The staff for the television anime of Satsuki Nakamura‘s Though I Am an Inept Villainess (Futsutsuka na Akujo de wa Gozaimasu ga – Sūgū Chōso Torikae Den) light novel series started streaming a pre-broadcast promotional video on Sunday. The video with subtitles in English, Chinese (Traditional), and Korean announces and previews the ending theme song “Shooting Star” (Hōkiboshi) by Rokudenashi.

Musical artist Eve wrote the lyrics and music for the song. 

Seven Seas publishes both the light novels and manga under the title Though I Am an Inept Villainess: Tale of the Butterfly-Rat Body Swap in the Maiden Court, and describes the story:

In a kingdom inspired by historical China, five clans put forth their maidens as imperial consorts–but only one will be crowned empress. The frail and beautiful Kou Reirin, the so-called “butterfly” of the imperial court, is a shoo-in to marry the crown prince. But when “court rat” Shu Keigetsu lashes out at her during the glittering Lantern Festival, it’s Reirin who wakes up in the dungeons! Body-swapped by her assailant to steal her position at court, Reirin’s plight seems dire…to everyone else! Now that she’s got a robust new body, not even the looming threat of execution can stop her!

The anime stars:

Mitsue Yamazaki (How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift?, Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun) is directing the anime at Dōga Kōbō. Yoshiko Nakamura (Detective Conan: Zero’s Tea Time; Tadaima, Okaeri; The Helpful Fox Senko-san) is overseeing the series scripts, and Ai Kikuchi (How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift?, New Game!, Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie) is designing the characters.

Singer-songwriter milet performs the opening theme song “Sunny.”

Additional staff members include:

The anime will premiere on TV Tokyo and its affiliates on July 12 at 11:45 p.m. Netflix will stream the anime in Asia on July 12. Crunchyroll will stream the anime as it airs in North America, Central America, South America, Europe, Africa, Oceania, the Middle East, CIS, and the Indian Subcontinent. Hulu is listing the series for a debut on July 12 with both English subtitles and dub. 

The anime’s premiere was delayed to July due to delays in production progress. The anime was initially announced to premiere in April.

Ichijinsha launched Nakamura’s light novel series with illustrations by YukiKana in December 2020. The novels’ manga adaptation by Ei Ohitsuji simultaneously launched in Ichijinsha‘s Monthly Comic Zero-Sum magazine.

Ichijinsha published the light novels’ 12th volume on March 31. Seven Seas will release the light novels’ 11th volume in English on September 22, and the manga’s ninth volume on August 4.

Sources: Though I Am an Inept Villainess anime’s website, Comic Natalie

The staff members for Strange: Junji Ito‘s Tales for Sleepless Nights (Strange -Itō Junji no Yoru mo Nemurenu Kimyō na Hanashi-), the live-action omnibus series based on 13 manga stories by Junji Ito, announced on Sunday that they are rearranging the series’ episode order.

The staff had planned to air and stream the “Lovesickness” (Part 1)” episode as the second episode of the overall series, but it will premiere as the first episode now. The staff has not specified when the previously planned first episode, “The Mansion of Phantom Pain,” will air and stream later.

Anime Expo 2026 had planned to screen “The Mansion of Phantom Pain” and “Lovesickness” (Part 1), in Los Angeles on July 3 at 6:45 p.m. (July 4 at 10:45 a.m. JST). Neither TV Tokyo nor Anime Expo has updated the panel’s listings yet to clarify which episodes will now play there.

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.

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 cast includes (top row, left to right in the image below):

(second row, left to right):

(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

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.” 10CM, the musical act that now consists of South Korean singer-songwriter Jeong-yeol Kwon, performs the ending theme song “The Darkest Night.”

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.

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.

Source: Comic Natalie

2nd season ended with 12th episode on Sunday

The official website for the second television anime season based on Fujino Ōmori and Toshi Aoi‘s Wistoria: Wand and Sword (Tsue to Tsurugi no Wistoria) manga announced in an teaser on Sunday that production on a third season has been green-lit.

The anime’s character designer Sayaka Ono drew the visual celebrating the news:

The anime’s second season ended with its 12th episode (24th overall episode) on Sunday. The season premiered on April 12 on TBS and 27 affiliated channels at 4:30 p.m. JST. It also runs on BS NTV in Japan. Crunchyroll streamed the series as it aired, and also streams an English dub.

The first season’s director Tatsuya Yoshihara was the second season’s general director, and Hideaki Nakano (Saiyuki Reload Blast, Servamp) was the new director at first season animation studios Actas and Bandai Namco Pictures. Sayaka Ono returned as character designer and chief animation director, and Yūki Hayashi also returned to compose the music.

Mai Nakahara joined the second season’s cast high mage Clairie Serah.

Kodansha USA Publishing releases the manga in English, and released the 12th volume on March 31. The company describes the story:

A new, magical dungeon-adventure fantasy series from the author of Is It Wrong to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?! To fulfill the promise he made to his childhood friend, Will Serfort enters Regarden Magic Academy with the goal of making it to the top of the magical world. There’s just one problem—he doesn’t know how to use magic! Will the seemingly ordinary sword in his hand be the key to unlock his true potential?

The anime’s first season premiered on TBS and 27 affiliated channels in July 2024. Crunchyroll streamed the anime as it aired in Japan. Crunchyroll also streamed an English dub. The anime’s fourth episode was delayed by one week and aired in August 2024.

Ōmori (Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?) and Aoi launched the manga in Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine in December 2020. Kodansha published the manga’s 15th compiled book volume on April 9. The manga’s “Terminalia Arc” and first part ended in May 2023 and got an epilogue chapter that June.

Sources: Wistoria: Wand and Sword anime’s website, Comic Natalie