Mercedes and the Waning Moon Anime Sets January 2027 Premiere With Teaser Trailer and Vampire Dungeon Fantasy
Mercedes and the Waning Moon: The Dungeoneering Feats of a Discarded Vampire Aristocrat has officially set its TV anime premiere for January 2027, giving fantasy fans a first real look at Mercedes Grünewald’s second life through a newly released teaser visual and first promotional video.
The anime adapts the light novel series by Firehead, with original illustrations by KeG. The story follows a woman from modern Japan who dies with deep regret and is reborn as Mercedes Grünewald, a vampire noble girl whose position is far less secure than it first appears.
The newly released trailer introduces the anime’s magical world, Mercedes’ vampire features, her determination to survive and the dungeon battles that will shape her new life. Anna Nagase will voice Mercedes, while animation production will be handled by Teddy.
The anime will be directed by Kunihisa Sugishima, with Jun Kumagai handling series composition, Nami Shoyama designing the characters and R.O.N and Shuhei Mutsuki composing the music.
A January 2027 Premiere for Mercedes and the Waning Moon
Mercedes and the Waning Moon is scheduled to begin airing in January 2027.
The exact premiere date has not yet been announced. The production committee has also not revealed the Japanese broadcast stations, total episode count, opening theme, ending theme or international streaming platform.
For now, the main confirmed details are the January 2027 broadcast window, the teaser visual, the first PV, the lead voice actress and the core production staff.
The reveal is important because the anime was first announced in 2025, but this new update finally gives fans a clearer sense of how the adaptation will look and sound. The first trailer places Mercedes at the center of a fantasy world filled with regret, rebirth, noble bloodlines, vampire power and dangerous dungeons.
What Is Mercedes and the Waning Moon About?
Mercedes and the Waning Moon follows Mercedes Grünewald, a girl reborn as a vampire noble after dying in modern Japan.
In her previous life, she lived without purpose and died feeling empty and unfulfilled. That regret stays with her after reincarnation. In her new life, she wants something different. She wants to live without regrets, carve her own path and eventually die with a smile.
But Mercedes’ new life is not as privileged as it first seems.
She is the daughter of a noble vampire father and a shunned concubine. Her family situation is unstable, and she knows that one day her father will likely choose an heir who is not her. When that happens, Mercedes, her mother and their aging maid may lose even the small protection they currently have.
To escape poverty and create a future with her own strength, Mercedes decides to become a Seeker and challenge dungeons. Even though she is still a child, her vampire body gives her the potential to grow powerful. Inside the dungeons, she hopes to find wealth, purpose and something that can make her incomplete moon full.
The Teaser Trailer Shows Mercedes’ Rebirth and Battles
The first promotional video opens with imagery that appears to connect to Mercedes’ life before reincarnation, showing a person falling from somewhere unknown before the story shifts into her new existence as a vampire girl.
The trailer then highlights Mercedes’ sharp fangs, pointed ears and battle scenes, making it clear that the anime will lean into both fantasy atmosphere and action. The official materials describe her as a girl who carries regret from her previous life but refuses to remain incomplete in this one.
That emotional foundation gives the action more weight.
Mercedes is not entering dungeons only because she wants adventure. She is doing it because survival demands it. Her family’s future depends on her ability to become strong, and her own second life depends on whether she can find a reason to live fully.
The trailer’s strongest promise is that this will not simply be a cute vampire-girl fantasy. It is a story about a child carrying old regret, using a new body and new power to fight her way toward independence.
Anna Nagase Voices Mercedes Grünewald
Anna Nagase will voice Mercedes Grünewald.
This is the first confirmed cast member for the anime, and it is the most important role in the series. Mercedes carries the story almost immediately because the entire premise depends on her perspective: her regret, her survival instinct, her family situation and her determination to become strong despite starting life as a discarded noble child.
Mercedes needs to sound young, but not simple. She is physically a child, yet she carries memories and emotional weight from a previous life. She also has to shift between vulnerability, cynicism, ambition and battle determination.
That combination makes the role demanding.
The anime’s success will depend heavily on whether Mercedes feels like more than a standard reincarnated fantasy protagonist. She must feel like someone whose second life is both a gift and a burden.
A Vampire Girl Who Refuses to Stay Incomplete
The title Mercedes and the Waning Moon is one of the most important parts of the story’s identity.
A waning moon suggests something incomplete, fading or not yet whole. That image fits Mercedes perfectly. She begins her second life with potential, noble blood and vampire strength, but emotionally and socially she is still incomplete.
Her family status is incomplete because her mother is only a concubine and her father has no real interest in protecting them.
Her childhood is incomplete because she cannot simply live peacefully as a noble daughter. She has to think about survival almost immediately.
Her soul is incomplete because her previous life ended without fulfillment.
That is why the idea of making her moon full matters. Mercedes is not only trying to become stronger. She is trying to turn a half-lived existence into a complete one.
The Dungeon-Crawling Premise Gives the Story Clear Momentum
Dungeon crawling is the engine of the story.
Mercedes needs money, status, strength and independence. Dungeons offer all of those things, but only to people willing to risk their lives. That makes them both opportunity and danger.
Because dungeon exploration is a job that even a child can technically attempt, Mercedes sees it as a path forward. She cannot rely on her father. She cannot rely on inherited comfort. She cannot wait for someone else to protect her family.
So she trains.
That gives the series a satisfying structure. Mercedes starts young, but her progress can be shown through training, battles, discoveries, companions and the deeper mysteries waiting inside the dungeon.
The anime can use the dungeon setting to combine action, survival, growth and worldbuilding while keeping Mercedes’ personal motivation clear.
This Is Not Just Another Noble Reincarnation Story
At first glance, Mercedes and the Waning Moon may look like another reincarnation fantasy about being born into nobility.
But the hook is sharper than that.
Mercedes is technically a noble, but that status does not guarantee safety. Her father has shunned her side of the family, and her future depends on a political and family structure that can discard her at any time.
That makes the noble setting more dangerous than comfortable.
Instead of using nobility as an easy power fantasy, the story uses it as a trap. Mercedes is close enough to privilege to understand what she might lose, but far enough from security that she has to build her own path.
This gives the anime a stronger underdog feeling. Mercedes has vampire potential, but she still begins from a place of social vulnerability.
Mercedes’ Previous Life Gives the Story Emotional Weight
The reincarnation element matters because Mercedes remembers regret.
She did not die satisfied. She did not complete a meaningful dream. She ended her previous life feeling empty, and that emptiness becomes the emotional fuel for her new life.
This is one of the most important differences between a simple fantasy adventure and a reincarnation story.
Mercedes is not only trying to survive because her current circumstances are hard. She is also trying to correct the failure of her previous existence. She knows what it means to reach the end of life and feel that nothing was fulfilled.
That knowledge makes her unusually driven.
Even as a child, she has a reason to fight with adult intensity. She does not want another incomplete life. She wants this second chance to mean something.
The Vampire Nation Adds a Dark Fantasy Flavor
Mercedes being reborn as a vampire gives the story a darker and more distinctive fantasy flavor.
Vampire protagonists are not unusual in fantasy, but Mercedes’ situation combines several appealing elements: aristocratic blood, physical potential, social abandonment and dungeon survival.
Her vampire body makes her strong, quick and capable of growth. It also places her inside a society with its own rules, noble structures and bloodline expectations.
This gives the story more texture than a generic dungeon fantasy.
Mercedes’ identity is not only “reincarnated adventurer.” She is a vampire noble girl whose power, status and danger are all tied to the same birth. The very thing that gives her potential also traps her in a family hierarchy that may abandon her.
Kunihisa Sugishima Directs the Anime
Kunihisa Sugishima will direct Mercedes and the Waning Moon.
Direction will be especially important because the anime has to balance several tones. It is a reincarnation story, a vampire fantasy, a dungeon adventure and an emotional survival drama about a young girl trying to protect her future.
The official staff comment from Sugishima emphasizes the challenge of expressing the original work’s unique world visually and also notes that the music will take an aggressive approach.
That is promising because the anime’s world needs to feel specific. Mercedes and the Waning Moon should not look like a generic fantasy kingdom with dungeons attached. It needs atmosphere: noble gloom, moonlit vampire imagery, dangerous dungeon interiors and the sense that Mercedes is always pushing against a world that would rather leave her incomplete.
Jun Kumagai Handles Series Composition
Jun Kumagai is responsible for series composition.
This role will be important because the anime must clearly establish Mercedes’ difficult situation before moving into dungeon action. If the adaptation rushes too quickly into battles, viewers may not fully understand why Mercedes is so desperate to become strong.
The story’s emotional progression depends on sequence.
First, viewers need to understand her previous-life regret.
Then, they need to understand her new family’s weakness and instability.
Only after that does dungeon crawling become more than a fantasy adventure job. It becomes Mercedes’ answer to abandonment.
A strong series structure will make every fight feel connected to her larger goal: living fully, protecting what little family she has and refusing to let her second life fade like the first.
Nami Shoyama Designs the Characters
Nami Shoyama handles character design for the anime.
This is a key role because Mercedes’ design must communicate several contradictions at once.
She is young, but emotionally burdened. She is a vampire, but not simply monstrous. She is noble, but not secure. She is vulnerable, but dangerous. She is incomplete, but determined.
The character designer’s official comment describes Mercedes as a character who carries painful memories and deep conflict behind a cynical expression, while also living with strength and resilience.
That combination is exactly what the anime needs visually.
If Mercedes looks too cute, the darker emotional core may weaken. If she looks too cold, viewers may miss her vulnerability. The best version of her design should make both sides visible: the child fighting to survive and the old regret burning behind her eyes.
R.O.N and Shuhei Mutsuki Compose the Music
The music will be composed by R.O.N and Shuhei Mutsuki.
This is another important production detail because fantasy dungeon anime often depend heavily on music to create scale, danger and emotional memory.
Mercedes and the Waning Moon has a title and premise that naturally invite a strong musical identity. Moon imagery, vampire atmosphere, dungeon danger and personal regret all give the score room to be more than background fantasy music.
The director’s comment suggests that the music is taking a bold approach, which could help the anime stand out.
A strong soundtrack can make Mercedes’ battles feel intense, but it can also make quieter scenes resonate: her memories of an empty previous life, her concern for her mother, her first steps into dungeons and the moments when she realizes that survival will demand more from her than courage alone.
Teddy Handles Animation Production
Animation production will be handled by Teddy.
The studio’s challenge will be to make both sides of the story work: the beauty of the fantasy world and the brutality of the dungeons.
Mercedes’ action scenes need to feel sharp because the trailer is already selling battle as a major part of the anime. Her vampire speed, combat instincts and dungeon growth should come through visually.
At the same time, the anime needs quieter atmosphere. Mercedes and the Waning Moon is not only about fighting monsters. It is about a girl who understands that life can be wasted and refuses to let that happen again.
That means the animation must support emotional stillness as much as action movement.
The Main Staff Behind Mercedes and the Waning Moon
The currently announced staff includes:
- Original Creator: Firehead
- Original Illustrator: KeG
- Manga Artist: Pochi Edoya
- Director: Kunihisa Sugishima
- Series Composition: Jun Kumagai
- Character Design: Nami Shoyama
- Music: R.O.N and Shuhei Mutsuki
- Animation Production: Teddy
- Production: Mercedes and the Waning Moon Production Committee
Additional staff members, including sound director, art director, color designer, photography director and editor, have not yet been revealed in the main announcement materials.
The Confirmed Cast So Far
The only confirmed voice cast member at this stage is:
- Anna Nagase as Mercedes Grünewald
No additional voice actors have been announced yet.
That means fans are still waiting to learn who will voice Mercedes’ mother, her father, her maid, dungeon companions, rivals and any major monsters or figures tied to the dungeon’s mysteries.
Because Mercedes is the emotional center of the story, revealing her voice first makes sense. Future cast announcements will likely give a better sense of how far the anime plans to adapt in its first season.
The Light Novel Comes From Firehead and KeG
The original light novel is written by Firehead and illustrated by KeG.
It began on the web novel platform Shosetsuka ni Naro before being published by TO Books. The official anime website lists Volumes 1 through 5 as currently available in Japan, with Volumes 4 and 5 released digitally.
The series also received a manga adaptation by Pochi Edoya, with six collected volumes listed by the official site.
That publication path is familiar for modern fantasy anime: web novel to light novel, then manga, then anime. But Mercedes and the Waning Moon has a clearer identity than many long-title fantasy works because of its vampire protagonist, its moon imagery and its focus on a child trying to escape abandonment through dungeon crawling.
J-Novel Club Publishes the Series in English
J-Novel Club publishes the light novel and manga versions in English under the full title Mercedes and the Waning Moon: The Dungeoneering Feats of a Discarded Vampire Aristocrat.
The English release describes Mercedes as a vampire noble girl who is technically lucky, but whose real situation is precarious. Her mother is a concubine, her father has pushed them aside and her future depends on preparing before their fragile protection disappears.
That description highlights the story’s strongest hook.
Mercedes has advantages, but she is not safe. She has vampire potential, but she must train. She has noble blood, but it may not protect her. She has memories of a previous life, but those memories mostly teach her that wasting a life is its own kind of tragedy.
For English-speaking fans who want to read ahead before the anime premieres, J-Novel Club is the main official path.
Why Mercedes Stands Out Among Isekai Heroines
Mercedes stands out because she is not simply reborn into power.
She is reborn into possibility.
That distinction matters. Many reincarnation fantasy protagonists immediately receive overwhelming advantages. Mercedes has vampire strength and noble blood, but her circumstances are still harsh. She has to train, plan and fight because her life is not secure.
Her goal is also emotionally grounded. She does not begin by wanting to rule the world, defeat a demon lord or become famous for its own sake. She wants to avoid repeating the emptiness of her previous life. She wants to protect her family. She wants to find something that makes her feel complete.
That makes her ambition easier to understand.
Mercedes is not chasing greatness because the genre demands it. She is chasing meaning because she already knows what it feels like to reach the end without it.
The Dungeon Is a Place of Survival, Not Just Adventure
In many fantasy stories, dungeons are exciting because they contain treasure, monsters and mystery.
For Mercedes, they also represent survival.
She enters them because she needs a path that does not depend on her father’s approval. Dungeon crawling is dangerous, but it is one of the few jobs that can offer status and resources to someone willing to risk everything.
This changes the emotional meaning of dungeon exploration.
Every monster is not only an obstacle. Every treasure is not only a reward. Every step deeper into the dungeon is part of Mercedes’ attempt to secure a life for herself and the people she refuses to leave helpless.
The anime can turn that into a strong growth story if it keeps Mercedes’ motivation at the center of the action.
The Family Situation Gives the Story Its Pressure
Mercedes’ family situation is one of the most important parts of the premise.
Her mother has little power. Their maid is old. Mercedes herself is still a child. Her father’s distance means that the family’s current life could collapse once he formally chooses another heir.
This creates constant pressure.
Mercedes cannot wait until adulthood to begin preparing. She has to start early because the future is already moving against her. That is why she begins training at an age when most children would still be protected by others.
This gives the anime a sharper survival edge.
Mercedes may be a vampire noble, but the story is not about comfort. It is about what happens when a child realizes that no one with power is coming to save her.
The Title’s Moon Imagery Gives the Story Its Soul
The phrase “waning moon” is more than decorative fantasy wording.
It gives the story a poetic emotional center.
Mercedes begins as someone who has already experienced an incomplete life. She carries the feeling of being lacking, fading or unfinished. The moon becomes a symbol of what she wants to recover: fullness, purpose and the ability to shine on her own terms.
That is why the final line of the official premise, about not ending while still incomplete, matters so much.
The anime’s strongest version will be one that treats the title seriously. Dungeons, vampire battles and reincarnation mechanics can be exciting, but the emotional core is the question of whether Mercedes can make this life whole.
Why the Anime Could Appeal to Fantasy Fans
Mercedes and the Waning Moon has several elements that could appeal strongly to fantasy anime viewers.
It has reincarnation, but with regret rather than pure wish fulfillment.
It has nobility, but with abandonment rather than guaranteed privilege.
It has a vampire heroine, but one who must train rather than simply dominate from the beginning.
It has dungeons, but they are tied to family survival and personal meaning.
That combination gives the series a slightly darker and more emotional flavor than a standard power-fantasy isekai. Mercedes can become strong, but the interesting part is why she needs strength and what kind of person she becomes while gaining it.
What Has Not Been Announced Yet?
Several important details remain unknown.
The anime is confirmed for January 2027, but the exact premiere date has not been announced.
The opening and ending theme songs have not been revealed.
Only Mercedes’ voice actress has been announced so far. Additional cast members will be revealed later.
The episode count has not been confirmed.
The Japanese broadcast stations and international streaming platform have not been announced in the verified materials currently available.
Because Crunchyroll reported the news but did not confirm simulcast rights in the materials reviewed here, international viewers should wait for a formal streaming announcement.
Why the First Trailer Matters
The first trailer matters because it gives Mercedes and the Waning Moon a clearer identity after the initial anime announcement.
Fans now know the lead voice actress, the main staff, the studio and the premiere month. More importantly, they can see the tone the anime is aiming for: fantasy atmosphere, dungeon action and a heroine whose childlike appearance hides painful memory and fierce determination.
The trailer’s battle imagery also suggests that the anime will not treat dungeon crawling as background information. Mercedes’ growth as a fighter appears to be a major part of the adaptation.
That is essential because the story’s emotional promise and action promise are linked. Mercedes becomes stronger because she has to. The battles matter because every fight is part of her attempt to make this second life different from the first.
A Vampire Fantasy About Refusing Regret
At its core, Mercedes and the Waning Moon is a story about refusing regret.
Mercedes knows what it means to die without fulfillment. That memory becomes the invisible wound driving her forward. She has been given another life, but the new world is not automatically kind.
So she makes a decision.
She will not live empty again.
She will not depend on a father who may abandon her.
She will not let poverty decide her family’s fate.
She will enter the dungeon, train her body, use her vampire potential and search for something that can make her moon full.
That is a strong foundation for a fantasy anime because it gives every adventure a personal reason. Mercedes is not simply exploring dungeons. She is fighting against the possibility of another wasted life.
When Will Mercedes and the Waning Moon Premiere?
Mercedes and the Waning Moon: The Dungeoneering Feats of a Discarded Vampire Aristocrat premieres in January 2027.
The TV anime stars Anna Nagase as Mercedes Grünewald and is produced by Teddy. Kunihisa Sugishima directs, Jun Kumagai handles series composition, Nami Shoyama designs the characters, and R.O.N and Shuhei Mutsuki compose the music.
The anime adapts Firehead and KeG’s light novel series, with a manga adaptation by Pochi Edoya also available.
Mercedes was reborn as a vampire noble girl, but her second life is not secure.
Her father may abandon her family.
Her mother cannot protect them alone.
And Mercedes refuses to let another life end empty.
In January 2027, Mercedes and the Waning Moon will begin a dungeon fantasy about blood, regret, survival and a young vampire girl determined to turn her incomplete moon into something full.
