The opening theme song has also been revealed.
The Japanese variety program 5-ji ni Muchu! has revealed new information for the upcoming fall anime “Tojima Tanzaburo Wants to be a Kamen Rider” (Tojima Tanzaburo wa Kamen Rider ni Naritai), which adapts Yokusaru Shibata’s manga.
The information included the anime’s opening theme song, as well as the premiere date: 4 October, 2025. The anime will air on Tokyo MX at 12:30 AM JST, with Crunchyroll streaming for global audiences. A trailer was also posted to the anime's official X (formerly Twitter) account:
Shigeru Matsuzaki performs opening theme
Shigeru Matsuzaki, renowned Japanese singer and actor, is singing the opening theme song, titled “Wanna be”, for “Tojima Tanzaburo Wants to be a Kamen Rider”. The song was scored and arranged by Teddyloid, Emme, and TOPHAMHAT-KYO (FAKE TYPE.), with lyrics written by Konnie Aoki.
This isn’t Matsuzaki’s first time performing a song for an anime. He has also performed the theme song for the 1982 anime Space Adventure Cobra, the Cobra The Animation theme songs for its 2010 series and 2008 and 2009 OVA, as well as for the series Nerima Daikon Brothers.
The cast for the anime includes:
- Katsuyuki Konishi as Tojima Tanzaburo
- Ai Fairouz as Yukaris
- Soma Saito as Mitsuba Shimamura
- Kenichi Suzumura as Hajime Shimamura
- Aki Toyasaki as Yuri Okada
Aniplex is producing the series with Liden Films as animation studio. Takahiro Ikezoe is helming as director, with scripts written by Touko Machida. The character designs were made by Cindy H. Yamauchi, and the music will be composed by TeddyLoid. The series is set to premiere in October 2025, with Crunchyroll streaming for the global audience.
The anime adapts the manga by Yokusaru Shibata, which began serialisation in Hero’s Inc.’s seinen manga magazine “Monthly Hero’s” in 2018, but was transferred to the Comiplex website after Monthly Hero’s became defunct back in 2020. The series has been collected into 16 tankobon volumes as of April 2025, and is yet to receive an official English license.
The story follows a 40-year old Tojima Tanzaburo, who has dreamed of becoming a Kamen Rider since his youth. One day, Tojima springs into action when a criminal known as “Shocker” tried to rob a convenience store. Tojima dons a plastic Kamen Rider mask and attempts to fight the criminal, but becomes an internet laughing stock in the process. Determined to get to the bottom of this criminal activity, Tojima finally tries to make his dream to become a Kamen Rider come true.
