I made mention, more than 2 years ago on my now long-dead MySpace profile of the expected sequel to Kiddy Grade. It really appeared to be in the works at the time, with a mysterious promo-video released, and it even had an expected launch-date planned. There was an official site for it as well.

And that was pretty much all that happened – the series itself never materialised. But now, I have some good news for Kiddy Grade fans; the much awaited sequel is finally making its appearance.

I’m not certain if I should treat it as a direct sequel, or as a spin-off. The new series is called Kiddy Girl-and (sounds vaguely lecherous, doesn’t it?) which takes place (according to this article Anime News Network) approximately 20 years after the events of the original.

The series introduces two new characters to the Kiddy Grade universe: the energetic Ascoeur and the more reserved Q-fueille. The sound like a perfect complementary partnership similar to that witnessed between Eclair and Lumiere, who were the main characters in Kiddy Grade. The two will be voiced by Uchida Aya and Gouda Aya respectively.

The two new characters are in training to become full ES-members. The question of course remains – will we see some of the original cast of Kiddy Grade? It seems so – the promo video shows shots of Tweedledee and Tweedledum – and other members (including Lumiere and Eclair) are listed in the credits on Anime News Network’s Kiddy Girl-and page. They also appear in the list of cast members listed on the official site. The site is in Japanese though, so feel free to check if you can read it.

The show is scheduled to release next week … yes … you read right – next week on the 15th October 2009. If you’re looking forward to it – here’s the latest promo video released by Kadokawa Shoten to whet your appetite a bit.