Crunchyroll announced on Wednesday that the new supernatural action anime Black Torch will premiere with a same-day English dub on July 4, 2026. The streaming service shared the full English voice cast along with production details for the highly awaited series based on Tsuyoshi Takaki’s manga.
The show debuts on Saturday as part of the Summer 2026 anime lineup. Crunchyroll will stream it in North America, Central America, South America, Europe, Africa, Oceania, the Middle East, and the CIS. The anime will also have its world premiere screening at Anime Expo 2026.
English Voice Cast Brings Black Torch’s Characters to Life
The English dub features voice actors known for their work in popular anime series. A.J. Beckles (DAN DA DAN, Tokyo Revengers) voices the main character Jiro Azuma. Veteran voice actor Keith Silverstein (Hunter x Hunter, Dorohedoro) plays the mysterious cat spirit Rago.
Erin Yvette voices Ichika Kishimojin, and Kyle McCarley (Mob Psycho 100) voices Reiji Kirihara. The cast also includes Ryan Colt Levy as Ryusuke Shiba, Julie Nathanson as Hana Usami, Laura Post as Toko Kusumi, and Ben Balmaceda as Toshimasa Azuma.
Laura Post is known for roles like Blizzard in One Punch Man and Mai Zen’in in JUJUTSU KAISEN. Ben Balmaceda previously voiced Andy in Undead Unluck and Hiromi Higuruma in JUJUTSU KAISEN.
The original Japanese cast includes Ryลta Suzuki as Jiro Azuma, Yลji Ueda as Rago, Sayaka Senbongi as Ichika Kishimojin, and Junya Enoki as Reiji Kirihara. Additional Japanese cast members include Reina Ueda, Junichi Suwabe, Nobuhiko Okamoto, Toshiyuki Morikawa, Shinpachi Tsuji, Yuhko Kaida, and Hochu Otsuka.
Production Team Behind the Anime Adaptation
Kei Umabiki (ClassicaLoid, Quality Assurance in Another World) directs the anime at 100Studio. Gล Suzuki (Sword Art Online the Movie: Ordinal Scale) designs the characters. Gigaemon Ichikawa handles series supervision and scriptwriting. Yutaka Yamada (Tokyo Ghoul, Babylon) composes the music.
Additional staff members include:
- Sub-Character Design: Yumi Nakamura, Masahiko Suzuki, Mariko Kinoshita
- Design Works: Shunya Kikuchi
- Art Directors: Sachi Takahashi, Shลko Imaizumi
- Color Design: Haruko Nobori
- CG Director: Hirotaka Naito
- Director of Photography: Satoshi Yamamoto
- Editing: Masato Yoshitake
- Sound Director: Takeshi Takadera
- Sound Effects: Naoto Yamatani
The dub production staff includes Cristina Valenzuela as voice director and Genevieve H. Simmons as producer, with Samantha Herek as production manager.
Music and Theme Songs
Rock band SiM performs the opening theme song “Freeze Me Up.” The band is known for their work on anime like Attack on Titan. Pop band I Don’t Like Mondays. performs the ending theme song “Groooovy.”
A promotional video released in June previewed both theme songs and showed new animation footage from the series.
Manga Origins and Story
Tsuyoshi Takaki (Heart Gear) launched the Black Torch manga in Shueisha’s Jump Square magazine in December 2016. The series ran until July 2018 and was compiled into five volumes. The manga had a shorter run than many popular shonen series, with 19 chapters total.
Viz Media publishes the English version of the manga. They describe the story:
“Jiro Azuma is descended from of a long line of shinobi, and he also can talk to animals. Although he may appear rough and tumble, his compassionate side emerges when it comes to furry critters. But Jiro’s soft spot for animals gets him in major trouble when a suspicious stray cat fuses with him, granting him exceptional power but also dragging him into humanity’s hidden battle against powerful, menacing spirits.”
The story follows Jiro Azuma, a teenager trained in ninja arts who can talk to animals. After saving an injured cat named Rago, the two become fused together. Rago is a powerful mononoke (evil spirit). Together they fight against other dangerous spirits while working with the Bureau of Espionage.
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International Release Details
Black Torch premieres on July 4, 2026. The show will stream on Crunchyroll in most regions outside Asia. Muse Asia has licensed the anime for Asian territories and will announce distribution details later.
The same-day English dub makes the series more accessible to international viewers. This follows Crunchyroll’s strategy of providing multiple language options for major anime releases.
Viz Media will release a complete manga box set on September 22, 2026 for fans in the United States.
Creator Tsuyoshi Takaki shared his thoughts about the production:
“As for the production, I’ve been supervising the settings and storyboards, and I feel it’s been recreated into something even better, while still fully respecting the original story. A new BLACK TORCH has been brought to life, now with voices, sounds, movement and color.”
The anime adaptation was first announced in March 2025. The series has been in development for over a year, with the creative team working closely with the original creator.
With its mix of ninja action, supernatural elements, and a unique animal-human partnership, Black Torch brings a fresh take on the shonen action genre. The addition of a same-day English dub with experienced voice actors shows confidence in the series reaching a wide audience.
Stay tuned to VvipTimes for more updates on Black Torch and other Summer 2026 anime premieres.
