Iron Wok Jan Anime Reveals Trailer, Visual, July 5 Premiere, Tomokazu Sugita Cast
The addition of Tomokazu Sugita as a major rival rounds out the cast for the first anime adaptation of a classic 1990s cooking battle manga, now set for a summer premiere.
Reporting from 2 sources: Anime News Network, Anime Corner.
The official website for the Iron Wok Jan television anime released a main trailer and key visual on Wednesday, June 24, 2026, confirming a July 5 premiere date. The trailer, presented as an "alternate" version, features food critic Nichido Otani commenting on the cooking battles. The announcement also revealed that Tomokazu Sugita will voice Ryuji Bito, a wandering Chinese cuisine chef known as "XO Sauce Ryu." Sugita, a veteran voice actor, expressed excitement about joining the adaptation of a manga he read in real time. The ending theme song "Naita Akuma" by EMUNIMINI was also previewed. The anime will air on TV Tokyo and its affiliates on Sundays at 5:30 p.m. JST, and will stream on Anime Times, ABEMA, U-NEXT, and Anime Hōdai in Japan. Ei Aoki directs the series at studio TROYCA, with Makoto Uezu handling series composition and Masako Matsumoto designing characters. The main cast includes Kikunosuke Toya as Jan Akiyama, Ikumi Hasegawa as Kiriko Gobancho, and Kohei Amasaki as Takao Okonogi. The original manga by Shinji Saijyo ran in Weekly Shonen Champion from 1995 to 2000 and has over 10 million copies in circulation.
The "alternate" trailer released on Wednesday differs from the standard promotional video by including a running commentary from Nichido Otani, the story's acerbic food critic, as he reacts to the dishes shown. The key visual features Jan Akiyama and Kiriko Gobancho facing off with cooking utensils in hand. Tomokazu Sugita, known for roles in Gintama and The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, will play Ryuji Bito, a chef who specializes in XO sauce and challenges other Chinese restaurant chefs. Sugita commented, "I was reading the original manga in real time back then. At first, I couldn't believe it was actually getting an anime adaptation. I was sulking because there hadn't even been an audition, and then I suddenly found out I had been cast as Ryu of XO Sauce. My excitement hit its peak. Hell yeah!!"
The staff includes cuisine animation directors Atsushi Okuda and Chihiro Hanamura, art director Ken Naito, and CG director Mitsutaka Iguchi. The opening theme "Hien" is performed by the seven-member dance vocal group Genin wa Jibun ni Aru. The manga franchise has spawned multiple sequels and spinoffs, including Iron Wok Jan! R: The Summit Operations and Iron Wok Jan!! 2nd, with total circulation exceeding 10 million copies. The anime is produced by TROYCA, the studio behind Idolish7 and Overtake!.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 2 cited sources below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.