Hishikawa voices 5th member of ITEM Choubi Hanano
NBC Universal’s stage presentation at the AnimeJapan 2026 event on Saturday revealed a new cast member for the television anime of Kazuma Kamachi’s Toaru Anbu no Item (A Certain ITEM of the Dark Side) spinoff novel. Hana Hishikawa will voice the character Choubi Hanano, a timid girl with unknown abilities and becomes the fifth member of ITEM.
Image via Toaru Anbu no Item anime’s website
©鎌池和馬/KADOKAWA/PROJECT-ITEM
Image via Toaru Anbu no Item anime’s website
©鎌池和馬/KADOKAWA/PROJECT-ITEM
The anime will debut in fall.
The anime is the latest series in A Certain Magical Index franchise, and the “ITEM” in the title refers to the secret organization ITEM at Academy City. The novel series’ story follows the women of the “dark side” of Academy City.
The anime stars:
A Certain Scientific Railgun anime director Tatsuyuki Nagai is also directing the Toaru Anbu no Item anime at J.C. Staff, and A Certain Scientific Railgun, A Certain Magical Index series chief animation director Shigeki Kimoto is designing the characters. Maiko Iuchi (A Certain Magical Index, A Certain Scientific Railgun, A Certain Scientific Accelerator, Selector Infected Wixoss) is the anime’s musical composer.
Kadokawa published the sixth novel volume on February 10 under its Dengeki Bunko imprint.
The series received a manga adaptation in fall 2023. Kadokawa shipped the first compiled book volume in June 2024, and the second volume shipped in April 2025.
Kamachi’s A Certain Magical Index light novel series has inspired three television anime series, a 2013 anime film, and multiple manga adaptations. The A Certain Scientific Railgun spinoff manga has also inspired three television anime seasons, with a fourth season announced, and an original video anime (OVA). Yasuhito Nogi launched the A Certain Scientific Railgun: Astral Buddy spinoff manga in April 2017 and ended the manga in July 2020.
Yen Press is releasing the original light novel series in English, and Funimation has released most of the anime adaptations in North America. Seven Seas Entertainment is releasing the A Certain Scientific Railgun manga in English, and Yen Press is releasing the A Certain Magical Index manga in English.
Source: AnimeJapan 2026 stage presentation
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.
