Ensemble Stars!! Bright me up!! takes Animedia's September cover

Animedia's September 2026 issue goes on sale August 7, priced at 1,200 yen.
The front cover features Mika Kagehira and Mashu Kuon, while the back cover carries Shiina Kuze and Towa Yomi from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha EXCEEDS Gun Blaze Vengeance.

The lead feature centers on Ensemble Stars!! Bright me up!!, framed around "where the idols' constellation leads," with commentary tied to voice actors Ryota Iwasaki, Bunya Imai, Fumito Tsuji, and Sonosuke Hattori.

Mika Kagehira, voiced by Jun Osuka, belongs to the Valkyrie unit. Mashu Kuon, voiced by Fumito Tsuji, is the lead dancer of MELLOW DEAR US, the unit that debuted in October 2025 alongside Juis Kojika, Nozomi Madoka, and Chitose Tsuzura. Both actors recently guested on the franchise's monthly livestream program, Monthly Ensemble Studio!!.

The issue arrives roughly a year after the game's 10th-anniversary relaunch as Ensemble Stars!! Bright me up!! in April 2025, which brought a full UI overhaul, the anniversary theme song "BRIGHTEST STARS!!," and new features including Sphere Coode costume customization and solo live performances. The title is offered in two client versions, Music (a rhythm game with 3D idol MVs) and Basic (story and card focused).

Beyond the double cover, the issue runs a "wishing on shining stars" feature for Disney's Sparkling Stars, and a romance-themed spread pairing 20th Century Denki Mokuroku -Eureka Evrika- with Mairimashita! Iruma-kun Season 4 (with comment from Mitsuki Saiga), Kimi ga Shinu made Koi Shitai (Asami Seto, Yui Ishikawa), Code Geass: Rozé of the Recapture, Tai Ari Deshita (Kana Ichinose), Cyborg 009: Nemesis, Samurai Troopers (Kentaro Kumagai), and World is Dancing (Takahiro Sakurai).

Also featured are a spotlight on THE RIBBON HERO with Koki Uchiyama, a column on World End Heroes, and an "Influencer Girls" spread covering BanG Dream! Yume∞Mita (Arare Nakamachi, Ritsu Mizuki) and Onegai My Prince (Yoshinori Fujidera). Regular series columns continue for Digimon Beatbreak (Yohei Azakami, 10th installment), Paradox Live (Yu Hatanaka, 68th installment), Meitantei Precure! (Ikumi Hasegawa), I.ADORE (Katsuya Fukunishi, Kaoru Mihashi, Kaito Udagawa, 5th installment), and the KING OF PRISM stage production (Shogo Tamura, Miyabi Igarashi).

A summer team-up feature spotlights Grow Up Show! -Himawari's Circus Troupe- (Tomoka Noda, Shiori Kurosaki), Maebashi Witches, and Mebius Dust (Yuto Takenaka, Taito Saka, Ao Ichikawa, Sopei Horigane). A rom-com feature covers Seihantai na Kimi to Boku (Anji Iwata), and Hazbin Hotel Season 2 gets its own spread with Wakuna Koida. The issue also includes a Digimon Beatbreak art-book section, and the 45th installment of the "Project Sekai World I Want to Know" column on Project Sekai Colorful Stage! feat. Hatsune Miku.

Film and stage features cover Blue Lock the Movie (Kaito Sakurai, Kota Nomura) and Super Space Sheriff Gavan Infinity: The Day the Sun Cried (Kohei Osada, Ryuga Akabane), plus the Pekopon Invasion Musical Keroro Gunso stage production (Shogo Tamura, Ryonosuke Kusachi, Shin Tamura).

Animedia's September issue bundles two sets of B3 posters, one pairing Ensemble Stars!! Bright me up!! with Nanoha EXCEEDS and another combining BanG Dream! Yume∞Mita with 20th Century Denki Mokuroku -Eureka Evrika-, plus a bound-in outing photo card for Nanoha, a special card for Splatoon Raiders, and pin-ups for World is Dancing, Samurai Troopers, Mairimashita! Iruma-kun Season 4, and Cyborg 009: Nemesis.

The magazine ships in A4-variant format with a digital edition available, and is listed for pre-order on Amazon Japan, 7net, and Rakuten Books.

#EnsembleStars #あんさんぶるスターズ #BrightMeUp #MellowDearUS #MikaKagehira #MashuKuon #アニメディア #MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha