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Wit Studio confirmed that it used generative AI when creating the opening for season 4 of the anime adaptation of Ascendance of a Bookworm, and it said it will replace the scenes with hand-drawn art. The updated version of the opening will appear in the show starting with the second episode. That is expected to air on Crunchyroll April 11, 2026, as the first episode of the new season launched on April 4, 2026.
In the full statement on the website, Wit Studio stated that, while it’s interested in technological advances in animation, it did not used any generative AI in its works. It also said it does not allow it. The exception is the experimental work The Dog & The Boy. This was to test the capabilities of genAI. It apologized to fans and the original author of Ascendance of a Bookworm for the usage of AI in the anime opening, and explained that this is a failure in its quality control process.
On April 4, 2026, Twitter user ukloim posted that generative AI assets appeared in the opening of the new season of the Ascendance of a Bookworm anime. Though the opening sequence with genAI is no longer available on the official channels, as Wit Studio removed it from both social media and YouTube, it’s likely that someone reuploaded it or, like ukloim, they included screenshots of the offending scenes.
Wit Studio was formed in 2012. Some of its most notable projects include Great Pretender, Attack on Titan (the first three season), My Deer Friend Nokotan, and Spy x Family. It is also working on the One Piece anime remake for Netflix.
The new opening for Ascendance of a Bookworm that does not include AI will appear from the second episode of season 4, and the anime is available on streaming services like Crunchyroll. J-Novel Club handles the English release of the light novel and manga.
