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Manga Anime

Classroom of the Elite Season 5 Confirmed — Ayanokoji Is Not Done Yet

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The credit roll had barely finished on Classroom of the Elite’s fourth season when the announcement dropped: a fifth season is officially in production. Kadokawa confirmed on 24 June 2026 — right as the Season 4 finale aired in Japan — that the anime adaptation of Kinugasa Shōgo’s light novel series will continue, accompanied by a new key visual that is as deliberately unsettling as the show itself.

Classroom of the Elite 4th Season official key visual showing the main cast
Image courtesy of Kadokawa / Classroom of the Elite Production Committee

Where Season 4 Left Off

Classroom of the Elite 4th Season: 2nd Year Arc – 1st Semester ran 16 episodes from April 2026, opening with an unusually bold four-episode batch premiere. The season took Ayanokoji and his classmates deep into their second year at Tokyo Koudo Ikusei Senior High School, capping off with a demanding uninhabited island survival exam that pushed every alliance, grudge, and hidden skill the cast has accumulated across three years of escalating psychological warfare. Studio Lerche produced the season, with director Noriyuki Nomata and series composer Ko Shigenobu (both on board since Season 3) maintaining the series’ steady, methodical tension through the full run.

Classroom of the Elite 4th Season PV2 — via KADOKAWAanime on YouTube (Japanese)

The Season 5 Key Visual Is Ayanokoji in One Image

The announcement came with a newly drawn visual that strips everything back to the character himself: a monochrome sketch of Ayanokoji, hand raised to his face with his eyes visible over his fingers, all set against a pure black background. There is no colour, no secondary characters, no setting — just the inscrutable stare the series has built its identity around. The text reads simply: “5th Season — Production Confirmed.” It is, in short, exactly what Classroom of the Elite fans were hoping for.

Classroom of the Elite Season 5 announcement key visual — Ayanokoji in monochrome on black background
Image courtesy of Kadokawa / Classroom of the Elite Production Committee

Season 5 and What Comes Next

Season 4 adapted the first semester of Ayanokoji’s second year. Season 5 will pick up with the second semester — a stretch that readers of Kinugasa Shōgo’s light novels consider one of the most politically dense arcs in the run, with the school’s class rankings under genuine pressure and the alliances Ayanokoji has carefully arranged beginning to strain in ways no one saw coming. No air date or airing window has been set; as of the announcement, production is confirmed but scheduling details have not yet been shared by the official team at you-zitsu.com or on the official @youkosozitsu X account.

All four existing seasons of Classroom of the Elite are available on Crunchyroll in Singapore as part of its global simulcast library, making this a solid window to catch up before Season 5 arrives. For more anime news and what’s streaming now, head to our Manga Anime section.

Manga Anime

Higurashi: When They Cry Is Getting a New TV Anime — Studio DEEN and Full Cast Return

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Twenty years after it first made audiences afraid of the sound of cicadas, Higurashi: When They Cry is getting a brand-new TV anime — with the same studio and every principal voice actor from the original run.

Kadokawa made the announcement on 21 June 2026 during a live-streamed special commemorating the 20th anniversary of the franchise’s first anime adaptation. The tagline landed with appropriate weight: “Okaeri, minna” — welcome back, everyone.

Higurashi: When They Cry – New | Official Trailer — via Crunchyroll Dubs on YouTube

What Was Announced

The green-lit production is a new television anime based on Ryukishi07 and 07th Expansion’s original sound novel franchise. Studio DEEN — which animated both the 2006 and 2007 anime seasons, as well as the GOU (2020) and SOTSU (2021) sequels — returns to handle animation. No premiere date has been confirmed, and details on episode count or cour length have not been disclosed.

A New Story — Not a Remake

This is not a retelling of Onikakushi or any existing arc. According to coverage from Gematsu and Final Weapon, the new series will tell an entirely original story centred on Keiichi Maebara and the club members confronting a new tragedy in Hinamizawa. For fans who have worked through the full original arcs and the GOU/SOTSU chapters, this positions the new entry as fresh ground rather than another lap around familiar material.

The Full Cast Is Back

Higurashi When They Cry New TV Anime 2026 Key Visual with the main cast
Image courtesy of Kadokawa / Studio DEEN

All five principal voice actors are confirmed to reprise their roles:

  • Soichiro Hoshi as Keiichi Maebara
  • Mai Nakahara as Rena Ryugu
  • Satsuki Yukino as Mion and Shion Sonozaki
  • Mika Kanai as Satoko Hojo
  • Yukari Tamura as Rika Furude

The teaser PV already features newly recorded dialogue from the cast, which signals the production is more than a holding announcement.

Why Singapore Anime Fans Should Pay Attention

Higurashi carries genuine cult status in Singapore — the visual novel era built a dedicated community, and the anime adaptations have streamed here via Crunchyroll, which holds the full catalogue including GOU and SOTSU. The previous modern entries (GOU debuted October 2020, SOTSU in July 2021) both streamed with same-week subtitles, and Singapore fans had full timely access. When a premiere window for this new series is announced, the same access is expected. In the meantime, the Crunchyroll library is worth revisiting if you have not seen the full run — GOU and SOTSU in particular recontextualise the original arcs in ways that make re-watching them very worthwhile before the new chapter arrives.

Last Words

The specifics — director, composer, episode count, premiere season — are all still to come. But the bones are right: a trusted studio, the complete original cast, and a story that is not constrained by having to adapt pre-existing material. For fans of horror, mystery, and the slow-burn dread Higurashi does better than almost anything else in the genre, the wait just got a lot more interesting. Stay tuned to the Manga Anime section for updates as production details drop.

Manga Anime

Higurashi: When They Cry Gets a New TV Anime — 20 Years On

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On June 21 — Watanagashi, the Cotton Drifting Festival day in the series’ own lore — KADOKAWA announced that Higurashi: When They Cry is getting a brand new television anime, two decades after the original first aired.

New TV Anime Production Announcement PV (「ひぐらしのなく頃に」新作TVアニメーション制作決定PV) — via KADOKAWAanime on YouTube

みんな、おかえり — Everyone, Welcome Home

During a live-streamed 20th anniversary special on Sunday, KADOKAWA confirmed that a new Higurashi: When They Cry TV anime is now in production. The announcement came with a teaser visual featuring a smiling Rena Ryugu and the tagline みんな、おかえり — “Everyone, welcome home” — a phrase that is both deeply warm and deeply ominous if you know the character. A short promotional video with newly recorded voice dialogue was also released through the official KADOKAWAanime YouTube channel.

Higurashi: When They Cry 2026 new anime teaser visual with cast
Image courtesy of KADOKAWA

The Original Cast and Studio DEEN Are Back

The entire main voice cast is returning for the new series:

  • Keiichi Maebara: Soichiro Hoshi
  • Rena Ryugu: Mai Nakahara
  • Mion Sonozaki / Shion Sonozaki: Satsuki Yukino
  • Satoko Hojo: Mika Kanai
  • Rika Furude: Yukari Tamura

Animation production returns to Studio DEEN, the studio behind the original 2006 and 2007 anime adaptations — not Passione, which handled the 2020–2021 GOU and SOTSU remakes. That is a deliberate homecoming on multiple fronts, and the announcement makes no effort to be subtle about it.

New Higurashi anime visual from Studio DEEN and KADOKAWA 2026
Image courtesy of KADOKAWA

New to Higurashi? Here Is the Short Version

Higurashi: When They Cry (ひぐらしのなく頃に) is a horror-mystery visual novel series by Ryukishi07 via 07th Expansion, originally released in chapters from 2002 to 2006. It follows a group of friends in the rural village of Hinamizawa during the summer of 1983 — where, every year around the Cotton Drifting Festival, someone dies or goes missing. The series is known for its psychological horror, time loop mechanics, and a knack for making cheerful character designs do a lot of unsettling work. It is not for the faint-hearted, and that is precisely why it still has such a passionate following two decades on.

Last Words

No premiere date or streaming platform has been confirmed yet. Previous Higurashi adaptations — the original series and both GOU and SOTSU — have been available on Crunchyroll in Southeast Asia, so that is the platform Singapore fans would naturally look to, but nothing for the new series is confirmed. KADOKAWA says further announcements are coming soon.

For Singapore’s horror-anime crowd, Higurashi at twenty feels as alive as ever. Whatever direction this new series takes, that Watanagashi timing was not an accident — the team is very much in on the joke, and Rena is smiling. Keep an eye on our anime coverage for updates as they drop.

Manga Anime

Re:ZERO Season 4 Part 2 — The Recapture Arc Premieres 12 August

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The second half of Re:ZERO − Starting Life in Another World Season 4 has a name, a release date, and a key visual: The Recapture Arc runs for eight episodes and premieres on 12 August 2026. Crunchyroll will stream it outside Japan, so Singapore subscribers are locked in for day-one simulcast.

Re:ZERO Season 4 The Recapture Arc — key visual
Image courtesy of KADOKAWA / Re:ZERO4 PARTNERS

The Loss Arc Wraps — 19 Episodes in Two Parts

Season 4 is structured across 19 episodes split into two arcs. Part 1 — the “Loss Arc” — ran for 11 episodes and concluded on 17 June 2026, closing out one of the most gruelling stretches in the series’ run. Without going into spoilers: it delivers exactly what its name promises. WHITE FOX is animating the season, with Masahiro Shinohara directing.

Part 2, the Recapture Arc, picks up directly from those events. Story details are deliberately sparse on the official side, which we will respect here — if you haven’t finished the Loss Arc yet, now is the time to catch up before August.

Emilia’s Song Returns: “Stay Alive ~Regain~”

Alongside the new key visual, the production released a special studio performance video for “Stay Alive ~Regain~” — a rearrangement of the iconic Season 1 ending theme. It is performed by Rie Takahashi in character as Emilia, making this the first time she has performed as the character since Season 1. Given everything that happens in the Loss Arc, the timing is not a coincidence. The track is available now on digital music platforms, with music production by KADOKAWA.

「Stay Alive 〜Regain〜」 Rie Takahashi as Emilia, studio performance — via Re:Zero Official Channel on YouTube (Japanese)

Episode 1 Screens at Anime Expo 2026 on 3 July

Before the August broadcast, the Recapture Arc’s first episode gets an early screening at Anime Expo 2026 in Los Angeles on 3 July, as part of KADOKAWA’s 10th Anniversary Panel — the same event celebrating KonoSuba and Bungo Stray Dogs. Singapore fans making the trip or following the event online will get their first look ahead of the general premiere.

Re:ZERO Stay Alive Regain — Rie Takahashi performance still
Image courtesy of KADOKAWA / Re:ZERO4 PARTNERS

Last words

Re:ZERO Season 4 is already shaping up as the most emotionally ambitious arc the series has tackled, and the Recapture Arc title alone raises the stakes for what comes next. If you have been sleeping on this season, the Loss Arc is fully available on Crunchyroll right now — catch up before 12 August. For more anime news and coverage, check our Manga Anime section.

Saga of Tanya the Evil Season 2 key visual
Manga Anime, News

Saga of Tanya the Evil Season 2 Hits Crunchyroll on 8 July

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Nine years after Studio NUT first put a child soldier through the horrors of an alternate-world Great War, Saga of Tanya the Evil Season 2 finally has its premiere date locked in — and Singapore fans on Crunchyroll can circle 8 July 2026 on their calendars.

Saga of Tanya the Evil Season 2 — Official Trailer via AnimeSelect on YouTube

Nine Years Later — Tanya Is Back

Kadokawa first confirmed a second season back in June 2021, then went very quiet. A teaser trailer surfaced in November 2025, followed by a full trailer, new key visual, and cast updates unveiled at the Kadokawa booth during AnimeJapan 2026 on 28 March. With Crunchyroll’s official summer 2026 simulcast schedule now confirmed, 8 July is the date.

For the uninitiated: the original 2017 season adapts Carlo Zen’s light novel series about a cutthroat Japanese salaryman reincarnated as Tanya von Degurechaff, a small blonde girl in a magical-meets-militaristic alternate version of early-twentieth-century Europe. She’s assigned to the Imperial Army, and she turns brutal survival instincts into terrifying battlefield efficiency. It’s part dark isekai, part WWI military thriller, and it built a fiercely loyal following across Southeast Asia. The 2019 film Saga of Tanya the Evil: The Movie followed, but Season 2 has been the one fans have spent years waiting for.

Same Studio, Same Composer, New Director

Studio NUT returns to animate the sequel, keeping the visual language consistent with Season 1 and the film. The writing is again handled by Kenta Ihara, who wrote the series composition for Season 1. Yuji Hosogoe is also back as character designer and chief animation director, so Tanya’s signature unsettling wide-eyed expression should survive the transition.

What does change is the director’s chair. Takayuki Yukimoto takes over, marking his first time leading a full series as director. That’s a notable shift from Season 1’s Yutaka Uemura, though Yukimoto steps into a production team that clearly knows the material — so the continuity risk feels manageable.

Saga of Tanya the Evil Season 2 key visual featuring Tanya von Degurechaff
Image courtesy of Kadokawa

New Faces Joining the Imperial Army

Two new cast members were confirmed at AnimeJapan 2026. Tomokazu Sugita — a household name for SG anime fans across franchises from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure to Genshin Impact — joins as a character named Mikel. Yoko Hikasa, best known here for Lycoris Recoil and Attack on Titan, voices Liliya. Character details for both remain under wraps for now.

The core cast is intact. Aoi Yuki reprises Tanya, Saori Hayami returns as the devoted Viktoriya Ivanovna Serebryakov, and Shinichiro Miki, Tessho Kenda, and Hochu Otsuka are back in their key Imperial command roles.

Where and When to Watch in Singapore

Saga of Tanya the Evil Season 2 premieres on 8 July 2026 on Tokyo MX and affiliated Japanese broadcast networks. Crunchyroll has confirmed the simulcast as part of its summer 2026 lineup for its global territories, Singapore included. Episode times will be announced closer to the premiere. An English dub has not been officially confirmed, though given the popularity of the Season 1 dub on Crunchyroll, it would be surprising if one weren’t in the works.

If you want to revisit the series first, Season 1 and the 2019 film are currently streaming on Crunchyroll. Check out our anime coverage for more on what’s streaming this summer.

Last words

For Singapore fans who fell for Tanya’s ice-cold strategic mind back in 2017, the wait is almost over. Eight July is not far away, and with Studio NUT and the full core cast returning, the foundations are solid. We’ll be watching — and reporting back on how the season unfolds.

Manga Anime

Kiki’s Delivery Service Is Getting a Live-Action Series from BBC Studios and Kadokawa

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Forty years after Eiko Kadono first put Kiki on a broomstick, BBC Studios and Kadokawa have announced the first-ever live-action TV adaptation of Kiki’s Delivery Service — and it is being built for a global audience from day one.

Kiki's Delivery Service live-action series announcement from BBC Studios and Kadokawa
Image courtesy of BBC Studios / Kadokawa

What’s Been Announced

BBC Studios Kids & Family, UK production company Wheel in Motion, and Japan’s Kadokawa Corporation announced their three-way co-production on 16 June. The series is planned as 10 episodes running approximately 30 minutes each — roughly five hours of new Kiki content, compared to the Ghibli film’s 102 minutes. The story will be drawn primarily from the first volume of Kadono’s six-book novel series.

Importantly, the series is based on the original novel, not the 1989 Studio Ghibli film directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Both draw from the same source material, but approaching the story fresh from Kadono’s books gives the creative team room to explore angles the Ghibli adaptation never took.

Who Is Making It

Irena Brignull — whose credits include the Oscar-nominated stop-motion film The Boxtrolls, Sky’s Skellig, and Netflix’s The Little Prince — is attached as series writer. No director, cast, or production timeline has been confirmed at this stage.

Grainne McNamara, Head of BBC Studios Kids & Family, said in the announcement: “We are thrilled to be part of a collaboration to bring Kiki’s Delivery Service to life for a new generation on a global stage.”

Takeo Kodera, Kadokawa’s Director of International Co-Productions, called the partnership “a more exciting tribute to the landmark 40th anniversary of this classic book series than we could have imagined.”

Original author Eiko Kadono added: “Kiki is about to set off on another adventure into a new world. I’m confident this will be a great show.”

Series writer Brignull summed up the appeal: “Kiki is one of fiction’s great girl characters, embodying the magic that exists in re-invention and human connection.”

40 Years of Kiki

Kadono’s original novel was first published in 1985 by Fukuinkan Shoten. The Ghibli adaptation arrived four years later and introduced the young witch to international audiences — including many Singapore viewers who grew up watching her navigate the port town of Koriko. The film became one of Ghibli’s most beloved works and helped define what a coming-of-age story could look like in animation. This live-action series is timed specifically to mark the novel’s 40th anniversary.

No Release Date or Streaming Platform Yet

This is an early development announcement — no network, streaming platform, release window, cast, or director has been named. BBC Studios Kids & Family productions have historically reached global audiences through major streaming platforms, but nothing is confirmed for Singapore yet. Given the three-way international co-production setup, a wide Asian streaming release seems a reasonable expectation — just not a guarantee at this point.

Last Words

For Singapore fans who grew up watching Kiki cross rooftops and navigate an unfamiliar city, this announcement is a big deal — even if the details are still months away. A BBC Studios and Kadokawa partnership “for a global stage” reads as a genuine attempt to build something international, not just a localised reboot. We will track casting and streaming news as they emerge. In the meantime, find more of our anime and manga coverage here.