Go with the Clouds, North-by-Northwest heads to TBS and Netflix in 2027, with Tomohiro Ono as the car-whispering detective Kei
The first PV for Aki Irie's Iceland-set mystery manga puts its teenage detective behind the wheel of his Jimny, and launches Gram21, a new label from studio Qzil.la.
Kei Miyama is 17, takes detective work at the far edge of Iceland, gets flustered around girls, and can hold a conversation with a car. As of October 8 he also has a voice: Tomohiro Ono will play him in the TV anime of Aki Irie's manga Hokuhokusei ni Kumo to Ike (Go with the Clouds, North-by-Northwest).
Alongside the casting came a key visual of Kei set against the Icelandic landscape and a first PV with him at the wheel of his Jimny. TBS will air the series in Japan in 2027, and Netflix holds it as a worldwide streaming exclusive the same year.
A new label's first calling card
The animation comes from Qzil.la, which used the news to launch Gram21, its banner for long-form TV work. The studio absorbed Imagica Infos' long-form production division in February 2025. Gram21 takes its name from the old notion that a soul weighs 21 grams, and its stated mission is "全ての作品に魂を込めて作る", to put a soul into every work.
Takashi Sano serves as chief director and series composer, Yosuke Kubo directs, and Chikashi Kubota is responsible for character designs.
The manga behind it
Irie launched the series in Harta in 2016, moved it to Aokishi in 2021, and brought it to a close in February 2025. KADOKAWA has issued seven volumes, and total circulation passed 1.6 million copies as of April 16, 2026. Kodansha picked it up for English release back in 2018.
The press release files it under juvenile mystery: Kei's caseload runs to jobs like tracking down a runaway dog, or finding the stranger a client fell for at a glance. AniList lists the anime under adventure, mystery and slice of life.
What the lead says
In remarks on the official site, Ono said he was pulled in by Iceland's scenery and by the secrets surrounding the cast, and by a story that takes its time before springing surprises. He sees Kei as calm and a little aloof, yet kind to anyone in trouble; grown-up for the most part, except for a childish streak where meat, his favorite food, is concerned. Irie welcomed viewers and promised the anime would carry them to Iceland.
