Satoshi Mizukami's reincarnation fantasy Spirit Circle will be adapted as a TV anime and begin airing and streaming in December 2026. A teaser visual and first promotional video were released with the announcement, along with the main cast: Yuuma Ura, Anna Nagase, Eri Yukimura and Yuuichi Nakamura. Nagase will also sing the ending theme, her first solo song.
The manga, by the author of Planet With and Sengoku Youko, began serialization in 2012 and has passed 800,000 copies in print and digital editions. Its story of souls reborn across eras, and the clues that keep readers theorizing, built a following.
It opens with Fuuta Okeya, a middle schooler who can see spirits, meeting a mysterious transfer student named Kouko Ishigami. Kouko suddenly tries to kill him, and the reason lies in a grudge the two carry from a previous life. To learn the truth, Fuuta uses a device called the Spirit Circle to relive his past lives, traveling through incarnations from ancient times to the future.
Director died in April
Tatsuo Sato, known for Martian Successor Nadesico, Bodacious Space Pirates and Stellvia of the Universe, directed the series and led production as series director and head writer. Sato died in April, and this is his last directing work.
Production continued under assistant director Kentaro Mizuno, who carried on Sato's intentions, and was completed by NAGOMI and EOTA, both part of the Twin Engine group. The three companies said in a joint comment that they intend to deliver the work, Sato's final one as director, to audiences with the whole staff behind it, and offered their respect and condolences.
Mizukami thanked the staff and Sato for overcoming the difficulty of adapting a story that spans seven lives in different eras and settings, and for doing so at a length of more than one cour but less than two. Mizuno said the series runs 18 episodes.
Teaser and first video
The teaser visual shows Kouko glaring with a look of hard resolve, a large wound on her forehead and fresh blood running from it. Its tagline reads, "No matter how many times I'm reborn, I'll come to kill you."
In the first promotional video, Kouko asks Fuuta, "Do you believe in reincarnation?" and he falters. She tells him, "You're going to die seven more times!!" and scenes of their past lives follow, alongside the two spirits who accompany them, Run and East.
The ending theme, "Koko ga Donna Sekai Demo" (Whatever World This Is), was written for the series and is performed by Nagase as Kouko.
Cast comments
“He's a boy who gets flustered by a cute transfer student and goofs around with his classmates, a middle schooler exactly his own age.”Yuuma Ura, voice of Fuuta Okeya
“When I read the original, I finished every volume in a single day without noticing.”Anna Nagase, voice of Kouko Ishigami
“I want you to watch over the protagonist as he learns what it means to live in each of the eras and worlds that unfold.”Yuuichi Nakamura, voice of East
- Fuuta Okeya: Yuuma Ura
- Kouko Ishigami: Anna Nagase
- Run: Eri Yukimura
- East: Yuuichi Nakamura