From Denji to a Knight Commander for Kikunosuke Toya
Kikunosuke Toya's career started at the top. He debuted in 2022 as Denji in Chainsaw Man, and the role won him Best New Actor at the 2024 Seiyu Awards. His new role, Curtis Bannister, asks for a very different register. He commands the 13th brigade of the Black Dragon Knights, and the character description makes a point of how little he behaves like a commander. He is understated and even-tempered, and the people in his territory know him as the "aqua-haired commander" rather than by rank.
In the comment published with Japanese entertainment news site Comic Natalie's report on the casting, Toya said he felt the weight of being handed a role this important, and praised the performances of lead voice actress Shion Wakayama and the rest of the cast.
The Main Promotional Video Plays Both Theme Songs
The video released with the announcement is the series' main promotional video, and it is the first chance to hear both theme songs. Kaya performs the opening theme, "Flare of Soul." The ending theme is "STELLAR" by Utahime Dream All Stars. The footage cuts between Fia, her black dragon Zavilia, Saviz Náv and Cyril Sutherland, with the wider Black Dragon Knights roster filling out the rest.
It also confirms the date the production has been working toward: the premiere is set for October 3, 2026 at 22:00, after the anime moved off its original April 2026 window. The production said at the time that the delay would give the show more room to reach the quality it wanted.
What A Tale of the Secret Saint Is About
The light novel, written by Touya with illustrations by chibi and published by Earth Star Entertainment, follows Fia Ruud, the least gifted child of a knight family who trains relentlessly anyway. Her knighthood trial goes badly wrong. She comes face to face with a dragon instead of the small demon she was supposed to kill, and the near-fatal wound shakes loose the memory of a past life in which she was the Great Saint who brought down the Demon King. That life ended in pain precisely because of what she was, so Fia hides her sainthood and chases the knight career she wanted in the first place.
Shion Wakayama voices Fia, with Shinnosuke Tokudome as Zavilia, Yūichirō Umehara as Saviz Náv and Nobunaga Shimazaki as Cyril Sutherland. Tomokazu Sugita, Yukari Tamura, Daiki Yamashita and Tasuku Hatanaka round out the Black Dragon Knights.
Tomoe Makino directs at Felix Film, the studio behind Aharen-san Is Indecipherable, which Makino also directed. Naoki Murata is assistant director, Deko Akao handles series composition, Satomi Kurita is on character design, Ryōsuke Naya is sound director and Kenichirō Suehiro composes the music.
The franchise has been in print for years. A manga adaptation by Mahito Aobe has run in Comic Earth Star since December 2019 and reached 14 Japanese volumes as of April 2026, and the novel and manga lines together had passed 3.5 million copies in print as of July 2025.
Looking Ahead
TOKYO MX and BS11 carry the premiere on Saturday, October 3, 2026 at 22:00, with Sun TV following at 22:30 the same night and AT-X starting October 5 on Mondays at 22:00. In Japan, ABEMA and Prime Video stream the first episode at the same time as the broadcast, and episode 2 goes up on both platforms a week ahead of TV.
Overseas, distribution is thinner. Muse Communication holds the license for Southeast Asia, according to Anime News Network's encyclopedia entry, and no North American or European streaming partner has been announced. Readers who want to get ahead of the anime can find both the light novel and the manga in English from Seven Seas Entertainment under the A Tale of the Secret Saint title, along with a prequel series.