It has been announced that the TV anime "I Want to End This Love Game," based on the manga by Domoto Yuki, currently serialized on Shogakukan's web manga service Sunday Webry, will begin airing in April 2026. The main cast has also been announced, with Kaito Ishikawa playing Asagi Yukiya and Miku Ito playing Sakura Miku. A teaser visual has also been released, depicting Sakura Miku and Asagi Yukiya setting up a game of love that they cannot afford to lose.
Ishikawa, who plays Asagi Yukiya, a 15-year-old first-year high school student and Miku's childhood friend, commented, "I've been a fan of the series since the original series first began serialization, and I was thrilled to read the interactions between the two of them. I couldn't help but want to root for them as they worked so hard just to make the other person's heart flutter, even though they themselves were embarrassed by the things that would be embarrassing to those around them."
Ito, who plays Sakura Miku, said, "Such a bittersweet youth...I'm so jealous! I found myself grinning as I read, and it was so pure that I was like, wow! The character I'll be playing, Sakura Miku, has the same name as me, so I felt a sense of destiny from the time of the audition. I want to do my best to play the role as an endlessly cute character who will make everyone's heart skip a beat. Thank you for your support!"
Original author Domoto commented, "It's been over a decade since I made my debut as a manga artist, and I'm so happy that my dream has come true. Thank you so much to everyone who has supported me up to this point. To me, characters are living people, and in my head they always move like anime. I've been thinking about how to express that in manga, how to portray them vividly. Now that it has become a real anime, they will actually move, have voices, be surrounded by music and ambient sounds, and I can't wait to see how the breathing of Yuki, Miku and the others will take shape...!! I can't wait to see what form they will take as they appear before our eyes, together with everyone."
"I Want to End This Love Game" began serialization in Sunday Webry in December 2021. It is a love story between childhood friends Yukiya and Miku, who are in unrequited love with each other. In order to end their unrequited love, the two decide to play a "Love Game" in which they take turns saying "I love you" and whoever is embarrassed loses.
*Staff (titles omitted)
Director: Tani Azuma▽Series composition and script: Ochi Keiichiro▽Character design: Fukuchi Yuki▽Music: Matsuda Akito▽Animation production: FelixFilm
