Highlights
- Ufotable's Feb. 21 promotional reel included a brief Genshin Impact anime teaser with new character designs for Aether and Lumine, the first footage since the September 2022 concept trailer.
- The project is categorized under Ufotable's "Future Projects" rather than its 2026 slate, pointing to a 2027 or later premiere.
- HoYoverse combat designer Aquaria confirmed at Genshin FES 2026 in January that production is stable, on track, and positioned as a long-term project with no setbacks.
The Genshin Impact anime is not dead. Ufotable, the Japanese animation studio behind Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba and the Fate franchise, included a new teaser for the long-awaited adaptation in a promotional reel posted to its YouTube channel on Feb. 21. The clip is short: the game's twin protagonists, Aether and Lumine, reach toward each other against a dark background. But after more than three years without new footage, even a few seconds carry weight.
The reel featured Ufotable's full slate, including Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle Part 2, the Witch on the Holy Night film (confirmed for 2026 in Japanese theaters), and a Katsugeki: Touken Ranbu theatrical film. Genshin Impact was listed under "Future Projects," separate from the 2026 slate. That categorization rules out a 2026 premiere and points toward 2027 at the earliest.
New character designs signal real progress
The teaser's most concrete detail is the updated look of the Traveler siblings. Aether and Lumine appear with noticeably different character designs from the concept trailer HoYoverse and Ufotable first released in September 2022 during the Genshin Impact version 3.1 livestream. Multiple outlets, including Game8, noted the new art style carries more resemblance to Ufotable's Fate series work than to the original concept footage. That shift suggests the project has moved past the conceptual phase and into active production design.
This tracks with what HoYoverse shared at Genshin FES 2026 in Shanghai on Jan. 3. Combat designer Aquaria addressed cancellation rumors directly, according to Automaton Media. The anime is progressing steadily with no unexpected setbacks, Aquaria told attendees.
Aquaria framed the timeline by comparing it to Genshin Impact's own development cycle: even a minor game update takes about six months, while a major patch can require 18 months or more, according to the Express Tribune's report on the event. The anime, Aquaria said, is a "long-term project" that fits within that cadence. The comments also came with an apology for the lack of updates, which Aquaria attributed to the team working across multiple large-scale projects simultaneously in what was described as a "four-dimensional" workflow.
HoYoverse
Why a post-2026 premiere may work in the adaptation's favor
A 2027 or later release has a practical upside for Ufotable. Genshin Impact's main storyline is approaching its conclusion. The icy region of Snezhnaya, home to the final Archon, is expected to arrive in-game within the coming year. By the time the anime reaches air, Ufotable could be working with a near-complete narrative arc rather than adapting a story that is still being written.
That matters because Genshin Impact's story is not a single, linear campaign. It is spread across Archon Quests, World Quests, character story quests, and lore buried in item descriptions and books. Structuring that material into a coherent anime series is a different challenge from adapting a manga or light novel, and having the full picture would make that work significantly easier.
Ufotable also has a crowded pipeline to clear first. The Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle trilogy is the studio's current commercial priority. The first film became the first Japanese production to surpass 100 billion yen globally, according to Anime News Network reporting from November 2025. The second film is slated for 2027. The Witch on the Holy Night film and the Touken Ranbu theatrical film add further demands on the studio's capacity. With that workload, a measured pace for the Genshin project is unsurprising.
No format details have been confirmed. It remains unknown whether the Genshin adaptation will be a television series, an OVA, or a theatrical film. Staff credits beyond the Ufotable and HoYoverse partnership have not been disclosed.
What is clear: the project that some fans had written off is still moving forward. The teaser is minimal, but the timing, paired with January's on-the-record reassurances, amounts to the strongest signal since 2022 that this adaptation will eventually reach an audience. It also fits a broader pattern in which anime is becoming a strategic priority for major entertainment platforms across Asia-Pacific and beyond.
