WIT STUDIO has officially announced its latest original TV anime titled LONA for Spring 2027. This anime explores a sci-fi mystery about people who were supposed to be dead but have reappeared and are attacking the living.
LONA Focuses on the Mystery of the Dead Who Have Returned to Attack
Story LONA Set in a broken world in the not-too-distant future. In this world, humanity faces a new crisis when they are attacked by people who were supposed to be dead.
To address this situation, the government sought assistance from the Laboratory of Optics and Neural Analysis, a specialized organization also known as LONA. There, researcher Ao and his apprentice, Sango, attempted to uncover the truth by analyzing the brains of the deceased.
This investigation also explores questions about what people think about before they die, what they leave behind, and the memories etched into their neural circuits. Based on this premise, LONA builds its mystery through the connection between death, memories, and brain analysis.
Three visual teasers have also been revealed. The first visual features Sango, with Ao visible in the reflection in her eyes. Another visual shows the interior of the LONA facility, while the third visual features a mysterious object that will play a key role in the story.
Teaser PV Featuring Ao and Sango
Teaser PV LONA shows Ao and Sango facing off against the thoughts left behind by people who have passed away. This video also features the characters LONA moving in animated form for the first time.
This teaser PV features animation footage that showcases the appeal of the game's world setting LONA. Ao and Sango are portrayed as characters who come face to face with the mental traces of people who have passed away.
Commercial Teaser Features Footage from SPring-8
Commercial Teaser LONA features an image that uses live-action footage from RIKEN’s SPring-8 facility in Harima Science Garden City, Hyogo Prefecture. The facility serves as the stage or setting for this work.
Unlike the Teaser PV, which features animated footage, this Teaser Commercial uses footage shot on location. As a result, the video provides an initial glimpse of the facility that serves as the visual foundation for the setting LONA.
Production Staff
Production LONA involving staff with experience in anime, manga, and Japanese live-action. Akiko Nogi is writing the original story and screenplay, while Takashi Katagiri is directing at WIT STUDIO.
The following key staff members have been announced:
- Original Story & Screenplay: Akiko Nogi
- Director: Takashi Katagiri
- Original Character Design: Posuka Demizu
- Character Design: Yudai Iino
- Sub-Character Design: Ayumi Yamada, Keisuke Okura
- Image Design: syo5
- Art Setting & Mechanical Design: Satoshi Takabatake, Kazushi Fujii
- Art Director: Yumiko Kuga
- CG Director: Shigenori Hirozumi
- Director of Photography: Kentaro Minegishi, Miori Miyagi
- Editor: Kiyoshi Hirose (ed.)
- Color Design: Kanami Tanaka
- Sound Director: Shoji Hata
- Music: Hiroko Sebu
- Animation Producer: Kazuki Yamanaka
- Planning: WIT STUDIO
- Animation Production: WIT STUDIO
Akiko Nogi previously wrote the screenplay for INU-OH, Library Wars, and live-action films I Am a Hero. Takashi Katagiri is known for SPY×FAMILY CODE: White, while Posuka Demizu is known for The Promised Neverland manga.
In her comments, Akiko Nogi explained that work on this project has been underway since 2020, involving numerous meetings and production processes. She also noted that the team wanted to create a work that could only exist in animation, exploring the brain and the world using a large-scale synchrotron radiation facility as the setting.
Takashi Katagiri described the opportunity to adapt Akiko Nogi’s screenplay into an anime as a rare experience. He also mentioned LONA as a special work and asking the audience to look forward to it.
Here are the main voice actors who have been announced:
- Minako Kotobuki as Ao, a researcher at LONA
- Anna Nagase as Sango, an apprentice researcher working with Ao
- Fuka Izumi as Mugen, a mascot who works at the LONA facility
LONA Adopts the SPring-8 Model
Setting LONA based on SPring-8, RIKEN’s synchrotron radiation facility in Harima Science Garden City, Hyogo Prefecture. This facility served as the inspiration for the setting and visual design of the anime’s world.
With this positioning, SPring-8 not only appears as footage in the commercial teaser; the facility also serves as the setting for the work LONA, without necessarily being interpreted as the name of a canonical location mentioned directly in the story.
Prior to this full announcement, WIT STUDIO had teased the project at the Chayamachi Oshi Festival 2026 on June 20, 2026, and launched a countdown website. Official information about this anime can be found at official website.
LONA It is scheduled to air in Spring 2027. As an original TV anime from WIT STUDIO with a story centered on the mystery of death and memories, this project is one of the exciting new titles to watch out for leading up to its premiere.
