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.
CloverWorks Takes the Helm
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
“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.