Chiikawa Anime to Pause New Episodes for a Special 25-Episode Revival Run

The series will revisit early highlights and film-linked stories through December 25, offering fans a familiar return before new episodes resume.

Marcos López·26/09/2026 00:05 4 min read 0 comments

Sometimes an anime takes a quiet breath, like a lantern flickering before it shines again, and Chiikawa is doing exactly that. The series will step away from its regular stream of new episodes for a while and instead bring back 25 older “influential” episodes, a move that feels less like a pause and more like a gentle rewind for fans who have stayed close to it from the beginning. The rebroadcast will continue until December 25, with a clear focus on the early chapters of the show and the episodes tied to the recent film. <h2>A return to the episodes that shaped the series</h2> This revival run is not random; it leans into the episodes that helped build the series's small but lasting emotional weight. In particular, it will highlight stories from the early run of the anime, the ones that introduced viewers to its soft rhythm and its quietly expressive world. I have always felt that these kinds of episodes work like the first pages of a handwritten letter: simple at first glance, but carrying the shape of everything that comes after. The broadcast will also include episodes connected to Eiga Chiikawa: Ningyo no Shima no Himitsu, the film that gave the franchise a stronger push on the big screen. That connection matters, because the movie has become a major landmark for the series, and the TV rerun seems designed to keep that momentum warm rather than letting it cool off. <h2>A series that keeps finding new life</h2> Chiikawa first premiered in April 2022, airing on Fridays as part of Fuji TV's morning program Mezamashi Terebi. By April 2023, it had already grown enough to expand into a twice-weekly schedule, running on Tuesdays and Fridays. That kind of shift tells you something important: the audience did not just watch it, they made room for it. The anime later began another new series in July 2025, after previously cycling through older standout episodes when the last regular run of new material ended in April 2025. It is a pattern that gives the show a soft heartbeat, alternating between freshness and memory, and it suits the tone of the franchise very well. <h3>The film helped lift the whole franchise</h3> The movie Eiga Chiikawa: Ningyo no Shima no Himitsu, which opened in Japan on July 24, has already made a striking mark at the box office. It earned more than 15.84 billion yen—around US$100 million—and sold about 10.86 million tickets, placing it at the top of Japan's box office for the year. Those numbers are not just tallies; they are proof that the little characters have grown into something much larger without losing their charm. From my perspective, that is what makes Chiikawa stand out: it does not shout to be noticed, yet it keeps gathering attention like a small stream carving a wider path over time. Even a brief rebroadcast can feel meaningful when a series has built that kind of quiet trust. <h2>Where fans can watch it</h2> For international viewers, the anime has already been picked up by Sentai Filmworks, and it is streaming on HIDIVE with English subtitles. In North America, Amasian TV also began streaming a selection of 20 episodes on August 20, giving the series another doorway for new audiences to step through. The main characters continue to be voiced by a cast that has become closely tied to the show's identity: Haruka Aoki voices Chiikawa, Makoto Tanaka voices Hachiware, and Ari Ozawa voices Usagi. That familiarity matters, because the voices carry much of the series's delicate warmth. In the end, this special rebroadcast feels less like a detour and more like a pause held with care, a way to let fans revisit the episodes that gave Chiikawa its shape before the next stretch of the journey begins.