Waji is a manga creator whose work Trying to Break up With Sex is receiving an AnimeFesta anime adaptation, while their series Hundred Scenes of AWAJIMA is currently airing and being reviewed episodically.
Waji is the creator of two manga series that are currently in active adaptation or release. The most recent development is the announcement on June 12, 2026, that Waji's Trying to Break up With Sex boys-love manga will receive an AnimeFesta anime adaptation. The manga launched digitally in June 2024 and follows Makoto's repeated failed attempts to break up with his boyfriend Yagi. Broadcast timing and cast details have not yet been announced.
Waji's other series, Hundred Scenes of AWAJIMA, premiered its anime adaptation in late May 2026. The series is set at the Awajima Opera School and follows a cast of teenage girls training for the stage. Reviews of the premiere and subsequent episodes have noted the show's ensemble structure, its examination of institutional norms, and its thematic exploration of ambition, chronic illness, religion, and bullying. The premiere drew comparisons to Kageki Shojo but was described as taking a different perspective by offering simultaneous snapshots of many girls rather than focusing on a single protagonist.
As of the most recent stories, Hundred Scenes of AWAJIMA episodes 8 and 9 have been reviewed, with coverage continuing to analyze the series' critique of the school's ingrained senpai-kouhai dynamics and themes of self-determination. Waji's work is currently represented by two concurrent anime projects, one in production and one airing.
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Darkmatter Games has released Warlord: Awaji on PC via Steam. The game casts the player as a samurai general under a secret imperial order to conquer Awaji Island and recover a treasure. It combines first-person combat with strategy, an open world, battles numbering in the hundreds, and base building. The studio describes the mix as immersive strategy. The game costs 2,980 yen, with a 10 percent discount to 2,682 yen until September 17.
Darkmatter Games will release Warlord: Awaji on PC via Steam on September 10. The open-world game combines FPS and strategy elements on Japan's Awaji Island, where players lead forces, build fortresses, and capture villages and castles. The map holds over 100 settlements, six samurai factions, and a similar number of monk factions. A main trailer and a world teaser are out now. The price has not been announced.
GKIDS announced on Saturday that it has acquired North American rights to two films: the Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust anime and the live-action adaptation of Makoto Shinkai's 5 Centimeters per Second. The distributor will screen the Japanese-language version of Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust with English subtitles in select theaters this fall, ahead of theatrical and home entertainment releases planned for 2027. The 2000 film, directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri at Madhouse, is based on Hideyuki Kikuchi's novel series and follows D, a half-vampire hunter hired to rescue a woman abducted by the vampire Baron Meier Link. Cartoon Brew notes the film was developed with an international audience in mind, with its English soundtrack recorded in Los Angeles before Japanese dialogue was completed. GKIDS will also screen the live-action 5 Centimeters per Second in North American theaters. That film opened in Japan in October 2025, ranking second in its opening weekend with 278,000 tickets sold and 420 million yen earned in three days. SixTONES member Hokuto Matsumura stars, Yoshiyuki Okuyama directs, and Kenshi Yonezu performs the theme song.
Darkmatter Games released the main trailer for its open-world samurai simulation Warlord: Awaji and set a September 10 launch date. The game is set on a one-third scale recreation of Awaji Island during the 14th-century Nanboku-cho period, with historians consulted for authentic armor, weapons, and architecture.
Darkmatter Games released a world teaser trailer for Warlord: Awaji, a new PC strategy simulation set on Awaji Island. Players become a samurai general tasked with recovering a stolen sacred treasure, building power through village development, resource management, diplomacy, and real-time battles. The game also features first-person sword combat. Japanese voice support is confirmed.
Masanao Kawajiri's feature debut 'Cherry and Virgin' premiered at Fantasia Festival. The film follows two inexperienced artists who meet on a dating app, using rotoscoped performances and manga panel-style illustrations to depict their sexual anxieties. Kawajiri discussed the film's lengthy crowdfunded development, which was extended by the pandemic.
Masanao Kawajiri's original film Cherry and Virgin won Special Mention of the Jury in the Satoshi Kon Award for Excellence in Animation at the 30th Fantasia International Film Festival. The film had its world premiere at the festival and is scheduled to open in 2027. The award section is named after the late director Satoshi Kon.
The final two episodes of Hundred Scenes of AWAJIMA form a two-part story about Wakana's book on Emi Okabe and the tragedy at Awajima. The first part covers her research and writing, the second the aftermath of publication. The show maintains its quiet, bird's-eye view of the school, rarely focusing on theatrical performance. Wakana, a former student who became a writer, embodies the series' recurring theme that most alumni do not become actors. The penultimate episode explores journalistic ethics through the differing reactions of Emi's surviving family members.
In the fourth episode of Something Genuine season two, singer-songwriter Hana Hope opens up about growing up Japanese-American in Tokyo, how her bicultural identity shapes her songwriting, and the pressures of a professional music career. She also performs "Blue Hour," the opening theme for A Hundred Scenes of AWAJIMA, and reveals she will sing the ending theme for the upcoming series Goodbye, Lara.
VIZ Media and Yen Press announced their Spring 2027 manga licenses on June 12, with simultaneous social media posts. VIZ's slate includes 12 titles such as Jujutsu Kaisen Modulo, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Over Heaven, and a Slam Dunk deluxe hardcover. Yen Press added four series, including Witches Can't Be Collared and Tale of the Wizrain Kingdom.
Episode 10 of Hundred Scenes of Awajima explores how children inherit and reinterpret their parents' lives. Two stories focus on non-Awajima people with Awajima alumni parents. Scriptwriter Shinji Hasegawa gives an interview about growing up with his famous mother, actress Utako. The episode also revisits Ibuki's strained relationship with her grandmother. The review notes the series' use of interviews as a narrative tool.
Suiseisha announced on Friday that Waji's Trying to Break up With Sex boys-love manga is receiving an AnimeFesta anime adaptation. The manga, which launched digitally in June 2024, follows Makoto's repeated failed attempts to break up with his boyfriend Yagi. Broadcast timing and cast details will be announced later.
The review covers episodes 8 and 9 of Hundred Scenes of AWAJIMA, which introduce a new generation of students at the academy. The episodes examine how the school's ingrained senpai-kouhai dynamics shape relationships before individual personalities emerge. A subplot follows Kinue, now performing under the stage name Akira, and her continued connection with middle school theater partner Ryouko. The narrative also addresses themes of self-determination through stage names and the choice to intervene against bullying.
The first episode of A Hundred Scenes of Awajima introduces viewers to Wakana Tabata, a new student at the Awajima Opera School, as she moves into her dorm and begins her training alongside a cast of classmates. The premiere presents multiple vignettes of teenage girls pursuing their dreams of the stage, each with their own motivations and backgrounds. The school is depicted as intensely competitive, where even minor traits become gossip among students. The review from Anime Feminist notes that while the series invites immediate comparison to Kageki Shojo, the two shows take different perspectives: Kageki Shojo focuses largely on one character's viewpoint, while Awajima offers simultaneous snapshots of many girls. The tone also differs, with the reviewer describing Awajima as a more human story about teenagers finding their footing in a specialized field. The premiere is characterized as soft and introspective, with a focus on the shared experience of being classmates while competing to become the best. The reviewer recommends the series as a necessary addition to watchlists, praising its heart and engaging storytelling.
Yoshiaki Kawajiri's 1993 anime film "Ninja Scroll" has received a full 4K restoration produced by AMC Networks' Sentai Filmworks. The remastered version, sourced from a 4K scan of the original 35 mm camera negative, will world premiere at the 76th Berlin International Film Festival in the Berlinale Classics section on February 15. Additional screenings are scheduled for February 16 and 22. The restoration was completed under Kawajiri's supervision and involved frame-by-frame cleanup and color correction to create a new archival master. Sentai president John Ledford said the upgraded version offers an experience comparable to seeing the film for the first time. Sentai plans to release the restoration as a limited-edition 4K UHD Blu-ray SteelBook in early 2027. The film's inclusion in the Berlinale Classics lineup highlights its status as a landmark of adult-oriented Japanese animation.
Anime News Network reviews episode 7 of Hundred Scenes of AWAJIMA, focusing on a story that follows three students across two time periods. The episode examines Saori's guilt over benefiting from Mikako's illness-forced departure from theater, and Mikako's experience growing up with a chronic condition in a society that expects her to power through without accommodation.
Anime News Network reviews episode 5 of Hundred Scenes of AWAJIMA, noting the series' turn toward religion and cult influence through Asami's backstory. The episode explores how her parents' unnamed faith weighs on her even as she pursues theater, without depicting abuse or overt coercion.
Episode 6 of Hundred Scenes of AWAJIMA draws a parallel between school ghost stories and the social function of bullying, framing both as mechanisms that bind students together through shared fear. The episode follows Horiuchi, who fears the living more than the dead, and revisits Emi Okabe's classmates, who remain burdened by guilt years later.