The staff for the television anime of storywriter Touya and illustrator chibi‘s A Tale of the Secret Saint (Tensei Shita Daiseijo wa, Seijo de Aru Koto wo Hitakakusu) light novel series revealed at the “Earth Star Novels 10th Anniversary Summer Festival” event on Saturday the show’s main staff and 2026 debut in a teaser promotional video.
Tomoe Makino (Aharen-san wa Hakarenai both seasons, Woodpecker Detective’s Office) is directing the anime at Felix Film, and Naoki Murata (episode director for Planet With, Teasing Master Takagi-san, Sasaki and Miyano) is the assistant director. Deko Akao (Higehiro, Komi Can’t Communicate, Flying Witch) is overseeing the series scripts, Satomi Kurita (Dahlia in Bloom: Crafting a Fresh Start With Magical Tools, Princess Connect! Re:Dive) is designing the characters, and Kenichiro Suehiro (Golden Kamuy, Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- franchises) is composing the music. Ryōsuke Naya (Spy Classroom, Summer Pockets) is the sound director.
©十夜/アース・スター エンターテイメント/黒竜騎士団
The anime will star:
Seven Seas is releasing the light novel series and the main manga adaptation in English, and it describes the story:
Fia always dreamed of becoming a knight. Born into a family of knights, she’s the least talented among them, but she still clutches to her hope and trains with everything she has. When the day comes for her to slay a small demon and prove her worth, she ends up face to face with a dragon instead! A deadly injury makes her life flash before her eyes…and she suddenly remembers her former life, when she was a powerful Saint in a bygone era who defeated the Demon King. That life ended in pain because of who she was, making her fear ever becoming a Saint again. Now that the magic from her previous life has been rekindled, she may become a more powerful knight than she ever dreamed–if only she can survive long enough!
Touya debuted the ongoing original story on the Shōsetsuka ni Narō (Let’s Be Novelists) website in January 2019. Earth Star Entertainment began publishing the novels in print in June 2019, with illustrations by chibi.
The novels ranked second on the Tankōbon and Novel rankings in the 2025 edition of Takarajimasha‘s Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi! (This Light Novel Is Amazing!) guidebook last November, and also ranked at the same spot in the same rankings in 2024 edition in November 2023.
Mahito Aobe launched the novels’ manga adaptation in Comic Earth Star in November 2019.
Seven Seas is also releasing the A Tale of the Secret Saint ZERO (Tensei Shita Daiseijo wa, Seijo de Aru Koto wo Hitakakusu: ZERO) prequel light novels in English. Earth Star Entertainment began publishing the prequel novel series in July 2022. Shiina launched a manga adaptation of the prequel novels in Earth Star Entertainment‘s Comic Earth Star manga website in October 2023.
The book franchise has more than 3.5 million copies in circulation.
Sources: A Tale of the Secret Saint anime’s website, Earth Star Novels 10th Anniversary Summer Festival livestream