WIT STUDIO has officially announced LONA, a completely original television anime scheduled to begin airing in Japan in spring 2027.
The mysterious science-fiction project brings together acclaimed screenwriter Akiko Nogi, SPY x FAMILY CODE: White director Takashi Katagiri and The Promised Neverland artist Posuka Demizu for a neuroscience adventure centered on researchers investigating thoughts left behind by the dead.
Three teaser visuals, an animated promotional video and a live-action teaser commercial were released with the announcement. The production also confirmed its principal voice cast and an extensive creative team led by WIT STUDIO.
Minako Kotobuki, Anna Nagase and Fuka Izumi will voice the three currently announced characters: Ao, Sango and Mugen.
LONA Premieres in Spring 2027
LONA will begin its Japanese television broadcast during the spring 2027 anime season.
A specific premiere date, television network and international streaming platform have not yet been announced.
- Title: LONA
- Full name: Laboratory of Optics and Neural Analysis
- Format: Original television anime
- Premiere window: Spring 2027
- Original concept and screenplay: Akiko Nogi
- Director: Takashi Katagiri
- Original character concepts: Posuka Demizu
- Character design: Yudai Iino
- Music: Hiroko Sebu
- Planning and animation production: WIT STUDIO
The number of episodes, theme songs and complete broadcast schedule also remain unannounced.
What Is LONA About?
LONA is described as a neuroscience adventure set in the near future.
Its story follows researchers working at the Laboratory of Optics and Neural Analysis, an advanced scientific facility known by the abbreviation LONA.
The researchers encounter what the production describes as thoughts or feelings left behind by deceased people. Rather than treating death as the complete disappearance of consciousness, the story explores the possibility that emotions, memories or regrets can leave traces capable of being observed through science.
Ao and Sango appear to be central to the investigation. The teaser shows the two researchers confronting these lingering thoughts while becoming involved in a mystery extending beyond an ordinary laboratory experiment.
The complete synopsis has not yet been published. The production has therefore not explained exactly how the thoughts of the dead are preserved, how researchers can access them or what danger emerges from the technology.
LONA Stands for Laboratory of Optics and Neural Analysis
The anime’s title comes directly from the institution at the center of the story.
LONA is an abbreviation for Laboratory of Optics and Neural Analysis, translated as a laboratory dedicated to the optical analysis of neural activity.
The name suggests that the researchers use light-based technology to examine the brain at an extremely detailed level.
The project’s promotional material combines medical imagery, advanced scientific equipment and visual representations of memories or consciousness. However, the exact fictional technology remains deliberately unexplained.
The Story Is Set in a Near-Future Research Facility
The facility depicted in LONA is modeled after SPring-8, the large synchrotron radiation facility operated by RIKEN in Harima Science Garden City, Hyogo Prefecture.
SPring-8 provided inspiration for both the physical setting and the enormous scientific machinery shown in the promotional campaign.
The teaser commercial uses live-action footage associated with the real facility to establish the scale of the fictional laboratory. Its long corridors, circular structure and advanced equipment create an environment that feels technologically impressive but potentially isolating.
The animated teaser then moves closer to the human side of the story, introducing Ao and Sango as they encounter the thoughts left behind by the dead.
The First Teaser Introduces Ao and Sango
The teaser promotional video contains the first animated footage from LONA.
Rather than explaining the entire premise through narration, the video presents fragmented images of the laboratory, its researchers and the emotional traces they are attempting to understand.
Ao and Sango appear to operate as a new investigative pair. Their work may involve studying the neurological remains of deceased individuals while determining what those thoughts reveal about unresolved events.
The promotional material refers to them confronting the world through their contact with the thoughts of the dead, suggesting that their discoveries will have consequences outside the laboratory.
The teaser does not reveal whether the series will follow one continuous mystery or several investigations connected by a larger story.
Minako Kotobuki Voices Ao
Minako Kotobuki will voice Ao, one of the researchers at the center of LONA.
Ao is shown reflected inside Sango’s eye in one of the three teaser visuals, emphasizing the connection between the two characters.
The official material has not yet provided a detailed character profile, so Ao’s position, specialization and personal history remain unknown.
The teaser nevertheless presents Ao as someone directly involved in examining the thoughts left by deceased people.
Anna Nagase Voices Sango
Anna Nagase will portray Sango, an apprentice researcher working at LONA.
Sango is one of the principal figures featured throughout the initial promotional campaign. A teaser visual released through WIT STUDIO focuses on her face, with Ao reflected in her eye.
Nagase expressed strong interest in participating after learning that Akiko Nogi was responsible for the original story and screenplay.
The character’s status as an apprentice suggests that viewers may learn about the fictional research process alongside her as she encounters phenomena that challenge the established understanding of consciousness and death.
Fuka Izumi Voices Mugen
Fuka Izumi will voice a character named Mugen.
The Japanese name can also carry associations with infinity or limitless space, depending on the characters used to write it.
Mugen’s identity and role have not yet been explained. The promotional campaign has not confirmed whether the character is another researcher, a person connected to one of the investigations or part of the scientific phenomenon itself.
Keeping the character mysterious appears to be intentional, particularly because one of the teaser visuals focuses on an unidentified object described as important to the story.
Confirmed Japanese Voice Cast
- Minako Kotobuki as Ao
- Anna Nagase as Sango
- Fuka Izumi as Mugen
Additional researchers, family members and people connected to the thoughts being investigated have not yet been announced.
Three Teaser Visuals Reveal Different Parts of the Mystery
WIT STUDIO introduced LONA through three separate teaser visuals posted as part of a coordinated countdown.
The first artwork focuses on Sango, one of the story’s protagonists and an apprentice researcher at LONA. Ao can be seen reflected in her eye, suggesting a close partnership or shared experience.
The second visual presents the Laboratory of Optics and Neural Analysis itself. The image contains numerous scientific and environmental details that hint at the scale of the organization and the complexity of its work.
The third visual centers on a mysterious object expected to play an important role in the story. Its nature and connection to the deceased have not yet been explained.
Together, the visuals introduce the characters, location and central mystery without revealing the complete plot.
Akiko Nogi Creates Her First Original TV Anime
Akiko Nogi is responsible for the original concept and screenplay.
Nogi is best known for writing Japanese television dramas and films that combine social commentary, human relationships and carefully structured mysteries.
Her previous work includes Unnatural, MIU404 and Last Mile. Those productions are known for examining institutions and social problems through suspense-driven stories centered on professional teams.
LONA is her first original television anime project, although she previously worked on the screenplay for the animated film Inu-Oh.
Development has been underway since approximately 2020, with Nogi describing the project as the result of an enormous number of meetings, working hours and participating staff members.
She explained that the team wanted to create expressions possible only through animation while using a large synchrotron radiation facility as the setting for a story confronting the brain and the world.
Takashi Katagiri Directs LONA
Takashi Katagiri will direct the series.
Katagiri previously directed SPY x FAMILY CODE: White and worked extensively on the SPY x FAMILY television anime.
LONA gives him an opportunity to lead an original science-fiction story without the structural limits of adapting an existing manga.
The project will require the direction to communicate complicated scientific ideas while maintaining the emotional importance of the dead people whose thoughts remain behind.
Katagiri praised Nogi’s screenplay and described reading it as a powerful experience he now looks forward to sharing with viewers.
Posuka Demizu Creates the Original Character Concepts
Posuka Demizu provides the original character concepts.
Demizu is internationally known as the artist behind The Promised Neverland, where her detailed environments and expressive character artwork helped establish the manga’s distinctive atmosphere.
For LONA, she approached the designs by considering the inner lives of the characters and attempting to make them feel like people who genuinely inhabit the near-future world.
Demizu also praised the setting and screenplay, noting that the world immediately captured her attention.
Yudai Iino Adapts the Designs for Animation
Yudai Iino serves as the anime’s character designer.
His responsibility is to translate Demizu’s original concepts into models capable of remaining expressive and consistent across the television production.
Character acting may be particularly important in LONA because the story deals with grief, memories and emotionally complicated discoveries rather than relying only on external action.
Ayumi Yamada and Keisuke Okura provide sub-character designs.
Hiroko Sebu Composes the Music
Hiroko Sebu will compose the original score.
Sebu has created music for numerous films and dramatic productions, making her a natural match for a project developed by an established live-action screenwriter.
She explained that she had been hoping to work on more animation music when Nogi invited her to join the project.
The soundtrack will need to balance clinical scientific environments with the emotional presence of memories and regrets left by the dead.
Opening and ending theme performers have not yet been announced.
WIT STUDIO Leads Both Planning and Animation
WIT STUDIO is responsible for both the project’s planning and animation production.
The studio is also leading the production committee, giving it a central creative and organizational role beyond simply animating material developed elsewhere.
LONA is being presented as a major original project celebrating WIT STUDIO’s 15th anniversary.
Animation producer Kazuki Yamanaka is leading the production team after previously working on projects including SPY x FAMILY and Bubble.
Because no manga or novel exists, the anime will be the original and primary version of the story. Viewers will therefore encounter its mysteries without readers already knowing the eventual answers.
Main Production Staff
- Original concept and screenplay: Akiko Nogi
- Director: Takashi Katagiri
- Original character concepts: Posuka Demizu
- Character design: Yudai Iino
- Sub-character design: Ayumi Yamada and Keisuke Okura
- Image design: syo5
- Art setting and mechanical design: Satoshi Takabatake and Kazushi Fujii
- Art director: Yumiko Kuga
- Color design: Hanami Tanaka
- 3DCG director: Shigenori Hirosumi
- Directors of photography: Kentaro Minegishi and Miori Miyagi
- Editor: Kiyoshi Hirose
- Sound director: Shoji Hata
- Music: Hiroko Sebu
- Animation producer: Kazuki Yamanaka
- Planning and animation production: WIT STUDIO
A Science-Fiction Mystery About Memory and Grief
The ability to observe thoughts left by dead people creates both scientific and ethical questions.
A memory may contain information capable of solving a crime, explaining an unexplained death or exposing a secret hidden during a person’s lifetime.
However, examining those memories could also violate the privacy of someone who can no longer provide consent or explain the meaning behind what researchers discover.
The official synopsis does not yet confirm which of these questions the anime will explore. Nogi’s previous work, however, frequently connects professional investigations with broader institutional and social issues.
LONA may therefore use its fictional neuroscience not only to create mysteries, but also to examine how living people interpret the emotions and unfinished wishes of those who are gone.
What Remains Unknown About LONA?
The exact spring 2027 premiere date has not yet been announced.
Japanese broadcasters and international streaming services remain unconfirmed.
The number of episodes, opening theme and ending theme have not been revealed.
Detailed profiles for Ao, Sango and Mugen are also unavailable, while most of the supporting cast remains unknown.
The production has not explained the exact scientific process used to observe the thoughts of the dead or the larger conflict that will emerge from the research.
Final Thoughts
LONA will premiere as an original television anime in spring 2027.
The neuroscience adventure follows researchers at the Laboratory of Optics and Neural Analysis as they encounter thoughts and emotions left behind by deceased people.
Minako Kotobuki voices Ao, Anna Nagase portrays apprentice researcher Sango and Fuka Izumi joins the cast as the mysterious Mugen.
Akiko Nogi created the original story and writes the screenplay, while SPY x FAMILY CODE: White director Takashi Katagiri leads the anime.
Posuka Demizu provides the original character concepts, Yudai Iino adapts the designs for animation and Hiroko Sebu composes the music.
WIT STUDIO is leading both planning and animation production for the project, which also serves as a major title celebrating the studio’s 15th anniversary.
With a near-future laboratory inspired by the real SPring-8 facility and a mystery built around the lingering thoughts of the dead, LONA is preparing to combine scientific investigation, emotional drama and original animation in one of spring 2027’s most intriguing new productions.
