These two trailers for the second season of the anime series adaptation of the novel have now been posted online. The Fire Hunter (Hikari no Ō) by Rieko Hinata It is Akihiro Yamada which will premiere on January 14, 2024. In the video above we can hear the opening theme “Hikarakka” (Scattered Flowers, Falling Flowers) by Coco and in the video below we can hear the ending theme “Dakishimete” (Embrace) by Maaya Sakamoto who lends his voice to Akira in the series.
The animation is from the studio SIGNAL.MD (Recovery of an MMO Junkie, Napping Princess, The Wonderland), directed by Junji Nishimura (Ranma ½, You’re Under Arrest: The Motion Picture, True Tears, Vladlove) and the script is by Mamoru Oshii (Ghost in the Shell, Angel’s Egg, Jin-Roh – The Wolf Brigade, Blood: The Last Vampire, Vladlove).
In the list we have from left to right:
- Misaki Kuno as Tōko
- Shōya Ishige as Kōshi
- Maaya Sakamoto as Akira
- Yoshimasa Hosoya as Roroku
- Hayami as Kira
- Megumi Yamaguchi as Hinako
The character design is Takuya Saito (Knights of Ramune & 40, Outlaw Star, Macross Zero), the animation direction is by Takuya Saito, Kazuchika Kise It is Toshihisa Kaiyaand the song was given to Kenji Kawai (The Sky Crawlers, Stray Dog, Ghost in the Shell, Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, Patlabor the Mobile Police).
The novel’s story takes place in a chaotic world after humanity’s Last War. A great forest, infested with flame creatures and other fallen beasts, covers the world, and small portions of humanity live in small, protected communities. Due to a special weapon used in the Last War, humans spontaneously catch fire, even when just approaching a small source of fire. The only safe source of energy for humanity resides in the bodies of the “flamelings”, and the duty of hunting them falls to the “firecatchers” who brave the depths of the great forest. Among them are whispered stories of someone who would be the “Firecatcher Lord”, an individual who will be able to harvest the fire from the ancient comet, the “Wandering Spark” that has flown in the sky since it was launched before the Last War, but is now return to land.
The story begins with Touko, a young girl from a paper manufacturing town who finds herself in the forbidden forest, attacked by flamelings, when a flamecatcher rushes to protect her. Elsewhere, a boy born in the capital named Kōshi shelters his younger sister after losing his mother to poison from the factory.
The Firecatcher Lord (Hikari no Ō) began publication in December 2018 with illustrations by Akihiro Yamada (illustration by The Twelve Kingdoms, characters by RahXephon) and story by Rieko Hinata.
