Tsunehiko Watanabe's The Ideal Sponger Life (Risō no Himo Seikatsu) light novel series is getting an anime adaptation. The announcement was made on the official X account of Shufunotomo’s Hero Bunko imprint. However, an official premiere date hasn't been confirmed yet, and fans will have to wait for additional details. It's also not revealed whether the adaptation will be a movie or TV anime series, but expect the production team to reveal more details in the upcoming months.
The anime will be based on the light novel series written by Tsunehiko Watanabe and illustrated by Juu Ayakura, which was first published on September 28, 2012. As of September 2021, fourteen volumes have been published, and the fifteenth volume is scheduled to release on December 28. The Ideal Sponger Life originated as a web novel on the website Shousetsuka ni Narou on June 25, 2011.
The series received a manga adaptation illustrated by Neko Hinotsuki, and it was published on Kadokawa Shoten's Young Ace magazine on February 3, 2017. As of September 2023, eighteen tankoubon volumes have been released, with Volume 19 scheduled for February 2, 2024. The manga was licensed by Seven Seas Entertainment on March 2018 for English release.
What is The Ideal Sponger Life about?
J-Novel Club, which licensed The Ideal Sponger Life light novel series shared a synopsis detailing its isekai plot:
Yamai Zenjirou is your everyday office worker in modern Japan. One morning, he suddenly finds himself summoned to a tropical world where dinosaurs roam the land. He is told that this is the kingdom of Capua and the person who summoned him – its monarch, Queen Aura – wants him to marry her and leave his old life behind for a life of carefree extravagance as her prince consort. The reasons for her offer are many and varied, but she needs an heir, and she wants him to be the one to provide it! If he accepts, he’ll never have to work again, lazing around in luxury with no worries other than securing the kingdom its next monarch. Certainly, sleeping with the buxom beauty is far from a hardship, but is everything really as it seems? He’ll also need to give up everything he knows on Earth. Is he ready to drop it all at a moment’s notice for her sake? And how well will he be able to navigate the politics, people and culture of this new world if he does?
The Ideal Sponger Life has a cumulative total of 4.7 million copies in circulation, and that's expected to significantly rise once the anime adaptation premieres.
