To quote Ace Ventura, “War is hell.” Anime has been producing shows that highlight the struggles of war and children’s place in them arguably since the medium first began to flourish. It has led to some of the medium’s saddest stories, especially when said stories focus on the lack of humanity in using children to fight those very battles. I Want to Love You Till Your Dying Day seems to be another story that firmly falls into this genre, focusing on a vague magical war going on where young children at an orphanage are raised, seemingly with the sole purpose of going out into battle. Three episodes in, and I barely know anything about this war, like what it’s about or who the enemy is. While I would love to know that information for the sake of world-building, it’s clear that it is arguably not the point. The point is what this war is doing to the students at the school or, more specifically, how it impacts the relationship between Sheena and Mimi.

A lot of the show is a little bit typical, with Sheena being the more soft-spoken, quiet girl who may never be sent onto the front lines because of how weak she is. Therefore, she is forced to struggle with this identity crisis of wanting to be useful, but also acknowledging that dying sucks and thus partially feeling grateful that she is not going to be sent out there like her former roommate was. Then there’s Mimi, who is a little chaotic gremlin who seems to have been manufactured for the purpose of being an ultimate weapon in this war. The first two episodes establish this relationship between the two, with episode three giving the show needed downtime, focusing on the two just spending a day off together to establish that friendship. I like the fact that episode three ignites the genuine friendship between the two, with Sheena coming to terms with the fact that she was rightfully originally put off by Mimi’s presence. After all, no matter how you try to spin it, a young girl being unfazed by the fact that she is drenched in the blood of dozens of enemy soldiers that she went out there to kill shouldn’t be normal. However, what should and shouldn’t be normal is a constant thematic beat that resonates throughout these episodes, as a lot of the students seem to just take the circumstances that they’re in as a natural way of life, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that everybody is happy about it either.

I was waiting for the show to reveal what exactly Mimi was and was a little surprised that it starts getting into that around episode three. I like the implication that part of the reason why Mimi shows up covered in blood and mangled clothes is that she always seems to come back from the front lines in pieces. The first two episodes actually cleverly foreshadow that, as even amongst the magical capabilities of a lot of the girls in the show, she is distinctly unique in having enough magic to just regenerate lost limbs. It also explains why she’s so carefree and reckless, being able to recover from whatever damage her body sustains. I’m sure future episodes will explain what she is, but if I were to hazard a guess, she might be a reanimated human. Maybe she can’t die because she doesn’t have a soul and therefore she can’t necessarily pass on to the next world? That would explain why the show has a slight religious angle, such as the communal services that happened whenever students failed to make it back to the school after being deployed. I wonder if the show is going to take the angle of Mimi being a monster or if she is just another existence entirely.

Come to think of it, the reveal in episode three does potentially recontextualize the very title of the show itself. The idea of wanting to love someone until their dying day takes a whole new meaning when one of the characters involved in that love cannot die. The show has definitely teased a romantic development between Sheena and Mimi, or at the very least is open to the idea of having genuine lesbian romances. Whether or not she will take that angle or if it’s going to go for more of a familial friendship love is yet to be seen. I also wonder if the show’s title itself is foreshadowing something greater. Only time will tell, but so far, this has a lot of solid hooks to keep me engaged, even if this is technically a story I’ve seen a dozen times before.

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I Want to Love You Till Your Dying Day is currently streaming on
Crunchyroll.

Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, is the majority owner of Anime News Network, LLC. One or more of the companies mentioned in this article are part of the Kadokawa Group of Companies.

The first season of Clevatess was one of my favorite series of 2025, and as you can read even more about in my Summer 2026 Preview Guide coverage of this follow-up’s first two episodes, Clevvie and Alicia haven’t missed a beat in their transition to more scholarly adventures. After the dark and thrilling quest of the first season, I honestly wasn’t sure of what to make of this new mission to uncover Drel’s secrets at Solesin Academy. I’ve seen enough fantasy school anime that wallow in lame cliches and stagnant storytelling to last a few lifetimes, thank you very much. Of course, I ought to have put my faith in the Dark Lord of the Beasts and his Adorably Undead Servant. Clevatess II is off to a great start.

When we last left our heroes, the Academy had been rocked by Nathan’s transformation into a dark and dangerous beast of mysterious magics. Determined to make some headway into the investigation, Alicia begins Episode 3 by making some alliances and scouting for clues by herself, since Clevatess has left her high and dry for unknown reasons. If our trusty heroine is going to play the role of gumshoe and solve Drel’s mystery, she will have to rely on her wits, her guile, and her deep wellspring of…er, charm? Sure, let’s call it “charm.” There’s obviously something going on at Solsein Academy that’s keeping all of the students mum, so Alicia is forced to fall back on that trusty old strategy of putting the screws to Naie, the terminally anxious frenemy she made last season.

With how action- and exposition-heavy the last few episodes of Season One were, I’ve appreciated that this new story arc has given Clevatess II the opportunity to slow things down and spend some time with our characters as we ruminate on all the new mysteries. Alicia is one of my favorite anime protagonists to come around in a while, so getting to see her awkwardly flail around in her attempt to approximate quality detective work is a treat, even if I do miss the screwed-up undead family dynamic that the crew had going for them before. I suppose Alicia’s fragile alliances with the school’s resident Blowjob Brothers and its least qualified instructor will have to do, for now.

I truly admire the lengths to which Clevatess II is going to flesh out its world and establish the political stakes of Team Clevatess‘ mission, what with all of the conspiratorial meetings and brand new characters who represent the respective (and incompatible) goals of the three competing kingdoms. The only real downside to this approach is that the show is juggling even more plates than it tossed up into the air the first time around, which means each thread of the story only gets so much time to develop before we cut to the next one. Even the cute check-in with Luna and Nelluru serves as a reminder of just how potentially overambitious this new plotline is, since you just know that this delightful pair won’t get nearly enough screentime.

This is especially evident with our title character himself. The episode begins with a tantalizing tease of Clevatess‘ ancient past where we get a glimpse of Zavthier of Phantasms, Lord of the Dark Beasts. After that, though, our anti-heroic hound (in his human disguise of “Klen”) doesn’t even get to take the spotlight until close to the end of the episode, and even then we’ve still got to work through the big twist of Sarasa being the next Queen of the Orggites who has the power to summon Zavthier herself. This turn of events barely has time to register before we learn that Edison is actually a host to the roaming demonic hivemind Rathwell of Azure, the Eastern Lord of the Dark Beasts.

Don’t get me wrong, this is all mighty entertaining, but we just added several new characters and motivations to keep up with, never mind Alicia suddenly getting trapped in a jar by some eldritch ghoul giant, and we’re only on Episode Three! Still, if I was going to bet on any modern dark fantasy anime that could pull off all of this complex world-building and mystery-making, it would be this one. The first season of the show already went a long way towards crafting one of the finest dark fantasy tales that we’ve seen around these parts in a long time, and by the looks of it, Clevatess is only just getting warmed up.

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Clevatess Season 2 is currently streaming on
Crunchyroll.

James is a writer with many thoughts and feelings about anime and other pop-culture, which can also be found on BlueSky, his blog, and his podcast.

Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, is the majority owner of Anime News Network, LLC. One or more of the companies mentioned in this article are part of the Kadokawa Group of Companies.

A website opened on Thursday to announce the television anime adaptation of Shikiso Utsuzawa‘s Because I, the True Saint, was Banished, that Country is Done For! (Shin no Seijo de Aru Watashi wa Tsuihō Saremashita) light novel series, slated for debut in 2027. The website also revealed the anime’s teaser visual, and main cast and staff members. 

The novels’ original character designer Pukyunosuke and the manga adaptation’s artist Mokuba Matsu both drew illustrations to celebrate the announcement:

The anime will star:

Masumi Tazawa as Eliane

Taku Yashiro as Nigel

Tsukasa Sakurai (The Disastrous Life of Saiki K., Golden Time, Little Witch Academia episode animation director) is directing the anime at Tsumugi Akita Anime Lab. Naoki Tozuka (I Was Reincarnated as the 7th Prince two seasons, Meiji Gekken: 1874) is in charge of series scripts, and Naru Nishikōri (I Was Reincarnated as the 7th Prince two seasons, Meiji Gekken: 1874) is designing the characters.

Kodansha USA Publishing started releasing Matsu’s manga adaptation in English digitally in 2024. The company released the manga’s first volume physically on March 31, and will release the third volume on July 28. Kodansha USA describes the story:

Ever since she was a child, Eliane has been the saint and protector of the Kingdom of Belkheim, warding off monsters and ensuring bountiful harvests with her prayers. But when a pretender saint beguiles the foolish prince—to whom she is engaged—into believing she is nothing but a fraud, he calls off the marriage and banishes her from the kingdom. Homeless and penniless but free to chart her own course for the first time in her life, Eliane decides to make for the neighboring kingdom, where she hopes to blend in as a commoner and lead a quiet life…but a chance encounter on the road will totally upend her modest plans.

Utsuzawa launched the story on the Shōsetsuka ni Narō website in June 2020. Kodansha began publishing the light novels with illustrations by Pukyunosuke in January 2021. The seventh volume shipped in Japan in December 2024.

Matsu’s manga adaptation debuted April 2021 in Kodansha‘s Palcy app. Kodansha will release the manga’s 13th compiled book volume on July 30. K MANGA is also publishing the manga in English.

Sources: Because I, the True Saint, was Banished, that Country is Done For! anime’s website, Comic Natalie