The Fledgling Demon Lord's Starter Shop, the anime of Makoto Morishita's manga Sudachi no Maou-jou, starts airing in January 2027 on TOKYO MX, MBS and BS11 in Japan. Kodansha confirmed the broadcast window on October 16, the same day the manga's 14th volume went on sale and the series marked five years in Monthly Shonen Magazine.

project No.9 is animating it, and the official site has already put out a key visual and the main cast.

An RPG story set after the credits roll

The premise flips the usual fantasy setup. Ten years after a hero defeated the Demon Lord, the world is at peace, and that's bad news for the item shop in Saisho Village, nicknamed the "Lv.1 village" because it's where adventurers used to stock up before heading out.

The shop, Sudachi-ya, is close to going under. Its owner, Murabito, keeps it open anyway because he believes it's the legendary first stop the hero shopped at, and he works odd jobs on the side to keep it running. Then a girl with the golden eyes of the demon race shows up and claims to be the 776th Demon Lord, the one who supposedly died a decade ago.

Morishita's own comment on the official site explains where it came from: a passing thought about how tough life must be for an RPG item shop once the world no longer needs saving.

Main cast

  • Murabito: Reiji Kawashima
  • Mao, the former Demon Lord: Rumi Okubo
  • Ash, a mysterious young man who may be the hero who beat the Demon Lord: Yohei Azakami

In her comment on the site, Okubo says the story reads like a fantasy but rests on themes of family and finding a place to belong. Azakami describes the scripts as fast, swinging between gag comedy and serious beats.

Avex Pictures handles music production. The site lists more staff, including the director, but we're waiting for official English credits before naming them.

Where to read it now

The manga runs in Kodansha's Monthly Shonen Magazine. To mark the anime and the new volume, Kodansha's Getsumaga Kichi service is offering volumes one to six free until October 22. The release doesn't mention a streaming partner for the Philippines.

Source: Kodansha release via PR TIMES and the official anime site, sudachi-anime.com.