HIDIVE announced on Wednesday that it will stream the television anime adaptation of Moto’o Nakanishi’s Sword of the Demon Hunter: Kijin Gentōshō novel series during the spring 2025 season.
The series will debut on March 31 at 8:30 a.m. EDT with a special one-hour first episode. Subsequent episodes will stream on Mondays at 11:00 a.m. EDT. The company also released an English-subtitled trailer.
The anime will premiere on the Tokyo MX channel on March 31 at 9:30 p.m. JST, followed by broadcasts on BS Fuji on April 1 at 24:00 JST (which is effectively April 2 at midnight JST) and on MBS on April 1 at 26:30 JST (effectively April 2 at 1:30 a.m. JST).
From the second episode onward, the anime will move to its regular timeslot on Tokyo MX starting April 7 at midnight JST (effectively April 8), with MBS and BS Fuji airing it on April 8. The series will run for two consecutive cours (quarters of a year).
Originally scheduled to premiere in July 2024, the anime was delayed due to production setbacks, which also affected a planned one-hour special in June of the same year.
The anime features Taku Yashiro as Jinta, Reina Ueda as Suzune, and Saori Hayami as Shirayuki.
Kazuya Aiura (Assassins Pride, Hori-san to Miyamura-kun OAV) is directing the anime at Yokohama Animation Lab. Deko Akao (Assassins Pride, Arakawa Under the Bridge, Noragami) is overseeing the series scripts, while Taro Ikegami (Lapis Re:LiGHTs) is designing the characters.
Sword of the Demon Hunter: Kijin Gentosho Anime
The music is being composed by Ryuuichi Takada, Keiichi Hirokawa, and Kuniyuki Takahashi from MONACA.
The ending theme song, “Sen-ya Ichi-ya feat. Izumi Nakasone (HY)” (One Thousand and One Nights), will be performed by Hilcrhyme.
Seven Seas Entertainment is publishing both the novel series and its manga adaptation in English and describes the story as follows:
In the Edo era, young Jinta and his sister must flee their home, finding refuge in a mountain village. Years later, Jinta has grown into a skilled swordsman, sworn to protect the priestess of the village shrine.
Charged with slaying a demon that threatens the shrine, Jinta confronts the malevolent creature in the forest, only to learn a shocking truth.
The demon speaks of events one hundred and seventy years hence, when Jinta must confront the demon in the future. Thus begins an epic fantasy journey that spans multiple eras as Jinta hunts a demon through time and must come to terms with his own dark nature.
Nakanishi released the first novel volume, Suihō no Hibi (Days of Nothing), in June 2019, featuring illustrations by Tamaki. The series concluded with its 14th volume, which was published in November 2023.
Futabasha released the first compiled volume of Yu Satomi’s manga adaptation in September 2021. The manga is serialized in Monthly Action magazine, and its eighth volume is scheduled for release on March 19.
