Guilty Gear Strive: Dual Rulers, the anime adaptation of the long-running fighting video game series, will premiere in Japan on April 5, 2025, at 22:30 JST. The premiere date was announced today through a newly released trailer that also previewed the series' opening song.
Guilty Gear first debuted in 1998 as a 2D fighting game from Arc System Works. Since then, we've gotten over 12 games in the series, with the latest, Guilty Gear -Strive-, releasing in 2021.
Guilty Gear Strive: Dual Rulers actually takes place shortly after the events of the game, but to understand its story, you must first understand the premise of Guilty Gear, which takes place in a world where magic has replaced almost every aspect of modern-day technology. As a result of the creation of a new race of magic-infused creatures known as "Gears," the world has devolved into a post-apocalyptic environment due to Crusades' effects on the world.
The synopsis of Guilty Gear Strive: Dual Rulers reads:
After the decline of the once robust fields of science and technology, a new energy source known as magic fuels the modern era.
Humanity creates forbidden biological weapons: Gears.
Those Gears eventually stand against humanity in a rebellion.
Although they manage to overcome in the struggle for survival known as the Crusades, humanity’s losses are so great that even after several decades pass, their emotional wounds remain unable to fully heal.
Sin Kiske, the child of a human and a Gear, heads to his father Ky and mother Dizzy’s wedding ceremony.
Their wedding breaks the ultimate taboo: a union between a human and a Gear. Even with the world at peace, it took many years for such a ceremony to come to fruition.
Despite the complex array of emotions surrounding it, the wedding ceremony is met with blessings. When suddenly, a mysterious girl appears…
The fated child inheriting Gear blood–and the mysterious girl who despises Gears.
Their meeting would shake the world.
With that out of the way, here's the brand-new trailer for Guilty Gear Strive: Dual Rulers. The opening song for the series, which you get a glimpse of in the trailer, is titled "AXCLUSION" and is performed by ulma sound junction (Ragna Crimson OP).
As previously announced, the anime series will see the return of the original voice cast members from the Guilty Gear -Strive- video game. Issei MIyazaki will reprise the role of Sin Kiske, with Joji Nakata returning as Sol Badguy. The full Japanese voice cast features:
- Sin Kiske voiced by Issei MIyazaki
- Sol Badguy voiced by Joji Nakata
- Unika voiced by Yui Ishikawa
- Ky Kiske voiced by Takeshi Kusao
- Dizzy voiced by Kazue Fujita
- Bridget voiced by Manaka Iwami
- Ramlethal Valentine voiced by Megumi Han
- Elphelt Valentine voiced by Aya Suzaki
- Jack-O voiced by Hiromi Igarashi
- Baiken voiced by Mayumi Asano
- Johnny voiced by Norio Wakamoto
- Leo Whitefang voiced by Tetsu Inada
- Vernon voiced by Junichi Endo
- Nerville Hammer voiced by Yasuhiro Mamiya
Guilt Gear Strive: Dual Rulers is directed by Shigeru Morikawa (Chrono Crusade) at studio Sanzigen. Series composition is by Norimitsu Kaiho, with animation character design by Takuya Chanohara, Ykua Hachimori, and Joseph Shin. The series will stream on Crunchyroll beginning April 5, 2025.