The Remarried Empress is getting another screen adaptation, with Crunchyroll officially announcing a television anime based on the popular Korean fantasy-romance webtoon. The project was unveiled during the Crunchyroll Showcase at New York Comic Con on October 8, 2026, alongside its first teaser, character visuals and Japanese voice cast. The anime is scheduled to premiere in 2027, following the release of the story’s live-action K-drama on Disney+ in November 2026.
The announcement means fans will soon have two different screen interpretations of Empress Navier’s story. While the Korean drama features Shin Min-a, Ju Ji-hoon, Lee Jong-suk and Lee Se-young, the animated adaptation will be produced by Japanese animation studio TROYCA, with Tetsuya Yanagisawa directing. Crunchyroll has confirmed that it will stream the anime, although an exact premiere date and territory-specific availability have not been announced.
Both adaptations are based on the same source material rather than the anime being a remake of the upcoming drama. That distinction is important because each production has its own creative team, cast and opportunity to interpret the original story.
The Remarried Empress anime reveals voice cast and production team
The anime will bring the story’s four central characters to life with an established Japanese voice cast.
Yoko Hikasa, known for voicing Rias Gremory in High School DxD and Mio Akiyama in K-On!, will portray Empress Navier. Ryohei Kimura, whose credits include Ryota Kise in Kuroko’s Basketball, will voice Heinrey, the prince whose relationship with Navier changes her future.
Tomoaki Maeno has been cast as Emperor Sovieshu, while Reina Ueda will portray Rashta, the woman whose relationship with Sovieshu triggers the central conflict.
Behind the scenes, Akiko Inoue will handle series composition and scripts, Jun Nakai will oversee character designs, and Yuki Fukasawa will compose the music. TROYCA, the studio behind projects including Aldnoah.Zero and Re, will manage the animation production.
The newly released teaser and character artwork offer an early look at the anime’s interpretation of the original webtoon. With its elaborate royal costumes, fantasy architecture and emotionally charged palace politics, The Remarried Empress provides plenty of visual material for an animated adaptation.
One potentially interesting aspect is how the anime will handle the story’s fantastical elements. Unlike a live-action production, animation can reproduce the webtoon’s exaggerated expressions, elaborate settings and supernatural details without the same practical limitations. However, the extent to which the series will remain visually faithful to the original artwork has not yet been established.
The anime follows the K-drama arriving in November 2026
The timing of the anime announcement is particularly notable because the live-action adaptation has not yet premiered.
Disney+ will release The Remarried Empress K-drama on November 4, 2026, beginning with four episodes. The ten-episode series will subsequently release two episodes each week before concluding on November 25.
Directed by Cho Su-won and produced by Studio N, the drama stars Shin Min-a as Navier, Ju Ji-hoon as Sovieshu, Lee Jong-suk as Heinrey and Lee Se-young as Rashta.
The story follows Navier, the respected empress of the Eastern Empire, whose marriage begins to collapse when her husband, Emperor Sovieshu, develops feelings for Rashta, a formerly enslaved woman. When Sovieshu demands a divorce, Navier agrees on one condition: she must be allowed to remarry.
Her decision to choose Heinrey, the prince of the neighbouring Western Kingdom, transforms a personal betrayal into a political conflict involving two royal courts.
What makes the premise distinctive is that Navier refuses to remain defined by her husband’s decision. Instead of simply accepting the loss of her position, she attempts to reclaim control over her future through a marriage that carries both romantic and political consequences.
For viewers discovering the story through Disney+, the animated series will provide another way to experience those relationships. For longtime webtoon readers, the two productions offer an opportunity to see how different creative teams interpret the same characters.
Why The Remarried Empress is attracting multiple adaptations
Originally written by Alphatart, The Remarried Empress began as a Korean web novel in November 2018. Its webtoon adaptation, featuring artwork by SUMPUL and adaptation work by HereLee, launched in October 2019 and subsequently developed a substantial international readership.
The property’s popularity has extended well beyond South Korea. According to figures reported in connection with the anime announcement, the webtoon had accumulated approximately 2.97 billion views worldwide by July 2026.
That established audience helps explain why the story is attracting investment across different entertainment formats. Its combination of romance, betrayal, political ambition and fantasy places it within the increasingly popular romance-fantasy genre, often known as rofan in Korean entertainment.
The anime also forms part of a broader partnership between HAYATE, LINE Digital Frontier and Crunchyroll. Announced at New York Comic Con, the collaboration aims to develop potential anime adaptations of approximately 15 webtoon properties.
Alongside The Remarried Empress, the companies highlighted projects based on Teenage Mercenary and The Boxer, demonstrating their intention to expand established digital comics into internationally distributed animation.
For The Remarried Empress, the immediate next step is the launch of its live-action K-drama in November. The anime will follow in 2027, although its episode count, precise release date and complete international distribution plans remain unconfirmed.
The two adaptations will also face different creative challenges. The drama must translate the webtoon’s elaborate fantasy world into live-action settings and performances, while the anime has the opportunity to explore its stylised visual identity through animation.
With both projects arriving within a relatively short period, Navier’s story is set to reach audiences across K-drama and anime fandoms. The real interest will lie in how each version interprets the same central conflict: an empress who turns an unwanted divorce into an opportunity to determine her own future.
