CLAMP's Magic Knight Rayearth is getting its new anime in front of fans first in Los Angeles. The freshly announced adaptation will world-premiere at Anime Expo 2026 (July 2–5, Los Angeles Convention Center), with voice actress Rie Takahashi appearing as a guest. It shares the AX premiere slate with Black Torch, the TV anime of Tsuyoshi Takaki's manga.
Quick answer
The new Magic Knight Rayearth anime, based on CLAMP's classic 1990s magical-girl/isekai manga, will hold its world premiere at Anime Expo 2026 during the July 2–5 convention in Los Angeles, with Rie Takahashi attending. Black Torch also world-premieres at the show. According to SenpaiRanks, Rayearth is one of the defining CLAMP titles of its era — its new entry joins the catalog so you can rank the revival against the original on both the Consensus and Quality axes.
The revival
Magic Knight Rayearth ran in the mid-1990s and helped define the magical-girl-meets-isekai template a generation of shows later borrowed from. A new CLAMP-rooted adaptation premiering at AX — rather than quietly on a Japanese broadcast slot — is a statement about who the studio thinks the audience is now: global, and nostalgic for the era that built them.
What else premieres at AX
Black Torch, adapting Tsuyoshi Takaki's supernatural-action manga, takes the other world-premiere slot. Anime Expo's guest list also includes Spike Chunsoft's Shohei Sakakibara and Kazutaka Kodaka (a July 3 panel), a first real look at Studio Trigger's Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2, plus creator Yū Toyota and composer Yūgo Kanno.
How to read it
Classic revivals live or die on whether they respect what made the original land while giving new viewers a reason to start. We've seen the pattern lately with theatrical comebacks like Adolescence of Utena's U.S. return. Rayearth's new anime joins SenpaiRanks's catalog as it rolls out — when you've seen it, rate it on the card above so the revival gets measured against the original, not just hype. For the season at large, see best Summer 2026 anime and what to watch this summer.
Frequently asked questions
Q: When and where does the new Magic Knight Rayearth anime premiere?
A: It world-premieres at Anime Expo 2026, held July 2–5 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
Q: Who created Magic Knight Rayearth?
A: CLAMP. The original manga ran in the mid-1990s.
Q: Is Rie Takahashi involved?
A: She's announced as a guest tied to the Rayearth premiere at Anime Expo 2026.
Q: What else world-premieres at Anime Expo 2026?
A: Black Torch, the TV anime of Tsuyoshi Takaki's manga.
Q: Where will I be able to rank it?
A: The new anime is in SenpaiRanks's catalog, carrying Consensus and Quality ranks you can vote on as it releases.