is a horror

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

anthology series An anthology series is a radio, television, video game or film series that spans different genres and presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a differ ...

adapted from the works of

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

artist

Junji Ito is a Japanese horror manga artist. Some of his most notable works include ''Tomie'', a series chronicling an immortal girl who drives her stricken admirers to madness; ''Uzumaki'', a three-volume series about a town obsessed with spirals; and ...

. Animated by

Studio Deen is a Japanese animation studio founded in 1975 by Sunrise producer Hiroshi Hasegawa and ex-Sunrise animators. The studio owns three subsidiaries: Danny Donghua (丹尼動画), a Chinese sub-contracting studio; Megumi (め組), a digital work sub-c ...

, the anime adapts stories from several of Ito's collections. The series premiered on January 5, 2018, and ran for 12 episodes, accompanied by the release of two

OVA , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the first part of an OVA s ...

s. The series was co-produced by

Crunchyroll Crunchyroll is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Sony through a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex. The service primarily distributes films and tel ...

and began broadcasting on that service worldwide outside of Asia in eight languages on the same day.

Voice cast

Production

The

was first announced June 30, 2017, via

's page on the

Asahi Shimbun is one of the four largest newspapers in Japan. Founded in 1879, it is also one of the oldest newspapers in Japan and Asia, and is considered a newspaper of record for Japan. Its circulation, which was 4.57 million for its morning edition and ...

website. In August, the adaptation was confirmed to be a television series with animation by

. Shinobu Tagashira, known for his directorial work on ''

Diabolik Lovers is a Japanese visual novel franchise by Rejet. Its first entry was released on October 11, 2012 for the PlayStation Portable system. Thus far, the franchise has released seven games with the first two having been remastered for the Pla ...

'', directed and created the character design for the anime. The announcement also revealed that the series would adapt from two of Ito's manga collections, the 11 volume ''Junji Ito Masterpiece Collection'' and the single volume '' Fragments of Horror'', but did not specify which stories would be adapted, as the staff wanted viewers to be surprised when the show aired. The series revealed its official title on October 12, 2017, and also announced that Kaoru Sawada was scripting the series,

Hozumi Gōda is a Japanese voice actor, narrator and sound director affiliated with OGIPRO THE NEXT Co. Inc.. He is part of a three-man comedy team called . Filmography Anime television series ;1980s *''Armored Trooper Votoms'' (1983) (Chirico Cuvie) ;1990s ...

was serving as sound director, and that Yuki Hayashi would compose the music for the series. The series will also include two

s, which will adapt Ito's ''

Tomie is a Japanese horror manga series written and illustrated by Junji Ito. ''Tomie'' was Ito's first published work he originally submitted to ''Monthly Halloween'', a ''shōjo'' magazine in 1987, which led to him winning the Kazuo Umezu aw ...

'' manga. The opening theme song, , will be performed by The Pinballs, while the ending theme song, , will be performed by JYOCHO.

Release

The series was initially scheduled to premiere on

Tokyo MX JOMX-DTV, branded as Tokyo MX (officially stylized as TOKYO MX), is an independent television station in Tokyo, Japan, owned by the . It is the only television station that exclusively serves the city. It competes with Nippon TV, TV Asahi, NH ...

on January 7, 2018, but was later announced for an January 5 premiere on WOWOW's Anime Premium programming block. Additionally, the series received an advance showing on December 23, 2017, which was attended by Ito and voice actor

Yūji Mitsuya (born October 18, 1954) is a Japanese actor, voice actor, director of audiography, voice director and sound supervisor from Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture who is affiliated with Combination. He graduated from Meiji University. He is best known for ...

. The series is being

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultane ...

worldwide outside of Asia, and

Funimation Crunchyroll, LLC, previously known as Funimation from 1994 to 2022, is an American entertainment company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony as a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex that specializes ...

began streaming an English dub on January 20, 2018. The series ran for 12 episodes and was released as three separate sets on DVD, on March 30, 2018, April 27, 2018, and May 25, 2018. The second and third sets each include an OVA episode.

List of episodes

Notes

References

External links

* * {{Tomie Anime series based on manga Animation anthology series Crunchyroll anime Funimation Horror anime and manga Fiction about monsters Japanese anthology television series Studio Deen Tomie Wowow original programming