A new main key visual has been released for the upcoming 15th season of Theatre of Darkness: Yamishibai, which will premiere in Japan on July 13, 2025.
Akira Funada (returning from Seasons 11-14) is directing the anime once again, with Hiromu Kumamoto (Kowabon, Ninja Collection), Mitsuhiro Sasaki (KJ File) and Kanako Ishigami as the scriptwriters. Yu Ebihara is working on the opening and closing animation sequences, while ILCA is in charge of the animation production, as it did for previous seasons.
ｺﾉ夏、十五期ﾉ放送ｶﾞ決ﾏｯﾀｶﾗ…推ｼﾃﾈ。#闇芝居 #7月13日スタート #ホラー #恐怖 #心霊 #アニメ #anime #踊ってみた #拡散希望 pic.twitter.com/Q1sU6iWqu7
— 闇芝居【公式】 (@yamishibai_TX) June 6, 2025
Meanwhile, the short anime’s voice cast features the return of Kanji Tsuda as the Storyteller, as well as the following additional cast for various roles:
- • Yutaka Shimizu
- • Ponzu
- • Satoko Tsuchiya
- • Koichi Kosse
- • Nana Akuzawa
- • Yuta Hoshino
- • Hina Koyanagi
- • Kyoka Maruyama
- • Hako Oshima
- • Taro Niiro
The recent 14th season aired in Japan for 13 episodes from January 6, 2025 to April 7, 2025.
The long-running series first premiered in July 2013, and has also inspired two spinoff series titled The World Yamizukan in April 2017 and Ninja Collection in July 2020. A live-action series adaptation premiered in Japan in September 2020.
Crunchyroll streamed all previous seasons of Theatre of Darkness: Yamishibai, The World Yamizukan, and Ninja Collection as they aired in Japan. The company also streamed the live-action series.
The company describes the main synopsis of Theatre of Darkness: Yamishibai as:
Akin to TV Tokyo’s Folktales from Japan, Theatre of Darkness: Yamishibai takes a narrative format to explore the rich occult history from Japan, moreover, the storytelling techniques in this brand new series will mimic kamishibai – a traditional storytelling technique inspired by the artistic usage of paper figures and scrolls.
Yamishibai is a picture-story style of animation whose motif is surrounded and based off the rumors, and urban legends throughout the history of Japan.
