Sword of the Demon Hunter: Kijin Gentosho has been delayed. Originally scheduled to debut this month on June 27th with a one-hour special, the anime television series has been postponed until 2025.
The announcement was made on the official Sword of the Demon Hunter website, with the production committee citing "production delays" as the reason for the postponement. It was noted that the series will be broadcast for two consecutive cours in 2025. The anime TV series adaptation was first announced back in September 2021.
Sword of the Demon Hunter: Kijin Gentosho is a television adaptation of Motoo Nakanishi's historical fantasy light novel series. The series is described as a "time-spanning fantasy epic of humans and demons," in which "a warrior in feudal Japan must hunt a demon through time."
We got our first look at the upcoming series through a teaser trailer in February.
The Sword of the Demon Hunter: Kijin Gentosho anime is directed by Kazuya Aiura (ASSASSINS PRIDE) at studio Yokohama Animation Laboratory with series composition written by Deko Akao (ASSASSINS PRIDE) and character designs by Taro Ikegami (Lapis Re:LiGHTs). The music is being composed by Keiichi Hirokawa, Kuniyuki Takahashi and Ryuichi Takada.
The original light novel series was serialized between January 2013 and May 2016 on the website Arcadia before moving to the Shōsetsuka ni Naro website, where it was serialized between December 2015 and October 2016. It was eventually acquired by Futabasha, who published 14 volumes between June 2019 and November 2023. A manga adaptation is also published by Futabasha with art by Yu Satomi.
Seven Seas Entertainment, who has licensed and published the orignia light novel and manga adaptation in English, describes the series:
In the Edo era, young Jinta and his sister must flee their home, finding refuge in a mountain village. Years later, Jinta has grown into a skilled swordsman, sworn to protect the priestess of the village shrine. Charged with slaying a demon that threatens the shrine, Jinta confronts the malevolent creature in the forest, only to learn a shocking truth. The demon speaks of events one hundred and seventy years hence, when Jinta must confront the demon in the future. Thus begins an epic fantasy journey that spans multiple eras as Jinta hunts a demon through time and must come to terms with his own dark nature.
A delay is never fun for fans, but hopefully this results in a series that lives up to the anticipation. In the meantime, there's plenty of critically acclaimed supernatural-focused franchises to delve into, including Demon Slayer and Jujutsu Kaisen.