Film opens in Japan on October 23

Bandai Namco Filmworks revealed the main trailer and key visual for Gekijōban Maebashi Witches: Majo Minarai no Emoemories (Maebashi Witches Emoemories: Blooming Witches), the compilation film for the Maebashi Witches original television anime, on Friday.

Bandai Namco Filmworks also announced the Maebashi Witches group’s solo concert that will be held on January 15-16, 2027 at Shibuya LOVEZ.

The Gekijōban Maebashi Witches: Majo Minarai no Emoemories film will open in Japan on October 23.

Sunrise is credited for the anime’s original work. Junichi Yamamoto (Why Raeliana Ended Up at the Duke’s Mansion, Anyway, I’m Falling in Love with You) returns to direct the film at Bandai Namco Filmworks and PROJECT MBW, and Erika Yoshida (Bocchi the Rock!, Tower of God both seasons), who was in charge of series scripts, also returns. Nozomi Tachibana (Kemono Jihen) is again designing the characters based on Yū Inami‘s original character designs. Yuri Habuka returns to compose the music.

The television anime premiered in April 2025, and Crunchyroll streamed the series as it aired.

The anime stars:

The anime’s story, set in Maebashi city in Gunma Prefecture, is about the coming-of-age of five high school girls. First year high school student Yuina Akagi lives an ordinary but unsatisfying everyday life. One day, a mysterious frog named Keroppe scouts her and four other girls to become the “Maebashi Witches.” Suddenly, a room closet is connected to a mysterious space that brings the girls to a magical flower shop where they sing, dance, and make other people’s wishes come true.

The five main characters collectively known as the Maebashi Witches performed the opening theme song “Sugosugi Maebashi Witches!” (Super Amazing Maebashi Witches!) and the ending theme song “Sorezore no Door” (Each Door).

Source: Press release

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Disclosure: Bandai Namco Filmworks Inc. (Sunrise) is a non-controlling, minority shareholder in Anime News Network Inc.

Manga available on service from Friday

Square Enix‘s Manga UP! Global service adds Akina‘s The Viscount’s Porky Portrait: I Married the Knight My Sister Rejected (Bijin no Ane ga Iyagatta node, Dōmitemo Sugatae ga Shirobuta no Jiki Hakushaku ni Totsugimashita Tokoro) manga, the adaptation of Mogura Manami‘s light novels of the same title, on Friday.

Manga UP! Global describes the manga’s story:

Constantly compared to her sociable older sister, Mimosa of the noble Norton family is a young lady who shuts herself away at home with her books and embroidery. When her beautiful sister dumps her unwanted engagement onto Mimosa, she is prepared to marry a “pig of a man” with a portly physique. Instead, she finds herself welcomed with open arms in her newlywed life! A shy and flustered love story between a nervous noblewoman and a pure-hearted knight.

Akina launched the manga on Square Enix‘s Gangan Online website in August 2023. Yū Andō is credited for composition. Square Enix published the manga’s first compiled book volume in August 2024. 

Manami launched the original story on the Shōsetsuka ni Narō website in 2021. Square Enix started publishing the novels with illustration by Kazuno Yuikawa in February 2022. The novels ended with the third volume, which shipped in May 2023. 

Source: Email correspondent

While I’ve kept these reviews mostly about the story, characters, and themes of The Saga of Tanya the Evil so far, I have to admit, I’m more than a bit of a World War II buff. Moreover, I absolutely love historical fiction—especially when it comes to the tiny changes that have major implications.

If you want to compare the state of the war seen in this episode to the real world, there are both interesting parallels and differences. We’re basically in mid-to-late 1942 if this were our world. The Imperial forces are caught up in Stalingrad Josefgrad and the British Commonwealth has air superiority in the west. America The Unified States have yet to enter the war and, facing supply issues, the Empire is pulling out of Africa.

However, there are a few major changes as well. The most obvious is the fact that neither Italy Idola nor this world’s equivalent of Japan has allied with the Empire militarily—leaving the Empire isolated and low on troops. Another is that the Battleship Bismarck was never built—or at least never put to sea—meaning that the Commonwealth maintained superiority at sea and it was never even challenged. All this leaves the Empire in an even worse state than Germany in the real world had been.

But all is not doom and gloom in Tanya’s world war—and almost entirely due to her actions in this episode. Rather than a quarter of a million soldiers being trapped in Africa, they are able to retreat to the European continent unmolested—with the brilliant general Rommel still in command. And as icing on the cake, Tanya herself fills in for the Bismarck, sinking the Hood and several other Commonwealth ships—and with seemingly no casualties on her own side whatsoever.

And as a cherry on top of the sundae, we have the political situation. The Idolan, after doing the Empire dirty by not allowing Rommel’s troops to use their roads to return home, has allowed one ship of sailors into the country as a mea culpa. Tanya rides into the Idolan port waving not only the flag of the Empire but of all the countries currently under Imperial rule. She’s hooting and hollering, making it anything but a quiet visit.

To any spy, this paints one heck of a picture. After claiming neutrality, Idola publicly welcomes the attackers who just sunk several Commonwealth ships. If I were the Commonwealth, I’d just been the victim of a trap—that the whole not allowing Rommel’s troops to retreat through Idola thing had been designed to gather the Commonwealth navy in one place to be destroyed. In the best case, Tanya may just have brought Idola into the war—whether they wanted to side with the Empire or not.

Rating:

Saga of Tanya the Evil II 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.