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The new Magic Knight Rayearth TV anime premieres on Wednesday, October 7, 2026 at 11:45 PM in the “IMAnimation W” block on TV Asahi’s national network. The theme songs have been revealed as well: the opening is “Otome no Tsurugi” by Toumei, and the ending is “Hoshiakari” by Kawaguchi Yurina. The show runs for two consecutive cours.
The moment the broadcast slot and theme songs landed together, it became clear this project isn’t a commemorative one-off but a serious full-length run. Two straight cours in a late-night slot, on national terrestrial TV. For a CLAMP adaptation, you couldn’t ask for better conditions.
For anyone who watched the 1994 TV anime, the first reaction isn’t nostalgia so much as “they’re really doing this?” Back then I rewatched that opening — Hikaru, Umi and Fuu falling from Tokyo Tower — over and over in front of the TV. And in October 2026, it starts again.
This article rounds up everything revealed so far: the air date and time, the broadcast block, both theme songs, the staff, and the cast. Among this fall’s anime, the attention level here is unquestionably near the top.
- October 7, 2026 at 11:45 PM on TV Asahi’s “IMAnimation W” block, running two consecutive cours
- OP is “Otome no Tsurugi” by Toumei; ED is “Hoshiakari” by Kawaguchi Yurina
- Directed by Yui Miura, animation production by TMS Entertainment
- Hikaru is Ayane Sakura, Umi is Rumi Okubo, Fuu is Rie Takahashi, with heavyweight additions as the formidable foes
Let’s start with the thing that matters most: when you can watch it.
When Does the New Magic Knight Rayearth Anime Air?
The premiere is Wednesday, October 7, 2026 at 11:45 PM. It airs in the “IMAnimation W” block on TV Asahi’s national network, running two consecutive cours.
“IMAnimation” is an anime broadcast block operated by TV Asahi and Aniplex. It has a track record of launching talked-about series in recent years, and securing two straight cours there reads as a show of confidence from the production side.
The two-cour length matters too. The Magic Knight Rayearth manga changes structure dramatically between its first half — the Cephiro arc — and the back half that follows. It’s a story that can’t work as a stack of self-contained episodes; it needs real runway. Announcing two cours is a statement of intent to actually portray that properly.
A late-night slot on national terrestrial TV is also a rare thing these days. Streaming access is a given, but there’s still a different atmosphere to a show everyone watches at the same moment in real time. We’ve got a reason to be back in front of the TV on Wednesday nights.
Who Sings the Theme Songs? OP “Otome no Tsurugi” and ED “Hoshiakari”
The opening theme is “Otome no Tsurugi” by Toumei, and the ending theme is “Hoshiakari” by Kawaguchi Yurina.
| Type | Song | Artist | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| Opening | Otome no Tsurugi | Toumei | EMI Records / UNIVERSAL MUSIC |
| Ending | Hoshiakari | Kawaguchi Yurina | Universal Music |
The title “Otome no Tsurugi” — “The Maiden’s Sword” — already tells you what the show is. It’s the story of three middle schoolers who get handed swords. Cramming girlish delicacy and the resolve to fight into a single phrase basically turns the core of Rayearth into a noun.
Magic Knight Rayearth is also one of those rare series where the theme songs are fused to the memory of the show itself. Anyone who watched the original knows the sensation of the scenery flooding back the instant the intro hits. How the new series takes on that job comes down entirely to one minute in the first broadcast.
Who’s on Staff? Director, Series Composition and Studio
Yui Miura directs, Shigeru Murakoshi handles series composition, Satomi Watabe is character designer and chief animation director, and TMS Entertainment is on animation production. The original manga is by CLAMP.
TMS Entertainment is a solid pick in the sense that it’s a studio used to running long-form series. Under a two-cour commitment, stamina that holds up to the finish matters more than flashy one-off animation showpieces. Getting that right is reassuring.
With CLAMP adaptations, reproducing the linework is always the central argument. Cardcaptor Sakura, Tsubasa and xxxHOLiC all split opinion over how to put the delicate lines of the original into motion. Rayearth carries a heavy load of armor and effects on top of that, so the burden on Satomi Watabe, handling both character design and chief animation direction, is going to be substantial.
…My skate buddies visibly check out when I start talking like this, but with a CLAMP anime you can tell whether it’s going to work the second you see the line weight. On October 7, I expect to be staring very hard at the first cut.
Who’s in the Cast? Heavy Hitters Join as the Formidable Foes
The three leads are Ayane Sakura as Hikaru Shidou, Rumi Okubo as Umi Ryuuzaki, and Rie Takahashi as Fuu Hououji. The main cast listed in the series database is as follows.
| Character | Voice actor |
|---|---|
| Hikaru Shidou | Ayane Sakura |
| Umi Ryuuzaki | Rumi Okubo |
| Fuu Hououji | Rie Takahashi |
| Princess Emeraude | Saori Hayami |
| Zagato | Yuki Ono |
| Clef | Yuki Kaji |
| Presea | Emiri Kato |
| Ferio | Yoshitsugu Matsuoka |
| Mokona | Mika Kikuchi |
On top of that, Mamiko Noto, Ayumu Murase, Hitomi Ueda and Hiroki Yasumoto have been announced as the formidable foes standing in Hikaru’s path. Their roles haven’t been named, but the fact that these four are being described as “formidable foes” suggests heavy responsibilities waiting from the story’s midpoint onward.
A caveat worth raising. The three leads are a complete recast from the original TV anime, so fans from back then will need some time to adjust at first. That said, Ayane Sakura, Rumi Okubo and Rie Takahashi are a proven combination on a show that demands a wide emotional range. Let’s judge it on episode one.
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October 7, 11:45 PM: Cephiro Opens Again
Let’s run the key points again. The new Magic Knight Rayearth TV anime premieres Wednesday, October 7, 2026 at 11:45 PM in the “IMAnimation W” block on TV Asahi’s national network, running two consecutive cours.
For theme songs, the OP is “Otome no Tsurugi” by Toumei and the ED is “Hoshiakari” by Kawaguchi Yurina. Yui Miura directs, Shigeru Murakoshi handles series composition, Satomi Watabe is character designer and chief animation director, and TMS Entertainment handles animation production. Ayane Sakura, Rumi Okubo and Rie Takahashi star as Hikaru Shidou, Umi Ryuuzaki and Fuu Hououji, with Mamiko Noto, Ayumu Murase, Hitomi Ueda and Hiroki Yasumoto joining as the formidable foes.
Rayearth wears the face of a cheerful magical girl show and then, partway through, loads an outrageous weight onto your shoulders. How that structure gets rebuilt across two cours is the question. It looks like I’ll be sitting up straight for the first time in a while on the night of October 7.
Two consecutive cours on national terrestrial TV, with both theme songs revealed at once. On conditions alone, this is among the best-treated shows of the season. Given the source material’s structure, everything hinges on sticking the landing on the weight of the back half, and two cours meets the minimum requirement for doing that. If there’s a worry, it’s the load created by one person handling both character design and chief animation direction — animation consistency will decide how the whole series is judged.
Start preparing now to cry at the opening bars of “Otome no Tsurugi.”
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