Original anime premieres in July
Kadokawa unveiled a new visual as well as a clip from the first episode of the Goodbye, Lara (Sayonara Lara) original anime during its panel at AnimeJapan 2026 on Saturday.
Image via Goodbye, Lara anime’s X/Twitter account
©キネマシトラス/「さよならララ」製作委員会
Image courtesy of Kadokawa
©キネマシトラス/「さよならララ」製作委員会
The series will debut in July. Anime Central will screen the U.S. premiere of the anime. The convention will take place at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center and Hyatt Regency O’Hare in Rosemont, IL on May 15-17.
The anime stars Hana Hishikawa as Lara and Nana Kawaishi as Mari Otsu. The cast also includes Rica Fukami as Grace, the witch who turns Lara into a human, and Ayumu Murase as Luca, a boy Lara meets in Shiga prefecture who looks similar to the prince Lara fell in love with 200 years ago.
Goodbye, Lara tells a tale similar to Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid. The story follows a mermaid who makes a forbidden wish to be loved by a human. Following her death, she is reborn 200 years later into modern-day Japan in Lake Biwa, where she learns to adjust in a human world. The setting of Lake Biwa is in Shiga prefecture of Japan, which is also where director Takushi Koide’s hometown is located.
Koide is directing the series at Kinema Citrus, and Anna Kawahara is overseeing the series scripts. Shiori Tani is the character designer, and Yuma Yamaguchiis composing the music.
Sources: Goodbye, Lara’s X/Twitter account (link 2), Comic Natalie
Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, is the majority owner of Anime News Network, LLC. One or more of the companies mentioned in this article are part of the Kadokawa Group of Companies.
