Natsu Hyuuga's First Shojo Manga Heads to TV
The Failure at God School (神さま学校の落ちこぼれ, Kamisama Gakkou no Ochikobore) is the first time Natsu Hyuuga, the author of The Apothecary Diaries, has written an original story for a shojo manga, and the series has done well enough to justify the leap to animation. According to Oricon News, the Japanese entertainment news outlet that carried the announcement, the manga has passed 1.7 million copies in circulation. That figure covers the comics alone; the story also runs in parallel as a novel series from publisher Seikaisha, which is credited on the anime as "original cooperation."
The manga side is handled by Modomu Akagawara, whose earlier romance series My Brother's Friend (兄友) is also available in English. The Failure at God School has been serialized in Hakusensha's shojo magazine Hana to Yume since August 2021, and the timing of the anime reveal lines up with a big day for the print side. Volume 15 goes on sale September 18, the same day as the Hana to Yume issue that puts the series on its cover.
For international readers, Hyuuga's name is the hook. The Apothecary Diaries is her breakout, and this is a very different setting: modern Japan, a school, and a heroine who has none of the powers everyone around her takes for granted.
What the Teaser Visual Shows
The teaser visual puts three characters on a set of stone steps in front of a large torii gate, with red autumn maple leaves coloring the scene. At the center is the protagonist, Nagi Hibiya (陽美谷ナギ), who ends up enrolled at the "God School" despite having no divine power of her own. Beside her are Tsukuyomi no Mikoto, known simply as Tsukuyomi and described as one of the highest-ranking "gods" in the country, and Touta Eto (江道トータ), Nagi's classmate, whose family runs a large shrine. Oricon calls it a spiritual school drama, and the visual sells exactly that: shrine steps, a high-ranking god, and a heroine who doesn't belong there yet.
The premise, per Yen Press's English edition, is a world where people who manifest supernatural powers are classified as "Himiko," and only those with full government certification can call themselves gods. High schooler Nagi needs one, because her grandmother's death has left the family shrine without any divinity, and her shut-in Himiko brother isn't looking like a solution. That brother, Takeru, isn't in the teaser visual, but Hyuuga names him in her comment as one of the characters she can't wait to see moving and talking.
A logo for the TV anime was released alongside the visual.
The Creators React
Hyuuga's comment is mostly gratitude, with one playful aside. She says she's happy she'll get to hear and see Nagi, Takeru, Tsukuyomi and Touta talk and move, credits the production staff and readers, and addresses her past self from the day her editor told her the story would run in Hana to Yume with Akagawara on art: it's getting an anime. What she can do now, she adds, is keep writing the story and pray to the gods.
Akagawara calls the adaptation the greatest joy she could have as the artist of the manga version, thanks Hyuuga, the editors, the anime staff and the readers, and says she's looking forward to watching the characters come alive as a viewer. She also drew a celebratory illustration for the announcement; Oricon's photo caption notes her self-portrait in it is cute.
Looking Ahead
This is a bare-bones announcement. Oricon lists no studio, director, voice cast or broadcast window, and the newly launched official anime site doesn't add any of those either. The official X account, @KamisamaSCH_a, is where the next reveals will land.
In Japan, Hakusensha is running a free-reading campaign to mark the news. The Hana to Yume Plus app offers the first five volumes free from noon on September 18 through 11:59 p.m. on October 1, the Manga Park app expands its free chapters over the same stretch, and Hakusensha e-net and other e-bookstores run their own promotions from September 18.
English-speaking fans can catch up without waiting for the anime. Yen Press publishes The Failure at God School in English, with volume 1 out since March 25, 2025 and four volumes available so far. No international streaming partner has been announced for the anime.