Netflix Anime announced on November 8 at 4 p.m. MST that Hirayasumi, the TV anime based on Keigo Shinzō's manga, will stream worldwide on Netflix in January 2027. The official anime site confirmed the same day that the series will also stream on U-NEXT in Japan, alongside its January 2027 broadcast on NHK General TV. Netflix has not announced an exact premiere date. VIZ Media, which publishes the manga in English, shared the news minutes later and promised "a cozy winter." Check out the official post down below:
What Is Hirayasumi About?
The official site introduces Hiroto Ikuta as a 29-year-old part-time worker with "no steady job, no girlfriend, and none of the anxiety about the future that most people have." Because of his good nature, Hanae Wada, an elderly neighbor he befriends, gives him her single-story house free of charge. The story is set in Asagaya, Koenji and other neighborhoods of Tokyo's Suginami Ward, and the site describes it as "a moratorium in a gifted bungalow."
The title combines "hiraya," a single-story house, with "yasumi," a break or day off. NHK Enterprises, which made the live-action version, says its team read the title as a play on exactly those two words.
Hiroto's cousin Natsumi Kobayashi moves from Yamagata to Tokyo to attend art school and lives with him in the house. Her official profile says she dreams of becoming a manga artist but is too embarrassed to tell anyone. VIZ's description of the manga adds that Hiroto inherits "not just her house but some rather difficult emotions as well."
Characters And Voice Cast
The official site lists seven main characters, with profiles for each:
- Hiroto Ikuta: Yuma Uchida
- Natsumi Kobayashi: Mayu Takahashi
- Hanae Wada: Rikako Aikawa
- Hideki Noguchi: Daisuke Namikawa
- Yomogi Tachibana: Yoko Hikasa
- Akari Yokoyama: Yume Miyamoto
- Ryo Ishikawa: Yuuichiro Umehara
Yuko Naito narrates. Hanae is 83, lives on a pension and once worked as a school lunch lady, and she and Hiroto share dinner twice a week. Hideki, Hiroto's friend since high school, works at a furniture store, and a movie he made as a teenager is what inspired Hiroto to try acting. Yomogi, 33, works at Smile Real Estate and is great at her job but hopeless at keeping her apartment tidy. Ryo, 36, is a minimalist novelist in a slump, and Akari is Natsumi's first friend at school, a painting student from Fukuoka who speaks with a Hakata accent. The site revealed the last five cast members on October 13.
Staff And Studio
Kei Suezawa is directing the series and handles series composition and the scripts. Naoyuki Asano designs the characters, Mika Nishimura is art director and Kaori Sawada composes the music. Production +h. is animating the series.
Theme Songs: Gen Hoshino And TOMOO
The official account announced on November 8 at 4 p.m. MST, already November 9 in Japan, that Gen Hoshino wrote a new song for the opening theme after a direct request from the anime staff. The announcement points to his earlier anime songs, "Doraemon" for the Doraemon anime and "Comedy" for Spy x Family. Shinzō said in his comment that Hoshino had already made a theme song for the film of his manga Moriyamachu Driving School, adding that he was glad he became a manga artist.
Singer-songwriter TOMOO performs the ending theme, "Fūmi Zekka," announced on November 2. The site notes her earlier tie-ins include the Blue Box anime, and VIZ highlighted her work on City the Animation.
The Manga Behind The Anime
Shinzō's manga runs in Shogakukan's Weekly Big Comic Spirits, which launched it in 2021, and the official anime site lists 10 volumes on sale in Japan. VIZ Media publishes it in English. The anime site's tagline also notes that the manga won the Shogakukan Manga Award.
NHK Enterprises lists more honors: the Bros Comic Award 2021 grand prize, third place in Manga Taisho 2022 and best serialized comic at Lucca Comics & Games in Italy in 2024. It also reports more than 1.5 million copies in circulation worldwide.
VIZ's author biography explains where the series came from. Shinzō debuted in 2008 with Nankin, and his Moriyamachu Driving School was made into a movie in 2016. After he was diagnosed with lymphoma during the coronavirus pandemic, he wrote a one-shot about his hospital stay and recovery, which also tells how he came up with the idea for Hirayasumi.
The 2025 Live-Action Drama
NHK Enterprises produced a live-action drama for NHK General's Yoru Dora slot, a weeknight drama block NHK created in 2022. It ran 20 episodes of about 15 minutes each, with Ten Okayama as Hiroto, Kana Matsumoto directing and Yoko Yonaiyama writing. The staff contacted close to 300 houses across the Kanto region and visited about 60 before choosing an empty house in Chiba Prefecture as the location for Hiroto's home.
When And Where To Watch
The anime premieres in January 2027 on NHK General TV in Japan, and the official site's announcement, dated November 9 in Japan, says Netflix's worldwide streaming and U-NEXT's streaming in Japan also begin that month. Neither Netflix nor NHK has published a day or time yet. Netflix Japan posted the news with the series' Japanese synopsis and Gen Hoshino's opening theme credit, and Shinzō reposted it from his own account.
Before January, the production has been promoting the series around its setting. The official Hirayasumi account set up an anime photo spot and sold manga goods at the Suginami Festa on November 7 and 8, inside the same ward where the story takes place.
Announcement Timeline So Far
Here is every major reveal from the official site and accounts in order, with dates in Mountain Time. The Japanese site dates its posts in Japan time, which runs 16 hours ahead of MST, so its November 9 announcements landed on the afternoon of November 8 in the United States:
- October 13: five more cast members and the character pages
- November 2: TOMOO as the ending theme artist
- November 8 at 4 p.m. MST (November 9 in Japan): Netflix's worldwide streaming, U-NEXT streaming in Japan and Gen Hoshino as the opening theme artist
The account teased the opening artist reveal a week ahead, on November 2, and again a day before it went live. VIZ's English manga page lists volumes through Hirayasumi, Vol. 9.
Teaser Trailer
Animemojo has also covered another slice-of-life adaptation in Confirmed Third Season 2024 Release For LAID-BACK CAMP Anime. The ShoPro anime channel released the official teaser PV, which shows the anime's version of Asagaya and the bungalow:
Will you watch Hirayasumi on Netflix in January, or are you reading VIZ's manga first?
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