The Seven Knights of the Marronnier Kingdom Anime: Where to Watch, the Seven Brothers & What the Cast Says

The Seven Knights of the Marronnier Kingdom (Marronnier Ōkoku no Shichinin no Kishi) is the Fall 2026 fantasy romance anime about seven brothers with very strange names, and it has been airing on NHK E-tele in Japan since October 3, 2026, with every episode streaming worldwide on Prime Video, including a same-day English dub. J.C.Staff animates it from Nao Iwamoto's manga. On October 20, three of the brothers' voice actors, Kiyoto Mizuno, Taishi Murata and Reiji Kawashima, talked about the show in a long interview. Below you'll find where to watch it, what the knights' names actually mean, who's who, the interview highlights and my impressions of episodes 1 to 3.

Where to Watch The Seven Knights of the Marronnier Kingdom

Prime Video is the only place to stream it, worldwide, for Prime members. It isn't on Crunchyroll or Netflix. Prime Video carries both English subtitles and an English dub, which launched on the same day as the Japanese premiere.

Prime Video Release Time

Episode 1 went up on Prime Video at midnight Japan time on Sunday, October 4, which was 8:00 a.m. PT (11:00 a.m. ET) on Saturday, October 3, a few hours after the NHK broadcast. New episodes follow weekly. Japan doesn't use daylight saving time, so once US clocks go back on November 1, the same midnight-JST release lands at 7:00 a.m. PT.

Japan Broadcast Schedule

The anime airs on NHK E-tele on Saturdays at 6:25 p.m. JST. Episode 4, 「エレオノーラ」 ("Eleonora"), is next, on October 24.

How Many Episodes Will It Have?

The official site hasn't listed an episode count yet. Each brother gets his own journey to a different country, and the manga is at 11 volumes in Japan, so don't expect all seven trips to fit in one season. Taishi Murata even said in his interview that the sixth brother, Swordsman, hasn't left on his journey yet in the manga either.

Before meeting the brothers, you'll want to know why they're called things like "Insomniac" and "Hungry."

Why Do the Seven Knights Have Such Strange Names?

Each brother's name describes him. In Japanese, they read like nicknames or plain everyday words, and their personalities match them exactly. Prime Video's official English names keep the idea but lose some of the flavor, so here's what each Japanese name literally says.

The brothers come in sets: Insomniac and Fraternity are twins, Feverish and Chilly are twins with opposite constitutions, and Beast-Tamer, Swordsman and Hungry are triplets. Reiji Kawashima called the naming a fun device in the interview, and Taishi Murata pointed out that it makes seven brothers surprisingly easy to remember.

Those names make more sense once you know what the brothers are meant to do.

What Is The Seven Knights of the Marronnier Kingdom About?

The Kingdom of Marronnier sits at the center of a continent made up of eight countries. Its woman general, Baribara, has seven sons, and all seven share one goal: someday, to rescue a princess in style. Eventually each brother leaves for one of the seven other countries as an ambassador, and the official synopsis says each finds his fated partner there. The official site describes it as a love-and-adventure fantasy romance set in a medieval-style world.

It's a road movie at heart. Director Seiko Sayama says in her official comment that every chapter takes a character somewhere new, with its own culture and scenery, and that she asked for music played on instruments that fit each place, so the atmosphere changes completely from country to country.

The original manga by Nao Iwamoto has run in Shogakukan's josei magazine Flowers since 2016, with 11 volumes out as of June 2026. It topped the list for female readers in the 2018 edition of Kono Manga ga Sugoi!

With seven leads, it helps to know who's who from the start.

The Seven Knights of the Marronnier Kingdom Characters and Voice Cast

The seven brothers are voiced by Kengo Takanashi (Insomniac), Makoto Tanikawa (Fraternity), Haruki Ishiya (Feverish), Satoshi Inomata (Chilly), Kiyoto Mizuno (Beast-Tamer), Taishi Murata (Swordsman) and Reiji Kawashima (Hungry). Here are the characters the first three episodes focus on.

The rest of the cast includes Akeno Watanabe as Baribara, Natsumi Fujiwara as Princess Brunhild, Takehito Koyasu as the Castellan Elliot, Kazuyuki Okitsu as the Chancellor Hugo, Daisuke Namikawa as the brothers' father Peregrinus and Natsuki Hanae as Justice, with Show Hayami narrating. King Lionel is voiced by Hiroshi Tsuchida, whose agency announced on October 20 that he passed away on October 11 at age 54.

Three of those seven brothers sat down together to talk about the show.

Kiyoto Mizuno, Taishi Murata and Reiji Kawashima Interview Highlights

Animate Times published the second half of its two-part interview with the brothers' cast on October 20, 2026, featuring the triplets: Kiyoto Mizuno (Beast-Tamer), Taishi Murata (Swordsman) and Reiji Kawashima (Hungry). Here are the highlights in our own words, with no spoilers.

More Conversation Than Combat

Before reading the manga, Murata expected a sword-and-magic adventure full of fighting. Instead, he found a story driven mostly by conversation. When all seven brothers' actors recorded episode 1 together, he said, you could feel that this big family had lived under one roof for years, and it made him think the more brothers, the better. He joked that he finally understood why TV shows about big families are so popular.

No Villains, and Many Kinds of Love

Mizuno's first impression was that the story has no truly bad people in it. He also noticed how many kinds of love it shows: couples form among the side characters too, not just the brothers, so he thinks every viewer will find a pair to relate to.

Room to Imagine

Kawashima, who read the manga for his audition, loves the space Iwamoto leaves in her art. He said the world never over-explains itself, and the romance is full of feelings people haven't noticed yet or can't put into words, which gives the whole story a slow, unhurried pace.

Making Swordsman Blunt but Never Mean

Swordsman barely shows emotion and speaks bluntly, so Murata kept his voice neutral so that well-meant words wouldn't sound hostile. Early on, the sound director still told him a bit of a "rough guy" edge was slipping through, and he had to correct course. He compared himself to a swan: calm on the surface, paddling frantically underneath.

Beast-Tamer, Quiet Even When He Shouts

Mizuno plays Beast-Tamer as honest, quiet and a little unusual, careful not to make him sound unmotivated. For a scene where Beast-Tamer calls out from the top of a cliff, he wasn't sure how loud to go. He took his cue from Kengo Takanashi, who had stayed in character as Insomniac when shouting to Ellie from the castle wall, and tried the line without losing Beast-Tamer's low energy. The sound director said that was exactly right.

Hungry's Hunger Meter

Kawashima's top priority is keeping Hungry cute, a cuteness he describes as never fake or ingratiating, because Hungry takes the world exactly as it is. He even keeps an imaginary hunger meter and adjusts his delivery depending on how hungry Hungry is in each scene. In episode 1, he added lots of ad-libs in the background while others talked, and the sound director told him they weren't needed. After hearing from director Seiko Sayama how much she values slow, quiet moments, he learned to leave that space alone.

Every Country Feels Like a Trip

Murata said Iwamoto's careful research makes every country feel distinct, so playing it sometimes feels like traveling, and he expects viewers will want to go abroad. Mizuno pointed out that the lead changes each time a brother sets off for a new country. Kawashima sees each journey as a time for the brothers to face their roles and themselves, now that they can't lean on each other.

The cast is only half the story. Here's who's behind the camera.

Staff, Studio and Theme Songs

J.C.Staff animates the series, with Seiko Sayama directing. Some English databases list her as "Kiyoko Sayama," but the official site credits her as Seiko Sayama.

If you'd like to read the story in English, that just became possible.

Is The Seven Knights of the Marronnier Kingdom Manga in English?

Yes, it's starting to be. Viz Media announced on October 1, 2026, that it's publishing Nao Iwamoto's manga in English and released the first two chapters digitally the same day. A print release date hadn't been announced at that point. Iwamoto's earlier manga, Kingdom of Gold, Kingdom of Water, which became an anime film in 2023, is also available in English from Seven Seas.

So how does the anime hold up? Here's what I thought of the first three episodes.

Is The Seven Knights of the Marronnier Kingdom Worth Watching? Episode 1, 2 and 3 Impressions

I'm watching The Seven Knights of the Marronnier Kingdom week by week and I'll add my thoughts on new episodes here as they air. Here are my impressions of episodes 1 to 3.

Episode 1 Impressions

If Marronnier looks familiar, that might be because it's inspired by Olite and Carcassonne.

I don't think "Fraternity" is best for 博愛 although I don't know what would be a better word. The meaning is more like someone who loves everyone. He talked about how to treat women and is being sent to the country of pleasure. All of the names sound a little more whimsical and fairytale-like in Japanese and kind of lose their luster in translation.

I wonder if the ED visuals will change each episode.

This is the series I was most looking forward to this season and had reservations about J.C.Staff. Animation-wise, it was fine. The art is quite nice, though the movement is a bit choppy. I'm not so confident about the direction. I have so many other thoughts.

Episode 2 Impressions

I'm just very entertained by the combination of seriousness and absurdity in this story. It feels like a fever dream and I kind of love it. We're getting the history and having flashbacks to traumatic childhood events, then we're freezing on a boat date. We're weighing a magical giant squirrel and developing a care plan for it, we're getting bullied, we're participating in court politics. And in the midst of all this, their names are starting to sound kind of normal to me lol

I do wonder how the show will juggle all of the storylines once the brothers go their separate ways.

Episode 3 Impressions

That opening monologue makes it seem like the seven brothers were the ones that stepped in to fill the void left in the world after its creator vanished.

I'm more willing to believe in Insomniac x Eleonora this episode than I was last episode. There does seem to be a little attraction there now plus the whole childhood friend thing. Whereas last episode it was kind of like the Castellan asked them to get married and they just shrugged and said okay like he asked them about the weather.

Chilly seems to be getting closer to finding out who Bruno is. Though I can't imagine the reveal will be any time soon though as we're now shifting to an Insomniac focus.

I wonder what caused the princess to bolt like that. Does she like Insomniac, but knows he's taken? And why did they tell Insomniac about this dream infiltration spell that the Country of Long Nights has? In any case this shot is probably the best the princess has looked in the series so far.

While that might be best the princess has looked so far she isn't really doing anything for me though. Ellie's whole tomboy thing is working for me and I want to see more.

Below are quick answers to the questions people ask most.

Frequently Asked Questions About The Seven Knights of the Marronnier Kingdom

Where can I watch The Seven Knights of the Marronnier Kingdom?

Prime Video streams it worldwide for Prime members, with English subtitles and an English dub. In Japan, it airs on NHK E-tele on Saturdays at 6:25 p.m. JST.

Is The Seven Knights of the Marronnier Kingdom on Crunchyroll or Netflix?

No. Prime Video is the only streaming service carrying it worldwide.

Does The Seven Knights of the Marronnier Kingdom have an English dub?

Yes. Prime Video released the English dub on the same day as the Japanese premiere, October 3, 2026.

When does The Seven Knights of the Marronnier Kingdom release new episodes?

New episodes air on NHK E-tele on Saturdays and arrive on Prime Video at midnight Japan time, which is Saturday morning in the US.

Who are the seven knights of the Marronnier Kingdom?

They are the seven sons of General Baribara: Insomniac, Fraternity, Feverish, Chilly, Beast-Tamer, Swordsman and Hungry. Each name describes the brother's main trait.

What studio animates The Seven Knights of the Marronnier Kingdom?

J.C.Staff, with Seiko Sayama directing and Shinzō Fujita writing the series composition.

Is The Seven Knights of the Marronnier Kingdom manga available in English?

Yes. Viz Media licensed Nao Iwamoto's manga in October 2026 and released the first two chapters digitally.

Is The Seven Knights of the Marronnier Kingdom worth watching?

So far, yes. Its mix of seriousness and absurdity feels like a fever dream that I kind of love, even if J.C.Staff's movement is a bit choppy.

Related Videos

Start with the second trailer, then the creditless opening and ending. All three are from the official NHK Enterprises Animation channel.

Seven brothers, seven countries and a giant squirrel on a scale. See everything else airing this season in our Fall 2026 anime schedule, or check out two more fantasy shows this fall in our A Tale of the Secret Saint guide and our Suikoden anime guide. More updates are on our anime news page.

Sources: The Seven Knights of the Marronnier Kingdom official site (broadcast and streaming schedule, staff, cast, character profiles, episode synopses), Animate Times (Kiyoto Mizuno, Taishi Murata and Reiji Kawashima interview), Anime News Network (Prime Video English dub), Anime News Network (Viz Media license), Anime News Network (Hiroshi Tsuchida). Images ©岩本ナオ／小学館／NHK・NEP・Amazon Content Services LLC or its Affiliates, via the official site.