TL;DR: The Eleceed anime premieres in April 2027, after its original 2026 target. The English trailer is out, DandeLion Animation Studio is handling it, and Crunchyroll is the international streaming partner named in the 2025 announcement.
Correction (October 30, 2026): This page said the anime was set for "early 2027" with no month announced. On October 21, 2026 the official anime site announced an April 2027 broadcast, as Anime News Network reported the same day. We have changed the date throughout.
Correction (October 30, 2026), staff credits and arcs: We credited director Hiroshi Nishikiori with Aria the Animation and A Certain Scientific Railgun. He directed neither; his credits include A Certain Magical Index, Azumanga Daioh and Honey Lemon Soda. We also replaced our own three-arc split of the chapters with the parts listed on the Eleceed fan wiki.
Recent updates:
- October 16, 2026: Replaced the old Daily Pass catch-up advice: WEBTOON dropped Daily Pass in May 2025, and every Eleceed episode except the 10 newest is free on its website.
The Eleceed anime release date moved from its original 2026 target to April 2027. Anime Expo 2026 first pushed it to early 2027, and on October 21, 2026 the official site named the month alongside an English-subtitled trailer. WEBTOON and LINE Digital Frontier announced the adaptation in June 2025; DandeLion Animation Studio (the production house behind The First Slam Dunk) is still handling it. Director Hiroshi Nishikiori, series composer Yōsuke Kuroda, Crunchyroll streaming.
Key Takeaways
- The Eleceed anime release date was announced in 2025 with a 2026 window; the official anime site now lists April 2027 (announced October 21, 2026)
- An official Crunchyroll teaser was published on August 1, 2026; the production staff announced in 2025 remains attached
- DandeLion Animation Studio producing, behind The First Slam Dunk (2022) and Oscar-nominated Magic Candies
- Director Hiroshi Nishikiori; series composition Yōsuke Kuroda; character design Minami Sakura
- Crunchyroll confirmed for international streaming
- Source material: 403 English WEBTOON episodes as of September 14, 2026; the official anime site reported 1.75 billion views as of May 2026
Eleceed anime release date: what happened
On June 30, 2025, WEBTOON and LINE Digital Frontier officially announced an anime adaptation of Eleceed, the action manhwa by Son Jeho (story) and Zhena (art). The announcement confirmed a 2026 premiere window, DandeLion Animation Studio as the production company, Hiroshi Nishikiori as director, Yosuke Kuroda as series composer, Minami Sakura as character designer, and Crunchyroll as the international streaming partner.
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DandeLion Animation Studio co-produced The First Slam Dunk (2022) with Toei Animation, a basketball film that updated a manga first serialized in 1990. Hiroshi Nishikiori directed A Certain Magical Index and Azumanga Daioh, and more recently Honey Lemon Soda (2025). Yosuke Kuroda's series composition credits include My Hero Academia and Gundam 00.
Update, August 2026: the official anime site lists an early 2027 broadcast, replacing the original 2026 window. Crunchyroll published an official teaser on August 1, 2026. No specific month has been announced.
Update, October 21, 2026: the official site posted "2027年4月放送決定！" (broadcast set for April 2027) and an English trailer, saying "The series premieres worldwide in April 2027." Anime News Network reported the April 2027 date the same day.
Official ELECEED teaser trailer (English ver.), via the anime's official YouTube channel.
The official English WEBTOON listing shows Episode 403 dated September 14, 2026. The anime's official site reported 1.75 billion views as of May 2026. Neither the official site nor Anime News Network's October 21 report gives an episode count or says how many chapters the first season covers.
Eleceed by Son Jeho and Zhena, the source manhwa for the anime adaptation.
Eleceed Anime: The Production Team
Hiroshi Nishikiori (A Certain Magical Index, Azumanga Daioh, Honey Lemon Soda) has directed long-running anime where tone matters as much as action. Yōsuke Kuroda's script credits include Gundam 00 and My Hero Academia, which is to say he's comfortable adapting action manga without losing the emotional beats underneath.
DandeLion is the name worth paying attention to. The studio co-produced The First Slam Dunk with Toei Animation: the 2022 film took a basketball manga first serialized in 1990 and turned it into one of the better sports anime productions in years. That film made stylistic and structural choices that worked because nobody was playing it safe. I'm curious to see what DandeLion does with Eleceed's specific challenge.
Minami Sakura handles character designs. Zhena's source art is distinct enough that keeping those designs consistent across animation frames is a real challenge; Jiwoo and Kayden read well in still panels but are tricky to keep stable in motion.
The anime's official site reported 1.75 billion views as of May 2026. In English, the series runs on WEBTOON with Fast Pass for early access. For where to read ahead of the Eleceed anime premiere, see where to read manhwa legally in 2026.
Why the Eleceed anime release date delay matters
Eleceed isn't the biggest manhwa getting adapted this wave. Tomb Raider King still lands in 2026 and has more crossover appeal with the regression-action crowd. But Eleceed does something different: it's structured around a character relationship, not a power climb. Jiwoo hides his combat ability from everyone. Kayden, stuck as a cat with the body mass of a house pet and the pride of someone who was once untouchable, can't do anything about his situation without Jiwoo's help.
For a breakdown of the Tomb Raider King anime's confirmed scope against its 411-chapter source, see Tomb Raider King Manhwa vs Anime: 11 Episodes, 411 Chapters.
For character breakdowns and team structure on the other 2026 adaptation: Tomb Raider King Character Guide.
That setup is genuinely funny in a way most action manhwa don't attempt. The official anime site reported 1.75 billion views as of May 2026, a signal of the series' reach before the adaptation. That humor runs on timing: the gap between Kayden's internal voice (once the world's strongest Awakened) and his actual cat body (completely useless). Whether DandeLion can make that work in animation is the real question.
More manhwa are getting adapted in this wave than in any previous year. The Tomb Raider King anime is part of the 2026 adaptation wave. Eleceed now lands in April 2027, and the official schedule confirms it's still coming. For readers who want to know what to read right now, the best manhwa of 2026 covers Eleceed alongside everything else worth your time.
Eleceed chapter count in 2026: where the manhwa stands now
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The English WEBTOON listing is at Episode 403 as of September 14, 2026. The series updates weekly in English: one episode per week. The Korean Naver release is ahead of the English version by several chapters.
WEBTOON doesn't label arcs in its episode list, but the Eleceed fan wiki splits the run into parts. Part 1, "The World of Awakened," covers Ep. 1-100: The Beginning, Jiwoo's Training, The Klein Brothers and The Korean Awakened Academy. Parts 2 and 3, "The Academy Exchange" and "The Invasion," run Ep. 101-222, and Part 3 ends with The World Awakened Academy (Ep. 190-222). From Ep. 223 come "The Rescue," "The Hunt" (including Kayden Vs The Top 10), "The Challenge," and Part 7, which began at Episode 402.
If you're starting from chapter 1 in 2026, there are roughly 400 chapters before you reach the current weekly updates. All of them except the newest are free on WEBTOON's website and app, so catching up costs nothing but time. The 10 newest episodes are Fast Pass (Coins) in the app. The Daily Pass ration older guides describe is gone: WEBTOON removed it in May 2025 (first reported May 29).
For the full arc breakdown and what to expect at each phase: Eleceed Reading Guide →
Tower of God got a Netflix anime, one of the first manhwa adaptations to reach a wide Western audience.
Frequently Asked Questions
When is the Eleceed anime release date? April 2027. The original 2025 announcement targeted 2026, which later became early 2027; on October 21, 2026 the official anime site set the broadcast for April 2027. No day has been announced.
What studio is animating Eleceed? DandeLion Animation Studio (the production company behind The First Slam Dunk film).
Who is directing? Hiroshi Nishikiori directs. Yōsuke Kuroda writes the scripts. Minami Sakura designs the characters.
Who voices the Eleceed anime cast? Junya Enoki (Yuji Itadori in Jujutsu Kaisen) voices protagonist Jiwoo, credited under the Japanese dub name Yu Kazahaya. The rest of the cast was revealed alongside the trailer.
Where will the Eleceed anime stream? Crunchyroll has been confirmed as the international streaming platform.
How many chapters of Eleceed exist? The official English WEBTOON listing shows 403 episodes as of September 14, 2026, and the series continues weekly.
Is Eleceed ongoing? Yes. The series is still publishing new chapters on WEBTOON every Tuesday.
Related Reading
- Eleceed Character Guide: Full named roster verified against AniList and Wikipedia, including confirmed anime voice cast pairings.
- Eleceed Review: Full series review covering Kayden's fighting style and the series' comedy balance.
- Eleceed Reading Guide: Arc breakdown of the school-action series and where the power escalation starts.
- Best Manhwa Ongoing 2026: Other ongoing series with active anime adaptation announcements in 2026.
- Best Manhwa November 2026: the monthly roundup uses Eleceed's Tuesday WEBTOON cadence while the anime waits for April 2027.
References
- WEBTOON / LINE Digital Frontier official announcement, June 30, 2025
- Eleceed on WEBTOON
- AniList: Eleceed manga entry
- ELECEED official anime site, current broadcast window and production updates
- ELECEED official teaser, Crunchyroll, August 1, 2026
- Anime News Network: Eleceed Webtoon Gets TV Anime
- ELECEED official site: broadcast set for April 2027, October 21, 2026
- Anime News Network: Eleceed TV Anime's English-Subtitled Trailer Reveals April 2027 Delay, October 21, 2026
- The First Slam Dunk (DandeLion reference): Toei Animation film, 2022
