Seiyu to Yoasobi 2026 Broadcast Details
The 2026 season of the variety show Seiyu to Yoasobi (also known as Say You to Yo Asobi) has officially begun as of April 20th. Over the course of the last week, the regular hosts for the daily broadcasts have been confirmed. Let’s take a closer look at who we’ll be spending the next year with!
Monday
As with previous years, one half of our Monday duo is regular Hiroki Yasumoto, who has been in the slot since he started in 2019. With his co-host from last year, Chiaki Kobayashi, having graduated from the show at the end of the season, this year he’s joined by newcomer Junya Enoki, whom he specifically requested to be partnered with.
Enoki has been active in the voice acting industry since 2012 and is known for playing popular roles such as Senjuro Rengoku in Demon Slayer, Yuji Itadori in Jujutsu Kaisen, and is the Japanese dub actor for Tom Holland’s Spider-Man.
Tuesday
Tuesday has undergone a complete change, with Miyu Irino having left at the end of last season and Hiro Shimono moving to a different slot. This season, Yu Serizawa returns to the day, having spent last year on Sunday with Maria Naganawa (who also graduated last season). Now in her third year, she’s well attuned to the chaos of the show!
This year she’s paired with newcomer Yoko Hikasa, who is famous for jokingly saying she was never coming back to this show after her last time guesting in the 2023 season. She’s been an active seiyu since 2007 and is best known for playing roles such as Mio Akiyama in K-ON!, Kyoko Kirigiri in Danganronpa, and, more recently, Arthur Pencilgon in Shangri-La Frontier.
Wednesday
Our Wednesdays have also gone through an entire shake-up, with neither Daisuke Namikawa nor Taku Yashiro in sight despite neither having graduated. Instead, Kensho Ono moves up from Thursday, and with his previous partner, Natsuki Hanae, having left at the end of last season, he’s now paired with Tasuku Hatanaka.
Hatanaka is a regular host of the show who started hosting in 2021 and has been off and on again ever since, with his latest stint before now being in the 2024 season. He has been active as a seiyu since 2006 and is known for roles such as Denki Kaminari in My Hero Academia, Keito Tachibana in Tamon’s B-Side, and as Luigi in the Japanese dub for the two recent Super Mario Bros. movies.
Thursday
For Thursday, we have the first day of the season, made up of continuing hosts. Daisuke Namikawa has moved back to the slot, having been on Wednesday with Taku Yashiro last year. And he’s joined by Hiro Shimono, who moves from Tuesday after co-host Miyu Irino graduated at the end of last season.
As seasoned regulars of the show, I’m sure these two will get themselves into all kinds of chaos as the year goes on. Fans have been eager to see them paired together, and it seems Shimono himself specifically requested being with Namikawa.
Friday
For the last of the weekdays, we have Tomokazu Seki staying in the Friday slot for another year, joined by newcomer Kikunosuke Toya, who replaces Reiji Kawashima, who has now moved to the Connect team.
Compared to the other hosts, Kikunosuke Toya is much more of a rookie (similar to Kawashima last year) and only started working in the industry in 2021 and made his debut in 2022, where he took on the lead role of Denji in Chainsaw Man. Since then, he’s played Fubuki in The Elusive Samurai and won the Best New Actor Award at the 18th Seiyu Awards in 2024. With a veteran like Seki to guide him, I’m sure he’ll prove a great co-host for the Friday shows. If nothing else, he doesn’t seem like he’ll be as chaotic as Kawashima was last season.
Saturday
For our first day of the weekend, we have Nobuhiko Okamoto, who has spent the last two seasons on the Saturday broadcast. And this year, he’s joined by Taku Yashiro, who moves from the Wednesday slot where he was formally with Daisuke Namikawa.
Although they’ve both been Yoasobi hosts for several years at this point and are good friends outside of the show, this is the first time they’ve been paired together for a season. They’re well-matched and bring plenty of energy to their broadcasts, which makes for a great way to kick off the weekend broadcasts.
Sunday
To finish off the week, Sunday is led by Showtaro Morikubo, who moves forward from the Saturday slot, and returning member Shugo Nakamura. Like many of the continuing hosts at this point, Morikubo has been with the show for several years now.
Nakamura, meanwhile, is in the same situation as Tasuku Hatanaka. He’s been on and off hosting Yoasobi since 2020, with his last season prior to this being 2024, where he was paired with Okamoto. He’s been an active seiyu since 2015 and is best known for playing Teru Tendo in The Idolmaster SideM. He’s also a part of the GOALOUS5 seiyu unit that regularly uploads to YouTube and hosts events as well as other activities.
Connect
Connect continues on in a similar format to last season. It will be held once a month while the regular hosts get a week off, and will be hosted by Tomoko Kaneda and show mascot Sobi, who are newly joined by Reiji Kawashima, who is moving from the Friday slot. Connect will air for twenty-minute episodes Monday to Friday, with a one-and-a-half-hour live broadcast on a Saturday or Sunday of the same week. In addition, there will be a YouTube video uploaded to the official channel as well. Last year, Connect welcomed a monthly rotating host, but due to Kawashima's joining, there will only be a guest for the live broadcasts this year.
Seiyu to Yoasobi airs daily on AbemaTV's Anime Live channel from 10 pm JST until 11:30 pm. Connect Week episodes air from 10 pm until 10:20 pm during the week, with a Saturday or Sunday broadcast from 10 pm until 11:30 pm and an additional video uploaded to YouTube during that week. The show can be streamed live with a premium subscription to AbemaTV, or episodes are free for a week after broadcast on catch-up on their streaming service.
