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The Villainess Is Adored by the Prince of the Neighbor Kingdom Anime Reveals Main Cast, Staff, TV Format, January 2026 Debut

Kadokawa revealed on Monday the key visual, main cast, staff, television format, and the January 2026 debut for the anime adaptation of Punichan's The Villainess Is Adored by the Prince of the Neighbor Kingdom (Akuyaku Reijō wa Ringoku no Ōtaishi ni Dekiai Sareru) light novel series.

The anime will star:

Mai Fuchigami as Tiararose, the daughter of a count of the Lapis Lazuli kingdom

Yūichirō Umehara as Aquasteed, the crown prince of Lapis Lazuli's neighboring kingdom Marine Forest

Takuya Satō as Hartknights, the crown prince of Lapis Lazuli

Yumiri Hanamori as Akari, the heroine of the otome game "The Ring of Lapis Lazuli"

The cast are reprising their roles from the light novel series' otome game adaptation.

Takayuki Hamana (Ace of Diamond, The Prince of Tennis, The Witch and the Beast) is directing the anime at Studio DEEN. Yoshimi Narita (Twilight Out of Focus, Beet the Vandel Buster) is in charge of series scripts, and Majiro (22/7, Barakamon, Macross Delta) is designing the characters.

The romance story follows a protagonist who is reincarnated as Tiararose, the villainess of the protagonist's favorite otome romance game aimed at female gamers. The protagonist is resigned to accepting the in-game judgment event and the fate that awaits her. However, just as her fiancé breaks off their engagement, the game throws up a marriage proposal event that wasn't in the game's original scenario — from Aquasteed, the crown prince of the neighboring country.

Punichan first began serializing the story on the Shōsetsuka ni Narō service in 2016. B's-Log Bunko has added illustrations by Akeno Naruse and published 14 volumes of the light novel series, which has over 5.6 million copies in circulation. Kadokawa's B's-LOG COMIC is serializing a manga adaptation by Hoshina, and its 16th compiled book volume will ship on September 1. The light novel series also has a two-volume spinoff series, and a three-volume manga adaptation of that spinoff.

The story inspired a real otome game by OperaHouse for the Nintendo Switch in 2024. The game is available in English on PC via Steam.

J-Novel Club publishes Namura Katamura's manga of Punichan's From Villainess to Healer: I Know the Cheat to Change My Fate story, and Punichan's RVing My Way into Exile with My Beloved Cat light novel series. Seven Seas Entertainment licensed Punichan's Fluffy Café in Another World light novel series and manga.

Source: Press release

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