The upcoming Junji Itō anime project titled Junji Itō Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre has had some new information released regarding the series' staff, opening sequence, and broadcast information. Initially announced in June 2022, the upcoming horror anthology will be adapting some stories from Junji Itō's Tomie, Sōichi, and The Hanging Balloons volumes, as well as various other volumes from the author's vast body of work.
With the release of a new promotional video for Junji Itō Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre, the upcoming horror anthology series is slated for a release on the Netflix platform on January 19, 2023.
The new promotional video for Junji Itō Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre features the upcoming series' opening sequence, which is "Paranoid" performed by MADKID. Staff involved in this anime project include Shinobu Tagashira, the director from the previous Junji Itō series, Junji Itō Collection, which ran for twelve episodes in 2018.
Other staff returning from the previous Junji Itō anime project include scriptwriter Kaori Sawada; sound director Hozumi Goda; and composer Yuki Hayashi, who is famous for composing the soundtracks of popular anime projects like My Hero Academia, Haikyuu!, and Pokémon Journeys: The Series (2019). Production for the upcoming series is the jurisdiction of Studio DEEN, which also handled production of the Junji Itō Collection.
The upcoming Junji Itō Maniac will see the first ever animation of 20 stories from the huge list of the author's works, but also include stories from volumes like Tomie and The Hanging Balloons. The original manga contains eleven volumes and originally ran from 2011 to 2013.
Stories that will be animated in the upcoming series include The Strange Hikizuri Siblings: The Séance; Unendurable Labyrinth; The Long Hair in the Attic; Where the Sandman Lives; Bullied; Ice Cream Truck; Library of Illusions; Headless Sculptures as well as Grave Town.
Cast members who will be involved in Junji Itō Maniac include Takahiro Sakurai, who will be playing the role of Kazuya Hikizuri in The Strange Hikizuri Siblings: The Séance; Romi Park, who will play Kiko in the aforementioned; Natsumi Takamori has been cast in the role of Kuriko in Bullied; Yōko Hikasa will play the character Chiemi in The Long Hair in the Attic; Hisako Kanemoto will be Sayoko in Unendurable Labyrinth. Additionally. Fumiko Orikasa, known for her role as Rukia in BLEACH, has been cast as Rumi in Headless Sculptures; while the voice actor for the Attack on Titan protagonist Eren, Yuki Kaji, will be playing Goro Shinozaki in Library of Illusions.
Junji Itō Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre will premiere worldwide on Netflix on January 19, 2023.