Comedic Magical Girl Anime Reveals Cast And Premiere

Some of the cast announced for Acro Trip include Miku Ito (BanG Dream!) as Chizuko Date, Nobunaga Shumazaki (Black Clover) as Chroma, Inori Minase (Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?) as Berry Blossom, Kengo Kawanishi (Demon Slayer) as Mashirou, and Takehito Koyasu (Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure) as Hugh. Additionally, the voice actor for Berry, Inori Minase, will also be voicing the opening theme song for the series. The ending is by KanoeRana.

Acro Trip is considered a comedic magical girl anime, somewhat making fun of the genre as a whole, though it has a solid story. It centers on an otaku named Chizuko Date, who is obsessed with the magical girl in charge of protecting the city. While she’s still obsessed, most people have started to ignore the magical girl’s fights because her opponent, Chroma, is so weak.

Chizuko isn’t about to let her favorite magical girl fade into obscurity that easily, though. She takes it upon herself to make sure no one forgets about Berry Blossom, even as it takes her down a dark and dangerous path, potentially joining the evil forces.

The story was originally a manga, also called Acro Trip, written by Yone Sawata. It was first run in 2017 and finalized in 2022, with a total of five volumes. Unfortunately, due to the lack of an English translation, the manga hasn’t been popular outside of Japan, though the series was recommended by Aka Akasaka, who is the creator of Kaguya-sama: Love is War and OSHI NO KO.

Fans who have read the Acro Trip manga describe it as similar to Gushing Over Magical Girls, but far less perverted, and more directed at adolescent girls. It is meant to be fairly light-hearted and comedic as well, unlike magical girl anime like Puella Madoka Magica.

Studio Voil is behind the anime adaptation of Acro Trip, which is a relatively new company that first started in 2022. They’ve worked alongside a few other companies as second key animators, like for Mobile Suit Gundam Seed FREEDOM, Tomo-chan Is a Girl!, and Shangri-La Frontier, but Acro Trip is the first anime they’re in charge of completely. Ayumu Kotake (Vinland Saga Season 2) is working under the studio as the director for the series.

Acro Trip is set to release as an anime on October 2, 2024, in Japan on Tokyo MX and BS NTV. There is no information yet if it will make it to the United States, and whether it will be simulcast on a streaming platform or not as of yet. With it not having a large international audience, it may depend on how the series does first before an international release is considered.