Though I Am an Inept Villainess Anime Sets July 12 Premiere, Reveals Key Visual
The July 12 premiere date locks in a summer slot for one of the season's few isekai-adjacent titles with a Chinese-inspired court setting, a subgenre that has seen limited anime adaptation.
Reporting from 2 sources: Anime News Network, Anime Trending.
The television anime adaptation of Satsuki Nakamura's light novel series "Though I Am an Inept Villainess" will premiere on July 12 at 11:45 p.m. JST on TV Tokyo and its affiliates, the staff announced on Monday. A new key visual was also released. The series was originally scheduled for an April debut but was delayed due to production delays. Studio Dōga Kōbō is producing the anime, with Mitsue Yamazaki directing. Manaka Iwami voices the protagonist Kou Reirin, and Natsumi Kawaida voices Shu Keigetsu. Crunchyroll will stream the series in multiple regions including North America, Europe, and Oceania. The light novel series, which began in December 2020 under Ichijinsha's imprint, has 12 volumes as of March 2026. A manga adaptation by Ei Ohitsuji runs concurrently in Monthly Comic Zero-Sum. Seven Seas Entertainment publishes both the novels and manga in English under the full title "Though I Am an Inept Villainess: Tale of the Butterfly-Rat Body Swap in the Maiden Court." The story follows Kou Reirin, a frail imperial consort candidate who is body-swapped by a rival and must navigate court intrigue in a new, stronger body.
The staff list includes several returning collaborators from director Mitsue Yamazaki's previous works. Yoshiko Nakamura, who wrote scripts for Yamazaki's How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift?, is handling series composition. Character designer Ai Kikuchi also worked with Yamazaki on that series and on New Game!.
Additional cast members announced are Makoto Furukawa as Ei Gyōmei, Yūichirō Umehara as Shin-u, Hana Hishikawa as Riirii, and Farahnaz Nikray as Kō Tōsetsu. Sumie Noro is listed as assistant director, a detail the summary did not include.
Music is by Yukari Hashimoto, whose credits include March Comes in Like a Lion and Sarazanmai. Sound production is handled by Tohokushinsha Film Corporation. The color key artist is Kei Ishiguro, and the art director is Seina Yaguchi of Studio Pablo.
The light novel series, published under Ichijinsha Novels, has 12 volumes as of March 2026. Seven Seas Entertainment released the 10th English volume on May 5 and the manga's eighth volume on December 16. The manga artist Ei Ohitsuji is credited alongside illustrator YukiKana for original character design on the anime.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 2 cited sources below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.