Hakuhodo’s stage presentation at the AnimeJapan 2026 event on Sunday revealed a new visual, additional cast members, the second promotional video, and the July premiere for the television anime of Hiroshi Shiibashi’s Iwamoto-senpai no Suisen (Recommendation from Mr. Iwamoto) manga.
Image courtesy of Hakuhodo DY Music & Pictures
©椎橋寛/集英社・「岩元先輩ノ推薦」製作委員会
The newly announced cast are:
Akira Ishida as Bōkyo Kizujō
Image courtesy of Hakuhodo DY Music & Pictures
©椎橋寛/集英社・「岩元先輩ノ推薦」製作委員会
Masaya Fukunishi as Oni Okuaki
Image courtesy of Hakuhodo DY Music & Pictures
©椎橋寛/集英社・「岩元先輩ノ推薦」製作委員会
Takuma Nagatsuka as Shizuma Aonuma
Image courtesy of Hakuhodo DY Music & Pictures
©椎橋寛/集英社・「岩元先輩ノ推薦」製作委員会
Image courtesy of Hakuhodo DY Music & Pictures Inc
©椎橋寛/集英社・「岩元先輩ノ推薦」製作委員会
The anime will star:
Toshifumi Kawase (Tenjho Tenge, Shion no Oh, Yakuza Fiancé: Raise wa Tanin ga Ii) is directing the anime at Studio DEEN. Keiichirō Ōchi (The Quintessential Quintuplets; Girlfriend, Girlfriend) is overseeing the series scripts, and Atsuko Nakajima (Hakuoki: Demon of the Fleeting Blossom, Komi Can’t Communicate) is the character designer. Takuya Hiramitsu (The Prince of Tennis, Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s) is the sound director, and Yoshiaki Dewa (Hell’s Paradise, Call of the Night) and Tōru Ishitsuka (Gekijōban Ansatsu Kyōshitsu Minna no Jikan, Fate/Grand Order: First Order) are composing the music.
The manga takes place in the 1910s, and centers on Kodō Iwamoto, a third-year student at Seihō Middle School, which is directly controlled by the military and is dedicated to the collection and research of supernatural phenomena to harness that power for military use. Under orders from the military, Kodō travels around the country to investigate supernatural phenomena. In one town where it is rumored that “black snow” falls, he meets a boy who thinks his mysterious powers are an illness. Kodō shows the boy how to use his powers, and offers him a letter of recommendation to Seihō Middle School. As he travels to other areas, Kodō encounters many other mysterious events.
Shiibashi launched the manga in Shueisha’s Ultra Jump magazine in February 2021, after publishing a one-shot pilot in Shueisha’s Shonen Jump+ app in March 2020. Shueisha published the 13th compiled volume on January 19.
Shiibashi’s Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan (Nurarihyon no Mago) manga ran from 2008 to 2012 with 25 volumes and inspired two television anime seasons in 2010 and 2011. Viz Media published the manga in English. Shiibashi published four more chapters for the manga in 2023.
Shiibashi is the creator of the Illegal Rare, Tsukumogami: Teito Jōhōbu Tokkenchobōin Serosero Nanashiki, and Yui Kamio Lets Loose manga.
Sources: AnimeJapan 2026 stage presentation, Press release
