Kagurabachi Episode 1 Just Confirmed Its Release Date (But There’s a Catch)

Kagurabachi is finally going to be making its debut, and the first episode of the new anime is going to be out on a new world tour that begins for a few lucky fans later this July. It’s been one of the most highly requested anime releases among Shonen Jump fans ever since Takeru Hokazono’s manga made its debut, and it’s finally going to happen next year. But as the anime adaptation is gearing up to debut in 2027, the first episode is going to get an earlier premiere than expected.

When Kagurabachi first announced its official anime adaptation earlier this Spring, it had teased that it was going to be taking its first episode on a special world tour through the rest of 2026. Now the first of these new tour dates has been officially confirmed by CyberAgent that the first 20 minutes of Kagurabachi Episode 1 will be making its early world premiere as part of Anime Expo 2026 this July with members of the staff and cast also in attendance.

Kagurabachi Episode 1 World Tour Dates Confirmed

The Kagurabachi World Tour will be kicking off with a screening of the first 20 minutes of Episode 1 on Friday, July 3 during the Anime Expo 2026 weekend. Taihi Kimura (who stars as Chihiro Rokuhira) and producer Koichi Yasuda will be in attendance. Future appearances of the tour include Thursday, July 9th at Japan Expo, Saturday, August 1st at AnimagiC, and Saturday, August 22nd at AnimeNYC. So fans will have a few opportunities to check out the premiere before its full launch next year.

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Kagurabachi will be making its full anime debut sometime in April 2027 as part of the Spring 2027 anime schedule, but a more concrete release date or potential international streaming plans have yet to be announced as of the time of this writing. Tetsuya Takeuchi will be directing the new anime for Cypic with Keigo Sasaki providing the character designs. Future staff updates will likely be revealed at one of these world tour dates before the end of the year as we get closer to its 2027 launch.

Kagurabachi Creator Reacts to New Anime

“You know the Rock Lee vs. Gaara fight in Naruto?” Kagurabachi creator Takeru Hokazono revealed in a statement when the anime was first announced. “The manga version is great of course, but isn’t the anime’s version just incredibly cool? Well, the very person who brought that scene to life is our director! Woo! The staff is full of amazing people who really know the manga inside and out. I can’t wait to see how the animation turns out. Definitely a must-watch!”

It’s a sentiment director Tetsuya Takeuchi shared too, “Who would’ve thought that I’d be directing a popular Shonen Jump anime after working as a key animator on Naruto back when I was just a newbie…you really never know what life has in store,” the director began. “When you think of Kagurabachi, you think of swords! And more swords! Plus cool characters and intense drama! I’ll work hard to capture all those elements and aim to make a show that both long-time fans of the manga and first-time viewers alike can enjoy! There’s a lot of pressure!”

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