"KILLTUBE": Main cast and development material for dystopian anime adventure revealed

The project team of the original movie „KILLTUBE“ announced the main voice actors, a first development video, and new illustrations on July 6, 2025. The announcement was made simultaneously in Japan and the USA during Anime Expo 2025 in Los Angeles, where director Kazuaki Kuribayashi and the producers shared insights into the ambitious production.

The main voice actors include Yui Tsukada, who is taking on her first leading role as Musashi, Kengo Kawanishi as the cunning master strategist Kikuchiyo, and Ayane Sakura as the brilliant but emotionally cold scientist Leonardo. Collaboration images show the voice actors alongside their character designs. Tsukada described her role as „the fulfillment of three dreams at once,“ while Sakura emphasized her admiration for Kuribayashi’s direction.

„KILLTUBE“ follows an experimental production concept called „108 Attempts,“ in which the entire creation process—from initial concepts to completion—is publicly documented. The elaborate production, with a budget of around 10 billion yen (approx. 60 million euros), is being developed in collaboration with Pony Canyon and the newly founded studio DOTOU.

In the first released development video, the team provides a documentary-style look at ongoing animation work, including early fight scenes. New illustrations, such as a dynamic key visual of Musashi sprinting, hint at the choreographed duels that will shape the story.

The story of „KILLTUBE“ is set in an alternate Japan where the Edo period continues into the year 2026. In this strictly hierarchical society, three outcasts battle for social advancement, wealth, and freedom on the livestream platform „KILLTUBE“—only to soon uncover a dark secret of the system.