Kagurabachi Anime Set for April 2027 With Naruto Veteran at Helm

CyberAgent and Shochiku confirmed on April 27 that the anime adaptation of Takeru Hokazono's Kagurabachi will begin broadcasting and streaming in April 2027. The announcement, made at Shueisha's Jump Press 2026 livestream, ends roughly 16 months of speculation since Toyo Keizai first reported the project in December 2024.

Kagurabachi has run in Weekly Shonen Jump since September 2023. The manga drew attention domestically and overseas for its revenge-driven story and stylised swordfight artwork.

In 2024, Kagurabachi won the 10th Next Manga Award in the print category. Coinciding with the anime announcement, Shueisha said the series will cross 4 million cumulative copies in circulation worldwide across 11 volumes when Volume 11 releases in Japan on May 1, 2026.

Kagurabachi Anime Studio and Staff: A Deliberate Assembly

The anime will be produced by Cypic, the studio formerly known as Cygames Pictures. Cygames Pictures was established in 2016 as the anime arm of Cygames, itself a CyberAgent group company. Recent Cypic credits include the 2025 horror series The Summer Hikaru Died and Umamusume: Cinderella Gray.

Tetsuya Takeuchi is directing. Takeuchi worked as a key animator on both Naruto and Naruto Shippuden (including the openings of Naruto and several of its most-discussed action episodes) before moving into senior animation roles. He served as Action Animation Director on Sword Art Online II and worked on Lycoris Recoil and Heavenly Delusion in storyboarding, episode direction and animation direction roles. Kagurabachi follows his TV directorial debut on From Bureaucrat to Villainess: Dad's Been Reincarnated!

In a comment released with the announcement, Takeuchi said that the team aims to carry the intensity of the original manga panels into the animation, with action sequences as a priority.

Keigo Sasaki, whose credits include Erased, Blue Exorcist and anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day, is handling character design. The cast announcement so far is limited to Taihi Kimura, the 2025 Seiyu Awards Best New Actor winner, voicing protagonist Chihiro Rokuhira.

Kagurabachi Anime Plot: A Story of Revenge, Sorcery, and Stolen Blades

Kagurabachi follows Chihiro Rokuhira, a young swordsman who sets out to avenge his father's murder and recover six enchanted blades stolen by a sorcerer organisation called Hishaku. Rokuhira fights using Enten, the seventh blade his father left behind.

The story leans on themes of inherited legacy and the cost of violence, paired with stylised combat. Hokazono drew a direct comparison when discussing the anime, saying: "You know the Rock Lee vs. Gaara fight in Naruto? The manga version is great of course, but isn't the anime's version just incredibly cool?" Takeuchi was a key animator on that fight.

Where to Stream Kagurabachi Anime?

MUSE and SMG Holdings will handle streaming and broadcast, though no specific platform has been named. SMG Holdings's involvement points to a release in China, while MUSE typically distributes anime across Southeast Asian markets.

A Kagurabachi World Tour featuring 20-minute preview screenings of Episode 1 is planned for summer 2026. The tour will end in Japan in spring 2027 with a full Episode 1 premiere ahead of broadcast.

The timing is notable. With Dr.Stone almost being wrapped and Jujutsu Kaisen approaching its climax, Shueisha is positioning Kagurabachi as the next dark-action shonen flagship — a slot the publisher has consistently filled with successive anime adaptations over the past decade.