TV Tokyo announced on Thursday the cast for Strange -Itō Junji no Yoru mo Nemurenu Kimyō na Hanashi- (Strange –Junji Ito‘s Strange Stories for Sleepless Nights), the live-action omnibus series based on 13 manga stories by Junji Ito.

The cast includes (top row, left to right):

• Episode 1 “The Mansion of Phantom Pain” – Nijirō Murakami as Koseki
• Episode 2, 8, 10 “Lovesickness” (three parts) – Kanata Hosoda as Ryusuke Fukuda
• Episode 3 “The Bully”  – Yōko Maki as Kuriko
• Episode 4 “Earthbound” – Wan Marui as Yui Asano
• Episode 5 “A Father’s Love” – Manato Sakamoto as Tsukasa Orihara

(second row, left to right):

• Episode 5 “A Father’s Love” – Yoshizumi Ishihara as Endō
• Episode 6 “Tomio: Red Turtleneck” – Rairu Sugita as Tomio
• Episode 6 “Memory” – Riho Nakamura as Rie
• Episode 7 “In Old Records” – Hina Higuchi as Nakayama
• Episode 7 “Face Thief” – Nanami Yamazaki as Yumi Machida

(third row, left to right):

• Episode 9 “The Rib Woman” – Nagisa Saitō as Yuri
• Episode 11 “Further Tales of Oshikiri” (also based on “Penpal”) – Jun Saitō as Tōru Oshikiri
• Episode 12 “Lingering Farewell” – Yuri Tsunematsu as Akiko

The series will premiere in the TV Tokyo channel’s “Drama 24” programming block on July 3 at 24:12 (effectively, July 4 at 12:12 a.m.), and on BS TV Tokyo on July 12. 

The series’ title is an apparent reference to the original name of Asahi Shimbun‘s Nemuki+ magazine (Nemurenu Yoru no Kimyō Na Hanashi), where many of Ito’s works appeared.

The adapted stories include “Lovesickness,” “The Mansion of Phantom Pain,” “The Rib Woman,” “The Bully,” “Face Thief,” “A Father’s Love,” “Memory,” “In Old Records,” “Penpal,” “Further Tales of Oshikiri,” “Earthbound,” and “Tomio: Red Turtleneck.” All of these stories have been translated into English in various releases except for “In Old Records,” which is featured in the Junji Ito “Collection” anime.

Atsuhiro Yamada, Yūta Shimotsu, and Ryōta Kondō are directing the series, with scripts overseen by Daisuke Hosaka (Sadako 3D 2, BELA: Humanoid Monster). Tatsurō Inamoto (Trigun Stampede, Pluto, Supernatural: The Anime Series) is also a scriptwriter on the project.

South Korean group IVE is performing the series’ opening theme song “Jigsaw.”

Pan-Asian film and entertainment studio Through the Lens Entertainment and horror brand Fangoria Studios are collaborating to produce films based on Ito’s “The Mystery of the Haunted House” Parts 1 and 2, and “Bloodsucking Darkness.”

Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre, a new anime based on 20 different Ito stories, debuted worldwide on Netflix in January 2024. Ito’s Uzumaki manga also inspired a four-episode anime mini-series that premiered on Toonami in September 2024.

Junji Ito “Collection”, a previous television anime of manga by Ito, also adapted stories from the Itō Junji Kessaku-shū collection, as well as the Fragments of Horror book. The anime premiered in January 2018 and had 12 episodes. Crunchyroll streamed the series with English subtitles as it aired in Japan, and Funimation streamed an English dub. The anime included an adaptation of Ito’s Tomie story on its second and third DVD sets.

Sources: Strange’s official website, Comic Natalie

The staff for BAKI-DOU: The Invincible Samurai, the anime of Keisuke Itagaki‘s first Baki-Dou manga, announced on Wednesday that its second part or cours (quarter of a year) will premiere exclusively worldwide on Netflix on June 18. All 12 episodes will be available at once.

Netflix describes the second part:

Deep beneath the Tokyo Skytree lies a secret laboratory owned by Mitsunari Tokugawa, the world’s greatest combat enthusiast. There, a forbidden experiment is about to take place…

Using cutting-edge scientific technology, the experiment seeks to clone and resurrect the legendary swordsman Musashi Miyamoto from his remains, bringing him back into the modern world.

Known as the ultimate warrior—the sword saint, the peerless master whose name embodies every title of strength and praise imaginable—Musashi’s return sends shockwaves through modern-day Japan, and soon, the entire world, plunging it into a state of crisis.

Baki, Yujiro, and the underground arena’s fiercest fighters—warriors who live solely for battle—are all drawn into this time-transcending showdown.

The ultimate battle to determine the strongest in history now begins…!!

Naoya Uchida stars in the anime as Miyamoto Musashi.

The anime premiered worldwide on Netflix on February 26. The anime’s first 13 episodes were made available all at once.

Itagaki’s original Baki The Grappler martial arts manga ran for 42 volumes in Weekly Shōnen Champion magazine from 1991 to 1999. Kodama Tales began publishing the manga worldwide in English in October.

The Baki sequel manga ran for 31 volumes from 1999 to 2005. Media Do releases the manga in English. After Baki, Itagaki published the 37-volume Hanma Baki manga in Weekly Shōnen Champion from 2005 to 2012. The first Baki-Dou manga, the overall fourth manga in the franchise, launched in Weekly Shōnen Champion in March 2014 and ended in April 2018 with 22 volumes.

A new Baki-Dou manga launched in Weekly Shōnen Champion in October 2018, and it ended in June 2023. (The new Baki-Dou manga uses different characters for “Baki” in the title from the previous Baki-Dou manga, although it retains the name “Baki-Dou.”) The latest manga in the franchise, Baki Rahen, launched in Weekly Shōnen Champion in August 2023.

The new anime of Itagaki’s Baki (New Grappler Baki: In Search of Our Strongest Hero) manga debuted its first season on Netflix in June 2018 inside Japan, and it ran for 26 episodes ending in December 2018. Netflix posted the first 13 episodes outside of Japan in December 2018, followed by the second half of the first season in March 2019.

The Baki: Dai Raitaisai-hen anime then debuted worldwide on Netflix with all episodes at once in June 2020.

Baki Hanma is the third Baki series on Netflix, and a sequel to the Baki: Dai Raitaisai-hen series. The anime debuted worldwide on Netflix in September 2021 with all 12 episodes.

The second season of Baki Hanma debuted worldwide on Netflix in July 2023, with the “Tale of Pickle & The Pickle War Saga” story. The anime’s “The Father VS Son Saga” story debuted in August 2023.

Source: Press release