New Opening Song for MAO Anime Comes from 20th Century: Collaboration with Rumiko Takahashi After 26 Years
The MAO anime, adapted from Rumiko Takahashi's beloved manga, has announced its second season's opening song. The new track "Bokura ga Uwagaki Suru Sekai" (The World We Overwrite) by Japanese pop group 20th Century will play at the start of the anime's second cour. This is not the group's first collaboration with Takahashi's works; in 2000, 20th Century performed Inuyasha's first opening song "CHANGE THE WORLD". The revival of this partnership after 26 years has come as a great surprise to both Takahashi and J-pop fans.
20th Century was originally a sub-unit of the famous Japanese group V6. After V6 disbanded in 2021, the members Masayuki Sakamoto, Hiroshi Nagano, and Yoshihiko Inohara decided to continue their careers as 20th Century. Their new single "Bokura ga Uwagaki Suru Sekai" will have a tempo fitting Takahashi's MAO universe. The song, written specifically for the anime, references the series' themes of fate and confronting the past through its chorus theme of "rewriting the world".
Rumiko Takahashi, as the author of classics like Urusei Yatsura, Ranma ½, and Inuyasha, has been shaping the manga industry for over 40 years. MAO is her newest series, serialized in Weekly Shonen Sunday since 2019. The manga, which tells the story of a supernatural warrior named Mao, was announced to receive an anime adaptation in 2024, and its first season began airing in April 2025. The second cour is expected to start in July 2025. 20th Century's new opening song will likely be heard for the first time with the season's first episode.
The return of former V6 members to a Rumiko Takahashi work holds emotional significance, especially for the generation that grew up with Inuyasha. "CHANGE THE WORLD" became legendary among anime music in the early 2000s, symbolizing a period where J-pop and anime culture intersected. Now, 26 years later, the same group is appealing to a new generation in Takahashi's darker and more mystical world. This is one of those rare moments in the anime industry that blends nostalgia with innovation.
Fans are eagerly awaiting, along with the new opening song, which chapters will be adapted in the second season and who will perform the ending theme. According to reports, the second cour of the MAO anime will focus more on the Taisho period transitions from the original manga. We can't wait for July to see how 20th Century's new song will accompany this atmosphere.
