Project No.9

Project No.9 is a Japanese animation studio established in 2009. Its record is particularly associated with television adaptations of light novels and manga, rather than with a single house style or franchise. One early television credit, Ro-Kyu-Bu! SS, aired in 2013; it continued the basketball-themed series about Subaru Hasegawa coaching an elementary-school girls’ team. The title followed Ro-Kyu-Bu!, whose first television season had been animated by Studio Blanc. In 2015, Danchigai adapts Kazusa Yoneda’s four-panel manga about the Haruki household and its four sisters. It was broadcast as twelve short episodes, each roughly five minutes long. In 2016, the studio animated And you thought there is never a girl online?, a twelve-episode version of Shibai Kineko’s light novel about an online role-playing game guild and players who meet offline. Its 2017 output included Tenshi no 3P!, adapted from Sagu Aoyama’s light novels and centered on high-school student Kyō Mekui and three young musicians. The same studio then made The Ryuo’s Work Is Never Done!, a 2018 adaptation of Shirow Shiratori’s shogi light novel series. It focuses on teenage titleholder Yaichi Kuzuryū and his nine-year-old apprentice, Ai Hinatsuru. Pastel Memories, the studio’s 2019 anime, depicts near-future Akihabara where otaku culture is fading away. The studio’s 2021 output included Bottom-tier Character Tomozaki, adapted from Yuki Yaku’s light novel series illustrated by Fly. The protagonist, Fumiya Tomozaki, is a highly ranked player of the game Attack Families but an isolated high-school student. Project No.9 also animated Higehiro: After Being Rejected, I Shaved and Took in a High School Runaway in 2021. The series derives from Shimesaba’s light novels and follows office worker Yoshida and runaway student Sayu Ogiwara. In 2022, Project No.9 produced Love After World Domination, based on the manga written by Hiroshi Noda and illustrated by Takahiro Wakamatsu. Its premise joins Red Ranger Fudo Aikawa and Reaper Princess Desumi Magahara, public enemies who secretly date. The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten adapts Saekisan’s light novels, with illustrations by Hanekoto. Its school neighbors, Amane Fujimiya and Mahiru Shiina, gradually build a relationship after Mahiru begins helping Amane at home. Also in 2023, the studio animated The Vexations of a Shut-In Vampire Princess, from Kotei Kobayashi’s novels illustrated by riichu. In 2024 it returned to Tomozaki with Bottom-tier Character Tomozaki 2nd Stage, a second television season. These credits show a catalog spanning short-form comedy, romance, fantasy, gaming, music, and competitive shogi narratives.