A Dark Fantasy Born from RPG Royalty
Blade & Bastard is a light novel collaboration between two creators with serious dark fantasy credentials. Author Kumo Kagyu (蝸牛くも), who created Goblin Slayer, teamed up with illustrator so-bin, whose artwork defines the look of Overlord, to build a story set inside the world of Wizardry. The pioneering 1981 dungeon-crawler RPG holds a unique place in gaming history: while it faded from the Western mainstream after the 1990s, Wizardry remained a beloved franchise in Japan, influencing games from Dragon Quest to Final Fantasy. Drecom now owns the Wizardry trademark and publishes the novels under its DRE Novels imprint.
The story follows Iarumas (イアルマス), a resurrected man who ventures into underground labyrinths to recover the remains of fallen adventurers while searching for his own lost memories. Fighting alongside him are Garbage (ガーベイジ), a sword-wielding survivor, and Raraja (ララジャ), a young thief. The series has sold over 700,000 copies across more than 10 languages, with a manga adaptation by Makoto Fūzuki also running.
The Production Team
An ABEMA TIMES report confirms the creative team bringing the series to screen. Tomoki Kobayashi, who directed Akame ga Kill!, helms the project at Xingfu Entertainment, a studio that appears to be taking on its first major anime production. Veteran screenwriter Naruhisa Arakawa handles series composition, with Rina Iwamoto on character design, Hayato Matsuo composing the music, and Kisuke Koizumi serving as sound director. Jun Suemi provides monster design cooperation.
A new teaser PV dropped alongside the staff announcement, giving a first look at how the team is translating so-bin's detailed illustrations and the series' dungeon atmosphere into animation.
Five Voice Leads, One Dungeon Party
The voice cast brings together five established performers in a single adventuring party. Makoto Furukawa (古川慎), the voice of Saitama in One-Punch Man, leads as the resurrected Iarumas. Tomori Kusunoki (楠木ともり), who brought Makima to life in Chainsaw Man, plays his companion Garbage. Daiki Yamashita (山下大輝), known as Izuku Midoriya in My Hero Academia, takes on the young thief Raraja.
Saori Hayami (早見沙織), the voice of Yor Forger in Spy x Family, plays Ainikki, while Shion Wakayama (若山詩音) rounds out the main party as Berkanan.
Looking Ahead
HIDIVE has secured exclusive international streaming rights and plans to simulcast Blade & Bastard alongside its Japanese broadcast when the anime premieres in 2027. No specific season or month has been confirmed yet.
Fans looking to get ahead of the adaptation can pick up the English light novels through J-Novel Club, which publishes the series simultaneously with Japanese releases. Six volumes are currently available. The manga adaptation does not yet have an announced English publisher.