Bandai Namco Filmworks has confirmed Takahashi Rumiko’s MAO (マオ) manga will get a TV anime adaptation by studio Sunrise on the NHK General channel in the spring of 2026.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8hsY9L-vjQ]
Sato Teruo (Hanyou no Yashahime, Aikatsu Stars!) is directing the anime, and it will star:
- Kaji Yuuki as Mao
- Kawaida Natsumi as Nanoka Kiba
- Shimono Hiro as Hyakka
- Toyonaga Toshiyuki as Kamon
Author Takahashi (Urusei Yatsura, Maison Ikkoku, Inuyasha, Mermaid Saga) started the manga in May 2019 in Shogakukan’s Weekly Shonen Sunday magazine, and Shogakukan published the manga’s first tankoubon volume in September 2019 and the 24th volume in May 2025. The manga’s 25th volume is scheduled for release on August 18th, 2025.
Viz Media publishes the manga in English, and it will release the manga’s 21st volume on August 12th, 2025. It describes the manga’s first volume below:
“Nanoka passes through a portal into the Taisho era, where exorcist Mao reluctantly rescues her from the jaws of a grotesque yokai. When Nanoka gets back to the present, she discovers she has some new, incredible abilities. She returns to the past looking for answers, only to get caught up in Mao’s investigation of a series of gruesome murders. As her questions about herself multiply, Nanoka learns that Mao is cursed by a cat demon named Byoki—and so is his sword. If anyone but Mao attempts to wield it, they are doomed. But when Mao’s life is in jeopardy, Nanoka picks up his blade and swings!”
