Hirayasumi Anime Unveils Cast, Footage for January 2027 NHK Debut — SkimNews
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- 'Hirayasumi' unveiled new footage, a key visual and principal voice cast ahead of its January 2027 premiere on Japan's NHK General TV, with Viz Media and ShoPro releasing the material and international streaming plans still undisclosed.
- Uchida Yuma voices 29-year-old part-timer Hiroto, joining the cast from roles including Fushiguro Megumi in "Jujutsu Kaisen" and Ash Lynx in "Banana Fish."
- Takahashi Mayu was cast as 18-year-old cousin Natsumi, an aspiring manga artist from Yamagata who clashes with Hiroto; Aikawa Rikako voices 83-year-old neighbor Granny Wada Hanae, whose previous credits include Squirtle in the "Pokémon" franchise.
- Production +h., the studio behind "The Orbital Children" and "Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction," is animating the series, with Suezawa Kei directing and handling series composition.
- The teaser sketches Hiroto's daily routine in the Asagaya neighborhood, his bond with Granny, and Natsumi's arrival to study at art school, with the key visual placing the cast in front of the one-story house Hiroto inherited from Granny.
- Shinzo's manga has run in Shogakukan's "Weekly Big Comic Spirits" since 2021, now spanning 10 volumes and over 1.7 million copies in print worldwide, winning Lucca Comics & Games 2024's best serial comic and the 71st Shogakukan Manga Award.
Why it matters: By tapping a Best Manga Award winner with 1.7 million copies in print and casting voice actors already proven across hits like "Jujutsu Kaisen" and "Pokémon," the NHK debut positions Hirayasumi as a prestige literary anime rather than a flashy shonen title, giving the slower slice-of-life manga a public broadcaster platform to reach older, art-house audiences.
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