The phantom never laughs… though his appearance is not always an entirely somber occasion.

Earlier today, an official website and Twitter account opened to announce a new Boogiepop Phantom (Boogiepop wa Warawanai / Boogiepop Doesn’t Laugh) anime TV series. The first cast and crew, as well as a trailer and visual were unveiled.

We break the details down below.

Trailer

The 85-second trailer cuts between various scenes, from an empty park, to a haunted household, to brawls in subways and on rooftops.

Key Visual

The image features Touka Miyashita standing alone in a city. The image pulls out to show Boogiepop’s profile as the frame for the scene.

Staff

Shingo Natsume (Space Dandy, One Punch Man) will direct the Boogiepop Phantom anime at Madhouse, with Hidehiko Sawada providing character designs. Tomohiro Suzuki (ACCA: 13-Territory Inspection Dept.) is in charge of series composition and scripts for the project.

Other confirmed crew members include:

  • Original Creator: Kouhei Kadono
  • Original Character Design: Koji Ogata
  • Music: Kensuke Ushio
  • Production: Boogiepop and Others Partners

Cast

The confirmed voice cast includes:

  • Boogiepop: Aoi Yuki
  • Touka Miyashita: Aoi Yuki
  • Nagi Kirima: Saori Onishi

The series will hit Japanese TV in 2018. The project is being produced as part of Dengeki Bunko’s 25th anniversary celebration.

Boogiepop Phantom is based on Kouhei Kadono’s Boogiepop light novel series. The franchise spans twenty mainline novels, eleven spinoff books, numerous short story collections, and two manga serials.

The project receive an anime TV series in the Winter 2000 broadcast season. Takashi Watanabe (The Slayers, Shakugan no Shana) directed the project at Madhouse, with Shigeyuki Suga (Kino’s Journey, Monochrome Factor) providing character designs. Sadayuki Murai (Jūni Taisen: Zodiac War, Knights of Sidonia) was in charge of series composition.

Right Stuf currently holds the domestic rights to the original Boogiepop Phantom anime, which they describe as:

Five years ago, a string of grisly murders shook the city to its core. Now terror has returned, and this time it has a name: Boogiepop. Everyone knows about Boogiepop: death incarnate, she stalks the night in search of fresh victims. Meet her, and you simply… vanish. In the darkness, glass shatters and time stands still… There’s something out there, and it’s coming closer. Are you safe?

Sources: Dengeki, Twitter (pKjd)

Update 3/11/2018, 6:11PM EDT: The girl in the visual is Touka Miyashita, Boogiepop’s alterego. We’ve updated our coverage to correct this. (Thanks to Lin for the heads-up!)