The Spring 2026 Anime Preview Guide

Ghost Concert: missing Songs

In 2045, songs are banned. Instead of humans playing instruments and creating music, a music app titled "MiucS" is in charge of these activities. High school student Seria goes out with her friends one day, but she happens to hear someone singing, which is supposed to be prohibited. What she finds is a lone ghost, a "Great Ghost" who has appeared from outside this world.

Ghost Concert: missing Songs is an original story by Noriyasu Agematsu, UNISON, and Project MiucS. The anime series is streaming on Crunchyroll on Sundays.

Everyone wants to be Fate/stay night these days. Everyone wants a big series where the spirits of historical figures possess you, or are summoned by you, or are you in a past life and might or might not take over your personality. Everyone wants a story where you harness the greatness of the past. Could it be because nobody can envision a future of greatness? And despite certain political slogans, we certainly don't seem to have much greatness in leadership these days.

Ghost Concert: missing Songs is the second such series of the season—and it's certainly the weirder of the two. It also shares a director with Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma Ilya, which might or might not actually be a coincidence. Considering it's a mixed media project, though, I have a feeling it was designed by committee, and is not actually an expression of his creative drive. However, being created by a committee would go a long way to explain why the show is like it is. The original concept is credited to Noriyasu Agematsu, the producer who also created Symphogear, Classic Stars, and Visual Prison, three unhinged musical series that mashed together a bunch of disparate elements with varying degrees of success.

I have a feeling that in terms of popularity, Ghost Concert is going to end up closer to the Classic Stars of the spectrum: it has the feeling of trying to do too much at once, without the charisma or panache to bring it off. The episode starts off with a musical number of the protagonist Seria singing at a concert, and though she's filled a huge arena, she has the stage presence of a damp rag. That's… not going to make a great impression on potential audience members. Nor will the PS3 graphics CGI—though Seria's comments about disliking AI music will probably grab some viewers. As the episode goes, it keeps layering idea upon idea: humans doing anything with music other than passively consuming it is illegal because of a virus! But actually ghosts! And people who can see ghosts can actually harness their power to fight! And sprinkles and hot fudge and a cherry on top!!!

If you are the sort who is charmed by excess, and I'm not saying I'm immune, you might find yourself drawn into Ghost Concert. When the animation doesn't look like it was rendered on an obsolete console, it's actually quite glossy and attractive. The big action setpiece, culminating in a duet between Seria and the ghost of Cleopatra about the latter's search for her son, is well-choreographed and just the right amount of flashy. The emotions around Seria's situation seem sincere as well.

One thing that could have been cut? Cleopatra acting like a slut. That's just misogyny.

It's funny to see science-fiction these days that tries to tap into that strain of hopeful optimism that was so prevalent in the genre in decades past. I'm sorry, but when I see a character living in 2045 with a hi-tech toothbrush and a holographic bathroom mirror interface, all I can think is “Who wants to bet that the big tech monopoly of WarnerFlix Colgate-Heinz Inc. is charging this poor girl a $200-a-month subscription plan for this thing, and how long before they roll out an update that integrates BetMGM Live Gambling technology and also bricks her house's central heating unit?” I tell you, speculative fiction about futuristic pop-stars used to be a lot more fun before the whole plannet got plunged into the wacky and depressing hijinks of an unpublished Phillip K. Dick novel.

Anyways, even though I find the sci-fi trappings of Ghost Concert: missing Songs to be more cringey than they are compelling, I'm still a sucker for a good musical, so the show still has potential. That's because this seemingly straight-laced little idol anime is actually a deranged mashup of science-fiction and the supernatural—and our heroine Seria eventually finds herself wrapped up in a plot involving the ancient and irrepressibly horny ghost of Cleopatra that culminates in a magical, musical battle for Seria's very soul. There are also laser-drones, killer conspiracies, and plenty of other wild breadcrumbs that Ghost Concert drops to hook the viewer into tuning into next week's adventure.

I have to admit: The bold play paid off. Yes, Ghost Concert is an absolutely ludicrous concept that could only be dreamt up in the production meetings of a cross-industry team of industry technicians and marketing brainiacs. This show screams “Weird and Potentially Implosive Anime Original”, and I'm honestly kind of here for it. Clearly, the team at Studio ENGI and all of the creative cooks in the corporate kitchen that put this project together are excited to fuse genre thrills and pop-music spectacle together into a crazy concoction that could just as easily fall apart into nonsense as it could come together into a cohesive whole.

I won't pretend that this is the most compelling story or well-realized cast of characters we've met all season. Given the loony concept and the pretty solid execution of this premiere, though, I'm honestly interested enough in seeing how things turn out that I kind of need to check out at least a few more episodes. If nothing else, we'll at least get a few more nifty music videos out of the whole deal.

Welcome to another edition of “WTF, Anime?” Today we ask how, precisely, the first episode of Ghost Concert: missing Songs went from “AI-assisted toothbrushing” to “singing a duet with the ghost of Cleopatra VII Philopater. It's a strange jump, you must admit, and it comes with a bonus terrible depiction of the last Hellenic pharoah of an independent Egypt and the ghosts of Marc Antony and Julius Caesar…who are apparently hanging out in the afterlife together? No objections to a why choose romance, but I don't know that history supports this one…

Apparently in the future of 2045, singing and the human creation of music has been outlawed. There are a few hints in the episode that this had something to do with an illness of some kind, and now all music is created by the AI MiucS, which does things like compose elevator music for your car ride. Seria has always been dissatisfied with MiucS for reasons she can't explain, but it seems to have something to do with the fact that she's a medium. Yes, Seria can see and be possessed by ghosts, which is how she ends up possessed by Cleopatra. No word on why she's hanging around Japan, but I suppose even ghosts can be tourists.

My biggest issue with this episode is not the nonsensical storytelling, because honestly, this is flashy enough and confident enough that it's only when you stop to think about it that it feels ludicrous. It's also not Seria's weird two-toned hair, which I think is meant to be an indicator of her ability to be possessed and communicate with ghosts. No, my problem is strictly a history nerd issue, which is the way Cleopatra is depicted as a man-hungry sex-fiend. Come on. It's 2026; the research has been done – we don't need to keep retelling a version of her that was Roman propaganda. Give her her due, especially since enough research was done to have her be looking for her son Caesarion, who was executed by Octavian shortly after her death.

History rage aside, this is a strangely appealing episode. Sure, the logic is all over the place, but care has been taken to make sure that the real song sung by Cleopatra and Seria sounds distinctly different from the MiucS songs, and the future technology looks just close enough to our own that it feels like a natural offshoot. I don't have a feel for Seria or Kaede yet, or even what the full plot of the series is going to be, but I'm intrigued. With its bright colors and bizarre plotline, I think this is definitely one for the three-episode test.

Just…maybe don't reduce any other great woman leaders to their worst fake images?

If there was ever an anime trying to do way too many things at once, it's this one. I mean, in this episode we have:

• An opening music video
• A dystopian utopia where singing is banned
• A supposed virus that spreads through song
• Ghosts possessing people
• A separate spirit world layered on top of our own
• Priests with supernatural powers
• Spirit mediums who can combine with the spirits of dead heroes
• A battle involving Cleopatra, Marc Antony, and Julius Caesar
• A duet music video between Seria (our main character) and Cleopatra
• Human drama cultivating in the break up of a friend group
• A government sanctioned double assassination.

Now, on their own, any of these setting aspects, stylistic choices, or plot points could make for an interesting anime. The issue this show is facing is that, by trying to do so much, it doesn't end up doing anything very well. This episode feels like a chaotic mess where things just seem to happen without any logical rhyme or reason.

The most solid part of this episode is the more grounded sci-fi story of a girl living in an age where freethinking and personal expression are largely non-existent. Cars tell you how long you're allowed to park, your mirror tells you how long to brush your teeth, and the flying death drones tell you when your grace time for breaking the law is up and it's time to die. Likewise, the personal story of teens growing up in such a world and therefore being afraid of anything out of the ordinary (like, say their friend being able to see ghosts) could make for some solid human drama. But when you throw everything else on top of this, it all gets lost in the noise.

Simply put, this episode left me completely disinterested in seeing anything more of it. Nothing hooked my attention: not the singing, not the ghosts, and most certainly not the strange, sex-obsessed Cleopatara. Even the dystopian world with its weird hatred of human-made music can't save this one in my eyes. I'm giving it a hard pass.