TOHO announced on Friday that it will begin streaming the English dub 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 on Sunday at 11:45 a.m. EDT on Crunchyroll, Hulu, and Disney+. The dub will also stream on Netflix in Asia. Update: The company streamed an English trailer:

The English cast includes;

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!

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.” Rokudenashi performs the the ending theme song “Shooting Star” (Hōkiboshi).

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.

Update: Added English trailer. Source: Press release

Sources: Press release

Crunchyroll began streaming the English dub for the television anime of Jinushi‘s Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You (Super no Ura de Yani Sū Futari) manga on Thursday.

The English dub stars:

The anime debuted on TBS and its 27 affiliate channels on July 9 at 11:56 p.m. JST. ABEMA and Netflix also stream the series. Crunchyroll is streaming the anime in North America, Central America, South America, Europe, Africa, Oceania, the Middle East, CIS, and India.

The anime’s limited advance streaming on the ABEMA streaming service in Japan debuted on June 3. Crunchyroll also started streaming the anime’s first 12 mini-episodes on the same day as ABEMA‘s limited advance streaming. Each episode is 10 minutes long and together they present episodes 1-6 of the anime in “chronological order.”

The anime stars:

Tadato Suzuki (Gushing Over Magical Girls) and Aoi Mori (Gushing Over Magical Girls, Teogonia episode director) are directing the anime at Asahi Production. Mio Inoue (A Mangaka’s Weirdly Wonderful Workplace, My Awkward Senpai) is in charge of series scripts, and Yasuka Ōtaki (Gushing Over Magical Girls, A Galaxy Next Door) is designing the characters. Shin Kōno (Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card, Arte, Revenger theme song arrangement) and Sayaka Aoki (I’m the Villainess, So I’m Taming the Final Boss, Girlfriend, Girlfriend, The Water Magician) are composing the music, and Kōhei Yoshida (Dark Gathering, Killed Again, Mr. Detective?, A Star Brighter Than the Sun) is the sound director. Rock band ZUTOMAYO performs the opening theme song “Ichijiku Kemuri” (Fig Smoke). Musician imase performs the ending theme song “Fiction.”

Manga UP! Global added the manga in April 2023 and describes the story:

Meet Sasaki, an overworked, middle-aged office worker. His days are marked only by the passing of more unrewarding corporate drudgery. Smoking helps take the edge off, but other than that, the only bright spot of his day is when he goes to the nearby supermarket and sees Yamada’s smiling face. So, one evening after yet another exhausting day, he heads to the supermarket to find he missed Yamada’s shift. Dejected, he decides to go find a smoking area but discovers there isn’t one to be found. Just as he’s about to leave, a girl in a biker jacket named Tayama asks him to join her at a secret smoking area!

Jinushi launched the manga on X/Twitter in March 2022, and the series then began serialization in Square Enix‘s Big Gangan magazine in August 2022. Square Enix will ship the ninth compiled book volume of the manga on July 24.

Square Enix Manga & Books began releasing the manga in English in February 2024. The company willl ship the manga’s seventh volume on July 7. Comikey also began releasing the manga in English digitally in May 2023. The manga is also available in English on BookWalker.

The manga won eighth place in the 16th Manga Taisho awards in 2023.

Source: Crunchroll (Liam Dempsey)