Tokyo Anime Dispatch

On July 10, 2026, HIKE released a fresh update for BLACK TORCH ahead of the show's July 11 episode 2 broadcast. The package includes new preview cuts, the episode title, a synopsis, and a non-credit ending video. Taken together, it is the kind of weekly anime update that tells you the broadcast campaign is moving from launch mode into steady serialization. What Was Announced The core news is simple: episode 2, titled The Choice Is Yours , is scheduled to air on July 11, 2026 at 22:00 JST. The synopsis says Jiro wakes up in a hospital and learns that he is under surveillance by the Public Shadow Operations Bureau, while Rago has apparently been sealed for a long time. The release also says Jiro is told that he may be treated as a missing person because of what happened after the union with Rago. Those details are intentionally compact, but they set the stage for the second week of the series. Just as important, the release keeps the promotional machine visible. HIKE also point...

On July 10, 2026, Bushiroad released the synopsis and preview stills for episode 2 of BLACK TORCH, titled “The Choice Is Yours.” The update lands one day before the episode’s scheduled July 11 broadcast at 22:00 JST, and it follows the anime’s July 4 debut on TOKYO MX and other stations. What Was Announced The new press release does three things at once: it names the episode, outlines the plot, and publishes advance stills. In the synopsis, Jiro wakes up in a hospital, learns that he is now being watched by the Bureau, and is told that his case may be handled as though he were a missing person. That is a bigger tonal shift than a simple recap. It moves the series from the opening rescue scene into questions of surveillance and authority, which should matter to anyone tracking how the adaptation structures its tension. The same announcement also reminds viewers that broadcast timing can shift on some stations. RKB Mainichi Broadcasting, for example, may be delayed by up to...

On July 3, 2026, Bushiroad published a press release at 6:00 p.m. JST with fresh first-episode materials for BLACK TORCH . The release focused on the series' opening chapter and shared the episode 1 synopsis and preview cuts for the July 4, 2026, 10:00 p.m. JST broadcast slot. For anyone tracking summer anime closely, that makes this a clear last-step update before premiere night. The official BLACK TORCH site frames the series as a shinobi-action fantasy built around Jiro Azuma, a high school student raised by his grandfather in the ninja tradition who can speak with animals. His life changes after he finds Rago, an injured black cat in the forest. That cat is not what it first appears to be: the official English site describes Rago as a mononoke legend, the Black Star of Doom. The same official introduction also points to a covert Bureau of Espionage and a wider struggle over mononoke powers, which gives the adaptation a very specific mix of folklore, secret-organization intr...

On June 19, 2026, Bushiroad announced that the TV anime BLACK TORCH will begin broadcasting on July 4, 2026, at 10:00 p.m. JST. The same release says the series will also stream simultaneously on ABEMA, d Anime Store, U-NEXT, and Anime Times. In other words, this is not just a title reveal with a loose window attached; it is a fully scheduled launch with a distribution plan already in place. What Was Announced The most concrete detail is the premiere slot. BLACK TORCH is now set for Saturday, July 4, 2026, at 10:00 p.m. JST, giving the anime a fixed broadcast position before the summer season fully unfolds. The official site frames the project as a TV anime adaptation of Tsuyoshi Takaki’s manga, which ran in Shueisha’s Jump SQ. and Shonen Jump+ . The distribution side is just as important as the broadcast date. By naming ABEMA, d Anime Store, U-NEXT, and Anime Times in the same announcement, the release makes clear that the show is being treated as a multi-platform launch from d...