April Anime Update: New Cast Announced for The Catcher in the Ballpark!

The official X/Twitter account for the upcoming anime adaptation of Tatsurō Suga's manga, The Catcher in the Ballpark! (originally titled Ballpark de Tsukamaete!), has revealed exciting casting news. On Thursday, it was announced that Kazuhiro Nakaya will voice Mitsui, a left-handed pitcher, while Wakana Kuramochi will portray Kisa, Mitsui's girlfriend.

The Catcher in the Ballpark! Mitsui, Kisa Image via The Catcher in the Ballpark! anime's X/Twitter account
© 須賀達郎・講談社／「ボールパークでつかまえて！」製作委員会

Image via The Catcher in the Ballpark! anime's website
© 須賀達郎・講談社／「ボールパークでつかまえて！」製作委員会

Premiere Details

The anime is set to premiere in April on TV Tokyo and its six affiliate channels, as well as on AT-X. Additionally, it will be available for streaming on ABEMA, Lemino, and Prime Video's dedicated anime channel, Anime Times.

Main Cast

The series features a talented voice cast, including:

Fairouz Ai as Ruriko
Satoshi Inomata as Murata
Ikumi Hasegawa as Aona
Satoshi Tanaka as Omatsu
Yōji Ueda as Nakaizumi
Ayumi Mano as Natsuno
Momoko Seto as Kokoro
Jin Urayama as Ryuichi Igarashi
Chiharu Sawashiro as Takimoto
Hiroki Tōchi as Kojiro
Rika Tachibana as Yuki Takino
Kentarō Tone as Dennis
Kō Bonkobara as Brian
Mayu Sagara as Sara

Production Team

The anime is directed by Jun'ichi Kitamura (Fluffy Paradise) at EMT Squared. The series composition is handled by Shigeru Murakoshi (The Seven Deadly Sins: Four Knights of the Apocalypse), while character design is by Fumio Iida (Record of Ragnarok). The music is composed by MONACA (NieR:Automata Ver 1.1a).

Story Overview

The narrative follows Murata, an office worker who becomes a regular customer of Ruriko, a beer vendor with a gyaru appearance. Although Ruriko initially acts cold towards Murata, her innocent side emerges when he is not around.

Manga Background

Suga debuted the manga in Kodansha's Morning magazine in September 2020. The 15th compiled volume was published on November 21, with the 16th volume set to release on March 21.