Would you like to be a tanuki? Manga Gets TV Anime at Nippon Animation, New Teaser Reveals Key Staff

If you have ever stared at your own routine and felt it tighten around you like a poorly tied knot, this announcement lands like a small lantern in the fog: Tomo Nagawa’s Would you like to be a tanuki? (Omae, Tanuki ni Narane--ka?) is getting a TV anime, and you can already glimpse its mood through a freshly revealed teaser video and visual, plus a celebratory illustration drawn by Nagawa.

A gentle invitation, wrapped in myth

The story follows the mythical tanuki Koganemaru, who approaches humans worn down by life and asks a disarming question—would you like to try becoming a tanuki—so that, through that strange detour, you can quietly rediscover what matters to you, the way a river finds its shape again after a storm.

It’s a simple premise with a human ache, and I’ll admit that I once leaned on stories like this during an exhausting stretch of deadlines, when a softer fantasy didn’t “solve” anything, yet somehow helped me breathe; you may recognize that feeling, the small relief of being understood without being lectured.

Studio and staff: familiar hands at the wheel

The anime is being made at Nippon Animation, with Jun Kamiya directing, while Masaki Wachi oversees and writes the scripts. Character designs are handled by Cocoro Takemoto, and the music is composed by Minako Seki—a lineup that suggests a steady tone rather than a noisy spectacle.

Manga milestones and timing

Nagawa launched the manga in April 2021 on Ichijinsha’s Comic Pool, and the publishing pace has been consistent: the 9th compiled volume arrived in October 2025, with the 10th set for May 25. That’s 10 volumes in roughly four years, a rhythm that often signals a readership strong enough to justify an anime journey.