A website opened on Wednesday to announce the television anime adaptation of Umikaze Minamino’s Nia Liston: The Merciless Maiden (Kyōran Reijō Nia Liston: Byōjaku Reijō ni Tenseishita Kami-goroshi no Bujin no Kareinaru Musō Roku) light novel series, which will premiere in October. The website also revealed the anime’s teaser promotional video, teaser visual, lead cast member, and staff.
Image via Nia Liston: The Merciless Maiden anime’s website
©南野海風・ホビージャパン/凶乱令嬢ニア・リストン製作委員会
J-Novel Club releases the novels digitally and describes the story:
A great hero lies undefeated on her deathbed, regretting that she never found a foe who could take her down. She never intended to meet her fate anywhere other than on the battlefield, and her peaceful demise has her wishing desperately that things could have been different…But when she suddenly comes to in the body of the young, frail Nia Liston, she’s got an all-new fight ahead of her. Nia is a sickly child, meaning she has a long way to go before she’s in fighting form. Now that she’s been given a second shot at life, however, she’s determined to get what she wants. She’s going to live—and die—for battle this time! Make way for the Merciless Maiden!Honoka Inoue stars in the anime as the titular Nia Liston.Image via Nia Liston: The Merciless Maiden anime’s website
©南野海風・ホビージャパン/凶乱令嬢ニア・リストン製作委員会
Motoki Nakanishi (Love Is Indivisible by Twins, Summoned to Another World for a Second Time) is directing the anime at KONAMI animation with Haruta Segi as the assistant director. Gigaemon Ichikawa (Himitsu no AiPri, PuniRunes three seasons) is in charge of series scripts, Yūki Itō (Mob Psycho 100 II OAV key animator) and Kana Tosaoka (Kantai Collection -KanColle- film in-between animator) are designing the characters. Naoki Endō (Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club, Nijiyon Animation) is composing the music, and Hiromi Kikuta (Aikatsu!, Blue Period, Haikyu!!) is directing the sound.
The novels’ illustrator Katana Canata and manga adaptation’s Kabuto Kodai drew illustrations to commemorate the anime announcement:
Image via Nia Liston: The Merciless Maiden anime’s website
©南野海風・ホビージャパン/凶乱令嬢ニア・リストン製作委員会
Image via Nia Liston: The Merciless Maiden anime’s website
©南野海風・ホビージャパン/凶乱令嬢ニア・リストン製作委員会
Minamino launched the story on the Shōsetsuka ni Narō website in 2019, and ended its run there in 2021. Hobby Japan started publishing the novels with illustration by Jishaku in September 2022. Katana Canata started drawing the novels’ illustration from its third volume in 2023. (The anime credits both illustrators for the original character designs.) Hobby Japan will publish the 10th volume on January 30.
Kodai launched the novels’ manga adaptation on Square Enix’s Manga UP! service in 2022. Square Enix published the manga’s first compiled book volume in May 2023, and will release the eighth volume on February 6. Square Enix’s Manga UP! Global services publishes the manga in English.
Sources: Nia Liston: The Merciless Maiden anime’s website, Comic Natalie
