According to the announcement made at the Netflix Tudum Japan live stream event, Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre is set to release on January 19, 2023.
The new anime will be based on 20 stories written by horror manga artist Junji Ito, as he picked the stories to be animated himself. The live stream even introduced us to the anime's new cast members and showcased images from four of the 20 stories.
Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre set to release in January 2023
With Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre set to release on January 19, 2023, Netflix Japan revealed the still for four of the stories from the anime. The images feature stills from Junji Ito's Tomie, Souichi, and The Hanging Balloons.
While previously it hadn't been confirmed which of the stories from Tomie and Souichi were to be animated, details released by Netflix Japan revealed that Tomie: Photo and Souichi: The Room with 4 Walls were set to be animated from the two volumes.
Other stories which will be animated are Intruder, Unendurable Labyrinth, The Long Hair in the Attic, Bullied, The Strange Hikizuri Siblings: The Séance, and Suima no Heya's Where the Sandman Lives.
Additional cast members revealed
The cast of The Hanging Balloons will have Riho Sugiyama voicing Kazuko Morinaka, alongside Daisuke Kishio voicing Shinya Shiraishi. Riho Sugiyama had previously voiced Henry Stafford from Requiem of the Rose King, while Daisuke Kishio gave voice to Junta Teshima from Yowamushi Pedal: Limit Break.
Joining them is Iori Nomizu, who will voice Kagumi Fujino. She had previously voiced Yoshino from Date A Live IV.
The cast members of Tomie: Photo will be led by Rie Suegara, as she is set to reprise her role in Tomie special, and will voice the titular character, Tomie. Joining her will be Yumiri Hanamori as Tsukiko Izumisawa and Taku Yashiro as Yamazaki.
Lastly, we have Tomokazu Sugita and Hiroyuki Yoshino, who will voice Tachi and Kimata, respectively. Tomokazu Sugita had previously voiced Ngapoge from Ooyukiumi no Kaina, while Hiroyuki Yoshino had voiced Hizashi "Present Mic" Yamada from My Hero Academia.
Souichi: The Room With 4 Walls will feature Yuji Mitsuya, as he will voice the titular character from the manga, Souchi Tsuji. He had previously voiced Doppo Kunikida from Bungou Stray Dogs. Then we have Yoshimasa Hosoya as Kōichi and Yuka Saitō as Sayuri. Joining them is Yutaka Aoyama, who will voice Tagaisu. We will also have Hiro Shimono voicing Oshikiri from the story Intruder.
Previously, we were introduced to the cast members from other Junji Ito stories such as Unendurable Labyrinth, The Long Hair in the Attic, Bullied, and The Strange Hikizuri Siblings: The Séance. Hopefully, we will soon find out details about the other stories confirmed for the anime.