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The TV anime Just Like Mona Lisa (Seibetsu “Mona Lisa” no Kimi e.) is set to air in 2027. On October 21, 2026, the main visual and the first main trailer went live, and alongside Chika Anzai as protagonist Hinase Arima, seven additional cast members were announced: Yoshino Aoyama, Nobuhiko Okamoto, Daisuke Sakuma, Chiharu, Kakeru Hatano, Haruna Mikawa and Shion Wakayama. The ending theme is “Mayoi wa Hikari,” a song imase wrote specifically for the series.
The source manga ran in Gangan Online from Tsumuji Yoshimura, wrapped at 10 volumes, and has passed one million copies in circulation. It’s set in a world where your gender is determined at age 12, and it follows a protagonist who is still the only genderless person around at 18, confronting love and their own sense of self after a childhood friend confesses to them. SHAFT is handling the animation, with CyberAgent as lead production company.
In this article I’ll lay out the broadcast window, cast, theme song and staff revealed this time around, and separate what we know from what we don’t as of October 21, 2026 — including the fact that none of the seven new cast members have had their roles named yet. We covered the June announcement that the anime was happening in a separate article, so I’ll leave the deep dive on the story’s world to that one.
Let’s start with the broadcast window.
When does the Just Like Mona Lisa anime air?
It airs in 2027, and as of October 21, 2026 neither the broadcast network nor the season has been announced. Following the June 17, 2026 announcement of the adaptation and the August 1 cast reveal and teaser trailer debut at AnimagiC in Germany, this is the third round of information to drop.
| Detail | Info |
|---|---|
| Broadcast window | 2027 (network and season not announced) |
| Animation production | SHAFT |
| Lead production company | CyberAgent |
| Source manga | Tsumuji Yoshimura (Gangan Online / Square Enix), 10 volumes, over 1 million copies in circulation |
| Official site | monalisa-anime.com |
| Official X | @anime_mona_lisa |
“Somewhere in 2027” leaves a lot of room. A January premiere would normally mean the network gets announced before the end of the year, so if there’s no follow-up by December, I’d read it as spring or later. SHAFT put Fool Night, its 2026 collaboration with Sunrise, out on Netflix, so this one should end up as some combination of TV broadcast and streaming — but the streaming partner hasn’t been announced either.
Who’s in the Just Like Mona Lisa cast?
Chika Anzai plays protagonist Hinase Arima. The newly announced additions are Yoshino Aoyama, Nobuhiko Okamoto, Daisuke Sakuma, Chiharu, Kakeru Hatano, Haruna Mikawa and Shion Wakayama — seven in total, none of whose roles had been made public as of October 21, 2026.
| Cast | Role |
|---|---|
| Chika Anzai | Hinase Arima |
| Yoshino Aoyama | Not announced |
| Nobuhiko Okamoto | Not announced |
| Daisuke Sakuma | Not announced |
| Chiharu | Not announced |
| Kakeru Hatano | Not announced |
| Haruna Mikawa | Not announced |
| Shion Wakayama | Not announced |
The manga’s other key figures are Hinase’s childhood friends Ritsu, who chose to be male, and Shiori, who chose to be female. Those three are the ones pictured in the main visual. The production is keeping quiet about which of the seven is Ritsu and which is Shiori, so I’ll resist the urge to guess here. Daisuke Sakuma is a member of Snow Man and has been taking on more anime voice work in recent years, but this is his first time appearing in a SHAFT production.
What’s the ED theme for Just Like Mona Lisa?
The ending theme is imase’s “Mayoi wa Hikari,” written expressly for the series. In the announcement, imase called it “a work with a lot of overlap with myself.” The opening theme hasn’t been announced.
For a story about a protagonist who reaches 18 without choosing a gender, slapping on a title that flatly declares hesitation to be a light says something about how to read the series. The manga never treats continued uncertainty as a failure, so if the song leans into that, the fit is good. As for whether the track actually plays in the first main trailer, go watch it and see for yourself.
Who’s on the Just Like Mona Lisa staff?
Kana Shundo directs, Katsuhiko Takayama handles series composition, Nobuhiro Sugiyama is on character design and chief animation direction, and Yūki Hayashi composes the music. SHAFT is producing the animation.
| Role | Name |
|---|---|
| Director | Kana Shundo |
| Series composition | Katsuhiko Takayama |
| Character design / chief animation director | Nobuhiro Sugiyama |
| Music | Yūki Hayashi |
| Animation production | SHAFT |
| ED theme | imase, “Mayoi wa Hikari” |
Yūki Hayashi is the composer known for Haikyu!! and My Hero Academia, and nobody is better at scoring the heat of a coming-of-age story. This series, though, isn’t really an ensemble piece — the camera stays trained on Hinase’s interior the whole way. How SHAFT’s static compositions mesh with Hayashi’s melodies is the thing I most want to see here.
What does the first main trailer tell us?
The first main trailer, the main visual and character profiles all went up on the official site and YouTube on October 21, 2026. The trailer is the second video after the teaser, and it’s where the 2027 broadcast window gets announced.
Rather than describe what’s in the footage, it’s faster to just watch the trailer on the official site. The thing to watch for is how SHAFT puts Hinase’s monologue — which takes up most of the manga — on screen, and part of that answer should already be visible in this trailer. While you’re there, check whether the ED theme “Mayoi wa Hikari” shows up in it.
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Recap: the latest on the Just Like Mona Lisa anime
The TV anime Just Like Mona Lisa airs in 2027, with the network and season still unannounced. Chika Anzai plays Hinase Arima, and the additional cast is Yoshino Aoyama, Nobuhiko Okamoto, Daisuke Sakuma, Chiharu, Kakeru Hatano, Haruna Mikawa and Shion Wakayama — seven performers whose roles have not been made public. The ED theme is imase’s original song “Mayoi wa Hikari”; the OP is unannounced. Kana Shundo directs, Katsuhiko Takayama handles series composition, Nobuhiro Sugiyama is on character design, Yūki Hayashi scores it, and SHAFT animates. The source manga by Tsumuji Yoshimura ran 10 volumes and has topped one million copies in circulation (as of October 21, 2026).
The broadcast window has narrowed to 2027, and the cast and ED theme are now all on the table. What’s left is the role assignments, the network and the OP — three things I expect to get one more reveal before the year is out. The combination itself, SHAFT depicting a protagonist who declined to pick a gender, is this project’s single biggest draw.
Whose voices will Ritsu and Shiori get? That’s where the next reveal starts.
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