Raphael Goes After a Hero's Skill
The synopsis and scene stills come from V-Storage, the news site run by Bandai Namco Filmworks, which is quoting the episode's press release. It's short, but it puts two threads on a collision course.
First, Rimuru makes contact with Chronoa's soul and comes to understand her feelings, the emotional core of the current storyline. Second, Hinata and Chloe are still trapped inside Chronoa's skill, 『無限牢獄』 (Infinite Prison), and Raphael, the Lord of Wisdom, attempts to interfere with that skill directly. Whether that works is something we'll find out when the episode airs; the synopsis stops at the attempt.
For readers keeping track of the arc, this follows Episode 93, "Chronoa the Hero, Part Two," and last week's Episode 95, "Granville's Hope." The episode title 「勇者覚醒」 pairs with the Season 4 introduction, which ends on the line that "a hero is about to awaken."
On the production side, series composer Hitomi Ogawa wrote the script. Storyboard and episode direction are credited to 鈴木真衣 (likely Mai Suzuki), with 小峰正頼 (likely Masayori Komine) as chief animation director. The main cast on the source's list includes Miho Okasaki as Rimuru, Megumi Toyoguchi as Raphael, Manami Numakura as Hinata, and Azusa Tadokoro as Chloe. Tadokoro also performs the Season 4 ending theme 「ヒムナル」 (Himunaru).
Where Episode 96 Sits in the Five-Cour Plan
Season 4 is built as a five-cour project. The first two cours have been airing back to back since April 3, 2026, in Nippon TV's FRIDAY ANIME NIGHT slot across a 30-station network, with BS11 following on Saturdays. Naokatsu Tsuda directs at studio Eight Bit; Ryōma Ebata handles character designs, R・O・N composes the music, and Daoko performs the opening theme "TACTIC."
Episode 96 is the 24th episode of the season by the overall count (Season 4 began at Episode 73). Two cours usually means 24 episodes, so this looks like the end of the current block, but the V-Storage article doesn't call it a finale, and no dates have been announced for cours three through five.
The season picks up after the Founding Festival, with Tempest working toward a world where humans and monsters live side by side. Standing in the way is the Rosso family: Granville Rosso (グランベル・ロッゾ), a former hero and head of the Five Elders of the Kingdom of Siltrosso, and his granddaughter Mariabell, who believe humanity is best protected by being ruled, and whose scheming brings them into direct conflict with Rimuru. Meanwhile, in the golden city of El Dorado, Demon Lord Leon begins to act on an agenda of his own.
The franchise itself is enormous. The source puts the worldwide print total for the manga, novels and spin-offs at more than 62 million copies as of June 2026, and the original web novel on the novel-posting site Shōsetsuka ni Narō passed 1 billion page views. The 2022 film Scarlet Bond drew over 1 million admissions in Japan and grossed ¥1.4 billion (approx. $9 million), and a second film, 『蒼海の涙編』 (roughly "Tears of the Azure Sea"), opened in Japan on February 27, 2026.
Looking Ahead
Here's the full Japanese schedule for Episode 96, per the V-Storage listing:
- Nippon TV network: Friday, September 25 at 11:00 p.m.
- BS11: Saturday, September 26 at 10:00 p.m.
- AT-X: Sunday, September 27 at 9:30 p.m.
- Animax: Saturday, October 17 at 8:00 p.m.
Japanese streaming services (Prime Video, Disney+ Star, U-NEXT, ABEMA and others) start rolling the episode out from 11:00 p.m. on September 26, with free catch-up on ABEMA and TVer from noon on September 30.
Internationally, Crunchyroll streams Season 4 with English subtitles and an English dub, with new episodes landing Fridays at 7:00 a.m. PT / 10:00 a.m. ET in North America, Latin America, Europe and other regions. Seasons 1 through 3 are also on the service.
If you want to read ahead, the light novels are published in English by Yen Press, and Taiki Kawakami's manga adaptation is published by Kodansha USA. The manga is still running in Kodansha's Monthly Shonen Sirius in Japan.
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