Miku Itō Checks In at Cafe Haruharu
In Takeru Hokazono's manga, Hinao works at Cafe Haruharu and doubles as something like an informant, the go-between connecting sorcerers and the underworld. Miku Itō (Miku Nakano in The Quintessential Quintuplets) voices her, and she told Japanese entertainment outlet Oricon News that the team's direction called for natural, everyday delivery. She played the comedy a little broader in the spots where Hinao can afford to be funny.
Itō also has history with the character. Hinao caught her interest early in her read of the manga, and she walked into the audition wondering whether she could actually carry the role. Her goal now is for the animated Cafe Haruharu to feel like the same place of belonging it is on the page.
Asked to pitch the series in a single phrase, she went with "cool Japanese culture," pointing to the swords, the fights, and the parent-child bond woven through the story.
A Very Loud Yes From Miyari Nemoto
Char Kyonagi is a girl being pursued for reasons the announcement leaves unexplained. The role goes to Miyari Nemoto, who played the heroine of the 2025 gem-hunting series Ruri Rocks. Nemoto's manager delivered the casting news in person at the agency office, and she reacted with a shout loud enough that other staff members gently told her off. Even after that, she admits she spent the wait for her script wondering whether the role was really hers.
Char also poses a specific acting problem. The character speaks in short lines, so Nemoto says each one has to carry a concentrated dose of straightforward feeling. Once recording started, though, the pressure gave way to fun. Her own one-phrase pitch is blunter than her co-star's: "Katana are seriously cool."
A First Serialization That Went Global
Kagurabachi follows Chihiro Rokuhira, a boy training to become a swordsmith under his father Kunishige, until an attack by the mysterious sorcerer organization Hishaku destroys the life he knew. The attackers steal six enchanted blades powerful enough to sway the fate of the nation. Chihiro takes up Enten, the seventh blade his father left behind, and sets out on a bloody road of revenge against his father's killers.
The manga is Hokazono's first serialized work. Born in 2000 and from Osaka, he launched the series in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump in September 2023, and it took off overseas immediately: on MANGA Plus, Shueisha's global manga app, the first chapter claimed the top worldwide view count in its debut week (September 2023, English edition). The series went on to win the comics division of Japan's Next Manga Award in 2024 and now has more than 4 million copies in circulation.
On the anime side, Cypic handles animation production, with Tetsuya Takeuchi directing and Keigo Sasaki on character designs. The new pair joins Taihi Kimura as Chihiro, Tomokazu Seki as Chihiro's father Kunishige, and Katsuyuki Konishi as Togo Shiba.
Looking Ahead
Kagurabachi begins broadcasting in Japan in April 2027, and the international picture is already settled: Crunchyroll will stream the series worldwide outside Japan, mainland China, North Korea, and South Korea. Both new character PVs carry English subtitles and are up now on the official SHOCHIKU anime channel on YouTube, alongside the earlier character videos for Chihiro, Kunishige, and Shiba.
The manga runs in English on MANGA Plus, with print volumes published by Viz Media. As for the anime, all five announced roles so far sit on Chihiro's side of the story. No word yet on who voices the series' villains.