Akane-banashi released its second-season teaser on October 25, following Akane into the beginning of her professional training after high school. The anime returns in January 2027 on TV Asahi’s Japanese network in the IMAnimation block, alongside BS Asahi and other channels.
The premiere month had already been announced. The latest reveal adds an official teaser and promotional artwork for Akane’s training at Yasakatei, where she begins learning what life as a rakugo performer involves.
Akane begins her apprenticeship at Yasakatei
Rakugo is a traditional Japanese storytelling art in which one performer plays multiple characters through changes in voice, expression and gesture. Inspired by her father’s performances, Akane wants to reach shin-uchi, the profession’s highest rank.
After graduating, she formally becomes Shiguma’s apprentice and begins performing under the name Akane Arakawa. Season two enters her zenza training period at Yasakatei. At this long-established theater, she joins a professional environment filled with accomplished performers and starts the work needed to develop her own stage career.
That gives the story a clear transition. Her father’s work first drew Akane to rakugo, while entering the school brings her into formal professional training. The new challenges are directly connected to the career she has chosen.
The team and voices behind Akane-banashi
The anime adapts the Weekly Shonen Jump manga written by Yuki Suenaga and illustrated by Takamasa Moue. ZEXCS produces the animation, with Ayumu Watanabe directing and Michihiro Tsuchiya overseeing the series scripts. Kii Tanaka designs the characters, while Akio Izutsu composes the music.
Anna Nagase voices Akane. Other familiar cast members include Takuya Eguchi as Karashi Nerimaya, Rie Takahashi as Hikaru Kōragi, Akihisa Shiono as Kaisei Arakawa and Jun Fukuyama as Shinta Arakawa. An exact date for the second season’s first episode has not been announced.
Sources, checked October 27, 2026: official website and staff · second-season introduction · TV Asahi Animation teaser · October 25 key visual announcement. Image: Yuki Suenaga, Takamasa Moue / Shueisha / Akane-banashi Production Committee.
