In November 2020, news sites began reporting that an anime adaptation of the novel series, Hikari no Ō (The Firecatcher Lord), written by Rieko Hinata and illustrated by Akihiro Yamada, had been green-lit with animation produced by studio Signal.MD. This was cool to hear at the time, but it wasn’t until 2022 when people really started paying attention to this project. That was thanks to the subscription network in Japan, WOWOW, revealing that the series would feature multiple, respected industry veterans on the crew with Junji Nishimura (Ranma ½, True Tears, and many others) as the director, Mamoru Oshii (Ghost in the Shell, Patlabor, and many others) overseeing and writing the scripts. Kenji Kawai (Higurashi – When They Cry, Fate/Stay Night, Patlabor, and many others) is composing the background music, and Maaya Sakamoto (Escaflowne, Arjuna, Record of Lodoss War, and many others) is performing the ending theme titled Mada Tōku ni Iru (You are Still So Far Away).
With the January 14th, 2023 premiere date fast approaching, the crew released the first promotional video for the series on social media, and trust me when I say that it is worth checking out for the atmosphere alone.
https://twitter.com/HikarinoOuAnime/status/1595341395136581633
Published in Japan between December 2018 and September 2020, Hikari no Ō released a total of four volumes, with the anime adaptation being announced a couple of months after the publication of the last volume. The story synopsis of the series reads:
The world after the last war of humanity. The earth is covered with black forest, and the people have been infected with a human pyrogenic pathogen that causes their bodies to burn when they approach a natural fire. The fire in this world is gathered by hunting black beasts that live in the forest, the Fire Demons. Recently, there has been a rumor whispered among the fire hunters who hunt the Fire Demons. “The fire hunter who hunted the thousand-year comet “Shimmering Fire,” an artificial star wandering in the empty sky, will be called the King of Fire Hunters.” The protagonists of the story are Touko, a girl who grew up in a village, and Koushi, a former student in the capital city. Their encounter, which was never supposed to happen, changes the fate of the world.
Sources: Crunchyroll News, Anime News Network [1], [2], [3]
