The Pet Girl of Sakurasou - Blu-ray

Sorata Kanda is a second-year high school student who made one mistake: he adopted a stray cat. His school's regular dormitory forbids pets, so he was transferred to Sakura Hall — Sakurasou — the dorm for problem students, weirdos, and people the administration doesn't know what else to do with. His housemates include Jin, a playwright who writes prolifically and dates constantly to avoid confronting his feelings; Misaki, an animation genius of explosive creative energy who is in love with Jin; and Ryunosuke, a programming prodigy who communicates only by email and has installed multiple deterrents to prevent anyone entering his room. Into this household arrives Mashiro Shiina — a world-renowned fine art painter who has enrolled to learn to make manga, and who is so completely absorbed by her work that she cannot manage basic daily tasks. The dorm supervisor assigns Sorata to look after her. Mashiro is not incapable. She simply operates on a frequency where getting dressed, eating, and human social norms are secondary to the creative problem she is currently solving. Living with her, managing her, arguing with her, and watching what happens when someone with absolute creative genius encounters someone still trying to figure out what he is actually good at — becomes Sorata's entire life. And then he starts to wonder if that life is not so bad.
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The Pet Girl of Sakurasou is a 24-episode romantic comedy drama produced by J.C. Staff — the studio behind Slayers, Shakugan no Shana, Familiar of Zero, Maid Sama!, Toradora!, and Ano Hi Mita Hana — directed by Atsuko Ishizuka — who later directed No Game No Life and A Place Further Than the Universe — and written by Mari Okada, one of the most prominent anime series composers of the 2010s, whose credits include AnoHana, Toradora!, Black Butler, and Gosick. It is based on Hajime Kamoshida's light novel series published under ASCII Media Works' Dengeki Bunko label. The series aired on Tokyo MX from October 9, 2012 to March 26, 2013. Sentai Filmworks released the series in North America as a subtitle-only Blu-ray Complete Collection on April 14, 2015, and re-released it with a newly produced English dub on August 25, 2020 under ADR director John Swasey.
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<b>Notable Staff & Voice Talent</b>
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<b>Director:</b> Atsuko Ishizuka (No Game No Life, A Place Further Than the Universe)<br>
<b>Series Composition:</b> Mari Okada (AnoHana, Toradora!, Black Butler, Gosick, Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day)<br>
<b>Original Light Novel:</b> Hajime Kamoshida, illustrated by Kēji Mizoguchi (Dengeki Bunko label, ASCII Media Works, 13 volumes, 2010–2014)<br>
<b>Character Design:</b> Kazunori Iwakura (Ben-To, Chivalry of a Failed Knight)<br>
<b>Studio:</b> J.C. Staff (Slayers, Shakugan no Shana, Familiar of Zero, Maid Sama!, Little Snow Fairy Sugar, Sorcerous Stabber Orphen, Descendants of Darkness)<br>
<b>Music:</b> Yoshiaki Fujisawa (Chivalry of a Failed Knight, Gate)<br>
<b>Opening Theme:</b> "Kimi ga Yume wo Tsuretekita" by Pet na Kanojo-tachi (Ai Kayano, Mariko Nakatsu, Natsumi Takamori)<br>
<b>Ending Theme 1:</b> "Days of Dash" by Konomi Suzuki<br>
<b>Ending Theme 2:</b> "Yume no Tsuzuki" by Konomi Suzuki
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<b>Japanese Cast:</b><br>
• Ai Kayano as Mashiro Shiina (Chaos;Child — Serika Onoe, Freezing Vibration additional cast)<br>
• Yoshitsugu Matsuoka as Sorata Kanda (Sword Art Online — Kirito, Akame ga Kill! — Issei, Chivalry of a Failed Knight additional cast)<br>
• Mariko Nakatsu as Nanami Aoyama<br>
• Natsumi Takamori as Misaki Kamiigusa<br>
• Takahiro Sakurai as Jin Mitaka (Code Geass, Chaos;Child, Black Bullet, Berserk Golden Age Arc, Junjou Romantica, Gundam SEED Destiny, Texhnolyze)<br>
• Yui Horie as Chihiro Sengoku (Kurogane Communication, Love Hina, Fruits Basket, Familiar of Zero — Henrietta, Freezing Vibration, Star Ocean EX additional cast)
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<b>English Dub Cast (Sentai Filmworks — ADR Director: John Swasey, 2020 dub only):</b><br>
• Madeleine Morris as Mashiro Shiina<br>
• Adam Gibbs as Sorata Kanda<br>
• Melissa Molano as Nanami Aoyama<br>
• Christina Guidry as Misaki Kamiigusa<br>
• John Swasey as Soichiro Akasaka (ADR Director — Ergo Proxy, El-Hazard: The Alternative World, WXIII Patlabor, Spriggan)<br>
• David Wald as Jin Mitaka (Junjou Romantica — Kubota, Haven't You Heard? I'm Sakamoto)
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<b>Blu-ray Features (Both Editions)</b>
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• All 24 Episodes — Complete Series<br>
• Clean Opening & Closing Animations<br>
• Sentai Filmworks Previews<br>
• 2015 Edition: Japanese Audio + English Subtitles Only (no English dub)<br>
• 2020 Edition: English Dub + Japanese Audio + English Subtitles
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<b>Spoken Languages:</b> Japanese Audio + English Subtitles (2015) / English & Japanese Audio + English Subtitles (2020)
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<b>Edition Details</b>
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<b>Japanese Title:</b> さくら荘のペットな彼女 (Sakura-sō no Petto na Kanojo / The Pet Girl of Sakura Dormitory)<br>
<b>Runtime:</b> ~600 Minutes (Complete Series, 24 Episodes)<br>
<b>Director:</b> Atsuko Ishizuka<br>
<b>Blu-ray Release Year:</b> 2015 (Sub.Blu-ray Complete Collection, April 14 — Sentai Filmworks, subtitle only); 2020 (Bilingual Blu-ray Complete Collection with new English dub, August 25 — Sentai Filmworks)<br>
<b>Original Broadcast Date (Japan):</b> October 9, 2012 – March 26, 2013 (Tokyo MX)<br>
<b>Publisher:</b> Sentai Filmworks<br>
<b>Rating:</b> 14+<br>
<b>Region:</b> Region A (North America)<br>
<b>Note:</b> Two separate Blu-ray editions exist — 2015 subtitle-only and 2020 bilingual with new English dub. English dub produced by Sentai Filmworks Houston under ADR director John Swasey. Director Atsuko Ishizuka later directed No Game No Life and A Place Further Than the Universe.<br>
<b>Genre:</b> Comedy, Drama, Romance<br>
<b>Themes:</b> Creative Genius vs Ordinary Talent, Dormitory Ensemble, Artistic Ambition, Mari Okada Series Composition, J.C. Staff Romantic Drama
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Media assumed VG+ unless otherwise noted.