Fuji TV’s “Thunder 3” Premiere Panel with Production Staff electrified attendees at Anime Expo 2026 on July 4, as a packed Room 408AB experienced the world premiere of the English dub of the Thunder 3 anime, with staff sharing their insights into one of the most visually distinctive anime of the summer.

Hosted by MC Justin Rojas, the 80-minute panel featured Chief Director Hiroyuki Seshita and Series Composition/Script Writer Hiroshi Seko. The world premiere of the English dub of the first two episodes had the audience laughing at the Small Three’s lovable-misfit antics, from failing to receive any Valentine’s Day chocolate to singing for tips to cover train fare home. The screening drew as many gasps as laughs, though, with a punctuating “No!” ringing out at the second episode’s cliffhanger ending.

Following the screening, Seshita and Seko took the stage to share their perspectives on the visually distinct and perpetually surprising experience that had just unfolded. Speaking on their first impressions of the manga and the adaptation process, Seshita shared, “The original manga was very unique, so I wanted to make an animation as soon as I read it,” while Seko revealed, “Seshita-san recruited me for this project. I was super busy and wasn’t sure if I could take it on, but I responded that ‘I will do it’ as soon as I read the manga because it was so good.” On balancing Thunder 3’s two overlapping visual styles, Seshita explained, “The most difficult part was to balance the manga style and the realistic style. The halftone dots around the ‘cartoon’ versions of the characters help separate them from the more realistic backgrounds.”

The panel also revealed new information about the Thunder 3 anime ahead of its July 8 Netflix premiere. Panelists shared that Thunder 3’s opening animation would be set to singer-songwriter Yuuri’s new track “Thunderbolt,” with a digital release following on July 10. Yuuri is the first solo male artist to have a song achieve over 100 million streams on Billboard Japan’s Streaming Songs chart, a perfect fit for the singular new anime. The excitement then continued with a raffle, in which select attendees won volumes of the Thunder 3 manga signed by author Yuki Ikeda, and shikishi signed by Seshita and Seko.

Before a group photo with the audience, the panelists shared their hopes for what viewers take away from Thunder 3, with Seshita expressing, “As a Japanese person, I’ve been reading manga since the 70s. Manga saved my life, is still saving my life, and I believe manga can save the world. Manga characters save the world in Thunder 3, and I hope everyone here feels that sentiment,” which earned raucous applause from attendees. Seko added, “Including Pyontaro, the Small Three are not at all cool, talented, or good at fighting; but I hope you can all feel them do their best and grow in this anime,” prompting another round of applause.

Thunder 3 is now streaming exclusively on Netflix,