What the Limited Edition Actually Includes
According to Japanese anime news site Anime Anime, the limited version of Monthly The Television's December 2026 issue goes on sale October 23 at a special price of ¥990, with preorders open since September 1. The newly drawn cover art shows Pan Dorobō and friends posing with a lemon. Why a lemon? The article doesn't say.
Inside, feature pages dig into how the picture book made the jump to animation, and the issue is set to include an interview with Ayaka Asai, who voices Pan Dorobō in the upcoming series. The limited edition also bundles a B5 clear file featuring the new cover illustration, while the Amazon Japan exclusive version adds a postcard with the same art.
One bit of fine print: the special cover technically graces the magazine's metropolitan-area edition, but it will be sold at bookstores and online retailers across Japan. The anime feature itself runs in every version of the December issue, so readers outside the limited print run still get the coverage.
The October Anime Behind the Cover
Pan Dorobō (literally "bread thief") is Keiko Shibata's picture book series about a mischievous, impossible-to-hate master thief who hunts for delicious bread. The series has topped 6 million copies in circulation, and its anime adaptation premieres on NHK's educational channel E-Tele in October 2026.
Takahiko Kyōgoku directs the series at Shin-Ei Animation. Ayaka Asai plays the titular thief, Junichi Suwabe (Ryomen Sukuna in Jujutsu Kaisen) voices the bakery owner, and Aki Toyosaki (Yui Hirasawa in K-On!) plays the impostor known as Nise Pan Dorobō. Kyary Pamyu Pamyu handles the ending theme.
A Pancake-Mix Campaign, a Birthday Book, and Two Festivals
The magazine is just one piece of the rollout. A collaboration with Showa Sangyo's SHOWA Funwari Hotcake Mix (600g) kicked off September 1: buy at least one package of the pancake mix, photograph the receipt, and enter online for a shot at original goods drawn for the campaign. Round one (through December 3, 2026) offers a cushion pouch to 200 winners, round two (December 1, 2026 through March 3, 2027) offers a blanket to another 200, and a second-chance drawing hands ¥500 in QUO Card Pay to 600 more, for 1,000 winners in total.
Then on October 16 comes Pan Dorobō Your Birthday Book: Sekaiichi Itoshii 20-nen no Kiroku (roughly, "the most cherished record of 20 years"), a ¥1,980 keepsake journal for recording a child's memories and milestones from age 0 to 20. Pan Dorobō and friends appear throughout its pages, and KADOKAWA is positioning it as a gift for births, birthdays, and school milestones.
Offline, the character is touring Japan too. The Pan Dorobō Festival runs in Arao, Kumamoto Prefecture from September 18 through November 23, and Pan Dorobō Hiroba Sapporo runs in Sapporo, Hokkaido from October 2 through November 23.
Looking Ahead
The anime hits NHK E-Tele in October 2026, and the main trailer is up now on the official Pan Dorobō YouTube channel. No international streaming partner has been announced yet, so for now the show remains a Japan-only broadcast. On the merch calendar: the birthday book lands October 16, the magazine follows October 23, and the pancake-mix campaign keeps running through March 3, 2027.