Can the Kagurabachi Anime Break the Curse That Doomed the Darkest Manga Ever?

Kagurabachi is officially getting an anime, and fans are thrilled—and terrified. Dark fantasy adaptations have a brutal track record, with Berserk the grimmest cautionary tale. Will this rising hit break the curse or be the next mishap?

So, Kagurabachi is finally getting an anime. Great news. Now the obvious fear: please, for the love of all things gloomy and sword-shaped, let this not be another Berserk situation. Dark fantasy and TV anime have a messy history, and fans are understandably twitchy.

Who is making Kagurabachi?

The adaptation was officially announced in December 2024, with CygamesPictures handling animation and Shochiku co-producing. That reveal came via business outlet Toyo Keizai, and yeah, it raised a few eyebrows. Not because the project exists, but because the usual heavy-hitter studios — MAPPA, WIT, Toei — are nowhere near it.

CygamesPictures sits under CyberAgent and, fair or not, they are better known for work tied to games than for adapting big manga. Cue the collective side-eye. But before you write them off, their past output — think Umamusume: Pretty Derby, The Summer Hikaru Died, and a handful of other polished projects — shows they can deliver slick animation when they want to. Fans have been circulating clips online that highlight exactly that.

The real question is whether that glossy skillset translates to the brutal, moody vibe Kagurabachi demands. Style is one thing; tone is another. Pulling off both is the job.

Why Kagurabachi has people talking

Kagurabachi sits right in that new-gen lane alongside Jujutsu Kaisen and Chainsaw Man: shonen bones, darker blood. The manga hits a rawer tone, with revenge as the engine, emotional weight under the hood, and characters whose moral compasses spin more than they point. If you feel echoes of Berserk in that description, you are not imagining it — the comparison makes sense, even if nothing is really on Berserk’s level in sheer bleakness.

"It has everything to thrive both domestically and internationally."

That line comes from an industry voice (via Anime Hunch), and yeah, it tracks. The ingredients are there. Now it comes down to execution.

The studio choice: savvy or risky?

This is where the behind-the-scenes stuff matters. It is entirely possible Shueisha wanted to avoid piling another monster workload onto already maxed-out shops like MAPPA or Toei, which might explain why CygamesPictures landed the gig. If that is the strategy, fine — better a focused studio than one stretched paper-thin. But it also means CygamesPictures has to prove they can handle a heavy dark-fantasy tone without sanding off the edges.

Quick rundown

• Announcement: Anime adaptation confirmed in December 2024.
• Studios: CygamesPictures animating; Shochiku co-producing.
• Expectations: Fans were surprised bigger names like MAPPA, WIT, and Toei are not involved.
• Reputation check: CygamesPictures is known more for game-adjacent work but has shown sharp animation on titles like Umamusume: Pretty Derby and The Summer Hikaru Died.
• Tone check: Kagurabachi blends modern shonen energy with a darker, revenge-driven story and morally murky characters — think the mood of JJK/Chainsaw Man with a pinch of Berserk’s gravity.
• Release date: Not announced yet.
• Want a head start: The manga is available to read on Viz Media.

Bottom line

Kagurabachi has the narrative weight to be the next big dark fantasy anime — if the adaptation hits the right nerves. CygamesPictures is not the obvious pick, but that is not the same as the wrong pick. If they keep the steel of the story intact and do not polish away the grit, this could be the one that breaks the curse. I am cautiously optimistic. Your move, CygamesPictures.