Enjoying this article? Add us as a preferred source on Google.
The Hirayasumi TV anime will air on NHK General TV starting in January 2027. The main cast was revealed for the first time on September 29: Yuma Uchida as Hiroto Ikuta, Mayu Takahashi as Natsumi Kobayashi, and Rikako Aikawa as Hanae Wada. A key visual and a teaser trailer dropped at the same time.
The series is based on Keigo Shinzo’s manga of the same name, currently running in Shogakukan’s Weekly Big Comic Spirits. It follows Hiroto Ikuta — no steady job, no partner, and not a single worry about his future — which in its own way makes him the most invincible protagonist around.
The teaser gave us our first look at animation footage and our first listen to the character voices. The key visual puts the whole cast out on the engawa porch, right down to the flowers in the garden that grandma used to care for. Knowing that atmosphere is about to start moving, there’s nothing to do but get excited.
Ever since my days working at that manga cafe in Kabukicho, I’ve been a soft touch for the “nothing happens and it’s perfect” genre. A twice-divorced middle-aged guy getting choked up over a story about a porch is questionable, I’ll admit. Can’t help it. Let’s go through it in order.
When does the Hirayasumi anime start, and what channel is it on?
It premieres in January 2027 on NHK General TV. The specific air date, time slot and episode count had not been announced as of September 30, 2026.
The January window itself was already announced back on March 17, 2026. What’s new this time is the key visual, the teaser trailer and the cast — three things at once. In other words, the show finally has a face and a voice.
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Title | Hirayasumi |
| Broadcast | January 2027 on NHK General TV |
| Original work | Keigo Shinzo, “Hirayasumi” (serialized in Shogakukan’s Weekly Big Comic Spirits) |
| Director, series composition, script | Kei Suezawa |
| Character design | Naoyuki Asano |
| Art director | Mika Nishimura |
| Music | Kaori Sawada |
| Animation production | Production +h. |
NHK General feels like a genuinely good fit for this show. Hirayasumi isn’t a series that pulls you along with big dramatic turns — it works through the temperature of everyday life. Having it drift quietly out of NHK in the evening is about the most natural home it could get, isn’t it?
Who’s in the Hirayasumi cast? Yuma Uchida, Mayu Takahashi and Rikako Aikawa
Three roles have been announced: Yuma Uchida as Hiroto Ikuta, Mayu Takahashi as Natsumi Kobayashi, and Rikako Aikawa as Hanae Wada. The teaser also gave each of them their first lines on screen.
| Character | Voice actor |
|---|---|
| Hiroto Ikuta | Yuma Uchida |
| Natsumi Kobayashi | Mayu Takahashi |
| Hanae Wada | Rikako Aikawa |
Casting Yuma Uchida as Hiroto genuinely surprised me. You usually see him in roles with a lot of heat behind them, and Hiroto is a guy with every ounce of tension drained out of his shoulders. How he plays that slackness is anyone’s guess — the few seconds of voice in the teaser aren’t enough to tell. Which is exactly why I want to hear more.
Then there’s Rikako Aikawa as Hanae Wada, the grandma who hands Hiroto the house. She’s the starting point of the entire story. Miss on that role and the whole thing floats off the ground, so putting a veteran there is a call that makes complete sense.
What is Hirayasumi about? A one-story house, handed over for free
It’s the story of Hiroto Ikuta — a carefree drifter with no steady job, no partner and no anxiety whatsoever about the future — who is given a detached, single-story house for free by Hanae Wada, an elderly neighbor he befriended on nothing but the strength of his personality.
Then his 18-year-old cousin Natsumi Kobayashi arrives from Yamagata to attend art school in Tokyo, and the two of them start living together. Different ages, different temperaments, completely different rhythms of life, sharing a house that was handed down for nothing. That’s all it is, and it lands like a truck.
Around Hiroto, meanwhile, people start gathering — people carrying vague anxieties about work, relationships and their own futures. Those who have plenty get pulled toward the one guy who has nothing. If you had to name that shape, I think the word is “room to breathe.”
The faces on the porch in the key visual
The key visual shows Hiroto’s best friend Hideki and Natsumi’s college classmate Akari sitting out on the engawa porch, with Yomogi from the real estate office passing by — and the flowers in the garden that grandma used to tend are drawn in as well.
A single illustration holding the cast, the place, the season and even the memory of the home’s previous occupant. Shows that lead with a visual like that are usually worth trusting. Call it a rule of thumb I’ve earned.
Read Next
Enjoying this article? Add us as a preferred source on Google.
Hirayasumi anime: everything we know
Here’s the recap. The Hirayasumi TV anime is set to air on NHK General TV starting in January 2027. The cast has Yuma Uchida as Hiroto Ikuta, Mayu Takahashi as Natsumi Kobayashi, and Rikako Aikawa as Hanae Wada. The key visual, teaser trailer and cast were all revealed together on September 29.
The source manga is Keigo Shinzo’s “Hirayasumi,” serialized in Shogakukan’s Weekly Big Comic Spirits. Kei Suezawa is directing as well as handling series composition and scripts, Naoyuki Asano is on character design, Mika Nishimura is art director, Kaori Sawada is composing, and Production +h. is animating. The specific air date, time slot and episode count remain unannounced as of September 30, 2026.
A production that names an art director and draws the garden flowers into its key visual is serious about building atmosphere. Hirayasumi doesn’t run on incident, so everything comes down to backgrounds, sound and the handling of silence. Putting Mika Nishimura, Kaori Sawada and Production +h. on exactly those jobs reads like a team that understands what this series actually is. Not having an air date yet is a little frustrating, but rolling out information carefully 15 months ahead of broadcast leaves a good impression.
January 2027, NHK General. Get ready to sit on the porch and stare into space.
Snicker Kitamura
Leave a Reply