During the Crunchyroll Showcase panel at Anime Expo 2026, the upcoming television anime adaptation of Sumiko Arai’s manga Kininatteru Hito ga Otoko ja Nakatta (also known as The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn’t a Guy at All) received its first major reveal. The panel unveiled the main cast, key staff, the opening theme, a teaser visual, and a teaser promotional video. The anime is set to premiere in January 2027.
Cast
| Character | Voice Actress |
|---|---|
| Mitsuki Koga | Ise Mariya (Aku no Hana) |
| Aya Oosawa | Kitou Akari (Ao no Hako) |
Staff
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Director | Ishihama Masashi (Horimiya) |
| Series Composition | Yamazaki Rino (Kaoru Hana wa Rin to Saku) |
| Character Design | Hirayama Kanna ([Oshi no Ko]) |
| Studio | CloverWorks |
Opening Theme
American rock band Nirvana will perform the opening theme song “Breed”.
Manga Background
Arai Sumiko originally began posting the music-themed girls love manga, also known by its short title Kinioto, on their X (formerly Twitter) account in April 2022. Kadokawa began printing the manga in April 2023 and published the fourth volume last February. The series has a cumulative 1.4 million copies of its volumes in print.
Yen Press licensed the manga in English in April 2024 and released the first volume in October that year. The third volume went on sale in December 2025, with the fourth volume scheduled to be released on October 27. The manga is also published in multiple foreign languages, including Spanish, Italian, Polish, and Brazilian Portuguese.
Kininatteru Hito ga Otoko ja Nakatta placed first in the Web Manga category in the 2023 Tsugi no Kuru Manga Awards and second in the female readers division in the 2024 Kono Manga ga Sugoi! rankings.
Teaser PV
A teaser promotional video was also released alongside the teaser visual. The video is available on official channels.
Source: Press Release
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