A new promo video for the TV anime adaptation of Yu Hibari and illustrator Siso’s The Neat and Beautiful Girl at My New School Was My Childhood Friend Who I Used to Play With Who I Thought was a Boy (Tenbin for short) light novel series was released at AnimeJapan 2026. The latest Tenbin promo video confirms that DIALOGUE+ will perform the opening theme song “Natsu ni Kasanete.”
The cast includes:
- Ikumi Hasegawa as Haruki Nikaidō
- Shunichi Toki as Hayato Kirishima
- Miharu Hanai as Himeko Kirishima
- Natsumi Haruse as Minamo Mitake
- Fūka Izumi as Saki Murao
Chuan Feng Xu is directing the anime, which will premiere in July 2026 and receive 12 episodes. Deko Akao is handling the series scripts. N-Nei Kurahashi is handling the character design, Daiki Hachimaki is directing the sound. Ryosuke Nakanishi, Naoki Tani and Yuri Morita are composing the music.
Yu Hibari’s hit light novel series made its debut on the Shōsetsuka ni Narō website in 2020. Kadokawa began publishing the series, illustrated by Siso, in 2021. Ōyama began publishing the manga adaptation on Comic Walker in 2021. Kadokawa published the seventh compiled book volume of the manga on July 9.
Lastly, here’s an overview of the series via MyAnimeList:
I met my childhood friend again, and she had become a beautiful and innocent girl.
“It’s been a while, Hayato.”
“Haruki, is it?”
In the past, I used to play in the mud with my childhood friend in the countryside, and when I saw him again, there was no trace of the bratty young man I thought he was back then. Only in front of Hayato, she threw away the coat she was wearing and reacted in the same crass way she did back then. The distance between you and me has not changed.