Maesetsu!

Maesetsu!: Opening Act (まえせつ！) is an original Japanese anime television series co-animated by Studio Gokumi and AXsiZ. The series aired from October to December 2020, while a manga adaptation by Hato Kannazuki was serialized from July 2020 to May 2021 in Monthly Comic Alive.

Maesetsu!
Maesetsu! key visual
まえせつ！
Light novel
Maesetsu! no Maesetsu
Written by	Tōko Machida
Illustrated by	Kagami Yoshimizu
Published by	Kadokawa Shoten
Magazine	Comptiq
Original run	January 10, 2020 – November 10, 2020
Volumes	1
Manga
Illustrated by	Hato Kannazuki
Published by	Media Factory
Magazine	Monthly Comic Alive
Original run	July 27, 2020 – May 27, 2021
Volumes	2 (List of volumes)
Anime television series
Directed by	Yuu Nobuta
Written by	Touko Machida Shōta Gotō Joe Itou
Music by	Satoru Kōsaki Oliver Good Keita Inoue[1]
Studio	Studio Gokumi AXsiZ
Licensed by	Crunchyroll
Original network	AT-X, Tokyo MX, BS NTV, MBS
Original run	October 11, 2020 – December 27, 2020
Episodes	12 (List of episodes)

Characters

Owarai geinin

Tokonatsu (とこなつ)

Fubuki Kitakaze (北風 ふぶき, Kitakaze Fubuki)

Voiced by: Aguri Ōnishi^[2] (Japanese); Jackie Lastra^[3] (English)

Mafuyu Kogarashi (凩 まふゆ, Kogarashi Mafuyu)

Voiced by: Naomi Ōzora^[2] (Japanese); Madeline Dorroh^[3] (English)

RDeco (R凸, Āru Deko)

Rin Araya (新谷 りん, Araya Rin)

Voiced by: Hiromi Igarashi^[2] (Japanese); Remi Joseph^[3] (English)

Nayuta Asōgi (朝生祇 なゆた, Asōgi Nayuta)

Voiced by: Sakura Nakamura^[2] (Japanese); Xanthe Huynh^[3] (English)

Tundra / Money&Kane (つんどら / マネー&カネー, Tsundora / Manē ando Kanē)

Manatsu Kogarashi (凩 まなつ, Kogarashi Manatsu)

Voiced by: Yūki Takada^[2] (Japanese); Courtney Shaw^[3] (English)

Kanae Kanari (金成 かなえ, Kanari Kanae)

Voiced by: Nozomi Furuki^[2] (Japanese); Courtney Chu^[3] (English)

JK Cool (JKクール, Jeikē Kūru)

Eru Kusaba (草葉 える, Kubasa Eru)

Voiced by: Asuka Aida^[2] (Japanese); Alyson Leigh Rosenfeld^[3] (English)

Arashi Waraino (藁猪野 あらし, Waraino Arashi)

Voiced by: Ayaka Shimizu^[2] (Japanese); Jorjeana Marie^[3] (English)

Freak! (ふりいくっ!, Furiiku!)

Junki Tomita (富田 純基, Tomita Junki)

Voiced by: Himself^[2] (Japanese); Adin Rudd^[3] (English)

Ubu no Hatsuna (うぶのハツナ)

Voiced by: Herself^[2] (Japanese); Amber Li^[3] (English)

BAN BAN BAN

Masatake Yamamoto (山本 正剛, Yamamoto Masatake)

Voiced by: Himself^[2] (Japanese); Marc Thompson^[3] (English)

Hiromi Sameshima (鮫島 一六三, Sameshita Hiromi)

Voiced by: Himself^[2] (Japanese); Billy Bob Thompson^[3] (English)

NON STYLE (Non Sutairu)

Yūsuke Inoue (謎のお客さん / NON STYLE 井上 / 井上 裕介, Nazo no Okyakusan / Non Style Inoue / Inoue Yūsuke)

Voiced by: Himself (Japanese); Doug Stone^[3] (English)

Akira Ishida (石田 明, Ishida Akira)

Voiced by: Himself (Japanese); Mike McFarland^[3] (English)

Spike (スパイク, Supaiku)

Shiho Matsuura (松浦 志穂, Matsuura Shiho)

Voiced by: Herself (Japanese); Rebeka Thomas^[3] (English)

Haruna Ogawa (小川 暖奈, Ogawa Haruna)

Voiced by: Herself (Japanese); Larissa Gallagher^[3] (English)

Yoshimoto New Comedy (吉本新喜劇, Yoshimoto Shinkigeki)

Keiko Matsuura (松浦 景子, Matsuura Keiko)

Voiced by: Herself (Japanese); Erica Schroeder^[3] (English)

TEEUP (ティーアップ, Tīappu)

Masaru Maeda (前田 勝, Maeda Masaru)

Voiced by: Himself (Japanese); Mike Pollock^[3] (English)

Hiroshi Hasegawa (長谷川 宏, Hasegawa Hiroshi)

Voiced by: Himself (Japanese); Mike McFarland^[3] (English)

Woman Rush Hour (ウーマンラッシュアワー, Ūman Rasshu Awā)

Daisuke Muramoto (村本 大輔, Muramoto Daisuke)

Voiced by: Himself (Japanese); Matt Giroveanu^[3] (English)

Paradise Nakagawa (中川 パラダイス, Nakagawa Paradaisu)

Voiced by: Himself (Japanese); Gary Mack^[3] (English)

Other characters

Hajime Nakama (中間 はじめ, Nakama Hajime)

Voiced by: Risako Murai^[2] (Japanese); Heather Gonzalez^[3] (English)

Manager (男爵邸 店長, Danshakutei Tenchō)

Voiced by: Seirou Ogino^[2]

Carlos Ali (男爵邸 カーロス・アリ, Danshakutei Kārosu Ari)

Voiced by: Kentarō Tone^[2] (Japanese); Luis Bermudez^[3] (English)

Aunt Keiko (男爵邸 けいこおばちゃん, Danshakutei Keiko Obachan)

Voiced by: Rei Shimoda^[2]

Haruna Funakoshi (船越 はるな, Funakoshi Haruna)

Voiced by: Shizuku Hoshinoya (Japanese); Madigan Kacmar^[3] (English)

Shiho Siina (椎名 しほ, Sīna Shiho)

Voiced by: Yūko Mori (Japanese); Triya Leong^[3] (English)

Ms. Hirano (平野 先生, Hirano Sensei)

Voiced by: Aya Hirano (Japanese); Wendee Lee^[3] (English)

JK Cool Manager Yamada (JKクール マネージャー 山田, Jeikē kūru manējā Yamada)

Voiced by: Hirokazu Hiramatsu (Japanese); Mike McFarland^[3] (English)

Media

Light novel

A light novel written by Touko Machida and illustrated by Kagami Yoshimizu was released on December 10, 2020 entitled Opening Act of Maesetsu! (まえせつ!のまえせつ, Maesetsu! no Maesetsu) by Kadokawa Shoten.

No.	Release date	ISBN
-	December 10, 2020[4]	978-4-04-111005-8

Manga

A manga adaptation illustrated by Hato Kannazuki launched in Media Factory's Monthly Comic Alive on July 27, 2020,^[5] and it ended on May 27, 2021.^[6] Two tankōbon volumes were released between November 21, 2020 and June 23, 2021.

No.	Release date	ISBN
1	November 21, 2020[7]	978-4-04-064890-3
2	June 23, 2021[8]	978-4-04-680470-9

Anime

On July 10, 2019, Kadokawa announced that an original anime television series involving scriptwriter Shōta Gotō and Kagami Yoshimizu, the author of Lucky Star, was in production.^[9] The series is animated by Studio Gokumi and AXsiZ, with Yuu Nobuta as director. Touko Machida, Shōta Gotō and Joe Itou are writing the scripts, Katsuzo Hirata is designing the characters, and Satoru Kōsaki, Oliver Good and Keita Inoue are composing the series' music.^[10] The series was originally scheduled to premiere in July 2020, but was delayed to October 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[11][12] The series aired from October 11 to December 27, 2020.^[13] Act 0 of the series premiered on October 4, 2020.^[14] Funimation acquired the series and is streaming it on its website in North America and the British Isles, and on AnimeLab in Australia and New Zealand.^[15] The series ran for 12 episodes.^[16]

No.	Title [17][a]	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
1	"Comedy!" Transliteration: "Owarai!" (Japanese: おわらい！)	Hiroyuki Ōshima[18]	Tōko Machida[18]	October 11, 2020 (2020-10-11)
2	"Thrills!" Transliteration: "Kaikan!" (Japanese: かいかん！)	Kōhei Hatano[19]	Tōko Machida[19]	October 18, 2020 (2020-10-18)
3	"Goals!" Transliteration: "Mokuhyō!" (Japanese: もくひょう！)	Hodaka Kuramoto[20]	Gōto Aogiri[20]	October 25, 2020 (2020-10-25)
4	"Business!" Transliteration: "Eigyō!" (Japanese: えいぎょう！)	Naoki Murata[21]	Tōko Machida[21]	November 1, 2020 (2020-11-01)
5	"Comeback!" Transliteration: "Bankai!" (Japanese: ばんかい！)	Hirokazu Yamada[22]	Tōko Machida[22]	November 8, 2020 (2020-11-08)
6	"Twogether!" Transliteration: "Futari de!" (Japanese: ふたりで！)	Akira Katō[23]	Gōto Aogiri[23]	November 15, 2020 (2020-11-15)
7	"Osaka!" Transliteration: "Ōsaka!" (Japanese: おおさか！)	Hiroyuki Ōshima[24]	Atsushi Itō[24]	November 22, 2020 (2020-11-22)
8	"Excitement!" Transliteration: "Shigeki!" (Japanese: しげき！)	Yoshihide Kuriyama[25]	Tōko Machida[25]	November 29, 2020 (2020-11-29)
9	"Partners!" Transliteration: "Aikata!" (Japanese: あいかた！)	Shunji Yoshida[26]	Tōko Machida[26]	December 6, 2020 (2020-12-06)
10	"Prayers!" Transliteration: "Gankake!" (Japanese: がんかけ！)	Tatsuya Sasaki[27]	Gōto Aogiri[27]	December 13, 2020 (2020-12-13)
11	"Showdown!" Transliteration: "Kessen!" (Japanese: けっせん！)	Hodaka Kuramoto[28]	Tōko Machida[28]	December 20, 2020 (2020-12-20)
12	"Opening Act!" Transliteration: "Maesetsu!" (Japanese: まえせつ！)	Tatsuya Fujinaka[29] Yū Nobuta	Tōko Machida[29]	December 27, 2020 (2020-12-27)

Notes

1. English translated titles are taken from Funimation.