Sparks of Tomorrow Anime Sets July 5 Netflix Global Debut, Reveals New PV, Visual, and Cast Additions

We open the door to Kyoto, summer 1907, and the air feels heavy with incense, expectations, and the tiniest spark of rebellion. Sparks of Tomorrow (20 Seiki Denki Mokuroku) is getting ready to arrive worldwide, and the latest update comes with a fresh pre-broadcast promo video, a new visual, and more cast names to remember before the first episode lands.

Release date, broadcast schedule, and Netflix streaming

We already have the key date circled in red: July 5. The series will air in Japan on Sundays at 11:00 p.m. on Tokyo MX and at 11:30 p.m. on BS11, with additional broadcasts on ABC TV and TV Aichi.

And for the rest of us who like our anime delivered straight to the sofa: the show will stream worldwide exclusively on Netflix on Sundays starting July 5 at 11:00 p.m. JST. Yes, that means we may be doing time-zone maths like it’s a final exam. Who’s bringing the calculator?

A world premiere tour (with a big stop at Anime Expo)

Before the regular rollout, the anime is also going on a world premiere tour with stops in Japan, the U.K., Thailand, and North America.

The North American premiere is set for Anime Expo on July 3. We can already picture the room: lights down, everyone leaning forward, and someone whispering, “Wait… is that the electricity guy?” five seconds into the screening.

New cast announcements: family, a maid, and an ermine

The newest cast additions drop us right into Inako Momokawa’s orbit—home life included. And yes, we also get an animal companion, because anime knows what we want.

• Hiroshi Yanaka as Jinemon Momokawa, Inako’s father
• Mayumi Asano as Naeko Momokawa, Inako’s mother
• Daichi Endō as Bunshichi Yagura, Yajiro’s father and Kihachi’s uncle
• Ayahi Takagaki as Tome, a maid working for the Momokawa family
• Ayahi Takagaki as Inari, an ermine fond of Inako (we’re politely calling this “excellent taste”)

Two roles for Ayahi Takagaki means twice the chances for memorable moments. Are we ready for the ermine to steal scenes? We should be.

The creative team and music: first-time series directing, big mood

Behind the camera, we’re looking at a notable “first”: Minoru Ōta is directing as his first directorial project. His background includes key animation work on Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions! and Liz and the Blue Bird, plus episode direction on CITY The Animation and Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid S.

Series scripts are overseen by Tatsuhiko Urahata (Haganai, Hi Score Girl, Saki Episode of Side A). Character designs and chief animation direction come from Kohei Okamura (Free! The Final Stroke, Sound! Euphonium). The worldview setting is handled by Takaaki Suzuki (Violet Evergarden, Strike Witches), and Hitomi Kotō composes the music.

For the themes, we get a clean pairing: Luna Goami performs the opening song "Eureka Evrika", while Ginger Root performs the ending theme "Soarin'". We can already hear the contrast: bright forward motion up front, then a cooler landing at the end.

What the story is actually about (and why it feels personal)

At the center is Inako Momokawa, a 15-year-old living in Kyoto’s Fushimi area, second daughter of a sake brewer. Nothing she does seems to go right, and she gets scolded daily by her father. Her calm place is prayer—until a meeting at Fushimi Inari shrine changes the shape of her world.

Enter Kihachi Sakamoto, a freewheeling young man with an inconvenient habit: he rejects the gods and talks up the incoming age of electricity like it’s the new sunrise. Then the pressure cooker turns up—marriage negotiations appear at home, and Inako’s father is making decisions without asking her.

When Inako’s buried wish to run away finally surfaces, the plan becomes oddly specific: find a strange book called the "Electrical Catalog". Kihachi wrote it as a child, but his older brother Seiroku took it, and now nobody knows where it is. So Inako and Kihachi set off across Kyoto and Shiga to track it down—chasing a book, chasing freedom, and chasing the future before it arrives without them.

We’ve all had that moment where the world tells us, “This is your path,” and we think, “But… is it?” Inako’s story leans right into that question—no lectures, just movement.

From award recognition to anime adaptation

The novel earned an honorable mention in the full-length novel category at the 8th Kyoto Animation Awards in May 2017, and it was the only entry to win an award that year. The book was published in August 2018 under KA Esuma Bunko, with illustrations by Kazumi Ikeda and art/background credited to Momoka Nagatani. The anime adaptation was announced in July 2018, and now we’re finally close to the moment where it becomes weekly viewing.

Now we want to hear you. Are we watching Sparks of Tomorrow (20 Seiki Denki Mokuroku) on day one, or waiting to binge once the sparks pile up? And what pulls you in more: the Meiji-era setting, the “run away with me” tension, or the promise of electricity changing everything? Tell us your take—and if you’re heading to Anime Expo, add this premiere to your schedule.