Listeners

Listeners (リスナーズ) is an original Japanese anime television series produced by MAPPA, created by Jin, and directed by Hiroaki Ando. The series aired from April 3 to June 19, 2020 on the Animeism programming block.

Plot
The series is set in a post-apocalyptic world where Humanity is defended from Earless attacks by the Players, the latter earning fame and fortune along the way. Echo Rec dreams of joining the Players and piloting a mecha of his own, but has no prospects of doing so, until he encounters μ - an enigmatic girl who's lost her memory and has an auxiliary port on her body. An auxiliary port signifies a Player; together, μ and Echo work together towards fame and fortune.

Characters

 * Echo Rec (エコヲ・レック)


 * μ (Mu) (ミュウ)


 * Nir (ニル)


 * Roz (ロズ)


 * Denka (殿下)


 * Ritchie (リッチー)


 * Lyde (ライド)


 * Janis (ジャニス)


 * Robert (ロバート)


 * Hole (ホール)


 * Kim (キム)


 * Wendy (ウェンディ)


 * Lisa (リサ)


 * Leo Marshall (レオ・マーシャル)


 * Ein Neubauten (アイン・ノイバウテン)


 * Stür Neubauten (シュテュル・ノイバウテン)


 * Zende Neubauten (ツェンデ・ノイバウテン)


 * Swell Rec (スエル・レック)


 * McGee (マッギィ)


 * Sally Simpson (サリー・シンプソン)


 * Tommy Walker (トミー・ウォーカー)


 * Field Marshal Ace (エース元帥)


 * Bilin Valentine (ビリン・ヴァレンタイン)


 * Kevin Valentine (ケヴィン・ヴァレンタイン)


 * Jimi Stonefree (ジミ・ストーンフリー)

Production and release
On June 8, 2019, the original anime television series was announced by Jin, the creator of the Kagerou Project. The series is animated by MAPPA and directed by Hiroaki Ando, with Dai Satō as scriptwriter, Shinpei Kamada as character designer, and L!th!um as music composer. It premiered from April 3 to June 19, 2020 on the Animeism programming block on MBS, TBS, and BS-TBS. ACCAMER performs the series' opening theme "Into the blue's", and Rie Takahashi performs 11 of the series' ending theme songs.

Funimation has acquired the series for an English release, and streams the series on Funimation, AnimeLab and Wakanim.

References to real life media

 * Echorec is named after the Binson Echorec, an echo machine used by several bands, most notably Pink Floyd.
 * Mu is named after the symbol used to measure the voltage gain of vacuum tubes in guitar amplifiers, like the tube worn around Mu's neck.
 * AC30, Echo and Mu's Equipment, is a Vox AC30 guitar amplifier. Mu's special attack, Top Boost, is a reference to the AC30's signature top boost feature: an additional high gain ("brilliant") channel accessed by plugging the instrument cable into a secondary input jack.
 * Jimi Stonefree is named after Jimi Hendrix and his 1966 song "Stone Free".
 * McGee is named after Alan McGee, music industry executive who first spotted the band Oasis.
 * Liverchester is a portmanteau of Liverpool and Manchester, two centers of British rock.
 * Leo Marshall is named after Leo Fender and Jim Marshall, pioneers of musical instruments and electric amplifiers.
 * The Noise sisters (Ein, Stür & Zende Neubauten) are named after the band Einstürzende Neubauten.
 * Birin and Kevin Valentine are named after the band and bandmembers of My Bloody Valentine, Bilinda Butcher and Kevin Shields.
 * Nir is named after the band Nirvana, her appearance resembles Kurt Cobain, and her shirt reads "Polly", a song by Nirvana.
 * Likewise, Hole is named after the band Hole, and his appearance resembles Courtney Love.
 * Denka resembles the singer Prince. The Japanese name Denka (殿下) means highness, further linking the relation.
 * Wendy and Lisa are named after Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman, who worked with Prince in his band The Revolution.
 * Lyde and Ritchie are named for Johnny Rotten (né John Lydon) and Sid Vicious (John Ritchie), from the band Sex Pistols, respectively.
 * Tommy Walker and Sally Simpson are named after 'characters' in The Who's 1969 rock-opera album Tommy.
 * Janis is named after Janis Joplin.
 * The title of episode 1 is named after the 1994 song "Live Forever" by English rock band Oasis.
 * The title of episode 2 is named after the 1985 album Halber Mensch by German rock band Einstürzende Neubauten.
 * The title of episode 3 is named after the 1988 EP You Made Me Realise by Irish alt-rock band My Bloody Valentine. The title card for the episode resembles the album cover of 1991 album Loveless.
 * The title of episode 4 is named after the 1991 song "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by American grunge-rock band Nirvana. The episode features a drug called "Teen Spirit".
 * The native title of episode 5 is named after the 1984 song "When Doves Cry" by American singer Prince. The setting of the episode is based on Minneapolis, Prince's hometown.
 * The title of episode 6 is named after the 1979 song "Goodbye Blue Sky" by English rock band Pink Floyd. The episode prominently features a city within a triangular prism (resembling the album cover of The Dark Side of the Moon) called "the Wall".
 * The native title of episode 7 is named after the 1977 song "Problems" by English punk rock band the Sex Pistols. The title card for the episode also resembles the album cover of Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols.
 * The title of episode 8 is named after the 1974 song "The Real Me" by English rock band The Who. The symbol of the Council Unit resembles the bullseye logo for the band.
 * The title of episode 9 is named after the 1971 song "Freedom" by American rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix. Like "Teen Spirit", there is another drug featured in the episode called "Purple Haze".
 * The title of episode 10 is named after the 1937 song "Cross Road Blues" by American blues artist Robert Johnson. The episode preview also alludes to making a deal with the devil, a popular myth surrounding Johnson's success. The village this episode is set in is named after Clarksdale, Mississippi, where Johnson and several famous blues musicians used to live.
 * The title of episode 11 is named after the 1992 song "I Am the Resurrection" by English rock band The Stone Roses.
 * The title of episode 12 is named after the 1967 song "Hello, Goodbye" by English rock band The Beatles. The title card of the episode resembles the album cover of Magical Mystery Tour. The epilogue title is named after the 1966 song "Tomorrow Never Knows", also by The Beatles.