Few manga in recent history garnered more hype than Kagurabachi, the battle series that debuted in Weekly Shonen Jump in September 2023. Very quickly, fans started clamoring for an anime adaptation, and their wish was granted last April with an official announcement. The Kagurabachi anime will debut in April 2027, but fans won’t have to wait that long to catch the first episode of the series.

It was already announced that a special Kagurabachi Anime World Tour would hit anime conventions starting this summer, and that it will include a world premiere screening of the first 20 minutes of the first episode of Kagurabachi, but details remained nebulous. Now, an official news release finally revealed exactly when and where some lucky fans will be able to watch Kagurabachi almost one year before the anime debuts.

The first stop of the tour will be Anime Expo in Los Angeles, on July 3, followed by Japan Expo Paris in the French capital, on July 9. Then, the tour will hit AnimagiC in Manheim, Germany, on August 1, and finally go back to the United States for Anime NYC, New York, on August 22.

The tour will offer more than the chance to watch the first 20 minutes of the anime, with panel sessions featuring lead voice actor Taihi Kimura (Chihiro Rokuhira), manga editor Takuro Imamura, cross-media producer Riki Azuma, and anime producer Koichi Yasuda. Full details are available on the Kagurabachi World Tour official website.

Image: Takeru Hokazono/Shueisha/Project Kagurabachi

It’s pretty unusual for an anime to showcase its first episode almost one year before its official debut, but this just confirms how much care and dedication are being poured into the series produced by Cypic studios. Described as a “neo-Japanese sword action series,” Kagurabachi mixes gritty sword fights and surprising magic in a quick-paced battle manga that never takes the foot off the gas. The English version of the original manga is available online via Manga Plus by Shueisha and in print/digital through Viz Media.