Adaptations Galore: Death Games, New Haruhi, & Yandere Elves!

NEW ANIME — YANDERE ELVES, ORIGINAL SERIES, AND MORE!

• Apocalypse Hotel, an original project helmed by Cygames and Cyberagent, will air in 2025. The anime tells the story of human society after falling apart and takes place in the last hotel in Ginza. [Anime Eiga]

• For the kids in your life: Sunrise will revive the Mashin Hero Wataru franchise in January 2025 for a modern audience. The franchise first ran in 1988. [Spice]

• The light novel series Playing Death Games to Put Food on the Table (Japanese title: Shibō Yūgi de Meshi o Kuu) will be adapted into a TV anime in 2025, according to an announcement posted to X/Twitter. There’s no information regarding who will produce the series yet. The Yen On imprint released the story in English, describing the story as,

Yuki wakes up to find herself in an unfamiliar manor, wearing a maid uniform and lying on a luxurious bed. Soon, she discovers five more girls, all dressed the same as her. This is the Ghost House, and the only way they can survive is to make it through the traps that lie in wait-deadly games full of blowguns, buzz saws, locked rooms, and weapons. It’s a hopeless, terrifying situation for everyone there…well, everyone except Yuki. After all, this is her career at seventeen. Do you think that’s odd? She would agree. But that’s how some people are-they earn their living playing death games.

The death game format has been played a lot lately (see what I did there?), but I’m not against seeing another crack at the formula! [Ryokutya]

• All right. Are we ready for this week’s needlessly lengthy light novel title? Here it is: I Left My A-Rank Party to Help My Former Students Reach the Dungeon Depths! (Japanese title: A-Rank Party o Ridatsu Shita Ore wa, Moto Oshiego-tachi to Meikyū Shinbu o Mezasu) will see a TV anime adaptation come this January 2025. We can confirm that the series will star Hiromu Mineta as Yuke, Hana Inami as Marina, Natsumi Kawaida as Silk, and Nene Hieda as Rain. [Anime Eiga]

• GoHands has revealed plans to adapt the series The Exiled Reincarnated Heavy Knight Is Unrivaled In Game Knowledge into an anime series. [Comic Natalie]

• Are you looking for a darker romantic comedy? I could suggest this upcoming series, Yandere Dark Elf: She Chased Me All the Way From Another World!. It’s coming your way in 2025. [Comic Natalie]

• Closing out this section, Sunrise is coming out swinging with a brand-new original anime titled Maebashi Witches. All we know for sure is that it will air in April 2025. [AnimeAnime]

NEW LIGHT NOVEL VOLUMES — HARUHI IS BACK!

• This is news so big that it deserves its own brand-new category! After a short teaser went live on the official Haruhi Suzumiya account, speculation ran rampant before the staff revealed a brand-new volume of Haruhi would hit store shelves before the end of the year. Titled The Theater of Haruhi Suzumiya, the new volume will arrive in Japan on November 29th. No word from Yen Press yet on when the volume will see an English release. [Jin115]

LIVE-ACTION ADAPTATIONS

• A new live-action movie for the Body Search (Japanese title: Karada Sagashi) series debuts in 2025. What’s interesting about this movie is that while its origins come from a novel (which subsequently got a manga adaptation), none of the adaptations are the same and move the plot in different directions, forcing the audience to take every piece of the puzzle to piece together the ending. [NLab]

• The manga series Under Ninja (which received an anime adaptation in 2023) will head to the big screen with a live-action movie adaptation hitting theaters in Japan starting January 2025. [Eiga]

• Let’s hear it for the new josei series! Hip, hip, hooray! Ahem, sorry. Anyway. The manga anthology The Reason We Fall In Love will receive a live-action adaptation starting in October. The series will star Fuma Kikuchi and Rinka Kuwada in the lead roles. [Comic Natalie]

• If you’re a superhero fan, you’ll be pleased to hear that the Wingman series is getting a brand-new live-action adaptation in October to celebrate its 40th anniversary. The series ran in Weekly Shonen Jump from 1983 to 1985 and inspired a 1984 anime adaptation. [Anime News Network]

• Personal essay manga Fujoshi no Tsuzui-san will start a live-action adaptation on October 10th starring Sawako Fujima. [Eiga]

STAGE PLAY ADAPTATIONS

• The manga series 7Seeds will debut as a stage play on December 20th through the 29th in Tokyo. [Comic Natalie]

• In a twist, the popular manga series Oshi no Ko will also perform a stage play in December, telling the story of the “2.5D Stage Play” arc. This arc is also being adapted in the second season of the anime. [Anime News Network]

• Starting in October, My Dress-Up Darling will air a live-action adaptation in Japan. The series will star Riko Nagase and Kota Nomura in the lead roles. And this bit right here? It will make more than a couple of J-List blog staffers happy. [Comic Natalie]

• If you missed the first Tokyo Revengers stage musical, here’s your second chance. The franchise will get a second musical titled Tokyo Revengers #2 Bloody Halloween and run in the spring of 2025. [Anime News Network]

SEQUELS

• Classroom of the Elite will return for a new season, adapting its second year-first semester arc. For those counting at home, this is season four of this series. [Yaraon]

VIDEO GAME ADAPTATIONS

• The format is unknown and unconfirmed as of this writing. But we know the hit music anime Girls Band Cry will receive a mobile game adaptation. [Esuteru]

• Based on the Gegege no Kitaro franchise, a new Japanese horror game is available to add to your Wishlist on Steam. The game is titled NOROI KAGO: the Grudged Domain and is a multiplayer survival game. [Otakomu]

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