The anime will premiere Tokyo MX, BS11, and Sun TV on April 6.

Yūsuke Kobayashi will star in the series as protagonist Cecil. Miyu Tomita plays Bertia Ibil Noches.

Junichi Yamamoto (Anyway, I’m Falling in Love with You; Maebashi Witches; Why Raeliana Ended Up at the Duke’s Mansion) is directing the anime at Ashi Productions. Miki Matsumoto (Summer Time Rendering, Angels of Death) is adapting Wan Hachipisu’s character designs for animation, and Akiko Inoue (The Ones Within, You and Idol Precure♪, 2018 GeGeGe no Kitarō) is both writing and overseeing the series scripts. Yūki Hayashi, Luke Standridge, and Asa Taylor are composing the music, with music production cooperation by Futokoro Gatana.

Other staff members include:

• Sub-Character Design: Abe, Uni Matsui
• Color Design: Naomi Nakano (Stella)
• Assistant Color Design: Yuika Nagai (Stella)
• Art Director: Junichi Higashi
• Background Art: Yūta Fujii
• Director of Photography: Hideki Eto (EXPLOSION)
• Prop Design: Kio Edamatsu
• CG Director: Jie Ren (Boundary)
• Editing: Akinori Mishima (Mishima Editing Room)
• Sound Director: Yukio Nagasaki

Hanashi Media has released the light novel series in English digitally, and it describes the story:

Exceptionally gifted to his own detriment, Prince Cecil had always found life effortlessly mundane. One ordinary day, his life took an unexpected turn when he became engaged to Miss Bertia, the Chancellor’s daughter. This engagement, however, was anything but typical.
“Prince Cecil! I must confess – I am the villain of this story!” Bertia’s declaration was startling. She claimed to have memories of her former life, where she had been the antagonist in a “Otome game”. Her lofty ambition was to excel as a villainess and thus have her engagement annulled. However, despite her plans for various misdeeds, her attempts have always been unsuccessful.
Is her fiancé, who aspires to master villainous finesse, simply misguided in his endeavours?

Shiki originally serialized the story on the Shōsetsuka ni Narō website, but later took down the story. AlphaPolis released the original novel in two volumes in 2017 with illustrations by Wan Hachipisu. The series has an ongoing sequel titled Jishō Akuyaku Reijō na Tsuma no Kansatsu Kiroku. The fifth volume of the sequel shipped in May 2025. Hanashi Media releases the sequel digitally in English under the title Observation Records of My Wife, and released the second volume on January 29.

Natsume Hasumi drew a manga adaptation of the original novel series that had six volumes and one extra volume, which AlphaPolis has released in English on the Alpha Manga service under the title An Observation Log of My Fiancée Who Calls Herself a Villainess.

Hasumi is also drawing a manga adaptation of the Jishō Akuyaku Reijō na Tsuma no Kansatsu Kiroku. sequel. The third volume of the sequel shipped in Japan in May 2025. Alpha Manga is also releasing the manga in English under the title An Observation Log of My Wife Who Calls Herself a Villainess.

Neoshoco also announced the hiatus on their X/Twitter account on Wednesday. Neoshoco explained that they originally planned to go on hiatus in the magazine’s April issue, but they ended up getting overworked, adding it was physically and mentally impossible for them to finish the manuscript this month. Neoshoco assured that they are not sick or suffering from any physical abnormalities. 

Viz Media releases the manga in English and describes the story:

Why bother fighting spectral foes like all the other exorcists when you can just eat them?

Straight A student Eugene Korekishi doesn’t believe in ghosts…but his classmate Mogari Shishikuno is an exorcist who swallows them whole! Mogari can’t see ghosts on his own, but once he and Eugene meet someone with the sight, there’s only one path left—form an exorcist club at school and embark on a high school life that’s anything but normal!

In search of a fourth member for the club, Mogari, Eugene, and new recruit Kaoru Kanzaki set their sights on Kotaro Tamon, a classmate who seems to be able to talk to ghosts. Unfortunately, Kotaro’s got some major problems communicating with living humans! Will Kotaro be able to overcome his anxiety and join the Phantom Busters?

Neoshoco launched the manga in Jump SQ. in 2023. Shueisha will publish the manga’s seventh compiled book volume on February 4. Viz Media released the second volume on January 6, and will release the third volume on April 7.

Sources: Jump SQ. magazine’s X/Twitter account, Neoshoco’s X/Twitter account

The English dub (which includes returning members) stars:

• Kieran Flitton as Kanata
• Trisha Mellon as Ren
• Larry Brantley as Ogata
• Cory Phillips as Aiba
• Chris Gardner as Tanaka Yoji
• Robert McCollum as Akiyama
• David Matranga as Okuyama
• Brandon Acosta as Sawatari
• Mauricio Ortiz-Segura as Sena
• Joel McDonald as Takumi Fujiwara
• Phil Parsons as Ren’s Dad
• Comona Lewin as Uehara
• Nasim Benelkour as Sakamoto
• Laura Faverty as Marie
• Matt Shipman as Oishi
• Wyatt Baker as Akaba
• Chris Ryan as Ishigami
• Chris Cason as Joyu
• J. Michael Tatum as Ryosuke
• Sean Letourneau as Maezono

Jonathan Rigg is directing the English dub. Samantha Herek is producing. Clayton Browning is handling the English adaptation. Nathanael Harrison is the mixer, and Derric Benavides is the engineer.

The anime began streaming on Amazon Prime Video in Japan on January 1 at 11:30 p.m. JST. The anime debuted on TV on Tokyo MX and BS NTV on January 4 at 11:30 p.m., before airing later that evening on RKB Mainichi Broadcasting. The series is also airing on TV Aichi, Shizuoka Broadcasting System, YTV, and Animax. Crunchyroll is streaming the anime as it airs.

Nanako Aizawa voices Emma Green, a 19-year-old driver from England.

Yū Serizawa performs the opening theme song “Timeless Power feat. MOTSU, and Himika Akaneya performs the ending theme song “Yokan no Tochū Prod. Taku Takahashi (m-flo)”(En Route to a Hunch).

The series takes place in the 2020s, when self-driving cars are ubiquitous in Japan. The manga centers on Kanata Livington, a Japanese driver who goes back to Japan after graduating at the top of his class at a racing school in England. The series also focuses on the MFG, a racing circuit on public roads that has garnered attention worldwide.

The first season premiered in October 2023 on the Tokyo MX, BS11, and RKB Mainichi Broadcasting channel. The anime also ran on Animax, TV Aichi, Shizuoka Broadcasting System, TV Setouchi, Tochigi TV, and YTV. Crunchyroll streamed the anime as it aired in Japan.

The second season debuted in October 2024 on Tokyo MX, BS11, and RKB Mainichi Broadcasting. The second season also ran on YTV, TV Aichi, and Animax, and streams on Lemino and Prime Video in Japan. Crunchyroll streamed the anime as it aired and is also streaming an English dub.

Shuuichi Shigeno (Initial D) launched the MF Ghost manga in Kodansha‘s Young Magazine in September 2017. Kodansha USA Publishing is releasing the manga in English. The manga went on hiatus in November 2022 due to Shigeno’s poor health, but returned in February 2023. The manga went back on hiatus that April, then returned that June, and started its “final battle.” The manga ended in February 2025. The 23rd and final compiled book volume shipped in Japan on June 6.

The film will center on a new character named Pantan. Pantan is a red panda who seeks to find the treasure thought to be in a rainbow star in the night sky, in order to keep a promise made to an adventurer long ago. When Pantan and Anpanman encounter each other, Anpanman lends his abilities to help out Pantan.

Hiroyuki Yano, who has directed numerous previous films in the franchise, is directing the new film. Shoji Yonemura, a similar veteran of the franchise, is penning the film’s script. Franchise composers Taku Izumi and Hiroaki Kondo are composing the music.

Soreike! Anpanman: Chapon no Hero!, the 36th film in the Anpanman franchise, opened in Japan last June and ranked #8 in its opening weekend. The film earned 132,757,670 yen (about US$924,000) in its first three days.

The Soreike! Anpanman television anime series began in 1988, and new Anpanman films have opened each summer since 1989. The 2014 film Soreike! Anpanman: Ringo Bōya to Minna no Negai (Let’s Go! Anpanman: The Apple Boy and Everyone’s Wishes) was the first film since Anpanman creator Takashi Yanase’s death.

Many anime films, including this current Demon Slayer film, have played on IMAX screens for over a decade. Howver, the current Demon Slayer film will be the first anime film to have a special edition with scenes in IMAX’s unique, taller 1.43:1 aspect ratio. Aniplex streams a video showing the comparison between the standard edition and the special IMAX screening edition.

The special IMAX screenings will run at the Grand Cinema Sunshine Ikebukuro in Tokyo, and at the 109 Cinemas Osaka Expo City. 100,000 limited A5-size IMAX visual illustration boards will be handed out as an exclusive gift to attendees at the special IMAX screenings. 

The film has sold a total of 26.76 million tickets, and has earned a cumulative total of 39,000,218,500 yen (about US$244 million) as of January 13. The film had sold a total of 23,042,671 tickets for 33,056,606,000 yen (about US$224 million) as of September 15, 2025, its 60th day in the Japanese box office. This made it the second highest-earning film of all time at the Japanese box office, surpassing Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli’s 2001 film Spirited Away.

The film is now the highest-earning anime film of all time worldwide, as well as the highest-earning Japanese film of all time worldwide. The film has sold 89,177,796 tickets for 106,370,568,950 yen (about US$685 million) worldwide as of November 16. This feat makes it the first Japanese film to earn over 100 billion yen (about US$644 million) worldwide.

Demon Slayer – Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train, the October 2020 film from the same franchise, is currently the highest earning film in Japan, with a 40.75 billion yen (about US$277 million in current conversion) total take in Japan.

The film is one of the winners for the Award of Excellence for Animated Film in the 49th annual Japan Academy Film Prize. The winners of the category go on as nominees for the “Best Award,” and the winner, along with winners for other categories, will be revealed at a ceremony in Tokyo on March 13.

The below teaser visual is drawn by character designer Keigo Sasaki, and features calligraphy by Satoshi Nemoto.

Mihara also drew an illustration to commemorate the anime announcement: 

Toshimasa Kuroyanagi (Shōnen Hollywood, The Great Passage, Backflip!! series and film) is directing the anime at Cygames Pictures. Keigo Sasaki (Blue Exorcist series and film, ERASED, Uma Musume: Cinderella Gray two seasons) is designing the characters, and Satoshi Nemoto is credited for calligraphy and title lettering.

Shochiku describes the story: 

In 1374, amid the turmoil of the Northern and Southern Courts’ long running conflict, a boy named Oniyasha is born into a family of sarugaku theater performers. He spends his days in a kind of quiet gloom, haunted by a simple but persistent question: Why do people dance? Then, one day, he witnesses a dance that he feels to be “good”—and everything begins to change. This is the story of the beautiful young boy who would one day shape the art of Noh and be remembered as Zeami.

Mihara launched the manga in Kodansha’s Morning magazine in March 2021, and the series ended in October 2022. Kodansha published six compiled book volumes of the manga. Kodansha USA Publishing licensed the manga and published the manga’s six volumes digitally. 

The film will open in Japan on February 27. 

Shōya Chiba voices the character El, a soldier of the Mu Federation tasked to keep an eye on Doraemon and his friends when they arrived at the bottom of the sea; and Ryō Hirohashi will voice the Mizunaka Buggy (Underwater Buggy), the amphibious buggy car and one of Doraemon‘s secret gadgets.

Actress Airi Taira is also an ambassador for the film and will voice a soldier in the film.

The new and 45th 2D anime film (not counting the 3D CG Stand By Me Doraemon films) remakes the classic 1983 film Doraemon the Movie: Nobita and the Castle of the Undersea Devil.

Tetsuo Yajima (Pokémon the Movie: Secrets of the Jungle, Pokémon the Movie: The Power of Us, Pokémon XY) returns after directing episodes of the Doraemon television anime and contributing in other capacities to Doraemon the Movie: Nobita’s New Great Adventure into the Underworld, Doraemon the Movie: Nobita and the Steel Troops: The New Age, and Eiga Doraemon: Nobita no Chikyū Symphony. Another veteran of the television anime, Isao Murayama (Witchy Precure!, Star Twinkle Precure, Bakugan), wrote the new film’s screenplay.

Eiga Doraemon: Nobita no Esekai Monogatari (Doraemon: Nobita’s Art World Tales), the 44th film in the Doraemon franchise, opened in Japan on March 7.

The film was previously slated to open in the United States on December 12, but its wide release has been delayed to February 6 in North America. The film did start an awards-qualifying run in select IMAX theaters in North America on December 12.

The 82nd Venice International Film Festival screened the world premiere with five screenings on September 4-5. The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) screened the North American premiere at the 50th annual event as a Special Presentation, with four screenings on September 10-12. The New York Film Festival presented the film with two screenings on October 7-8. October 17-19’s Animation is Film Festival showed the film in competition in Los Angeles. 

Sony Pictures describes the film:

From visionary Academy Award®-nominated filmmaker Mamoru Hosoda

 (MIRAI) comes a powerful, time-bending animated adventure about SCARLET

, a medieval-era, sword fighting princess on a dangerous quest to avenge the death of her father. After failing at her mission and finding herself gravely injured in the Otherworld that exists somewhere between life and death, she encounters an idealistic young man from our present day who not only helps her to heal but shows her the possibility of a future free of bitterness and rage. When confronted again by her father’s killer, Scarlet

 faces her most daunting battle: can she break the cycle of hatred and find meaning in life beyond revenge?

Mana Ashida stars as the princess Scarlet and Masaki Okada as Hijiri, a nurse from modern Japan.

The cast also includes:

• Yutaka Matsushige as Cornelius, an influential aide of Claudius
• Kōtarō Yoshida as Voltemand, an aide of Claudius who leads the knights
• Kōji Yakusho as Claudius, whose conspiracy led Scarlet onto her quest for vengeance
• Masachika Ichimura as Amulet, Scarlet’s father
• Yūki Saitō as Gertrude, Scarlet’s mother who assists Claudius in his conspiracy
• Shōta Sometani as Guildenstern
• Munetaka Aoki as Rosencrantz, a vassal of Claudius who targets Scarlet
• Kazuhiro Yamaji as Polonius, an aide of Claudius who watches over Scarlet’s movements
• Tokio Emoto as Laertes
• Kayoko Shiraishi as a mysterious old woman
• Noa Shiroyama as a girl whom Scarlet encounters in “The Land of the Dead”
• Michio Hazama as the elder leader of a caravan who aids Scarlet
• Mamoru Miyano as one half of a gravedigger duo who appear in Scarlet’s dream
• Kenjirō Tsuda as the other half of the gravedigger duo
• Toshio Furukawa as an innkeeper

This is Miyano’s third role in a Hosoda work after The Boy and The Beast and BELLE, and Tsuda’s second after BELLE. These are also Hazama and Furukawa’s first-ever roles in a Hosoda work. 

Many of these characters share the same names as characters in William Shakespeare‘s tragedy play Hamlet.

Hosoda directed the film and writing the screenplay, and is also credited for the original work. Hosoda stated the film is not 2D animation or “Hollywood-style CG,” and he is aiming for a completely new look. Hosoda also stated the film will have a different feel to his past works, and will also have action and romance elements. He added that the film is based on a “global classic.”

The film’s producer Yūichirō Saitō stated the film will have worldwide distribution. TOHO is releasing the film in Japan, while Sony Pictures is releasing the film outside Japan. Sony Pictures has also invested in the film.

Ashida (voice of Scarlet) performs the theme song “Hateshi naki” (Without Limits) with lyrics by Hosoda. Maya & Ayumu Matsuda of Rikon Densetsu perform the song “Shukusai no Uta” (Festival Song).

Comic Natalie noted that since The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Hosoda’s films have previously opened in Japan in summer, but this new film opened in winter.

The English cast for You Can’t Be In a Rom-Com with Your Childhood Friends! includes:

• Dakota Farnsworth as Eiyu
• Luci Christian as Shio
• Veronica Laux as Akari
• Marwa Elda as Haru
• Bryn Apprill as Runako

Jason Lord will direct the dub, Susie Nixon will produce and Christian Thorsen will adapt the script. Tina Son will serve as sound engineer.

The anime premiered on TV Tokyo and five other affiliate channels on January 5, and also debuted streaming on d Anime Store and AnimeFesta on January 5. The anime premiered on AT-X and BS NTV on January 6. Crunchyroll is streaming the series.

The manga centers on Eiyū, a high school boy whose two childhood friends, Shio and Akari, also go to the same school as him. He has now started looking at them with both romantic and lustful eyes, though he knows that they have no interest in him, which causes him no end of worrying. However, Shio and Akari have their own secrets.

Misu launched the manga in Kodansha‘s Magazine Pocket website in March 2022. Kodansha published the manga’s 18th compiled book volume on November 7.