The production team for the upcoming anime Hikari no Ou has revealed 16 additional voice cast members who are joining the series. The anime series is scheduled to premiere in January 2023. 

The new voice cast includes Sachi Kokuryu as Kun, Chiaki Kobayashi as Shouzou, Makoto Koichi as Kaho, Kenta Miyake as Yuoshichi, Kaori Nazuka as Hibana, Mamoru Miyano as Takimi, Shinichirou Miki as Haijuu, and Yuuko Hara as Benio. Other voice cast members include Yume Miyamoto as Hotaru, Shunichi Maki as Sakuroku, Youji Ueda as Enzen, Ryuunosuke Watanuki as Hitou, Akira Ishida as Hibari, Sayaka Ohara as Yanagi, Yuu Shimamura as Kiri, and Yoshiko Sakakibara as the narrator of the anime. 

They join a main voice cast headlined by Misaki Kuno as Touko, Shouya Ishige as Koushi, Maaya Sakamoto as Akira, Yoshimasa Hosoya as Roroku, Saori Hayami as Kira, and Megumi Yamaguchi as Hinako.

The production staff consists of Junji Nishimura (True Tears, Vlad Love) as director with Mamoru Oshii (Ghost in the Shell, Urusei Yatsura Episode 1 – Episode 129 chief director) as series screenwriter and scriptwriter. Takuya Saitou (Outlaw Star, Macross 0) is serving as character designer and one of three chief animation directors, along with Kazuchika Kise (xxxHOLIC and Blood-C character designer) and Toshihisa Kaiya (Ascendance of a Bookworm co-character designer). Kenji Kawai (Ghost in the Shell) is the music composer and Signal.MD is in charge of the animation production.

The anime is based on the fantasy novels by Rieko Hinata, which was first published on December 20, 2018 and ended on September 3, 2020 with four total volumes. Akihiro Yamada provided illustrations for the novels. 

Hikari no Ou takes place after mankind’s final war, with the land covered by a black forest where fiery creatures roam. A strange pathogen has spread around that causes human bodies to ignite. With the creatures being the only source of heat that humans can safely handle, sickle-armed fire hunters called Hikari venture into the forests to find these beings. There is also talk of an appearance of a thousand-year comet that will allow one of the Hikari to be called “King of the Fire Hunters” if they hunt it down. The main characters are an 11-year old girl named Touko and 15-year old Koushi, whose intersecting fates set the story in motion.

Source: Hikari no Ou Official Anime Website