Orb: On the Movements of the Earth, one of the most underrated new series airing this Fall 2024 anime season, has been receiving big praise from critics and fans despite its lack of buzz. With seven episodes already out, fans are looking forward to see what happens next in the compelling story based on Uoto's critically-acclaimed manga series set in the 15th century "P Kingdom" where the ideas in opposition to the teachings of the "C religion", such as that the Earth revolves around the Sun, are seen as heretics, and are burned at the stake or tortured in other ways.
Today, the official X account of Orb: On the Movements of the Earth has announced that veteran Japanese voice actor Daisuke Namikawa will join the cast of the anime, and will play the young Count Piast in Episode 8, which is scheduled to premiere this Saturday, November 16.
The 48-year-old voice actor is known for playing Kishō Arima in Tokyo Ghoul, Rokuro "Rock" Okajima in Black Lagoon, Ulquiorra Cifer in Bleach, Eustass Kid in One Piece, Dr. Genus in One Punch Man, Tōru Oikawa in Haikyuu!!, Chōsō in Jujutsu Kaisen, and Momoshiki Otsutsuki in Boruto: Naruto Next Generations among many other anime and videogame roles.
Studio Madhouse produced the animation of Orb: On the Movements of the Earth, with Ken’ichi Shimizu (Parasyte -The Maxim-) as the director, Shingo Irie (Kuroko’s Basketball) as the series composer, and Masanori Shino (Black Lagoon) as the character designer.
The Japanese voice cast of Orb: On the Movements of the Earth includes:
Maaya Sakamoto as Rafal
Kenjiro Tsuda as Novak
Shô Hayami as Hubert
Yuichi Nakamura as Badeni
Saya Hitomi as Yolenta
Katsuyuki Konishi as Oczy
You can check out the official announcement in the anime's X account below:
What is Orb: On the Movements of the Earth about?
Orb: On the Movements of the Earth is based on the historical mystery science fiction manga of the same title (Japanese: Chi: Chikyū no Undō ni Tsuite) written and illustrated by Uoto. The series was serialized in Shogakukan's Weekly Big Comic Spirits manga magazine from September 2020 to April 2022, with its chapters compiled in eight tankōbon volumes. The manga won multiple awards including the “Best Comic” at the 54th Seiun Award, the 26th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize, and the Mandou Kobayashi Manga Grand Prix in 2021.
Seven Seas Entertainment, which licensed the series in English and released 2-in-1 omnibus volumes of the manga, shared a description for Orb: On the Movements of the Earth:
In fifteenth-century Europe, heretics are being burned at the stake. Rafal, a brilliant young man, is expected to enter university at an early age and study the era’s most important field, theology. But Rafal values reason above all else, which leads him both to the shocking conclusion that the Earth orbits the Sun, and into the hands of the Inquisition! A decade later, two members of the Watch Guild, the dour young Oczy and the cynical Gras, find a hidden stone chest that details the secrets of the universe Rafal left behind. Dare they try to change their own stars by selling the heretical texts, or would that only lead to the stake and the fire?
New episodes of Orb: On the Movements of the Earth are released weekly every Saturday on Netflix. At the time of this writing, seven episodes have already been released. Visit the official website of Orb: On the Movements of the Earth for more information about the anime.
