A TV anime adaptation of The World Is Dancing, Kazuto Mihara’s historical manga exploring the origins of Noh theater, has been announced for Summer 2026. Shochiku and CyberAgent are co-producing the series, with animation by CygamesPictures.
The announcement was accompanied by a teaser visual illustrated by Keigo Sasaki and featuring title calligraphy from Satoru Nemoto, along with a promotional trailer and full staff and cast details. Yumiri Hanamori will voice the lead character Oniyasha, the early name of Zeami, who would later become the father of Noh. You can watch the teaser trailer below.
The World Is Dancing Production Staff and Cast
- Director: Toshimasa Kuroyanagi (The Great Passage, Backflip!!)
- Character Design: Keigo Sasaki (The Millionaire Detective, Lonely Castle in the Mirror)
- Calligraphy/Title Lettering: Satoru Nemoto
- Animation Production: CygamesPictures
- Voice Cast:
- Yumiri Hanamori as Oniyasha
You can see the teaser visual below.
Story
In 1374, amid the turmoil of the Northern and Southern Courts’ long running conflict, a boy named Oniyasha is born into a family of sarugaku theater performers. He spends his days in a kind of quiet gloom, haunted by a simple but persistent question: Why do people dance? Then, one day, he witnesses a dance that he feels to be “good”—and everything begins to change. This is the story of the beautiful young boy who would one day shape the art of Noh and be remembered as Zeami.
Staff Comments
Toshimasa Kuroyanagi (Director)
This is the story of a boy named Oniyasha, who continues to challenge himself creatively during an era when Noh—now considered a classical performing art— was still called Sarugaku and was the cutting‑edge entertainment of its time. He isn’t blessed with exceptional talent, nor does he possess any achievements worthy of praise. Even so, he throws himself into Sarugaku day after day, driven by the hope that if he becomes someone, he might be able to change the world. Watching him, we felt it connected to the “beginner’s spirit” that still lives somewhere inside all of us. That feeling inspired the entire crew to work hard to create an anime that everyone can enjoy. Just as the “flower” that Oniyasha discovers has endured for 600 years, we want to craft this story with great care so that it, too, can be loved for generations to come.
Keigo Sasaki (Character Design)
After reading the original work, I found myself thinking, “If I don’t take part in this, I’ll definitely regret it.” That’s how full of charm this story is. As we work on the anime, questions keep coming to mind—”How much of that can we express in animation?” “What does ‘expression’ even mean in the first place?” While being swept up in the sheer passion Oniyasha pours into his art, I’m spending my days taking on this challenge together with the other creators. We’re doing our very best to deliver something truly touching to you.
Satoshi Nemoto (Calligraphy/Title Lettering)
The great master of Noh, Zeami, left behind Fushikaden, the oldest Japanese treatise on Noh and acting, in which he described the movements of the body and the heart, likening one’s outward bearing—fushi—to a flower. In his later years he also wrote Kakyo, and for him, this idea of “flower” held a special meaning. When I was asked to create the katakana title lettering for The World Is Dancing and considered how best to express it, I felt that using flowers as the theme was the right approach. Katakana was originally born as a set of marks to help read classical Chinese texts in Japanese, and in that sense it moves freely between the world of written characters and the world beyond them. That is why, freeing the letters from their literal form, I shaped my brushstrokes to reflect Zeami’s “flower” in this title design. If this anime can be graced with even the smallest blossom through my work, I would be truly grateful.
Yumiri Hanamori (VA for Oniyasha)
I believe that in this world, there are as many things people consider “good” as there are people. No two people measure things by the same standard. And that’s exactly why, if someone encounters something in this world that they feel is “good,” it will surely become a flower that lights and colors the path they walk. I can’t help but hope for that. In a world where rise and fall come and go like waves on the shore, what shape did the flower he brought into bloom take, and what color did it shine with? Why does it continue to bloom even now, along the paths of so many people? I hope that, somewhere beyond this work, it reaches you too.
The project adapts Kazuto Mihara’s six-volume manga originally serialized in Kodansha’s Morning magazine. The anime seeks to portray the cultural and personal evolution of Zeami during the late 14th century, at a time when Noh (then known as sarugaku) was still evolving into a formal art. The English version of the original manga is available on KODANSHA.
You can also see the illustration from the manga’s author below:
Source: The World Is Dancing Official Website, Official X @wid_anime
©Kazuto Mihara, KODANSHA/”The World Is Dancing” Production Committee.
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