Dead Account

Dead Account follows Soji Enishiro, a former scandal-baiting streamer who becomes an exorcist-in-training after his beloved younger sister dies and returns as a vengeful digital ghost.

The story blends horror, social media satire, and super-powered school action, focusing on exorcists who fight “dead accounts” — ghosts born from the profiles of the deceased on social networks.

The series is written and drawn by Shizumu Watanabe, known for Real Account, and is published by Kodansha.

The manga has been collected in 13 tankobon volumes as of January 16, 2026, and remains ongoing via the Magazine Pocket platform.

The anime adaptation is produced by SynergySP with direction by Keiya Saito and series composition by Mitsutaka Hirota.

It airs in Japan on the TV Asahi network’s IMAnimation block and is distributed through numerous streaming services domestically and internationally.

The story centers on Soji Enishiro, who works as a toxic, controversy-chasing streamer under the handle “Aorin-go” to pay for his younger sister Hiri’s hospital bills.

After Hiri dies and manifests as a hostile digital ghost, Soji awakens to a unique exorcist power and is recruited into Yaden Academy, a boarding school for spirit mediums.

In this world, the social media accounts of the dead can transform into “Fake Accounts,” dangerous ghosts that haunt the digital and physical worlds.

Only exorcists who can convert spiritual energy into “Electric Power” through electronic devices can purge these entities.

Soji’s rare flame-based ability allows him to fight Fake Accounts directly, drawing him into battles against ever-stronger enemies.

As he bonds with his eccentric classmates and teachers at Yaden Academy, he uncovers the truth behind Hiri’s death and the conspiracy surrounding high-level Fake Accounts, including a top-class entity called K the Lonely.

Yaden Academy

Yaden Academy is a full-boarding exorcist school located in Kusatsu.

Students live on campus and train to become modern spirit mediums who specialize in dealing with digital ghosts.

Classes are divided into groups such as First Floor Class B, where Soji and his main companions are enrolled.

The academy combines standard schooling with intense combat training, Electric Power exercises, and field missions to exorcise Fake Accounts.

Fake Accounts

Fake Accounts are ghosts born from the social media accounts of people who have died.

When the lingering emotions attached to an account overflow, the account becomes an autonomous spirit that can affect the real world.

Exorcising a Fake Account requires spiritual power converted into a digital form, meaning traditional analog exorcism methods are ineffective against them.

Once a Fake Account is purified, the corresponding social media account is erased from the network.

High-ranking Fake Accounts possess complex personalities and powerful abilities, often reflecting the trauma or desires of their original owners.

K the Lonely is one of the most dangerous, and its shocking connection to Soji drives a major part of the story.

Electric Power

Electric Power is spiritual energy processed through electronic devices to become a digital exorcism tool.

It allows exorcists to manifest supernatural abilities that specifically affect Fake Accounts.

Each user’s Electric Power manifests in a different, visually striking way, often reflecting their personality or emotional wounds.

Electric Power can be offensive, defensive, or utility-based, from destructive flames to barriers, portals, or remote-controlled puppets.

While Electric Power is specialized for digital ghosts, it is ineffective against analog spirits known as Corpse Spirits.

This creates a divide in the exorcist world between digital specialists and traditional analog spirit mediums.

Corpse Spirits

Corpse Spirits are traditional, analog-type ghosts that predate the digital age.

They arise from classic hauntings, cursed locations, or unresolved grudges not tied to social media.

Electric Power cannot affect Corpse Spirits, since they exist outside the digital framework that Electric Power targets.

To exorcise a Corpse Spirit, exorcists must rely on conventional spiritual abilities known as Spiritual Power.

Because both Fake Accounts and Corpse Spirits exist, the world still needs analog exorcists even as digital exorcist schools like Yaden Academy rise in prominence.

Veteran analog exorcists often clash ideologically with the new digital generation.

Spiritual Power

Spiritual Power refers to traditional, analog methods of exorcism using raw spiritual energy.

Techniques include charms, rituals, chants, and direct spiritual attacks.

Spiritual Power is useless against Fake Accounts, since they exist as digitalized ghosts tied to data and networks.

However, it is indispensable when dealing with Corpse Spirits and other non-digital supernatural phenomena.

Young exorcists continue to train in Spiritual Power to maintain balance in a world where both analog and digital hauntings occur.

Characters like Yoimaru Azaki, who specialize in analog methods, demonstrate how overwhelming raw Spiritual Power can be even when partially adapted to the digital battlefield.

Main Characters

Soji Enishiro

Soji Enishiro is the protagonist and a former scandal-focused streamer who went by the alias “Aorin-go.”

He started streaming to earn money for his sick sister Hiri’s medical expenses, even if that meant provoking outrage and harassment online.

After Hiri dies and later appears as a digital ghost, Soji awakens his Electric Power and is invited to enter Yaden Academy.

His ability manifests as blue flames that absorb energy, making him a natural front-line fighter against Fake Accounts.

Soji’s main Electric Power is “Onibi,” a blue ghostly flame that drains the energy of his targets and is especially effective against Fake Accounts.

He also develops an attack-focused variant known as “Onipien,” a powerful offensive technique usable only against Fake Accounts.

The most formidable Fake Account, K the Lonely, is revealed to be his clone, making K essentially a distorted mirror of Soji.

They look almost identical, and their abilities are mirrored opposites, symbolizing the fractured nature of Soji’s identity and guilt.

Kukuru Kasubata

Kukuru Kasubata is a student at Yaden Academy and the class representative of First Floor Class B.

He was born into a prestigious exorcist family but ran away from home after the death of Renri Hasumi’s younger brother, Ruta.

Kukuru has a strong sense of social justice and is sharply critical of toxic online behavior, which makes him detest Soji’s former life as an inflammatory streamer.

He often comes off as harsh or preachy, but his anger is rooted in a desire to protect victims of online and offline abuse.

His Electric Power is “Hammer of Justice,” also known informally as the “PoliCore Hammer.”

Using his smartphone as a conduit, he materializes a massive hammer that allows him to literally smash through perceived injustices and enemy defenses.

Kiyomi Urusugawa

Kiyomi Urusugawa is a First Floor Class B student with an obsessive, unstable personality and a deep crush on a musician she stalks online.

She is often portrayed as emotionally fragile and clingy, embodying a classic “broken fangirl” archetype.

Despite her unsettling habits, Kiyomi is fiercely loyal to her friends once she becomes attached to them.

She is also one of the most straightforward fighters in the class due to the versatility of her ability.

Her Electric Power is “Adhesive Water Pistol,” nicknamed “Love Revolver.”

She controls sticky, mucus-like fluid that can restrain enemies, create slippery traps, or form makeshift shields, allowing for both offense and battlefield control.

Interestingly, among the students of First Floor Class B, Kiyomi is the only one who does not come from a dysfunctional home.

Her issues stem more from obsession and isolation than from family trauma.

Renri Hasumi

Renri Hasumi is a student in First Floor Class B and comes from a family of traditional spirit mediums.

Because he was slow to awaken his spiritual abilities, his family subjected him to harsh “training” that amounted to abuse.

He was eventually rescued from this hellish upbringing by Kukuru Kasubata, creating a deep bond between the two.

Renri is quiet and gentle but carries heavy emotional scars from his childhood.

Renri’s Electric Power is “From the Windows of the World.”

By photographing a location, he can turn the photographed frame and angle into a “window” that allows him to scout distant places or use them as portals for movement.

This makes him a vital support member during missions, handling reconnaissance and rapid transportation.

His ability also symbolically reflects his desire to see the world beyond the narrow, oppressive confines of his upbringing.

Hiyori Haijima

Hiyori Haijima is a shy, introverted student of First Floor Class B who struggles with face-to-face communication.

She becomes much more confident and outspoken when she is gaming or controlling her puppets.

Hiyori is a highly skilled gamer whose talent has been evident since childhood.

However, her father became convinced she was “addicted to games” and forcibly enrolled her in Yaden Academy, hoping to “fix” her.

Her Electric Power is “Shut-In Puppet Control.”

By making eye contact between herself and a puppet, she can remotely control the puppet as if it were her own body.

Through her puppets, Hiyori can fight boldly and directly in combat, acting as a long-range combatant or infiltrator.

This contrast between her timid real self and her fearless puppet-controlled persona is a recurring emotional beat in the story.

Naruhiko Emoto

Naruhiko Emoto is a First Floor Class B student who suffered physical abuse from his parents during his childhood.

A musician living in the apartment next door discovered his situation and secretly gave him an MP3 player loaded with music.

Listening to this music again and again allowed Naruhiko to endure his abuse and eventually awakened his Electric Power.

Music became both his emotional lifeline and his weapon.

His Electric Power is “Nirvana Wall,” activated by listening to tracks on his MP3 player.

The ability manifests as powerful barriers that can block physical and spiritual attacks, making him the team’s primary defender.

Naruhiko is quiet and guarded but deeply protective of his friends, often throwing himself between them and danger.

His music-themed power underlines the idea that the songs that saved him are now saving others.

Yoimaru Azaki

Yoimaru Azaki is a teacher at Yaden Academy and a legendary spirit medium who exorcised a disaster-class evil spirit at age eighteen.

He is considered an “analog” exorcist because he uses traditional Spiritual Power instead of Electric Power.

Since his methods predate the digital era, Yoimaru cannot generate Electric Power in the conventional sense.

Instead, when facing Fake Accounts, he simply converts his raw Spiritual Power into digital output and attacks directly.

Analog exorcists typically lose more than 90 percent of their power when converting their Spiritual Power into digital form.

Despite this severe handicap, Yoimaru remains strong enough to hold his own even against top-tier Fake Accounts.

Kukuru remarks that Yoimaru is “so far beyond normal that even after being weakened, he’s still beyond normal.”

Yoimaru’s existence proves that sheer Spiritual Power can rival modern Electric Power under the right circumstances.

Hiri Enishiro

Hiri Enishiro is Soji’s younger sister, frail and chronically ill, who spends most of her life in the hospital.

Before her illness progressed, she handled nearly all of the household chores because Soji was unreliable in daily life.

Hiri is deeply considerate of her brother and supports him emotionally despite her own suffering.

Her illness eventually claims her life, leaving Soji consumed by grief and guilt.

Her death becomes the emotional core of Soji’s journey, tormenting him long after she passes.

Hiri’s lingering presence is so strong that she appears in the world as a ghost tied to a Fake Account.

Later, Yoimaru Azaki reveals to Soji that Hiri did not die of natural causes.

She was in fact murdered by an unknown party, pushing the story into a darker mystery about who targeted her and why.

Other Notable Characters

K the Lonely

K the Lonely is a top-class Fake Account regarded as one of the most dangerous digital ghosts in existence.

This entity is revealed to be a clone of Soji Enishiro, which explains their almost identical appearance.

K the Lonely’s abilities are structured as a mirror image of Soji’s powers, creating a symbolic clash between original and copy.

The existence of K forces Soji to confront the parts of himself he hates, including his past as a toxic streamer and his unresolved grief.

K functions both as a terrifying antagonist and as a distorted reflection of what Soji could become.

Their conflict is central to the exploration of identity, guilt, and the consequences of online actions.

Manga

Dead Account began serialization in Weekly Shonen Magazine, a major Kodansha weekly manga magazine, starting with issue 7 of 2023, released on January 18, 2023.

It continued there until issue 40 of the same year, released on September 6, 2023, before moving to Kodansha’s digital platform Magazine Pocket on October 7, 2023.

The manga is collected under the Kodansha Comics label.

As of January 16, 2026, 13 volumes have been published.

Volume 1 was released on April 17, 2023, with ISBN 978-4-06-531266-7.

Volume 2 followed on June 15, 2023, with ISBN 978-4-06-531886-7.

Volume 3 was released on August 17, 2023, ISBN 978-4-06-532617-6.

Volume 4 came out on October 17, 2023, ISBN 978-4-06-533159-0.

Volume 5 was released on January 17, 2024, ISBN 978-4-06-534181-0.

Volume 6 followed on April 17, 2024, ISBN 978-4-06-535190-1.

Volume 7 was published on July 17, 2024, ISBN 978-4-06-536122-1.

Volume 8 was released on October 17, 2024, ISBN 978-4-06-537131-2.

Volume 9 came out on January 17, 2025, ISBN 978-4-06-537772-7.

Volume 10 followed on March 17, 2025, ISBN 978-4-06-538716-0.

Volume 11 was released on June 17, 2025, ISBN 978-4-06-539767-1.

Volume 12 came out on October 17, 2025, ISBN 978-4-06-541115-5.

Volume 13 was released on January 16, 2026, with ISBN 978-4-06-542215-1.

The manga continues to serialize on Magazine Pocket beyond this point.

Anime

The television anime adaptation of Dead Account began airing in January 2026 on TV Asahi and other All-Nippon News Network stations within the IMAnimation programming block.

The anime is produced by SynergySP and overseen by the “Dead Account Production Committee,” which includes companies such as Nippon Columbia, Kodansha, TV Asahi, Sammy, Crunchyroll, SynergySP, Bushiroad Move, and Studio Mouse.

Keiya Saito serves as director, while Mitsutaka Hirota handles series composition.

Composer Keiji Iuchi provides the music, and the anime uses a mix of traditional and digital animation techniques to portray both analog ghosts and digital Fake Accounts.

The opening theme song is “Dead End” by Haru Igarashi.

Haru Igarashi also wrote and composed the track, with arrangement by Haru Igarashi and Yuki Ishida.

The ending theme song is “How About the Next Life” performed by Miyu Kaneko.

The lyrics are written by Nanako Ashida and Miyu Kaneko, with composition by JaysicK and Nanako Ashida and arrangement by JaysicK.

Main Voice Cast

Soji Enishiro is voiced by Nobuhiko Okamoto.

Kukuru Kasubata is voiced by Koki Uchiyama.

Kiyomi Urusugawa is voiced by Fairouz Ai.

Renri Hasumi is voiced by Natsuki Hanae.

Hiyori Haijima is voiced by Machico.

Naruhiko Emoto is voiced by Ryota Suzuki.

Yoimaru Azaki is voiced by Takuya Sato.

Hiri Enishiro is voiced by Saho Shirasuna.

Staff Highlights

The anime’s design works are handled by Maki Fukui and Aiko Funamichi.

Yoshiki Kuga is in charge of Fake Account design.

Color design is by Eitaro Ano.

Art direction is by Seika Fujii and Saho Yamane, with art setting by Risa Irahama.

The CG director is Kazuto Furuya, while Haruka Serizawa serves as director of photography.

Yusuke Ueno edits the series.

Ryosuke Naya is the sound director, with sound effects by Kiyotaka Kawata and sound production by Studio Mouse.

Music is produced by Nippon Columbia.

Producers include Daichi Amano, Noriyuki Akita, Koki Iwata, Naoto Kase, Nobuhiko Kurosu, Ken Amano, and Yusuke Onuki.

Kazuya Kumagai serves as the animation producer.

Broadcast and Streaming

In Japan, Dead Account airs on Saturdays from 23:30 to 24:00 (late Saturday night) on TV Asahi and other full-network affiliates of the All-Nippon News Network, except in prefectures without full-network stations.

The broadcast includes closed captions and interactive data broadcasting as part of the IMAnimation block.

Streaming begins on Lemino, U-NEXT, Anime Times, and Anime Hodai from Sunday at 0:00 (late Saturday night).

From the following Wednesday at 0:00 (late Tuesday night), additional platforms such as ABEMA, Amazon Prime Video, AnimeFesta, DMM TV, d Anime Store, FOD, Hulu, J:COM STREAM, milplus, Ponta Pass, TELASA, TVer, Kansai TV’s Kantele Douga, Disney+, Niconico Channel, Bandai Channel, Video Market, and Flat-Video start carrying the series.

Niconico Live broadcasts episodes on Wednesdays from 0:00 to 0:30 (late Tuesday night).

ABEMA Anime Channel airs reruns on Wednesdays from 1:30 to 2:00 (late Tuesday night), with catch-up streaming available.

Home Video

A Blu-ray box set is scheduled for release on April 15, 2026.

It will include episodes 1 through 12 and carry the catalog number COXC-7510/1.

Dead Account is produced by SynergySP, a studio known for action and character-focused anime.

The adaptation emphasizes dynamic battles with Fake Accounts, psychological tension, and the contrast between analog spirituality and digital hauntings.

The series explores themes such as online harassment, cancel culture, and the way digital footprints can outlive and distort a person’s memory.

Soji’s past as a toxic streamer constantly collides with his current role as an exorcist, forcing him to face the harm he once caused.

Many characters come from abusive or dysfunctional families, framing Yaden Academy as both a training ground and a refuge.

Their Electric Powers often manifest directly from their emotional trauma, turning personal pain into tangible supernatural abilities.

The story also raises questions about responsibility in the digital age: who owns a “dead account,” what it means to “erase” someone online, and how grief plays out on social networks.

Dead Account uses its supernatural premise to talk in an accessible, action-heavy way about very modern problems like doxxing, obsessive fandoms, and escapist gaming.