The TV anime Akane-banashi, the first key visual and the main promotional video have been revealed. The anime is scheduled to premiere in April 2026. It will be directed by Ayumu Watanabe, a well-known director, and produced by the animation studio ZEXCS.
Main Trailer:
Key Visual:
ADDITIONAL CAST:
Jun Fukuyama as Shinta Arakawa (Tohru Osaki)
Nobunaga Shimazaki as Maikeru Arakawa
Chiaki Kobayashi as Koguma Arakawa
Yohei Azakami as Kyoji Arakawa
Seiichiro Yamashita as Guriko Arakawa
MAIN CAST:
Anna Nagase as Akane Osaki
Takuya Eguchi as Karashi Nerimaya
Rie Takahashi as Hikaru Koragi
STAFF:
Director: Ayumu Watanabe
Series Composition: Michihiro Tsuchiya
Character Design & Chief Animation Director: Kii Tanaka
Music Composer: Akio Izutsu (Akuma Kun)
Rakugo Supervisor: Kikuhiko Hayashiya
Animation Studio: ZEXCS
Akane-banashi is a manga series written by Yuki Suenaga and illustrated by Takamasa Moue. It is serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump (published by Shueisha), and currently collected in 17 tankōbon volumes. The English edition is published by VIZ Media, which provides an official synopsis of the story:
Akane unintentionally stirs up a scandal when she’s discovered taking informal lessons from her father’s former teacher, Shiguma Arakawa. And she’s about to make even bigger waves because she is about to begin her first steps in climbing the ranks of a rakugo performer from zenza opening act to shin’uchi headliner is exchanging her secret lessons for formal training. But she’ll still have to finish high school and navigate her relationship with Shiguma’s existing apprentices, all while learning that becoming a stellar rakugoka takes much more than just being good at performing!
Source: Official Website
©Yuki Suenaga, Takamasa Moue / SHUEISHA, Akane-banashi Committee
————
AnimeTV チェーン bringing you the latest anime news direct from Japan ~ anytime! — Your new source of information!
