Mercedes and the Waning Moon TV Anime Set for January 2027 With First Trailer

What was announced

The light novel Mercedes and the Waning Moon is getting a television anime, set to premiere in January 2027. The reveal landed on July 15, 2026, alongside the project's first teaser visual and a debut promotional video that introduces the series' vampire heroine and its core creative team. Anime News Network and Anime Corner both reported the announcement, and the official website and first PV are now live.

Cast and staff

Anna Nagase leads the voice cast as Mercedes Grunewald, the reincarnated vampire at the center of the story. Nagase's earlier roles include Ushio Kofune in Summer Time Rendering. Behind the camera, Kunihisa Sugishima (Strike Witches) is directing, with Jun Kumagai on series composition and Nami Shoyama handling character designs. R.O.N and Shuhei Mutsuki are composing the music, and the studio Teddy is producing the animation. No additional cast beyond Nagase has been announced yet.

What the trailer shows

According to the official promotional video, the trailer opens on a figure falling from above, presumably Mercedes in the life that preceded her reincarnation, before moving into a run of fluid combat scenes. The sharp-fanged, pointed-eared vampire is shown mid-action across a fantastical, moonlit world, with the fights and her spellcasting positioned as the clip's main draw.

About the source material

Mercedes and the Waning Moon began as a web novel written by Firehead, with illustrations by KeG, serialized on the Shosetsuka ni Naro platform from 2018 to 2022. TO Books has published the print light novel since 2021 and reached five volumes as of July 2026. A manga adaptation by Pochi Edoya has run on TO Books' Comic Corona service since 2021 across six volumes, and J-Novel Club releases the novels digitally in English.

The story follows a former office worker reborn as Mercedes, a child of a poor vampire noble family who carries deep regret over a first life she feels she wasted. Determined to live her second life without regret and, as she puts it, to laugh when she dies, she takes up dungeon crawling as a seeker, only to find greater mysteries waiting at the depths.

What we know and what is still open

The premiere window is January 2027, but a specific date, broadcast networks, and streaming platforms have not been announced. The first visual and PV, plus the confirmed lead and staff, are the extent of what has been detailed so far, with more casting and scheduling expected closer to launch.