Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games Anime Slips to 2026

The wait for the Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games anime just got a little longer. Kadokawa announced on Monday that the television adaptation of Eri Ejima’s manga, fully titled Tai Ari Deshita: Ojo-sama wa Kakuto Game Nante Shinai, has slipped from this year to 2026.

The team pointed to scheduling among the various parties involved as the reason for the delay. Alongside the news, it shared fresh visuals for the show’s previously announced tie in with Capcom’s Street Fighter 6, the game the characters actually play in the story. The anime was also set to appear at Tokyo Game Show from September 25 to 28 at a joint booth with Mad Catz.

Shota Ihata is directing at diomedéa, with Wataru Watari, known for My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU, writing the scripts and Mayuko Matsumoto designing the characters. Kana Hashiguchi is composing the music. Fittingly, Kadokawa’s professional gaming team FAV gaming, whose members compete in Street Fighter 6, is credited for help with the recording.

The story is set at Kuromi Girls Academy, a polished school for proper young ladies. Aya, a scholarship student, looks up to the graceful Shirayuri, only to discover that her idol is secretly a fierce, trash talking gamer. Their shared love of fighting games slowly draws the two closer.

First announced as an anime back in 2021, the manga is published in English by Seven Seas, with its eighth volume due on September 30. It has also inspired a live action series that aired in 2023.

My take: Delays sting, but a real Street Fighter 6 crossover is worth getting right rather than rushing. The mix of prim and proper manners with sweaty palmed competition is such a fun idea, and I would rather it land well.