Among the summer 2026 anime lineup, one show is a must-watch for soundtrack lovers. The original TV anime Grow Up Show: The Sunflower Circus Troupe premiered on July 4 on TOKYO MX and other stations. Director Kanta Kamei and character designer Kurehito Misaki (of Saekano fame) reunite, with series composition by Takeshi Kikuchi and animation by A-1 Pictures / Psyde Kick Studio. And the music is by Yugo Kanno. For many of us, that name alone was enough to decide: this is the score to follow this season.
A Showa-30s Circus: A Setting Made for Film Music
The story is set in a world modeled on Japan's high economic growth period around the Showa 30s (mid-1950s to early 60s), when the circus sat at the center of popular entertainment. Countless troupes tour the country competing for a place at the Circus Collection, a world festival open only to the very best. The protagonist is Mizuka Tsurumaki, a circus prodigy who joins the perpetually broke Himawari Circus led by ringmaster Maria.
From a music perspective, this premise is delicious. Japanese circus music evokes the "jinta" street bands of the era, with their unique blend of melancholy and festivity — the very sound of Showa Japan. Inside the tent, the show demands marches, waltzes, and tension-building drum rolls. For a production meticulous enough to hire a period consultant (Junko Yamada), the big question is how deeply the music breathes that Showa air.
Yugo Kanno, Craftsman of Dramatic Sound
Yugo Kanno has scored an enormous range of works across anime, TV drama, and film — PSYCHO-PASS, the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series, and the NHK taiga drama Gunshi Kanbei, to name a few. He moves freely between orchestral weight and electronic edge, and few composers write melodies that cling to a character's psychology the way he does.
Now he takes on a circus story where music-as-spectacle sits at the heart of the narrative. The score will likely function not just as background music but as diegetic music actually performed within the story — a chance for Kanno to separate the exhilaration of the show from the sweat and tears behind it. Fans who know the flamboyance of his JoJo work and the cold lyricism of PSYCHO-PASS have every reason to be excited.
The Soundtrack Arrives September 30 — A Two-Disc Set
According to the official site, the original soundtrack will be released by Aniplex on September 30, 2026, as a 2-CD set priced at 3,850 yen — arriving just three months after the broadcast began. A double album suggests a generous track count, from flamboyant show numbers to the small pieces that color life on tour.
The theme songs are strong too. The opening theme is "Yurari Yureru" by NOMELON NOLEMON. Both of creator Tsumiki's music units — NOMELON NOLEMON and Aooo — contribute theme songs to the series, and Tsumiki notes that "the circus and song share a similar nature": the physical challenge of human limits and the spiritual heat that moves an audience. That, of course, is exactly what a great score must do as well.
The show airs Saturdays at 24:00 on TOKYO MX and BS11, with streaming on ABEMA and d Anime Store. Until the soundtrack drops, we get three months of weekly broadcasts to hunt for our favorite cues.
