Category Archives: Manga Anime

Manga Anime

Steel Ball Run 2nd Stage Hits Netflix on 25 September

Leave a comment

JoJo fans, mark your calendars: Steel Ball Run’s 2nd Stage launches on Netflix on 25 September 2026, with new episodes dropping every Friday. The date was locked in at an Anime Expo 2026 panel at the Crypto.com Arena on 3 July, where a brand-new trailer dropped and composer Yugo Kanno performed live — the biggest Steel Ball Run news since Stage 1’s 47-minute premiere special back in March.

What the Steel Ball Run 2nd Stage Covers

A Steel Ball Run character in an intense action moment from the anime
Image courtesy of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Animation SBR Project

The 2nd Stage sends Johnny Joestar and Gyro Zeppeli into one of the race’s most brutal stretches: nearly 750 miles across the Arizona Desert through a region locals call the “Devil’s Palm,” where racers have been found dead under unexplained circumstances. The trailer preview revealed looks at Hot Pants and Mountain Tim, two fan-favourite additions who take on significant roles from here, as well as a first glimpse at the growing menace of President Funny Valentine.

Eleven episodes will cover Stage 2 and Stage 3 of the Steel Ball Run race combined, meaning the adaptation moves through a significant chunk of Hirohiko Araki’s manga at a tight but purposeful pace.

Watch the 2nd Stage Trailer

STEEL BALL RUN 2nd Stage Official Trailer (2026) — via ONE Media + on YouTube

JoJo Fridays Return — and the Production Team Behind Them

Johnny Joestar and Gyro Zeppeli in the Steel Ball Run anime
Image courtesy of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Animation SBR Project

The weekly Friday release schedule — “JoJo Fridays” — is back for the first time since Golden Wind. For Singapore JoJo communities that ran Friday watch parties during the Golden Wind run, this is a proper homecoming. Directors Yasuhiro Kimura and Hideya Takahashi (who helmed Golden Wind) are returning, as is composer Yugo Kanno, who gave both Golden Wind and Stone Ocean their sonic identity. English dub voice actors Daman Mills (Johnny Joestar) and Kaiji Tang (Gyro Zeppeli) also appeared at the panel.

Steel Ball Run is consistently ranked by fans as the peak of Araki’s writing — a race across 19th-century America that gradually reveals itself as one of the most emotionally ambitious stories in the franchise. The confirmed date and weekly cadence mean Singapore fans can now plan around it properly.

How to Watch in Singapore

Steel Ball Run 2nd Stage streams on Netflix from 25 September 2026, new episode every Friday. Netflix is available in Singapore with no regional restrictions on this series — it’s a global simultaneous release. Stage 1 (the 47-minute opening special from March) is already on the platform; catch up before the weekly run kicks off in September. Find more anime and manga news in our coverage hub.

Manga Anime, News

Mushoku Tensei Season 3 Premieres July 5 on Crunchyroll

Leave a comment

Singapore isekai fans, this is your reminder: Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Season 3 drops on Crunchyroll on 5 July 2026 — tomorrow. One of the most consistently impressive isekai anime in recent memory picks up directly where Season 2’s emotionally loaded finale left off, and from what the trailers are showing, Studio Bind has not let the momentum slip.

Eris Boreas Greyrat as Sword King in Mushoku Tensei Season 3 — close-up key visual with sword
Image courtesy of Studio Bind

The Asura Kingdom Arc — From Domestic Peace to Political War

Season 3 adapts Volumes 13–18 of Rifujin na Magonote’s light novel series, covering what fans know as the Asura Kingdom Arc — the point where the story expands from personal drama into full-scale political intrigue. Rudeus Greyrat is married to both Sylphiette and Roxy Migurdia now, he’s a graduate of Ranoa Magic Academy, and for a brief, gorgeous moment it looks like his reincarnated life might actually go well. Then a visit to Perugius’s floating fortress brings a crisis that pulls the whole party apart, and the fallout leads straight into the power struggles surrounding Princess Ariel’s claim to the Asura throne.

Two new characters are introduced: Nina Farion (voiced by Haruka Tomatsu) and Gal Farion (voiced by Tetsu Inada), who play significant roles in this arc.

Rudeus Greyrat with Sylphiette and Roxy Migurdia in Mushoku Tensei Season 3
Image courtesy of Studio Bind

Eris Is Back — and She Is a Sword King

If you’ve been waiting for this since Eris walked away without explanation at the end of Season 1, Season 3 is where she returns in full. The Season 3 key visual shows Eris Boreas Greyrat as a Sword King — one of the highest combat tiers in the North God style of swordsmanship — and the close-up of her expression tells you everything about how she’s changed. She left a fiery, impulsive noble girl; she’s coming back as something forged. What happens when she and Rudeus finally face each other again is one of the most anticipated character moments in the entire novel series.

Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Season 3 | Official Trailer — via Crunchyroll on YouTube

Production — Studio Bind’s Full Team Returns

Studio Bind is back with the full crew: director Ryosuke Shibuya, character designers Sanae Shimada and Ryota Furukawa, and composer Yoshiaki Fujisawa on the score. Yuiko Ohara, who has performed key songs throughout the franchise, performs the Season 3 opening theme Ketsui no Uta. The continuity of staff is one of the reasons Mushoku Tensei has maintained such a consistent visual and tonal identity across its seasons — no major shake-ups here.

Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation series key art with full cast
Image courtesy of Studio Bind

Watch on Crunchyroll from 5 July — Singapore

Crunchyroll holds global simulcast rights for Season 3, which means Singapore viewers get new episodes alongside the Japanese broadcast each week from 5 July 2026. Subtitled episodes arrive first; an English dub will follow in the coming weeks.

If you haven’t started the series yet, both Season 1 and Season 2 are available on Crunchyroll now. It’s one of the few isekai titles that genuinely earns its long runtime — the craft behind each arc gets richer the longer you stay in. Find more summer season picks in our anime coverage.

Game News, Manga Anime

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 — New Crew, Fall 2026 on Netflix

Leave a comment

Four years after Cyberpunk: Edgerunners became one of Netflix’s most acclaimed anime series — scoring a rare 100% on Rotten Tomatoes and sending millions of fans flooding back into Night City — Studio TRIGGER and CD Projekt Red are ready to go again. Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 lands on Netflix this Fall 2026, and if the buzz from Anime Expo 2026 is anything to go by, Singapore fans should start clearing their weekend schedules.

The first episode screened at AX 2026’s July 3 panel, with showrunner Bartosz Sztybor, executive producer Saya Elder, director Kai Ikarashi, and voice actor Nazeeh Tarsha in attendance. Audience reactions have been enthusiastic — though plot details are being kept under wraps.

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 official key art — four new characters in Night City, Netflix Fall 2026
Image courtesy of CD Projekt Red × TRIGGER

A Standalone Story — No Need to Have Watched Season 1

The biggest news for newcomers: Edgerunners 2 is a completely standalone 10-episode series. The new season follows four brand-new characters in Night City with no narrative connection to David Martinez from the original. You can jump straight in — though you’d be robbing yourself of one of the finest 10-episode anime runs ever made if you skip Season 1.

The season’s creative pitch is as bleak as Night City deserves: “When the world is blinded by spectacle, what extremes do you have to go to make your story matter?” Four outcasts, four desperate motivations, one city with no interest in happy endings. The original song accompanying the teaser, You Can’t Run From Me by Rico Nasty, sets the tone perfectly.

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 | Official Teaser 2 — via Cyberpunk 2077 on YouTube

Meet the New Night City Crew

The four main characters cover very different corners of Night City’s social hierarchy — which is exactly how you get good drama:

  • Weak “King” Kingsley (Japanese CV: Kentaro Tone) — A veteran edgerunner living in the shadow of his former glory. Old enough to know how the city works, stubborn enough to still think he can beat it.
  • D (Japanese CV: Kouki Uchiyama; English CV: Nazeeh Tarsha) — A Nomad netrunner from the Snake Nation clan with a singular mission: revenge against the corp that wiped out his people. Uchiyama is known to anime fans here for Black Clover and Blue Lock.
  • Roman Carax (Japanese CV: Momoka Terasawa) — A young cinephile documenting Night City’s reality through a lens, in a world where truth itself is a weapon.
  • Talia Yang (Japanese CV: Akari Kito) — Corpo-raised but drawn irresistibly toward the chrome and violence of the streets. Kito voices Nezuko in Demon Slayer and Tohru in Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid — she has the range for wherever Talia’s arc goes.
Roman Carax — young cinephile character from Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2, holding a camera device
Image courtesy of CD Projekt Red × TRIGGER

TRIGGER Returns — With a New Director at the Helm

Studio TRIGGER is back in the driver’s seat, and their visual DNA is unmistakeable in the teaser — the kinetic action, the bold flat colours that still somehow crackle with energy, the character designs by Ichigo Kanno that feel TRIGGER even in a Western sci-fi setting.

One significant change: director Hiroyuki Imaishi (Kill la Kill, Gurren Lagann, Promare, and Season 1 of Edgerunners) is not returning. Kai Ikarashi steps into some enormous shoes as the new director. That’s worth flagging honestly — Imaishi’s kinetic excess was a huge part of what made Season 1 so visceral. Whether Ikarashi can match that energy is the open question. On the writing side, CD Projekt Red’s Bartosz Sztybor returns as co-screenwriter alongside Masahiko Otsuka, which gives us confidence the Night City storytelling instincts are intact.

Talia Yang in action from Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 official teaser — pink-haired fighter with cybernetic enhancements
Image courtesy of CD Projekt Red × TRIGGER

When Can Singapore Fans Watch?

Edgerunners 2 is a Netflix exclusive — which means Singapore fans get it the moment it drops, no import or workarounds required. A specific premiere date hasn’t been confirmed beyond “Fall 2026,” but given Netflix’s track record of simultaneous global launches for its anime originals (and how hard they pushed Season 1 here), expect a same-day release with subtitles and an English dub to follow.

In the meantime, the official Edgerunners 2 website has character profiles up. And if the teaser has given you the itch to revisit Night City itself, Cyberpunk 2077 with the Phantom Liberty DLC is routinely on sale across digital storefronts — it’s a good time to go back. More game news here.

Manga Anime, News

The Cat and the Dragon Is Now on Crunchyroll — A Cosy Summer Fantasy With a Star Cast

Leave a comment

Episode 1 of The Cat and the Dragon (Neko to Ryuu) landed on Crunchyroll this morning — and it is already one of the more charming premiers of the Summer 2026 season. If your anime diet leans toward warm-and-cosy rather than shonen-tournament-brutal, this one is worth an immediate watch in Singapore.

Mama-nyan, a magic-wielding cat from The Cat and the Dragon anime, sitting in a moonlit forest
Image courtesy of Amara / Takarajimasha / 猫と竜 Production Committee

What Is The Cat and the Dragon?

Based on the fantasy light novel series by Amara, published by Takarajimasha, the story begins with a dragon egg that hatches in the wrong forest — deep in the territory of a family of magic-wielding cats. With no mother and nowhere to go, the dragon is adopted by the cat clan and raised as one of their own. The dragon eventually learns to shapeshift into a cat-like form to better protect its adopted family, which has the somewhat unintended side-effect of making it the most powerful creature in the world that also grooming itself.

The tone sits squarely between a slice-of-life family drama and a low-key adventure — think found-family with claws. Underneath the coziness, though, there is real tension around how the human world relates to the cats and, by extension, to their dragon protector.

The Cat and the Dragon — 2nd Promotional Video (Japanese) — via 宝島社公式 on YouTube

Studio OLM and a Stacked Voice Cast

The anime is produced by OLM (the studio behind the Pokémon animated series), directed by Jin-Koo Oh, with series composition by Mitsutaka Hirota and character designs by Rie Nishino and Chiaki Kurakazu. The premise might sound simple, but the production is anything but — OLM has brought in one of the strongest voice casts of the season.

The dragon-raised-as-cat, known as Neko-ryū, is voiced by Takehito Koyasu — best known in Singapore as the voice of Dio Brando from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure and Whitebeard from One Piece. The Mama-nyan cat matriarch is voiced by Kikuko Inoue, while the supporting cast includes Show Hayami as Kurobane, Noriaki Sugiyama (Sasuke in Naruto) as Haibuchi, Tanezaki Atsumi (Anya Forger from SPY x FAMILY) as Gally, and Hanae Natsuki — the voice of Tanjiro Kamado in Demon Slayer — as the mysterious Monarch Black.

The Cat and the Dragon official title logo and the dragon character sitting with a cat companion
Image courtesy of Amara / Takarajimasha / 猫と竜 Production Committee

Watching in Singapore

Episode 1 is streaming now on Crunchyroll, which carries the series for Singapore and across Southeast Asia. New episodes drop on Saturdays. The series is expected to run for 12 episodes across the Summer 2026 season.

For more new anime arriving this season, check out our Manga & Anime roundups — Summer 2026 has been unusually stacked and we have been covering it all.

Manga Anime, News

MASHLE Season 3 Premieres January 2027 — AX Trailer Confirms Final Exam Arc

Leave a comment

Mash Burnedead has one more impossible obstacle to clear — MASHLE: Magic and Muscles Season 3 is premiering in January 2027, confirmed at Anime Expo 2026 on 2 July alongside the series’ first official teaser trailer, now live on the official Aniplex YouTube channel.

MASHLE: Magic and Muscles Season 3 First Teaser Trailer — via アニプレックス チャンネル on YouTube (Japanese)

MASHLE Season 3: What the Tri-Magic-Athalon Arc Is

The full title is MASHLE: Magic and Muscles — Tri-Magic-Athalon Divine Visionary Final Exam Arc. If you have been keeping up with the manga, you know exactly how high the stakes climb here. The Tri-Magic-Athalon is a three-versus-three magical duel tournament that serves as the final selection process for the next Divine Visionaries — the most powerful mages in the land. It is, in other words, exactly the kind of nonsensically dangerous high-stakes event that Mash approaches with the same blank calm he uses to eat cream puffs.

Season 3 also formally introduces Domina Blowelive, a new antagonist who gets her own character visual in the teaser — and who looks designed to make Mash’s deadpan expression look even more deadpan by contrast.

Domina Blowelive character visual — MASHLE Season 3 new antagonist
Image courtesy of A-1 Pictures / Aniplex

Production: Same Core Team, One New Name

Director Tomoya Tanaka returns to A-1 Pictures alongside series composer Yōsuke Kuroda and music composer Masaru Yokoyama — so the production continuity that kept Seasons 1 and 2 looking and sounding consistent carries over. The one personnel change is the character designer: Chiaki Furuzumi — who served as sub-character designer on both seasons of Solo Leveling — steps in to replace Hisashi Higashijima. Judging by the teaser, the visual identity stays close to what fans know, but the full promotional run will be the real test.

The full returning voice cast is confirmed: Chiaki Kobayashi as Mash Burnedead, Kaito Ishikawa as Lance Crown, Takuya Eguchi as Dot Barrett, Reiji Kawashima as Finn Ames, Reina Ueda as Lemon Irvine, and Yuki Kaji as Rayne Ames.

Mash Burnedead reaching forward — still from MASHLE Season 3 teaser
Image courtesy of A-1 Pictures / Aniplex

How to Watch MASHLE Season 3 in Singapore

Crunchyroll streamed both previous seasons in Singapore and across Southeast Asia, and Season 3 will follow the same route. Both Seasons 1 and 2 are available on Crunchyroll now if you need a re-run before January. An exact premiere date and simulcast schedule will be confirmed closer to broadcast.

MASHLE’s source manga — originally serialised in Weekly Shōnen Jump and concluded in 2023 — is also available digitally if you cannot wait to find out how the tournament resolves.

Follow our Manga & Anime coverage for more updates as the January premiere approaches.

Manga Anime

Daemons of the Shadow Realm Cour 2 Starts July 4 — FMA Creator’s Anime Hits Its Peak

Leave a comment

The wait is over. Hiromu Arakawa’s Yomi no Tsugai — known internationally as Daemons of the Shadow Realm — launches its second cour tonight, with episode 13 airing in Japan on 4 July at 11:30pm JST and streaming on Crunchyroll in Singapore shortly after. If you’ve been sleeping on one of Spring 2026’s most talked-about shonen anime, this is the best possible moment to catch up.

Daemons of the Shadow Realm Cour 2 key visual
Image courtesy of Hiromu Arakawa / Square Enix / Aniplex / Bones Film

What Arakawa Has Built Since Fullmetal Alchemist

Hiromu Arakawa needs little introduction to Singapore anime fans. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood remains one of the most beloved anime productions ever made, and Arakawa-sensei has been busy since: Yomi no Tsugai (黄泉のツガイ) has been serialised in Square Enix’s Monthly Shonen GanGan since 2021. The anime adaptation — announced in July 2025 and premiering on 4 April 2026 — has been worth every year of the wait.

The story follows twins Yuru and Asa, raised apart in an isolated mountain village that appears, at first, to exist in feudal-era Japan. Yuru is a skilled hunter; Asa has been confined indoors since childhood, assigned a mysterious duty by the village elders. When armed attackers descend hunting specifically for Yuru and kill the village adults, the siblings are forced to flee — whereupon the outside world reveals itself as entirely modern: helicopters, firearms, mobile phones, contemporary cities. The village’s isolation was deliberate, concealing both the twins and the ancient supernatural creatures they’re bonded with: the Daemons of the title. Cour 2’s key visual — stamped with the phrase “Defy your fate.” — suggests the reckoning with that hidden truth is about to arrive.

Daemons of the Shadow Realm — Cour 2 Main PV, via Aniplex on YouTube

The Bones Film Team That Made Brotherhood

Daemons of the Shadow Realm promotional visual
Image courtesy of Hiromu Arakawa / Square Enix / Aniplex / Bones Film

The production pedigree here is exceptional. Bones Film handles animation — the studio behind FMA: Brotherhood, My Hero Academia, and Soul Eater. Director Masahiro Ando worked on both the original 2003 Fullmetal Alchemist series and Brotherhood. Character design is by Nobuhiro Arai, who was part of the Brotherhood animation team. Series composition belongs to Noboru Takagi, whose credits include Attack on Titan, Golden Kamuy, and Kuroko’s Basketball. Music is composed by Kenichiro Suehiro (Vinland Saga, Chainsaw Man).

Voice cast highlights: Kensho Ono as Yuru, Yume Miyamoto as Asa, Misaki Kuno as the daemon Gabby, and Rikiya Koyama as Migi. An English dub launched simultaneously with the first cour on Crunchyroll.

New Themes Signal a Tonal Shift

Daemons of the Shadow Realm Cour 2 visual
Image courtesy of Hiromu Arakawa / Square Enix / Aniplex / Bones Film

Cour 2 arrives with a new pair of theme songs. “Back Shot” by Masanori Otoda takes over the opening slot from Vaundy’s Tobu Toki, and Kei Sugawara’s “Kujaku” (Peacock) closes episodes in place of Yama’s Tobō yo. Both were previewed in the Cour 2 main PV released on 27 June — and if the track choices are any indication, the back half of the season is going darker and harder than the first.

How to Watch Daemons of the Shadow Realm in Singapore

Crunchyroll is the streaming home for Singapore and Southeast Asia, with Muse Communication holding the regional licence. The full first cour — all 12 episodes — is available now in both Japanese with English subtitles and English dub. Episode 13 lands shortly after the Japanese broadcast on the night of 4 July JST, putting Singapore fans only hours behind Japan each week.

Elsewhere, Netflix begins streaming the series for subscribers outside Asia from 4 July, bringing the anime to a much wider global audience. If you’re in Singapore, Crunchyroll is your platform of choice — and with cour 1 fully available right now, there’s nothing stopping you from a weekend binge before episode 13 drops.

For more anime coverage, check out our Manga Anime section.

Manga Anime

Hunter x Hunter Volume 39 Is Out — First New Tankōbon in Nearly Two Years

Leave a comment

The long wait is finally over. Hunter x Hunter Volume 39 — titled Negotiation — hit shelves in Japan today, 3 July 2026, marking the series’ first new tankōbon in nearly 22 months. Volume 38 shipped in September 2024, and in the time since, many fans wondered whether another release was coming at all. It is — and the manga is showing no signs of stopping there.

Yoshihiro Togashi, creator of Hunter x Hunter, with series protagonist Gon Freecss
Image courtesy of Shueisha

What’s Inside Volume 39

Negotiation collects chapters 401 to 410, continuing the Succession Contest Arc deep inside the Dark Continent storyline. The volume’s cover puts Hisoka front and centre — a striking close-up in Togashi’s more realistic cover style, hand obscuring half his face with the number ’39’ inscribed on it, directly mirroring Chrollo Lucilfer’s Volume 11 cover in a visual call-and-response that fans have been quick to dissect online. The ten chapters inside push several of the arc’s political and psychological threads forward — hence the title, which fits both the literal card-game negotiations depicted in the pages and the broader chess match playing out between the Succession Contest contestants.

Hunter x Hunter manga panel from Volume 39 — negotiation card game scene
Image courtesy of Shueisha

Togashi’s Health and What Comes Next

Yoshihiro Togashi’s relationship with Hunter x Hunter has always been inseparable from his ongoing health battles — a spine condition and related complications have forced repeated hiatuses since 2006, turning every new chapter into a minor news event in itself. Volume 38 took almost two years to follow Volume 37, and Volume 39 has taken the same amount of time to follow Volume 38. But the signals for the future are more encouraging than they’ve been in a long time. On his social media, Togashi confirmed completing the manuscript for Chapter 421 in late May 2026, and had already penned character layouts for Chapter 430 back in April. That means chapters 411–420 are already complete and waiting for publication, and work on the following batch is well underway — an unusual cushion for a series that once went years without a single chapter.

Gon Freecss from Hunter x Hunter 2011 anime
Image courtesy of Shueisha

Where Singapore Fans Can Read It

Volume 39 is a Japanese physical release for now. Singapore manga readers can pick up the Japanese edition at Kinokuniya (Ngee Ann City and Bugis+ branches both stock Japanese manga) — stock tends to arrive within a week or two of Japan’s release date for popular Shueisha titles, so check the shelves or call ahead. Digital readers should check MANGA Plus by Shueisha (manga.plus), the publisher’s free global simulpub platform, for digital availability. An English edition from VIZ Media has not been announced yet — Volume 38 appeared in English in January 2026, roughly 16 months after its Japanese release, so a localised Volume 39 is realistically a late-2026 or early-2027 arrival at the earliest. For more manga and anime coverage, head to our Manga Anime section.

Game News, Manga Anime

Bananya Turns 10 With New Mobile Game and Anime Special

Leave a comment

Crunchyroll and TMS Entertainment are marking Bananya’s 10th anniversary this July with two brand-new releases: Bananya Buddies, the first original game on Crunchyroll Game Vault, and a 10th anniversary anime special that premieres at Anime Expo on 4 July before streaming worldwide on Crunchyroll from 9 July. Pre-registration for Bananya Buddies on Google Play is live right now — here’s everything Singapore fans need to know.

Bananya Buddies — Collect Cats, Decorate Your Hangout Pad

Developed by Crunchyroll Games, TMS Entertainment, and independent studio The MIX, Bananya Buddies is a cozy mobile cat-collecting game launching exclusively on Crunchyroll Game Vault this summer. The premise is simple and delightful: welcome Bananya visitors to your pad, play mini-games to earn coins, and leave out toys and treats to rack up Buddy Points with each little banana-dwelling cat.

The more Buddy Points a Bananya accumulates, the longer it sticks around — and the better the gifts it leaves behind. Reach Best Buddies status and you unlock a sleepover; hit Best Buddies Forever and something even more special awaits (you’ll have to play to find out). It’s the kind of low-key, pick-up-and-put-down mobile experience that cozy game fans have been waiting for from an anime IP this charming.

  • Platform: Crunchyroll Game Vault (exclusive) — available on Crunchyroll Mega Fan and Ultimate Fan tiers
  • Launch window: Summer 2026
  • Pre-registration: Google Play now open; App Store coming soon
  • Languages: English, French, Italian, German, Spanish (Latin America and Spain)

Bananya Buddies joins nearly 100 titles already in the Game Vault, and as the first original game produced for the platform it marks a meaningful step forward for Crunchyroll’s gaming ambitions.

Bananya 10th Anniversary Special | Official Teaser | Crunchyroll — via Crunchyroll on YouTube

The Bananya 10th Anniversary Anime Special

Bananya 10th Anniversary ensemble key art featuring the full cast of Bananya characters on a sparkly fantasy background
Image courtesy of Crunchyroll / TMS Entertainment

The first Bananya episode aired on 4 July 2016. Exactly ten years later — on 4 July 2026 at 10AM — the Bananya 10th Anniversary anime special will world-premiere at Anime Expo before landing on Crunchyroll on 9 July.

The official synopsis drops the Bananyas into an adventure: the player character wakes to find they’ve somehow become a Bananya themselves, then sets off through forest, mountain, and open land in search of missing treasures. It’s a fresh story that expands the lore while keeping the dreamy, low-stakes tone that made the original shorts such a cult favourite.

The special features an all-star Japanese voice cast:

  • Stray Bananya — Atsumi Tanezaki (Anya Forger in SPY x FAMILY)
  • Little Bananya — Yuina Ito (Zundamon)
  • Tall Bananya — Toshiyuki Morikawa (Minato Namikaze in NARUTO)

The commemorative theme song is “nyanderful nyanderland” performed by TAMAchan, with Bananya’s character voice by Yuki Kaji.

Official Japanese promotional poster for the Bananya 10th Anniversary special, showing the cast in portrait format
Image courtesy of TMS Entertainment / Bananya Lovers — official Japanese promotional poster for the 10th Anniversary
Still from the Bananya 10th Anniversary Special teaser — a giant Bananya rises from the ocean beside a pirate ship
Still from Crunchyroll’s official teaser for the Bananya 10th Anniversary Special

How Singapore Fans Can Watch and Play

Crunchyroll is available in Singapore, and existing subscribers can catch all three current Bananya series — Bananya, Bananya and the Curious Bunch, and Bananya Around the World — right now while waiting for the anniversary special to drop on 9 July.

Bananya Buddies requires a Crunchyroll Mega Fan or Ultimate Fan membership to access via Game Vault. If you’re already on either tier, the game drops into your library at no extra cost when it launches this summer. Not yet subscribed? You can sign up or upgrade on Crunchyroll’s website.

Further 10th anniversary announcements — including merchandise, events, and other celebratory projects — will roll out through the rest of the year via the official TMS Entertainment and Bananya channels on X, Facebook, and Instagram.

Keep up with all the latest anime news right here on GameTrader.SG.

Manga Anime

Kagurabachi Anime Makes Its World Premiere at Anime Expo 2026

Leave a comment

The Kagurabachi anime is making its global debut this week: the first 20 minutes of Episode 1 are being screened at Anime Expo 2026 in Los Angeles today, Thursday 3 July — a full nine months before the series premieres on television in April 2027.

Episode 1 World Premiere at Anime Expo 2026

The world premiere screening takes place at JW Marriott Diamond from 4:45 to 6:05 PM PDT on 3 July (7:45–9:05 AM SGT on 4 July). Alongside the screening, a special panel features Taihi Kimura (voice of protagonist Chihiro Rokuhira), Takuro Imamura (Editor of the Kagurabachi manga at Weekly Shonen Jump), and Koichi Yasuda (Producer of the Kagurabachi anime). For those who can’t make it to LA, the world tour continues — Paris, Germany, and New York are next in line before the series begins its regular broadcast.

Kagurabachi Anime World Tour premiere screening at Anime Expo 2026 on July 3
Image courtesy of Project Kagurabachi / Shueisha
KAGURABACHI｜Official Teaser Trailer — via SHOCHIKU anime チャンネル【公式】 on YouTube

Chihiro Rokuhira: A Swordsmith’s Son on a Path of Revenge

Kagurabachi follows Chihiro Rokuhira, the son of a legendary swordsmith who sets out on a blood-soaked quest for vengeance after tragedy strikes his family. Armed with one of his father’s famed Enchanted Blades — a sentient weapon that manifests as a black goldfish when dormant — Chihiro navigates a world of sorcerers, criminal syndicates, and supernatural threats. The manga was created by Takeru Hokazono and has run in Weekly Shonen Jump since September 2023, selling over 4 million copies and winning the Next Manga Award 2024. The anime announcement trailer crossed 6 million views in under 24 hours — a number that signals just how long this fandom has been waiting.

Chihiro Rokuhira character design for the Kagurabachi anime, voiced by Taihi Kimura
Image courtesy of Project Kagurabachi / Shueisha

The Studio and Creative Team

Animation is handled by Studio Cypic — the recently rebranded Cygames Pictures — with Tetsuya Takeuchi as director. Takeuchi is known to long-time anime fans as the person behind the legendary Rock Lee vs Gaara fight episode in Naruto, so expectations for the action choreography here are sky-high. Character design is by Keigo Sasaki (Blue Exorcist, The Seven Deadly Sins). The confirmed cast includes Tomokazu Seki as Chihiro’s father Kunishige Rokuhira and Katsuyuki Konishi as Togo Shiba.

Kagurabachi Anime World Tour Schedule

Kagurabachi Anime World Tour Part 1 banner featuring Anime Expo, Japan Expo, AnimagiC, and Anime NYC
Image courtesy of Project Kagurabachi / Shueisha

The Anime World Tour Part 1 hits four major conventions before the full series rolls out:

  • Anime Expo, Los Angeles — 3 July 2026 (world premiere, first 20 min of Ep. 1)
  • Japan Expo, Paris — 9 July 2026 (3:30–4:30 PM, Yuzu Stage)
  • AnimagiC, Mannheim — 1 August 2026 (10:30–11:00 AM, Monorheinhalle)
  • Anime NYC, New York — 22 August 2026 (Main Stage)

A Japan-exclusive tour finale is also confirmed, where the complete first episode will be screened ahead of the broadcast — the only way to watch it in full before April 2027.

Streaming on Crunchyroll — What Singapore Fans Need to Know

Crunchyroll is the confirmed global streaming home for Kagurabachi, covering worldwide territories including Singapore when the series premieres in April 2027. There’s no Singapore-specific event or early screening date announced yet — for now, catching up on the source manga on Shonen Jump is the way to go while the wait ticks down. Browse more anime news on GameTrader for everything else landing on Crunchyroll this season.