Genre: Action, Comedy, Romance, Supernatural
[Light novel
Written byJin (Shizen no Teki-P)
Illustrated byShidu
Published byEnterbrain
ImprintKCG Bunko
Original run May 30, 2012 – ongoing
Volumes:4]
[Manga
Kagerou Daze
Written byJin (Shizen no Teki-P)
Illustrated bySatō Mahiro
Published byMedia Factory
Demographic Shōnen
MagazineMonthly Comic Gene
Original run June 15, 2012 – ongoing
Volumes:3]
[Anime television series
Mekaku City Actors
Directed byYūki Yase
Akiyuki Shinbo
StudioShaft
Licensed by:
NA
Aniplex of America
Original run April 12, 2014 – scheduled]
Anime and Manga portal
The Kagerou Project (カゲロウプロジェクト Kagerō Purojekuto, lit. "Heat Haze Project"), also known as Kagerou Daze, is a Vocaloid song series created by Jin (also known as Shizen no Teki-P). The story revolves around the Mekakushi Dan, a group of teenagers with unusual eye-related powers.
The series became popular on the video sharing website Niconico after the release of the song "Kagerou Daze" (カゲロウデイズ, lit. "Heat Haze Daze"), which also gave the series its name. The song has amassed over 3 million views and is the most popular song of the project. Four light novels have been released, written by Jin and illustrated by Shidu. A fifth novel has been announced. A manga adaptation with illustrations by Satō Mahirō, began serialization in Monthly Comic Gene on June 15, 2012. An anime adaptation titled Mekaku City Actors will be directed by Akiyuki Shinbo and produced by Shaft will begin airing on April 12, 2014.
PLOT:
Shintarō Kisaragi is an 18-year old hiki-NEET who has not left his room in two years, engrossing himself with his computer and the internet. However, on August 15, due to the messing about of the cyber girl Ene, who lives inside his computer, Shintarō spills soda on his computer keyboard and is forced to go outside to buy a new one, due to the fact that during the Obon festival none of the stores will deliver until August 17. Shintarō goes to the department store, where a group of criminals break in and hold the people inside hostage for ransom. Here he comes in contact with a group of teenagers calling themselves the "Mekakushi Dan" (メカクシ団, lit. "Blindfold Gang"), who stop the robbery with their mysterious eye powers and force Shintarō into joining their group.
Before this occurs, Shintarō's younger sister, Momo Kisaragi, is a popular idol who has the ability to attract people's attention. This is due to the "Drawing Eyes" ability, which she cannot control and causes people to look at her wherever she goes. One day, while fleeing from a horde of fans, she meets the Mekakushi Dan leader, Tsubomi Kido, who invites Momo to join, which she does. While meeting the first four members of the Mekakushi Dan, Marry trips and gets Momo's phone wet, and they all go to the department store to buy a new phone for Momo. Kido uses her ability to keep people from staring at Momo, but while in the store, they find that Shintarō is there at the same time. The terrorists break in and take all the shoppers hostage, but Kido, Momo, Marry, and Kano are invisible and thus do not get caught. They work together to stop the heist, though Shintarō passes out, and they bring him to their hideout and introduce him and Ene as members once the former awakens. They all go to the amusement park and have fun afterwards.
The prologue is told in the second novel, -a headphone actor-. Takane Enomoto and Haruka Kokonose, students of Kenjirō Tateyama, plan a class booth for their school's cultural festival. Haruka gets an idea to host a shooting booth; however this idea could not be fulfilled due to Kenjirō spending all their booth funds on a rare specimen. Takane, being a highly skilled gamer, decides that instead of a shooting booth with a large amount of equipment, they should make a video game of a first-person shooter. Kenjirō would be in charge of programming, Haruka was in charge of illustration and Takane was responsible for playing as the opponent. Their plan captured a great amount of attention, good and bad.
CHARACTERS
* Mekakushi Dan *
Kido (キド Kido) / Tsubomi Kido (木戸 つぼみ Kido Tsubomi)
Voiced by: Yūko Kaida
Kido is member Number 1 of the Mekakushi Dan and its current leader. She is often mistaken as a male due to her ambiguous appearance. The other members of the Dan call her "Danchō" (lit. gang leader). Like Kano and Seto, she is addressed by her last name, even by her closest friends. Her song is "Mekakushi Code" (メカクシコード lit. Blindfold Code).
Seto (セト Seto) / Kousuke Seto (瀬戸 幸助 Seto Kōsuke)
Voiced by: Sōichirō Hoshi
Seto is member Number 2 of the Mekakushi Dan. He is often portrayed as the "nice guy" of the group, and gets along very well with Marry. Like Kano and Kido, he is addressed by his last name, even by his closest friends. His song is "Shōnen Brave" (少年ブレイブ, lit. Brave Boy).
Kano (カノ Kano) / Shuuya Kano (鹿野 修哉 Kano Shuuya)
Voiced by: Shinnosuke Tachibana
Kano is member Number 3 of the Mekakushi Dan. He is depicted as a deceitful young man, to the point where no one can tell if he's lying or telling the truth. His song is "Yobanashi Deceive" (夜咄ディセイブ, lit. Night Tales Deceive).
Marry (マリー Marī) / Marry Kozakura (小桜 茉莉 Kozakura Marī)
Voiced by: Kana Hanazawa
Marry is member Number 4 of the Mekakushi Dan, and the first non-founding member. She is 1/4 Medusa and has white hair that wiggles when she is happy or frightened and naturally occurring red eyes. Her appearance is that of a fourteen year old girl, but due to her gorgon blood, her actual age is 140 years old. Marry is extremely shy around strangers, and will often hide behind Seto, Kido, or Momo. Her songs are "Kūsō Forest" (想像フォレスト, lit. Day Dream Forest) and "Marry no Kakū Sekai" (マリーの架空世界, lit. Marry's Fictional World).
Momo (モモ Momo) / Momo Kisaragi (如月 桃 Kisaragi Momo)
Voiced by: Nanami Kashiyama
Momo is member Number 5 of the Mekakushi Dan. She is the younger sister of Shintarō and a popular idol, which greatly disrupts her normal life and causes a lot of stress for her. Unlike her brother, she does badly at school, and is too quite a clumsy yet cheerful girl. Momo's tastes are also shown to be rather strange. Her songs are "Kisaragi Attention" (如月アテンション) and "Otsukimi Recital" (オツキミリサイタル, lit. Moon Viewing Recital).
Ene (エネ Ene) / Takane Enomoto (榎本 貴音 Enomoto Takane)
Voiced by: Kana Asumi
Ene is member Number 6 of Mekakushi Dan. She is a mischievous cyber girl who lives in Shintarō's computer, but is also able to travel to other electronic devices. Once a human named Takane Enomoto (榎本 貴音), her personality as Ene is a cheerful prankster, a sharp contrast to Takane's pessimistic outlook at life. Her songs are "Jinzō Enemy" (人造エネミー, lit. Artificial Enemy), "Headphone Actor" (ヘッドフォンアクター), "Ene no Dennō Kikō" (エネの電脳紀行, lit. Ene's Cyber Journey) and "Yūkei Yesterday" (夕景イエスタデイ, lit. Yesterday Evening)
Shintarō (シンタロー Shintarō) / Shintarō Kisaragi (如月 伸太郎 Kisaragi Shintarō)
Voiced by: Takuma Terashima
Shintarō is member Number 7 of Mekakushi Dan. He is the main protagonist of the story and has an IQ of 168. While he was in school, his intelligence caused him to have an apathetic personality. His songs are "Lost Time Memory" (ロスタイムメモリー) and "Toumei Answer" (透明アンサー lit. Transparent Answer).
Hibiya (ヒビヤ Hibiya) / Hibiya Amamiya (雨宮 響也 Amamiya Hibiya)
Voiced by: Misuzu Togashi
Hibiya is member Number 8 of Mekakushi Dan. He is mentioned to be mature for his age, and is shown to have an immense, unrequited crush for Hiyori. He joins Mekakushi Dan after being spotted escaping the hospital he was at after an accident. His songs are "Kagerou Daze" (カゲロウデイズ lit. Heat Haze Daze) and "Otsukimi Recital" (オツキミリサイタル lit. Moon-viewing Recital).
Konoha (コノハ Konoha) / Haruka Kokonose (九ノ瀬 遥 Kokonose Haruka)
Voiced by: Mamoru Miyano
Konoha is member Number 9 of Mekakushi Dan. Shown to be a rather absent-minded individual, he has a large appetite, similar to his former human self as Haruka. His songs are "Konoha no Sekai Jijō" (コノハの世界事情, lit. Konoha's World Affairs), "Yūkei Yesterday" (夕景イエスタデイ, lit. Yesterday Evening), "Outer Science" (アウターサイエンス) and "Summertime Record" (サマータイムレコード).
Ayano (アヤノ Ayano) / Ayano Tateyama (楯山 文乃 Tateyama Ayano)
Ayano is member Number 0 of the Mekakushi Dan and was the daughter of Kenjirou and Ayaka Tateyama. Shown to be a happy-go-lucky girl with rather poor grades, she was the deskmate of Shintarō, and it is suggested that her poor grades stemmed from her family matters. Her song is "Ayano no Kōfuku Riron" (アヤノの幸福理論, lit. Ayano's Happiness Theory).
