Character-goods maker Tapioca has teased a new line of illustration merchandise for NO.6, with the full lineup set to be revealed August 4, 2026 at noon Japan time. A teaser visual shows the series’ two leads, Shion and Nezumi, in silhouette, marked only “coming soon.”
The merchandise draws on NO.6‘s 2011 television anime, which is enjoying renewed attention on its 15th anniversary. Produced by studio Bones under director Kenji Nagasaki, who would later direct My Hero Academia, the 11-episode series aired in the summer of 2011 on Fuji TV’s noitaminA block, with character concepts by toi8, the illustrator of the original novels. To mark the anniversary, Kodansha ran a free limited-time stream of all 11 episodes on YouTube beginning in May 2026.
That anniversary lands amid a broader revival. Author Atsuko Asano returned to NO.6 in May 2025 with a new novel arc, NO.6 Reunion, picking up the story after a 14-year gap, with its third installment released in May 2026. The series also received a stage musical in November 2024, staged in Tokyo and Osaka with Hikaru Imaki as Shion and Kazuki Furuta as Nezumi. Together, the new novels, the musical, and the anniversary stream have brought the long-completed property back into active circulation, and the new merchandise follows that momentum.
NO.6 is Atsuko Asano’s dystopian science-fiction series, first published from 2003 and originally concluding in 2011, with a side story in 2012. Set in and around the walled utopian city of No. 6, it follows Shion, a boy raised as an elite inside the city, and Nezumi, a fugitive from the slums outside its walls whom he shelters one night, whose paths cross again years later. The intense bond between the two has kept the series a lasting favorite, and its return to publication after more than a decade has brought a fresh wave of merchandise with it.
Tapioca has not yet shown the individual products. The full lineup goes live August 4 at noon.
Update: The Reveal!
Kurumi Tapinui (くるみたぴぬい) — small wrapped plush, 4 types (trading), 1,100 yen per pack / 4,400 yen per box (one box completes the set). Designs link to the new drawn illustration.
Cape Tapinui (ケープたぴぬい) — plush in animal-hood capes, 2 types, 3,850 yen each. The ribbon capes are removable.
Acrylic Stand, Morning Ver. (アクリルスタンド) — 2 types, 1,980 yen each.
Acrylic Panel, Morning Ver. (アクリルパネル) — 2,750 yen.
Glitter Acrylic Block, Morning Ver. (グリッターアクリルブロック) — 2 types, 1,650 yen each.
Mini Character Acrylic Stand (ミニキャラアクリルスタンド) — 5 types (trading), 1,100 yen per pack / 5,500 yen per box (box completes the set).
Lame Can Badge (ラメ缶バッジ) — glitter can badges, 8 types (trading), 550 yen per pack / 4,400 yen per box (box completes the set).