Sakiura and sung by Aaamyyy.

The OST is set to release Jun 24, 2020.

Merchandise
OST deluxe album releasing June 24, 2020. The album comes with goodies like a poncho and a pouch.

A3 Character Fine Framed Print (Poster A/B)
 * Release date: Late April 2020 (delivered <1 month of order)
 * Price: 20,370 yen (tax included)
 * Specifications: Size: Height approx. 554 x width approx. 432 x depth approx. 16 mm * Picture size: length approx. 470 x Horizontal 318mm
 * Link to Poster A and Link to Poster B

Additional Staff

 * Oyj1996
 * Ashcozy

Trailers

 * PV 1: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpBYkmRvpQc
 * PV 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QY2CbUsOgAM

Music Videos

 * Ready To (OP) MV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Okzra8Anr4
 * Night Running (ED) MV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWTFfEnMCCc

Trivia

 * The series takes place in 2021, according to episode 3.
 * The story seems very similar to the fighting game series Bloody Roar, however there is no proof if the series was used for inspiration, so is probably just coincidence.