TOUGEN ANKI

Tougen Anki (in English, Tougen Anki: Legend of the Cursed Blood) is a dark action anime based on a manga by Yura Urushibara. The manga began on June 11, 2020, in the magazine Weekly Shonen Champion, from the publisher Akita Shoten. In English, the comic is published by Yen Press. The anime was made by Studio Hibari. It started on July 11, 2025, on Nippon TV, and its first season ran for 24 episodes, until December 26, 2025.

The story plays with a very old Japanese folk tale. In that tale, a hero named Momotaro is born from a peach. He travels to an island and fights the oni. Oni are demons, or ogres, from Japanese stories. In the classic tale, Momotaro is the good guy and the oni are the bad guys. This anime turns the story around. Here, the families of both sides still live today, hidden among normal people. Some humans carry oni blood, and others carry Momotaro blood. The two groups have built secret organizations and have fought each other for a very long time. In this version, the Momotaro side is not always kind or fair.

The hero is Shiki Ichinose, a wild and angry teenager. He does not like rules, and he gets into trouble often. He lives with his adoptive father, Tsuyoshi, a gentle man who raised him. One day, killers attack their home. In the chaos, Shiki learns two shocking things. First, he has oni blood inside him. Second, his father was once a Momotaro, a hunter of oni, who left that life to raise him. Tsuyoshi dies protecting Shiki. After this loss, Shiki wants to survive and fight back against the people who hunted him.

Shiki is taken to Rasetsu Academy, a secret school where young people with oni blood learn to fight. His teacher there is Naito Mudano, a cold and strict man. Shiki also meets classmates who have their own reasons to fight. The core of the action is blood. Each oni can use their own blood as a weapon, and every person's power looks different. Shiki's power is linked to guns, which makes his fights loud and fast. Because of this, the battles are bloody and intense. They are not for very young viewers.

The show is full of energy. It mixes hard fights with moments of friendship and some jokes at school. It also asks a question that makes the story more interesting: who is really the monster? The oni are called evil, but many of them only want to live in peace. Shiki must decide what kind of person he wants to be, and what his anger is for.

Fans can look forward to more. A second season, Tougen Anki: Nikko Kegon Falls Arc, is set to start on October 2, 2026, and more episodes are planned for April 2027. If you like dark action shows such as Jujutsu Kaisen or Chainsaw Man, with a hot-headed hero and a secret war behind normal life, Tougen Anki is a strong pick.