Tohai Mahjong anime officially confirms October 2024 release date

On Friday, August 30, 2024, the official Japanese release date for the Tohai Mahjong anime was announced to be on Saturday, October 5, 2024 at 2:23AM Japanese Standard Time (JST). The confirmation was made through the series’ official X (formerly Twitter) account. The show is scheduled to air on MBS and TBS before being broadcasted on other networks. However, at the time of writing this article, the information regarding its international streaming release has not been confirmed.

The Tohai Mahjong anime is based on Koji Shinasak’s Tohai seinen manga series, which was originally published in Akita Shoten’s Young Champion magazine from June 27, 2006 to April 12, 2011. Like Hirohiko Araki’s JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, the Tohai series has been ongoing for many years, with multiple stories falling under the overarching Tohai title.

Tohai Mahjong anime officially premieres in the first weekend of October

Regrettably, the announcement of the official release date for the Tohai Mahjong anime did not come with any new information. However, since the series is set to premiere in just over a month from the time of this article’s writing, fans can anticipate further updates in the upcoming weeks. It is highly probable that announcements regarding the cast and staff will be made.

Despite the fact that the cast and staff have been gradually announced in the past few months, the details have already been disclosed. EAST FISH STUDIO’s Jun Hatori is taking on the role of director for the anime, while Mariko Kunisawa is in charge of the series’ scripts. Sayaka Anesaki is responsible for character design, and the music will be composed by Yusuke Shirato and Yuki Kishida.

At the moment, the confirmed lead roles for the upcoming Tohai Mahjong anime are Kohsuke Tanabe as Kei, Shunsuke Takeuchi as Tojima, Fairouz Ai as Amina, Tsuyoshi Koyama as Noriyuki Takatsu, and Chinatsu Akasaki as Yu Katsuragi. It is anticipated that more cast members will be revealed in the following weeks. The series, which was first announced in January 2024, has already released two promotional videos.

Shinasaka continued the original series with the 16-volume Tohai: Hitobashira-hen manga, published from May 2011 to May 2017. The series was then succeeded by Tohai: Minagoroshi-hen, which spanned 10 volumes from September 2017 to June 2021. This was followed by the ongoing Tohai: Cold Girl, which first released in September 2021. As of now, seven volumes of Cold Girl have been released, none of which have been translated into English.

In 2013, a live-action film adaptation of Shinasaka’s manga series was produced, drawing inspiration from the original work. Yuichi Onuma wrote and directed the film, which featured Goki Maeda, Hidekazu Ichinose, and Yasukaze Motomiya. According to Pony Canyon, the anime is described as:

“Money, women, organs. Kei, a high school boy, frequents the underground mahjong parlor teeming with desires, earning him the moniker ‘K of Ice’ in the underworld due to his cold-hearted strategy and stylish gameplay. Rumors also circulate that he keeps a girl at his home.”