Shimofuri Myojo's Seiya Joins Ranma 1/2 Season 3 as Guest Star and Ambassador
The staff for the third season of the new Ranma 1/2 anime, based on Rumiko Takahashi's manga, announced on Friday that Seiya of comedy duo Shimofuri Myojo will guest star in an as-yet-unannounced role and serve as the production's promotional ambassador. The announcement places a Japanese comedy figure from outside the franchise's usual voice cast into a MAPPA-produced continuation of the long-running martial-arts comedy.
Season 3 Premiere Date and Screening Schedule
The anime's third season will debut on October 3 on Nippon TV (NTV) at 24:55 JST, effectively October 4 at 12:55 a.m. JST, and will stream exclusively on Netflix immediately after broadcast. An advanced screening is set for United Cinemas Aqua City Odaiba on October 3 at 2:00 p.m. JST, with voice actors Kappei Yamaguchi (boy-type Ranma), Noriko Hidaka (Akane), and Kōichi Yamadera (Ryoga) scheduled to appear. New cast members joining the season include Masako Nozawa as Grand Master, Jun Fukuyama as Sentarō Daimonji, Mayumi Tanaka in an undisclosed role, Saori Hayami in an undisclosed role, and Minami Tanaka as Tsubasa Kurenai.
Returning Staff at MAPPA and Animation Team Additions
Kōnosuke Uda is again directing the anime at MAPPA. Returning chief animation directors Yoshiko Saitō and Kōsuke Kawamura will be joined by Riko Kaneda, who served as animation director on the new anime's first season, and Haruki Miura, whose credits include Ensemble Stars! and JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean. Main animator Masahiro Kurio returns alongside new additions Atsuko Ishida, a key animator on the 1989 Ranma ½ series, and Yoshihiro Takeda, who worked on The Devil Is a Part-Timer! seasons 2 and 3.
Other Developments
Separately, Pony Canyon announced on Friday that the second season of the Dark Gathering television anime, based on Kenichi Kondō's manga, will premiere in 2027, with the first season having debuted in July 2023. Elsewhere in same-day anime coverage, Netflix confirmed that the new season of the sports-romance anime Blue Box will premiere on the platform on October 4 with both subtitled and dubbed versions available simultaneously.
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