The legendary Rumiko Takahashi returns to anime with her most recent work receiving an anime adaptation. Fans of InuYasha should get excited, as MAO shares similar story beats. A girl from modern-day Japan travels to the Taisho era, where she meets a boy with demon blood running through his veins. We’ll see this new time-traveling romance tale unfold sometime in 2026.
Rumiko Takahashi released the original MAO manga series on May 8th, 2019. Shogakukan has published 24 volumes in Weekly Shonen Sunday.
The time-travel girl and two of the super-powered boys she meets are as follows:
- Nanoka Kiba — Natsumi Kawaida (Seethia from Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury). A girl from modern-day Japan. She miraculously survived an incident at the Gogyo Town Shopping Center as a child.
- Mao — Yuki Kaji (Sabito from Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba). An immortal omnyoji exorcist with cursed blood.
- Hyakka — Hiro Shimono (Zenitsu Agatsuma from Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba). An immortal exorcist who shares a rivalry with Mao.
Studio Sunrise maintains a home page and a Twitter (X) page to promote MAO. You can find more information about the series and its key visuals on these pages.
MAO Hunts the Cat Demon
Nanoka Kiba has lived an interesting life. A road cave-in struck her and her parents. While they died at the scene inside the car, rescuers found her outside it. Nanoka’s life takes a turn when she investigates an abandoned shopping center entrance, the same one where she briefly died. She’s inexplicably drawn to the Taisho era (July 30th, 1912, to December 25th, 1926).
Nanoka faces a group of spirits and a large mantis-like creature. She meets someone who isn’t transparent and pleads for help. He refuses to help, and she loses a hand to the monster. However, her blood injures it, and the man slays the demon right away. He reattaches her hand and provides a pill that removes a mysterious seal on her. Nanoka flees from his questions and passes through the gate that returns her to the present. Their fateful meeting won’t end with just that.
Will you watch the MAO premiere next year? Have you read the original manga series? Who do you prefer between Nanoka and Kagome? Let us know in the comments below.
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