Danica Davidson
July 20, 2022 
The Utano☆Princesama franchise is getting a new anime special called Utano☆Princesama♪ Maji Love ST☆RISH Tours: Tabi no Hajimari (translated as The Start of a Journey) that will play on Japanese TV on July 31. Ahead of this a trailer has been released to show the handsome young men.
The special will be one hour long, and the plot in it takes place following the Uta no Prince Sama Maji Love Kingdom series but before the movie. It has a returning cast. Chika Nagaoka of Uta no Prince Sama Maji Love Kingdom is back to direct, and Chiaki Nagai of Utano☆Princesama Legend Star has written the special’s script. The jobs of character design and chief animation director both go to Maki Fujioka. The special is being animated at A-1 Pictures and Elements Garden is doing the music.
The franchise started as a dating sim game, and the first season of the anime adaptation, Uta no Prince-sama – Maji Love 1000%, came out in 2011. The next movie in the franchise, Gekijō-ban Utano☆Princesama♪ Maji Love ST☆RISH Tours, hits Japanese theaters in September.
Sentai Filmworks has been licensing the anime and the previous film. Sentai Filmworks gave this description of Utano Princesama Maji LOVE Kingdom:
“What’s better than a concert by one of your favorite singing groups? A concert by three of your favorite singing groups, of course! That’s what lucky fans get when three of the most popular vocal groups from the UTANO★PRINCESAMA franchise all come together for a single epic motion picture performance. Have you got your tickets yet? If you have, come join ST★RISH, QUARTET NIGHT, and HE★VENS as they all take to the stage! It’s an epic battle of the bands where there’s no battle and everyone wins in Utano★Princesama Maji Love Kingdom!”
Source: ANN
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Danica Davidson is the author of the bestselling Manga Art for Beginners with artist Melanie Westin, plus its sequel, Manga Art for Everyone, and the first-of-its-kind manga chalk book Chalk Art Manga, both illustrated by professional Japanese mangaka Rena Saiya. Check out her other comics and books at www.danicadavidson.com.
