Series debuts in January 2027
Kadokawa revealed more cast members on Thursday for the television anime of Rinne Ishida and Izumi‘s Matsurika Kanriden (The Tale of the Scholar-Official Matsurika) light novel series.
Image courtesy of Kadokawa
©石田リンネ・Izumi/KADOKAWA/「茉莉花官吏伝」製作委員会
The new cast includes Takuya Satō as Akatsuki (pictured right in image above) and Hiyori Kōno as Lian Lo (left above). Akatsuki is the emperor of the country of Sekisō and Lian is his empress.
Image courtesy of Kadokawa
©石田リンネ・Izumi/KADOKAWA/「茉莉花官吏伝」製作委員会
The anime will debut in January 2027 and will air on Tokyo MX, MBS, TV Aichi, and BS11 in Japan.
The anime stars:
Takeshi Mori (Vandread, Gunsmith Cats, Otaku no Video) is the supervising director for the anime, while Yūichi Nakazawa is directing the anime at Maho Film. Tōko Machida (Lucky Star, The IDOLM@STER, My Master Has No Tail) is in charge of series composition. Manami Inose (Blue Miburo) is designing the characters. Takurō Iga is composing the music.
Additional staff members include:
KANA-BOON performs the opening theme song “Hana Hanashi” (Flower Talk).
The fantasy romance novels, inspired by Chinese history, center on the titular Matsurika, a court lady serving at the emperor’s inner palace, who is known for her good memory. One day, she receives a request to serve as a practice partner for the marriage meeting for the son a certain noble house. But when she arrives to meet this noble scion, it turns out to be none other than Emperor Hakuyō himself. The emperor falls in love with her at first sight, but tells her to come to him once she passes the state’s scholar-official civil service exam.
Ishida published the first light novel in the series in July 2017, with illustrations by Izumi. The 19th and most recent volume shipped on October 15.
Takase launched the manga adaptation of the novels in Akita Shoten‘s Monthly Princess magazine in August 2018. Akita Shoten published the manga’s 12th volume in October 2025. The manga’s first part also ended in October 2025, and the second part started in May.
The series has over 2.68 million copies in circulation (including digital editions) as of October 15.
Source: Press release
Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, is the majority owner of Anime News Network, LLC. One or more of the companies mentioned in this article are part of the Kadokawa Group of Companies.