Chitose Is in the Ramune Bottle Reveals Key Art and Song Project

Official Chitose Is in the Ramune Bottle youth-song cover visual for Ao to Natsu

Chitose Is in the Ramune Bottle has given international fans two new reasons to watch its return: a new key visual for the anime’s second cour and the launch of a heroine-led cover-song project. Both announcements appeared on the series’ official website on August 21, 2026, ahead of the television anime’s planned October return in Japan.

The update is useful because it adds concrete promotional material while leaving the details overseas viewers need most—an exact premiere date, broadcast time, and second-cour streaming territories—open. Here is what is confirmed, what the new material signals, and what fans should check next.

What Was Announced

The official anime site published a new key visual for the second cour on August 21. The visual continues the series’ focus on Saku Chitose and the five heroines around him as the story moves into its next broadcast block. The site had previously confirmed that the second cour will begin in October 2026, with a recap episode numbered 13.5 scheduled for the week before the new episodes start.

“Second cour” describes the next scheduled block of the television adaptation. It is a practical broadcast term and does not, by itself, mean that the production has been announced as a separate Season 2.

The same day, the official site announced a special youth-song cover project featuring the five main heroines. Its first release is a cover of Ao to Natsu, originally performed by Mrs. GREEN APPLE. The cover is performed by Yūko Hiiragi (Manaka Iwami), Yua Uchida (Hina Youmiya), Haru Aomi (Rumi Ōkubo), Yuzuki Nanase (Ikumi Hasegawa), and Asuka Nishino (Chika Anzai). The official announcement pairs the song with a music video using newly drawn artwork and identifies it as part of the series’ wider Fukui-focused promotion.

The official YouTube video linked from the announcement is therefore more than a conventional character song. It is the first public entry in a project built around the heroines singing songs associated with youth, which matches the coming-of-age identity the anime has used from the beginning.

Why It Matters

The visual and the song project serve different parts of the fan experience. The key art tells viewers that the adaptation is moving forward toward its October broadcast window, while the cover MV gives the cast and characters a new way to remain visible during the gap between broadcast blocks. For a series whose appeal depends heavily on conversations, friendships, and emotional turning points, a five-voice performance can reinforce the ensemble rather than reducing the campaign to a single protagonist.

The choice of Ao to Natsu is also specific to the show’s tone. The title evokes summer and youth, themes that fit a story set around high-school relationships and personal change. That does not mean the song predicts a particular plot development; the official announcement does not make such a claim. It does mean the campaign is using music to extend the series’ central idea of a once-only “blue” period of adolescence.

There is a regional angle as well. The official announcement describes the anime as a story set in Fukui, and the cover MV was released alongside the Chiramune Fukui Collaboration 2026 promotion. For fans outside Japan, that creates a clearer bridge between the fictional setting and the real place that informs it. The campaign may become a useful entry point for viewers who want to understand why Fukui is part of the show’s identity, although the announcement does not confirm any overseas event or merchandise rollout.

Context for International Fans

The firm schedule information is still limited. The official site confirms an October 2026 start for the second cour and a 13.5 recap during the preceding week, but it does not yet publish the exact Japanese broadcast date or time on the announcement pages checked for this report. Fans should not convert “October” into a guessed calendar date or assume that the recap and new episodes will arrive on the same international service at the same time.

Crunchyroll currently carries the first cour, and its title page lists English subtitles alongside several other subtitle languages. That makes the platform a practical place for overseas viewers to check the existing episodes. However, the pages checked here do not provide a confirmed second-cour territory list or a specific international simulcast time. Availability may vary by country, and the second-cour listing could be added later.

The Ao to Natsu cover MV is available through the official YouTube link embedded on the anime website. Music-video access can still vary by territory or change after publication, so fans should use the official link rather than relying on reposted uploads. The same principle applies to the key visual: the official website is the best reference for the latest art and schedule notices.

For readers who prefer the source material, the series is based on Hiromu’s light novels, with a manga adaptation also available in English. The anime’s second-cour announcement does not reveal how many novels or manga chapters it will adapt, so any prediction about its endpoint remains unconfirmed.

What Happens Next

The next useful official update should be the exact October broadcast date and time for the second cour, followed by the date of episode 13.5. International fans should then look for a platform announcement that names the countries and territories covered, the subtitle and dub options, and the expected release time in each market.

The music project also needs follow-up details. The official announcement identifies Ao to Natsu as the first cover, but it does not list the release schedule, song choices, or participants for later entries. Those details may be announced through the anime website, its official social accounts, and the official YouTube channel. Until then, the new key visual and first cover MV are confirmed promotional updates—not evidence of an exact international premiere date.

Sources

Information was checked on August 24, 2026, at 9:34 PM JST.

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