Thunderbolt Fantasy season 4 trailer reveals October 2024 release date and more

Modified Aug 05, 2024 18:00 GMT

Thunderbolt Fantasy season 4 trailer reveals October 2024 release date and more (Image via Gen Urobuchi, Nitroplus, Good Smile Company, PILI Multimedia Inc.)

Friday, August 2, 2024, saw Nitroplus announce that Thunderbolt Fantasy season 4 will debut on Saturday, October 5, 2024, at 10 pm on Japan’s Tokyo MX broadcast network. Alongside the announcement, a new roughly two-minute promotional video for the fourth season was released, as well as a key visual highlighting the series characters.

The series also announced several new cast members for Thunderbolt Fantasy season 4, as well as their characters as they’ll appear in the show and concept art. It was also confirmed that the fourth season is the first of two projects comprising the sequel, with the second being a “final chapter” movie in 2025 titled Thunderbolt Fantasy: Toriken Yuki Saishusho.

Thunderbolt Fantasy season 4 premieres in October 2025, will receive advanced screening in September

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While Thunderbolt Fantasy season 4’s official premiere is in October, an advanced screening of the first two episodes will be held at United Cinemas Toyosu on Saturday, September 7, 2024. The two new cast members joining the series are Fairouz Ai as Haogyoku, and Shogo Batori as Kamusho. Ai is likely best known as either Chainsaw Man’s Power or Kaiju No. 8’s Kikoru Shinomiya, while Batori’s most recognizable role is as Cardfight!! Vanguard’s Kazuma Shouji.

Thunderbolt Fantasy season 4 serves as the latest continuation of the first season of the puppet-show action franchise premiered in Japan in July 2016. This was followed by the opening of the Thunderbolt Fantasy: The Sword of Life and Death film in December 2017. The second season, titled Fantasy Sword Seekers, premiered in Japan in October 2018. Crunchyroll streamed all three projects.

The franchise’s next project was the Thunderbolt Fantasy - Seiyu Genka film, which opened in Japan in October 2019. Crunchyroll began streaming the project in December 2019 under the title Thunderbolt Fantasy: Bewitching Melody of the West. The franchise’s third season premiered in Japan in April 2021 under the title Thunderbolt Fantasy: Toriken Yuki 3. Crunchyroll is also streaming this third season of the series.

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Gen Urobuchi was credited with the first season’s original work, having also written its scripts and served as its chief supervisor. Nitroplus was credited with the character designs, while Good Smile Company was credited as the “modeling adviser.” PILI Multimedia Inc. produced the series, given its reputation as a well-known hand puppet drama production company in Taiwan. Hiroyuki Sawwano composed the music, and Yoshikazu Iwanami was the sound director.

The series has an Eastern fantasy setting and opens with a focus on Dan Fei and her brother, who are guardians of a sword known as the Tian Xing Jian. They’re pursued by the Xuan Gui Zong clan, who aim to obtain the sword for their evil leader, Mie Tian Hai. Her brother is defeated by the clan but Fei, who has the sword’s crossguard, escapes, and eventually allies with wandering swordsman Shang Bu Huan and mystery man Lin Xue Ya, who protect her from her pursuers.