Aia Udagawa hid his dream of becoming a makeup artist, and viewers outside Japan now know where they will watch him risk it. Crunchyroll will stream BLESS when the anime premieres in January 2027.
Crunchyroll announced it will stream the anime worldwide, excluding Japan and China. The series will air in Japan on Fuji TV's Noitamina block, and the streaming announcement locks in the international home that had not been set while the Japanese broadcast was already known.
Aia was scouted as a model at a young age, but his real ambition sits on the other side of the mirror. Near the end of high school, he still hides that ambition for fear of stepping out of the role everyone expects from a pretty face.
His classmate Jun is quiet and hunches over because she is ashamed of her freckled face. Aia persuades her to enter a school runway contest as a team, with him doing her makeup, and the pairing pushes both of them toward the selves they have been hiding.
Watch the teaser here:
Shotaro Kitamura is directing the anime at A-1 Pictures, with Takayuki Kikuchi as assistant director. Fukuro Kamiza is handling series composition, Honoka Yokoyama is designing the characters, and Ryo Yoshimata is composing the music.
The production also credits Akane Takeda as costume designer and Katsuyoshi Kojima of tron as hair and makeup supervisor. Those roles underline how central real makeup craft is to the series, from the characters' looks to the academy scenes at Mirror.
The previously announced cast is led by the two students at the center of the story. Their voice actors bring the model and the would-be makeup artist to life alongside the Mirror ensemble:
Tomohiro Ono (Makoto Shibe in Tomodachi Game) as Aia Udagawa
Chiyuki Miura (Towa Hiura in Ippon Again!) as Jun Sumisaki
Nobuhiko Okamoto (Katsuki Bakugo in My Hero Academia) as Ginga Yoyogi
Koki Uchiyama (Tomura Shigaraki in My Hero Academia) as Akiharu Nakano
Yoshiki Nakajima (Tetora Nagumo in Ensemble Stars!) as Joe Osaki
Kentaro Kumagai (Laios Touden in Delicious in Dungeon) as Hajime Taguchi, known as MM
Yoshino Aoyama (Hitori Gotoh in Bocchi the Rock!) as Oroka Sumeragi
Momoka Terasawa (Maika Iwayama in Ruri Rocks) as Shitataka Sumeragi
Separately, the official website of BLESS announced on October 22 that Tarusuke Shingaki (Mirio Togata in My Hero Academia) will voice Hikaru Oya, the famous model and makeup artist who has been watching Aia's potential closely. The official website released a character video for Oya:
What is BLESS anime about?
BLESS is based on the fashion and school drama manga written and illustrated by Yukino Sonoyama. The manga began in Kodansha's Shonen Magazine Edge in January 2022, then moved to Monthly Shonen Sirius in December 2023 after the first magazine ended.
The series has surpassed 1.25 million copies in circulation, with nine volumes released in Japan to date. Kodansha USA Publishing releases the manga in English, and Kodansha also offers the series digitally through its K MANGA service.
The story follows Aia and Jun, two students whose dreams point in opposite directions. Aia wants to create the looks, Jun is learning to wear them with confidence, and a school contest pairs the model who gave up on makeup with the classmate who hides from the spotlight.
Kodansha USA shared a description of BLESS series:
At a young age, Aia Utagawa was scouted as a model, but his real ambition is to become a makeup artist. But, even as the end of high school approaches, it’s a dream he hides inside, afraid of stepping outside his prescribed role as a pretty face. Then, one day, he meets Jun, a quiet classmate who hunches because she’s ashamed of her face, covered in freckles. He convinces her to enter a school runway fashion contest together—with him doing her makeup. They make an incredible team, with Jun discovering a confidence she never knew she could show and Aia finally learning that, while it may be tough to open yourself up to failing at the one thing you care about, the difficulties can be worth facing.
BLESS premieres in January 2027 on Fuji TV's Noitamina block and streams on Crunchyroll worldwide, excluding Japan and China. An exact premiere date is still to come.
Sources: Crunchyroll, official website of BLESS anime, Aniplex
