HOUSTON, June 23, 2011– Entertainment label Maiden Japan today announced its acquisition of the hit animated series HIMAWARI! Based on the teenage ninja manga sensation from the writer/artist team of GoDo and TAGRO, HIMAWARI! was directed by Shigenori Kageyama (Fist of the North Star) with script supervision by Mamiko Ikeda (Sgt. Frog, Emma: A Victorian Romance) and character designs by Okama (Evangelion 1.0 & 2.0,) and Seiji Kishimoto (Elfen Lied, Cat Girl Nuku Nuku.)

Ever since being rescued by a ninja when she was younger, Himawari! Hinata’s greatest ambition has been to become one herself. Now, finally, she’s got her chance to study at Shinobi Gakuen, the elite academy where female ninja are trained! Unfortunately, Himawari! isn’t as prepared as some of her fellow candidates and on her very first day she ends up being saved by one of her teachers. To the embarrassment, the person who rescues her isn’t even a ninja! He’s Hayato Marikoji and HIS duty is to teach the ninja how to act like a normal person like himself!

With that inauspicious start, will Himawari! ever be able to gain entrance to the school? And if she does, can she meet the rigorous standards demanded by her teachers? And why does Hayato remind her so much of an important person from her past? With a whole school full of ninjas, there’s certain to be more going on than meets the eye in HIMAWARI!

Maiden Japan will be distributing HIMAWARI! in conjunction with home video distributor Section23 (Clannad, Highschool of the Dead, Appleseed, with the entire series to be released in both English Subtitled DVD and Digital Formats.

Chris Arrant

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