It has been announced that a new TV anime adaptation of Shinzawa Motoei's comedy manga "High School! Kimengumi," which was serialized in "Weekly Shonen Jump" (Shueisha) in the 1980s, will be broadcast on Fuji TV's anime slot "Noitamina" every Friday at 11:30 pm starting January Getsuku, 2026. It has also been revealed that Daisuke Sakuma of the popular group "Snow Man" will be appearing as a voice actor in the series. Sakuma will play Kiride Sho, the leader of the "Ikedan-gumi," a group of handsome guys who have repeated a year of junior high school. This will be Sakuma's first time appearing as a voice actor in a Fuji TV anime.
Kiride Sho is a handsome man with long hair, a light-hearted personality, and a penchant for picking up girls, but he's also a character you can't hate. Sakuma commented, "Ever since the announcement that 'High School! Kimengumi' would be made into an anime, it's been a huge topic of conversation, and it really brought home to me how many loyal fans there are, and how much everyone loves it. I've been working on the dubbing for this series with love, so I hope that the character I played, Kiride Sho, will become a character that people will love. Please look forward to 'Kimengumi'."
When asked, "If you could go back to your school days, what would you do?" he answered, "I've been in this industry since I was in junior high school, so I wasn't able to participate in many school events. If I could participate in cultural festivals and school events with my current potential, I think I could become a hero (laughs). That's the kind of thing I'd like to do."
The cast for the members of the "Ido-Okko-gumi" has also been announced, with Sakuma as Kiride Sho, Yamamoto Hayato as Seto Kimeru, Sasamori Yohei as Tanokin Torio, Morinaga Ayato as Sugata Kazaru, and Nishinomiya Takuki as Hokori Takashi. As the fourth installment of leader visuals for each "gumi," a visual of Kiride Sho, the leader of the "Ido-Okko-gumi," has been released.
It was also announced that an advance screening of the first episode will be held at United Cinema Aqua City Odaiba (Minato Ward, Tokyo) on December 21st. Sakuma will also be in attendance, along with Tomokazu Seki Seki, Shunsuke Yoshitsugu Matsuoka Matsuoka, Chiaki Kobayashi, and Kikunosuke Toya, who play the five members of Kimengumi.
The original series began as "3-nen Kimengumi" in Weekly Shonen Jump in 1980, and was renamed "High School! Kimengumi" in 1982 as the characters progressed to higher education. It's a slapstick school comedy featuring the Kimengumi, a group of five middle school students: Ichidou Rei, Reikoshi Go, Idese Kiyoshi, Oma Jin, and Monohoshi Dai, along with Kawa Yui and Uru Chie. The TV anime, which aired from 1985 to 1987, also gained popularity with its theme song, sung by Ushiroyubi Sasaregumi, a spin-off unit of the idol group Onyanko Club.
The new anime will be directed by Seki Kazuaki, who has worked on films such as "Blank Canvas: My So-Called Artist's Journey" and "Beethoven Fabrication," and produced by Animation Studio Seven.
*Cast (titles omitted)
Ichidou Rei: Tomokazu Seki ▽Reiko Go: Yoshitsugu Matsuoka ▽Idese Kiyoshi: Chiaki Kobayashi ▽Oma Jin: Kobayashi Chiaki▽ Kikunosuke Toya: Toya Kikunosuke▽Kakawa Yui: Shiraishi Haruka▽Uru Chie: Ikumi Hasegawa ▽Nibiruta You: Nobuhiko Okamoto Yusuke Kobayashi Undo Kai: Kobayashi Yusuke▽Amano Yako: M.A.O▽Kiride Sho: Daisuke Sakuma
