20th Century Performs MAO Anime Second Cour Opening
The return of the same vocal trio to a Takahashi anime after 26 years, now as 20th Century rather than V6, ties the MAO adaptation directly to the legacy of InuYasha and signals a deliberate nostalgic appeal by the production committee.
Reporting from 3 sources: Anime News Network, Comic Natalie, Denfaminicogamer.
Bandai Namco Filmworks announced on June 18 that the boy group 20th Century, composed of former V6 members Masayuki Sakamoto, Hiroshi Nagano, and Yoshihiko Inohara, will perform the opening theme song for the second cour of the television anime adaptation of Rumiko Takahashi's manga MAO. The song is titled "Bokura ga Uwagaki suru Sekai" (The World We Overwrite), with lyrics, composition, and arrangement by MHRJ. The second cour begins with episode 14 on July 4 on NHK General. The first cour opened on April 4 and is set to run for two continuous cours without breaks. To commemorate the announcement, the studio released the creditless opening video for the InuYasha anime, which featured V6's song "CHANGE THE WORLD" from 2000, for a limited time until September 27. This marks the first time Sakamoto, Nagano, and Inohara have been involved with a Takahashi anime adaptation in 26 years, since their work on InuYasha. The MAO anime is produced by Sunrise and streams on Hulu in the U.S. and on Disney+ in Canada, Latin America, Australia, and New Zealand.
The song was written specifically for the anime, with lyrics, composition, and arrangement handled by MHRJ, according to Comic Natalie. The group 20th Century, formed from former V6 members Masayuki Sakamoto, Hiroshi Nagano, and Yoshihiko Inohara, released a comment through the production committee: "We are very honored to be involved with another work by Rumiko-sama. We hope that fans of 'MAO' will love it."
The second cour begins with episode 14 on July 4. The anime is produced by Sunrise, the studio behind the InuYasha series. Director Teruo Sato previously worked on Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon and Aikatsu Stars! Series composition is by Yūko Kakihara, who also worked on the 2022 Urusei Yatsura adaptation. Character design and chief animation direction are handled by Yoshihito Hishinuma, a veteran of both InuYasha and Yashahime.
The first cour opened with Kis-My-Ft2 performing "HEARTLOUD" as its opening theme and TRUE performing the ending theme "Juai." The creditless opening video for InuYasha's "CHANGE THE WORLD" is available for a limited time until September 27 on YouTube, X, Instagram, and TikTok, with TikTok only releasing the chorus portion.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 3 cited sources below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.
Sources
- Anime News Network News MAO Anime Announces 2nd Part Opening Song by Boy Group 20th Century
- Comic Natalie 「MAO」新OPはトニセンの新曲、V6時代以来26年ぶりに高橋留美子作品に関わる
- Denfaminicogamer TVアニメ『MAO』第2クールのOPを「20th Century」が担当。TVアニメ『犬夜叉』OP・V6「CHANGE THE WORLD」のノンクレジット映像も期間限定で公開