Category Archives: Manga Anime

Manga Anime

Fate Rewinder Anime Premieres April 2027 on Crunchyroll — Bones Film’s Next Hit

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When Bones Film puts its name on a new series, Singapore’s anime community pays attention. The studio behind Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Mob Psycho 100, and Blood Blockade Battlefront has just confirmed its next project: Fate Rewinder (Unmei no Makimodoshi), the Shogakukan Award-winning time-travel manga by Fūta Kimura, is heading to Crunchyroll in April 2027. The studio dropped the first official teaser trailer at Crunchyroll’s showcase panel during Anime Expo 2026 on 3 July.

What Is Fate Rewinder?

Fate Rewinder is a time-travel action manga serialized in Monthly CoroCoro Comic by Shogakukan. It launched as a one-shot in January 2022 and moved straight into regular serialization the following month — a rapid greenlight driven by immediate reader response. Since then it has ranked first in the magazine’s popularity polls for 12 consecutive months and has collected 12 tankōbon volumes as of April 2026.

The story follows Chrono, a 14-year-old with a single unshakeable vow: to never abandon anyone. After a personal tragedy claims his sister, Chrono is recruited into the Space-Time Strategic Enforcement Unit (SSEU) — the Fate Rewinders. Every agent carries a Retry Eye: a micro-time machine implanted directly in their eye socket that lets them rewind to the moment before a fatal event and try again, as many times as it takes. Chrono’s photographic memory, analytical instincts, and extraordinary mental durability make him a fast riser in the unit, but his real goal is cracking Case 999 — his sister’s death — and bringing down the terrorist network known as the Clock Hands.

Fate Rewinder key visual showing Chrono and the full team of Rewinders
Image courtesy of Fate Rewinder Project / Shogakukan

The manga won the 71st Shogakukan Manga Awards in 2026, the same year as fellow winner Dandadan — whose anime was one of 2025’s biggest breakouts. Yen Press has licensed the English edition, with the first volume pencilled for October 2026, giving new readers a head start before the anime premiere.

The Creative Team Behind It

The production line-up is the kind that turns anime into cultural events:

  • Director: Rie Matsumoto — Best known for directing the visually adventurous Kyousogiga and the fan-favourite Blood Blockade Battlefront on Crunchyroll. Matsumoto’s kinetic, character-driven direction is a strong match for a series built on rapid-fire time loops and high-stakes action.
  • Character Designer: Toshihiro Kawamoto — Kawamoto’s credits include Cowboy Bebop and Wolf’s Rain. Seeing that design sensibility applied to Fūta Kimura’s angular, expressive character art is a genuine reason to be excited.
  • Series Composition: Kimiko Ueno
  • Music: Satoshi Murai
  • Animation Production: Bones Film

Voice Cast

Four lead roles have been confirmed:

  • Chrono — Sho Komura
  • Shirai — Kōki Uchiyama (Tomura Shigaraki in My Hero Academia, Xiao in Genshin Impact)
  • Akaba — Kohei Amasaki
  • Lemon — Reina Ueda (Himeno in Chainsaw Man, Vivy in Vivy: Fluorite Eye’s Song)

Watch the Official Teaser

Fate Rewinder | Official Teaser — via Crunchyroll on YouTube
Fate Rewinder official teaser — Shirai, voiced by Kōki Uchiyama
Image courtesy of Crunchyroll

When and Where Singapore Fans Can Watch

Crunchyroll confirmed it will stream Fate Rewinder in all territories outside Japan, Mainland China, North Korea, and South Korea — Singapore is squarely included. Expect the show to follow Crunchyroll’s standard simulcast pattern for TV Asahi titles, with episodes dropping weekly from the April 2027 premiere window. A more specific premiere date has not yet been announced.

On the manga side, Yen Press’s English licence means the series should reach local comics and book retailers once volumes start shipping from October 2026. With 12 volumes already in print in Japanese, there is more than enough source material to read ahead of the anime.

Bones Film’s track record in Singapore — Mob Psycho 100, My Hero Academia, FMA: Brotherhood — suggests Fate Rewinder will find its audience here quickly once the full trailer drops. April 2027 is the date to mark.

Manga Anime

Star Wars: Visions – The Ninth Jedi Hits Disney+ on 5 August

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Star Wars just got a full-length anime series — and it is one Singapore fans can stream from day one. Star Wars: Visions Presents – The Ninth Jedi, an 8-episode limited series produced by Lucasfilm and Production I.G, arrives on Disney+ on 5 August 2026.

From Short Film to Full Series: What Is The Ninth Jedi?

The series expands a story that began as a standalone short in the first Star Wars: Visions anthology (2021) and continued in Star Wars: Visions Volume 3. Now, under the new Star Wars: Visions Presents banner — designed specifically for longer-form stories spun out of the anthology — the tale gets eight full episodes to breathe.

The story follows Lah Kara, who resumes her quest to find her missing father while evading Jedi Hunters and continuing her Jedi training under Margrave Juro. It is a coming-of-age adventure set in an original corner of the galaxy far, far away, and unlike the live-action Star Wars productions, it leans fully into the aesthetic language of anime.

Watch the Official Trailer

Star Wars: Visions Presents – The Ninth Jedi | Official Trailer — via Star Wars on YouTube

Production I.G and Kenji Kamiyama Lead the Creative Team

The pedigree here is serious. Production I.G — the studio behind Ghost in the Shell, Haikyuu!!, and Vinland Saga — handles animation, directed by Shunsuke Tada with Kenji Kamiyama serving as supervising director. Kamiyama is best known for Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, and his involvement signals that this is not a lightweight side project. The script is by Mitsuyasu Sakai.

Lah Zhima with a lightsaber in Star Wars: Visions Presents – The Ninth Jedi
Image courtesy of Lucasfilm

The series was announced at Anime Expo 2026 in Los Angeles, where Kamiyama, Tada, and producer Hitoshi Ito presented the first trailer and teaser artwork to a packed hall. The Anime Expo reveal underlines how deliberately Lucasfilm is positioning this as an anime property — not just a Star Wars spin-off that happens to be animated, but a work made by, and for, anime fans.

Cast: Familiar Voices and New Arrivals

The English dub brings back the full original cast: Kimiko Glenn as Lah Kara, Andrew Kishino as Margrave Juro, Masi Oka, Patrick Seitz, and Simu Liu as Lah Zhima. New additions include Young Mazino and Chase Sui Wonders, among others.

Nawaam and Lah Kara in Star Wars: Visions Presents – The Ninth Jedi
Image courtesy of Lucasfilm

When and Where to Watch in Singapore

All 8 episodes drop simultaneously on 5 August 2026 on Disney+. Singapore subscribers can catch it from day one — no Hulu required (Hulu remains US-only). If you have not seen the original The Ninth Jedi short, it is worth a quick rewatch on Disney+ before the premiere; the new series picks up directly from where it left off.

For more anime and animation news, see our Manga & Anime coverage.

99-99 and Ethan in Star Wars: Visions Presents – The Ninth Jedi
Image courtesy of Lucasfilm
Star Wars: Visions Presents – The Ninth Jedi character poster
Image courtesy of Lucasfilm

Manga Anime, News

Lyrical Nanoha EXCEEDS Premieres Today: First New TV Anime in 8 Years

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Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha EXCEEDS: Gun Blaze Vengeance premiered in Japan tonight with an extended 60-minute first episode — the franchise’s first new TV anime since ViVid in 2015 and the first fully original TV series since the original trilogy. Original creator Maki Tsuzuki wrote the story. Studio Seven Arcs — which built the franchise from the ground up — is back. And Nana Mizuki is both reprising her iconic role and singing the opening theme. This is the real thing.

A Ruined World, A New Fighter

Kuze Shiina, protagonist of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha EXCEEDS: Gun Blaze Vengeance
Image courtesy of Nanoha EXCEEDS Project

EXCEEDS is set thirty years after an alien invasion almost wiped out civilisation. Humanity and the “invasive species” share a fragile, contested world — and the United Nations agency EXCEEDS exists to counter the worst of it. The new protagonist is Kuze Shiina, a teenage hunter eliminating invasive creatures on a remote island, fiercely protective of her younger sister Setsuna. When a mysterious man attacks them both and Shiina is drawn into EXCEEDS’ operations, she’s no longer fighting just for her sister — she’s fighting for what’s left of the world.

It’s a darker, more grounded premise than the original series’ warmly-lit magical academies. But the DNA is unmistakeable: fierce girls, enormous power, and the weight of protecting the people you love. The episode 1 synopsis (Japanese) sets up Shiina’s origin and her first collision with a world much larger than island life.

Original Creator, Original Studio — and a Familiar Cast

Kuze Shiina character design, Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha EXCEEDS
Image courtesy of Nanoha EXCEEDS Project
Mysterious antagonist character design, Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha EXCEEDS
Image courtesy of Nanoha EXCEEDS Project

This is not a reboot assembled by outside hands. Famitsu confirms (Japanese) that Maki Tsuzuki — who has written every Nanoha entry since the 2004 original — authored the story and scripts. Seven Arcs returns as the producing studio, with Takayuki Hamana directing and Issei Arigaki on character design. Veteran cast members including Yukari Tamura and Nana Mizuki are back, reprising the roles that defined the franchise, alongside a new set of voices for the new generation of characters.

Nana Mizuki Sings “CRIMSON BULLET”

PV2 still from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha EXCEEDS: Gun Blaze Vengeance
Image courtesy of Nanoha EXCEEDS Project

Nana Mizuki voices Fate Testarossa and sang tracks like “Innocent Starter” and “ETERNAL BLAZE” across the original trilogy — songs that defined what Nanoha sounded like for a generation of fans. She’s providing the EXCEEDS opening theme too: “CRIMSON BULLET”. The title alone should tell you the register this show is going for.

PV第2弾 (Trailer 2) — via 魔法少女リリカルなのは YouTube OFFICIAL CHANNEL

How to Watch from Singapore

EXCEEDS is currently airing in Japan on TOKYO MX and BS11 (Saturday late-nights at 25:00 JST) with simultaneous streaming on dAnime Store, U-NEXT, and Anime Houdai within Japan. No international streaming platform has been announced as of writing — availability for Singapore and the rest of Southeast Asia is to be confirmed. Keep an eye on the official Lyrical Nanoha YouTube channel for the latest PVs and announcements, and check back here for streaming news as it breaks. For more anime premiering this season, we’ve got you covered.

Manga Anime, News

Green Yuri Anime: CloverWorks, Nirvana Opening Theme, January 2027

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Nirvana’s 1991 grunge anthem “Breed” is officially the opening theme for the anime adaptation of Sumiko Arai’s manga The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn’t a Guy at All — and Dave Grohl himself helped break the news. Announced at Crunchyroll’s Anime Expo 2026 showcase in Los Angeles, the series premieres in January 2027 on Crunchyroll worldwide, including Singapore.

Meet Green Yuri: The Manga That Sold 1.6 Million Copies

Nicknamed “Green Yuri” by fans for its unmistakeable lime-green colour palette, the series follows Aya Osawa — a fashionable high schooler with a deep love for Western rock — who develops a crush on the cool, enigmatic clerk at her local CD shop. The twist: that clerk is Mitsuki Koga, a girl who attends Aya’s school and has been hiding in plain sight all along. As the two circle each other through shared playlists and stolen glances, a case of mistaken identity slowly deepens into something real.

Originally a Twitter short story (2021), the manga graduated to Pixiv Comics serialisation before landing a print run through KADOKAWA’s Kitora label. It took first place in the web manga category at the Next Manga Award 2023 and has since sold over 1.6 million copies worldwide — numbers that made an anime feel not just possible but necessary.

The Guy She Was Interested In Wasn’t a Guy At All | Official Teaser — via Crunchyroll on YouTube

CloverWorks Takes the Helm

Aya Osawa in the Green Yuri anime by CloverWorks
Image courtesy of Crunchyroll / CloverWorks

Studio CloverWorks — whose recent track record includes Oshi no Ko and The Dangers in My Heart — is handling animation. Anime News Network confirms Masashi Ishihama in the director’s chair, with Rino Yamazaki on series composition and Kanna Hirayama designing the characters. Voicing the leads are Mariya Ise as Mitsuki Koga and Akari Kito as Aya Osawa — both seasoned performers with strong track records in character-driven drama.

That Nirvana Moment

Green Yuri manga key visual at Anime Expo 2026
Image courtesy of Crunchyroll / Sumiko Arai (KADOKAWA)

“Breed”, from Nirvana’s landmark 1991 album Nevermind, has been officially licensed as the opening theme — the first time a Nirvana track has been officially used in a Japanese animated production. The announcement drew an audible reaction from the Anime Expo crowd, made all the more striking when a pre-recorded video message from Dave Grohl played on the AX screens.

“[This series is] the same message and aesthetic… the vibe, you know? It’s cool,” Grohl said in the message, as reported by Red Bean Anime. That Nirvana’s surviving members would pick this series — a story about two girls finding each other through music — to carry the band’s legacy into anime says something about how far the medium has reached.

Singapore Fans: Mark Your January 2027 Calendar

Crunchyroll is streaming the series globally, which means Singapore fans will be able to watch from the January 2027 premiere date. Four volumes of the manga are already available in English from Yen Press, giving you plenty of time to catch up before episode one drops. For yuri and romance anime fans in Singapore, this is shaping up to be the stand-out pick of that winter season.

Manga Anime, News

Alien Stage Anime Series Confirmed at Anime Expo 2026

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If you have spent any time on anime YouTube over the past three years, you have almost certainly been caught by the Alien Stage algorithm. The South Korean animated web series — eight episodes, 200-plus million views, a fanbase that crosses every SEA border — is now officially getting a full anime adaptation. Creators VIVINOS and QMENG announced the series is in production at their Anime Expo 2026 panel in Los Angeles on 3 July.

What Is Alien Stage?

Created by animator Soyeon Kim (VIVINOS) and collaborator QMENG through their Korean production team Forma+9, Alien Stage launched on YouTube in September 2022. The premise is as bleak as it is compelling: colonising aliens have subjugated humanity, raising humans as pets, and the Alien Stage is the brutal singing competition that determines who lives and who does not. Each episode is structured around an original song, performed by human contestants whose chemistry — and survival — is anything but guaranteed.

The eight-episode run wrapped in June 2025 with the aptly titled finale “Karma,” and by that point the series had logged over 200 million total views, with the final episode alone drawing more than 44 million. Its raw emotional storytelling, high-quality animation, and original music found a particularly passionate following in Singapore and across Southeast Asia. A spin-off alternate universe, Zombie Stage, launched just before Anime Expo in June 2026.

Alien Stage key art featuring the series' cast in a dramatic cosmic setting
Image courtesy of VIVINOS

The Anime Is in Production at Studio Lico

The Anime Expo announcement confirmed that the Alien Stage anime is now in production at Studio Lico, the animation studio involved in the original web series. A teaser visual unveiled at the convention showed the cast reimagined in what appears to be a school setting — a strikingly ordinary backdrop compared to the alien competition arena of the source material, suggesting the anime may explore a new angle on the Alien Stage world rather than a straight retelling.

No release window, full staff list, or cast details have been announced yet. What is clear is that this will be the franchise’s first fully serialised anime, moving beyond the eight music-video episodes into proper series territory. For a fandom that has been hungry for more story since the finale, that is a significant step.

Alien Stage anime teaser visual showing cast members in a school hallway
Image courtesy of VIVINOS / Studio Lico

Catch Up on the Original Before the Anime Drops

If you have not seen Alien Stage yet, now is genuinely the right time — every episode is free on the official VIVINOS YouTube channel. Round 6 is often cited as the most emotionally devastating entry point, building on everything that came before and sending fan communities into full meltdown. All eight rounds are available in order on the channel, and at roughly six to eight minutes per episode the whole series fits comfortably into an afternoon.

R O U N D 6 ｜ Alien Stage — via VIVINOS on YouTube

The 2027 World Tour — and What It Means for Asia

Alongside the anime confirmation, Frontier Works announced a 3D LIVE ALIEN STAGE Museum in 2372 world tour for 2027, with planned stops in Seoul, Tokyo, and Los Angeles. A preview event runs 30 October to 1 November 2026 at Shinagawa Stellar Ball in Tokyo, staging characters Sua, Ivan, and Luka through projection and CG technology. Tickets are available via eplus.jp for the Tokyo preview.

No Singapore or broader Southeast Asia tour date has been confirmed. Given the scale of the regional fanbase, it would be a missed opportunity not to extend the tour to this part of the world — keep an eye on official announcements from VIVINOS and Frontier Works for any updates. For more anime news from Anime Expo 2026, check the rest of this week’s coverage.

Alien Stage World Tour characters Sua, Ivan, and Luka in the 3D LIVE museum promotional art
Image courtesy of VIVINOS / Frontier Works

Manga Anime

Overgeared Anime October 2026: New Trailer and Cast Revealed at Anime Expo

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After Solo Leveling proved that Korean manhwa adaptations can take the anime world by storm, Overgeared is next in line — and it now has a firm launch window. The anime adaptation of Saenal’s iconic VR-MMORPG web novel is set to premiere on Crunchyroll in October 2026, with a full new trailer and additional voice cast revealed at Crunchyroll’s Anime Expo 2026 showcase in Los Angeles.

A scene from the Overgeared anime official teaser
Image courtesy of Crunchyroll / J.C. Staff
Overgeared | Official Trailer — via Crunchyroll on YouTube

Grid’s Story: From Deadbeat Gamer to Legendary Blacksmith

For anyone who hasn’t already ploughed through the original web novel or manhwa: Overgeared follows Shin Youngwoo, a directionless young man whose family has written him off, who spends most of his life grinding away in the massively popular virtual reality MMORPG Satisfy. A stroke of sheer luck hands him the legendary inheritance of Pagma’s Successor — a mythic blacksmith class that lets him forge weapons and armour of unmatched power. As his in-game character Grid, Youngwoo begins an improbable climb from bottom-tier nobody to the most feared and respected player in the game. The story rewards patience: Grid’s growth is hard-won, often messy, and genuinely satisfying when it pays off.

The source material started as a Korean web novel by Saenal (serialised 2014–2024) before receiving a webtoon adaptation by Monohumbug via REDICE STUDIO and Team Argo — REDICE being the same studio behind the Solo Leveling webtoon. The English-language publication of the manhwa is handled by Yen Press.

Production Details: J.C. Staff, New Cast Members, and the October Launch

A character scene from the Overgeared anime official trailer
Image courtesy of Crunchyroll / J.C. Staff

The anime — officially titled Tempal: The Power of Items (テムパル ~アイテムの力~) in Japan — is produced by EGG FIRM and animated at J.C. Staff. Directing is Ayako Kono, known for the two Sword Art Online Progressive films. Series composition is by Kenta Ihara (Sentenced to Be a Hero), with Ryosuke Tanigawa on character designs and Yoshiaki Fujisawa composing the score.

The main cast announced at the June 2026 reveal — Tatsumaru Tachibana as Grid and Asami Seto as Yura — was expanded at AX 2026 with two new additions: Saya Fukuzumi voicing Euphemina and Shuntaro Takayama as Huroi.

Why Singapore Manhwa Fans Should Pay Attention

The manhwa community in Singapore has been growing steadily, and titles like Solo Leveling and Tower of God already have strong local followings — Overgeared sits comfortably in that same tier of beloved Korean genre fiction. Its appeal is broad: the VR-MMORPG premise will click immediately with Singapore’s gaming-heavy audience, the slow-burn power fantasy rewards binge-readers, and the production pedigree (REDICE STUDIO’s webtoon + J.C. Staff animation) is credible. Crunchyroll streaming means no region-locking — Singapore fans can watch day-and-date from October.

Keep an eye on this one as the premiere date gets closer. For more anime news and other manga and anime coverage, check our full roundup.

Manga Anime

Rising of the Shield Hero Season 5 Confirmed for 2027 — First Trailer Drops at AX

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Naofumi, Raphtalia, and Filo are coming back — The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 5 is officially confirmed for a 2027 premiere, with the first trailer and a bold new key visual revealed during Crunchyroll’s showcase at Anime Expo 2026 in Los Angeles on 3 July.

Naofumi Iwatani in a tense scene from The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 5
Image courtesy of Kinema Citrus / KADOKAWA
The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 5 | Official Trailer — via Crunchyroll on YouTube

Everything Confirmed for Season 5

Season 5 was first teased at the end of Season 4’s final episode, but the Anime Expo announcement was the first proper look: a full trailer, a new key visual, and confirmation of the production team. Kinema Citrus continues as the animation studio, with Hitoshi Haga returning to direct — he guided both Seasons 3 and 4. Keigo Koyoagi is back on series composition, and the character design trio of Franziska van Wulfen, Sana Komatsu, and Masahiro Suwa returns. Crucially, composer Kevin Penkin is once again on music duties; his work has been one of the defining elements of the series since the very first episode.

On the cast side, all the main leads are reprising their roles: Kaito Ishikawa as Naofumi Iwatani, Asami Seto as Raphtalia, and Rina Hidaka as Filo. Season 5 is expected to push Naofumi toward his long-building confrontation with the Phoenix, with the allies he has gathered across four seasons finally put to the test.

A Darker Key Visual That Sets the Tone

A character scene from The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 5 trailer
Image courtesy of Kinema Citrus / KADOKAWA

The Season 5 key visual is a striking stylistic step. Where earlier seasons leaned into colour and warmth, this one goes almost entirely monochrome — charcoal and grey tones with Naofumi at the centre and his party flanking him in a dense, tension-filled formation. The only colour is the vivid red calligraphic title treatment: The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 5. The message is clear: this season is going somewhere harder and heavier.

How to Watch — and Where to Catch Up

A scene from The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 5 featuring new characters
Image courtesy of Kinema Citrus / KADOKAWA

Season 5 streams on Crunchyroll for viewers outside Japan — no specific premiere date within 2027 has been announced yet, but Singapore fans can expect the same day-and-date access they’ve had for every previous season. All four existing seasons are on Crunchyroll now for anyone who wants to get ahead of the story before next year. For more anime premieres and announcements this season, check our Manga & Anime section.

Manga Anime

Black Clover Season 2 Premieres at Anime Expo 2026 — Coming to Crunchyroll in October

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After a five-year hiatus, Black Clover Season 2 made its world debut at Anime Expo 2026 in Los Angeles today — and for Singapore fans on Crunchyroll, the wait is nearly over. Studio Pierrot screened the first episode of the new season at the Peacock Theater on 4 July, with the full series confirmed to begin broadcasting in October 2026.

Black Clover Second Season | Official Trailer 2 — via Crunchyroll on YouTube

What’s Coming in Black Clover Season 2

Asta in Black Clover Season 2 — official promotional art
Image courtesy of Studio Pierrot / TV Tokyo

Season 2 picks up the Spade Kingdom Raid arc — the storyline beginning around volume 28 of Yūki Tabata’s manga. It’s the arc fans have been demanding for years: Asta and his devil Liebe pushing their Devil Union to its limit, Nacht’s gruelling training arc, and the Magic Knights launching a desperate all-out assault on the Spade Kingdom’s ruling Dark Triad.

The new key visual sets the stakes immediately. Asta dominates the centre in full Devil Union form, wild-eyed and wreathed in anti-magic shadows. Noelle rises in her Saint Valkyrie Dress; Yuno blazes with Spirit Dive. The tagline — 「倒して、生きる」 (“Defeat them, and live”) — signals this season will not ease anyone in gently.

The Anime Expo 2026 Panel

Black Clover Season 2 — Asta Devil Union cinematic promotional art
Image courtesy of Studio Pierrot / TV Tokyo

Today’s one-hour AX panel featured Asta’s voice actor Gakuto Kajiwara alongside the season’s new director Ayataka Tanemura, whose work on Black Clover: Sword of the Wizard King on Netflix earned wide praise. Joining him are script supervisor Keiichiro Ochi, character designers Itsuko Takeda and Kumiko Tokunaga, and composer Minako Seki.

Attendees got an exclusive early screening of Episode 1. Early audience impressions, as covered by ComicBook.com, suggest the new season drops viewers straight into the Spade Kingdom conflict with little pause for recap — exactly the approach long-time fans will appreciate.

Watching Black Clover Season 2 in Singapore

Black Clover official promotional art — Asta with Nacht and Yami
Image courtesy of Studio Pierrot / Shueisha

Crunchyroll holds exclusive global streaming rights for Black Clover Season 2, with episodes simulcasting alongside the TV Tokyo broadcast from October. Both Japanese audio with subtitles and an English dub are confirmed. Crunchyroll is fully available in Singapore — the complete first-season run of more than 170 episodes is already on the platform if you want to rewatch or catch up before October.

A specific premiere date within October has not yet been announced — expect confirmation closer to broadcast. Given Crunchyroll’s track record with major Shōnen Jump titles, a same-day Japan simulcast is almost certain.

Five Years in the Making

The original Black Clover TV anime ran from October 2017 to March 2021, adapting Asta’s journey from a magic-less orphan to a feared Black Bulls captain across more than 170 episodes. Since then, Tabata has kept the manga moving into its final arc, and the Sword of the Wizard King film bridged the gap — but the anime adaptation of the Spade Kingdom saga has been the white whale. October cannot come fast enough.

Keep an eye on our manga and anime coverage for updates as the October premiere date is pinned down.

Manga Anime

The Elusive Samurai Season 2 Premieres July 17 on Crunchyroll

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The game of tag is back on. The Elusive Samurai Season 2 has a locked premiere date of 17 July 2026, with Crunchyroll confirmed as the streaming home outside Japan. The date was announced at Anime Expo 2026 alongside a brand-new special trailer — the clearest look yet at what Tokiyuki and his unlikely band of allies face next, and great news for Singapore fans with a Crunchyroll subscription.

The Elusive Samurai Season 2 official key visual poster — TV Anime Season 2 July 2026
Image courtesy of The Elusive Samurai Committee / Aniplex

Tokiyuki’s Story, and Why You Should Be Watching

The Elusive Samurai (逃げ上手の若君 / Nigejozu no Wakagimi) comes from Yusei Matsui — the creator of Assassination Classroom — and was adapted by CloverWorks for its first season in 2024. The premise is deceptively simple: young Hojo Tokiyuki is the legitimate heir to the Kamakura shogunate, but after a coup wipes out his family in 1333, he has exactly zero conventional fighting ability to fall back on. His one supernatural gift is evasion — he is, as the title puts it, extraordinarily good at running away. His eccentric retainer Suwa Yorishige (voiced by Yuichi Nakamura) believes the boy is destined to one day rule Japan, and gathers a band of equally unusual warriors to keep him alive long enough to prove it.

What made Season 1 stand out was how deftly it balanced its comedic DNA with real historical stakes. This is a Shonen Jump adaptation that actually cares about its period setting — the 14th-century political upheaval forms a genuine backdrop rather than wallpaper. Season 2 picks up the resistance story and, judging from the new trailer, turns up the intensity considerably.

Watch the Season 2 Special Trailer

The Elusive Samurai Season 2 | Special Trailer — via Aniplex USA on YouTube
Tokiyuki Hojo close-up from The Elusive Samurai Season 2 special trailer
Still from Aniplex USA’s official trailer

Opening Theme: “Onigoto” by Kento Nakajima

The Season 2 opening theme is “Onigoto” (鬼ごと — literally, “a game of demons” or “a game of tag with demons”), performed by Japanese actor and singer Kento Nakajima. The track gets a preview in the special trailer, and it fits the series well: propulsive, with a theatrical edge that matches Tokiyuki’s chaotic, high-speed escapes through feudal Japan. Yusei Matsui’s stories have always had a knack for pairing kinetic action with music that adds emotional texture, and “Onigoto” looks set to continue that tradition.

Returning Cast and Crew

Director Yuta Yamazaki returns for Season 2 at CloverWorks, keeping the visual identity and comedic timing intact. The full core cast is back:

  • Tokiyuki Hojo — Asaki Yuikawa
  • Shizuku — Hinaki Yano
  • Kojirou — Mari Hino
  • Ayako — Sayumi Suzushiro
  • Genba Kazama — Aoi Yuki
  • Fubuki — Kikunosuke Toya
  • Suwa Yorishige — Yuichi Nakamura

How to Catch It in Singapore

The Elusive Samurai Season 2 streams on Crunchyroll from 17 July 2026 in select countries and territories worldwide, which includes Singapore. It lands in a packed Summer 2026 anime season alongside other high-profile returns, so if you haven’t yet finished Season 1, this weekend is the time to lock in. The full first season is already available on Crunchyroll.