# Love Through a Prism
**Love Through a Prism** (プリズム輪舞曲, *Purizumu Rondo*, also rendered Prism Rondo) is a 2026 Japanese original anime series produced by WIT Studio for Netflix, written by *Boys Over Flowers* creator Yoko Kamio (神尾葉子) in her first work as an anime original creator. The 20-episode romantic drama is set in early-1900s London and follows Lili Ichijoin (一条院りり), a [Japanese art](https://www.edgepedia.org/japanese-art) student whose rivalry with the aristocratic painter Kit Church (キット・チャーチ) turns into romance.[1](https://about.netflix.com/ja/news/love-through-a-prism) • [2](https://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2431974/full/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Format | Netflix original anime, 20 episodes of roughly 20 to 27 minutes, all released January 15, 2026[1](https://about.netflix.com/ja/news/love-through-a-prism) • [3](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/88758/love-through-a-prism) |
| Creative lead | Original work, character concepts, and script by Yoko Kamio, her first anime original[1](https://about.netflix.com/ja/news/love-through-a-prism) • [2](https://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2431974/full/) |
| Production | WIT Studio; director Kazuto Nakazawa (*B: The Beginning*, the *Kill Bill: Volume 1* anime sequence)[1](https://about.netflix.com/ja/news/love-through-a-prism) |
| Setting | Early-1900s London, at the fictional Saint Thomas Art Academy[1](https://about.netflix.com/ja/news/love-through-a-prism) • [4](https://www.tomsguide.com/entertainment/netflix/new-netflix-shows-and-movies-january-12-18-2026) |
| Main cast | Atsumi Tanezaki as Lili, Koki Uchiyama as Kit, Yuki Kaji as Shinnosuke[1](https://about.netflix.com/ja/news/love-through-a-prism) |
| Music | Score by Naoki "naotyu-" Chiba; theme song "star flower" by Chilli Beans.[3](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/88758/love-through-a-prism) • [5](https://realsound.jp/2026/03/post-2347294_2.html) |
| Manga tie-in | Comic adaptation drawn by Maki Minami, serialized in *Shonen Jump+* and *Manga Mee* from January 8, 2026[6](https://anibase.net/ja/anime/mRa7e/%E3%83%97%E3%83%AA%E3%82%BA%E3%83%A0%E8%BC%AA%E8%88%9E%E6%9B%B2) |
## Spoilers
### Premise
Lili Ichijoin is a Japanese girl who crosses the sea to enroll at London's Saint Thomas Art Academy. Her place there rests on a bargain with her parents: unless she takes first place in the academy within six months, she must return home immediately. On her first day she meets Kit Church, son of a great aristocratic family, a genius painter who is also self-paced and something of a troublemaker. Lili burns with rivalry toward him, while Kit, who until then cared only for painting, begins to respond to her straightforward desire to become better at art.[1](https://about.netflix.com/ja/news/love-through-a-prism)
The two leads are drawn as opposites: Lili is positive, curious, and a little clumsy, while Kit has flawless technique and striking originality but no ability to manage daily life. Their only shared ground is a love of painting.[1](https://about.netflix.com/ja/news/love-through-a-prism) Around them the story assembles an ensemble: fellow Japanese student Shinnosuke Kobayakawa (CV Yuki Kaji) and his sister Sakura (Akari Kito), Lili's lodger-mate Dorothy Brown ([Megumi Han](https://www.edgepedia.org/megumi-han)), the honor student Peter Anthony ([Shogo Sakata](https://www.edgepedia.org/shogo-sakata)), the cheerful Geoffrey O'Brien (Yohei Azakami), Kit's fiancée Catherine Astor ([Sumire Uesaka](https://www.edgepedia.org/sumire-uesaka)), Lili's mother Take Ichijoin (Yuhko Kaida), Kit's brother Richard Church (Junichi Suwabe), and academy professor Charles Brant (Hochu Otsuka).[1](https://about.netflix.com/ja/news/love-through-a-prism)
## Origin and development
The project began during the COVID-19 pandemic, when producer Daiki Sakurai proposed the idea of a story about a young woman of the [Meiji era](https://www.edgepedia.org/meiji-era) traveling abroad alone to study painting. Kamio said she wanted to write a romance with an aristocrat and asked that the setting be changed from the originally planned France to England; she cited her love of [Jane Austen](https://www.edgepedia.org/jane-austen)'s *Pride and Prejudice* and the observation that love across class lines is dramatic in itself.[2](https://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2431974/full/) Kamio also deliberately arranged attractive young men around the heroine, calling that structure the essential foundation of shoujo manga.[2](https://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2431974/full/)
Composer Naoki "naotyu-" Chiba joined through a small-scale competition in late 2022, when rough footage of the first ten minutes of episode 1 already existed. He composed the entire score alone, working in a film-scoring style across all 20 episodes, his first solo full anime score in roughly that span since *Arata Naru Sekai*.[5](https://realsound.jp/2026/03/post-2347294_2.html)
## Release and reception
Netflix announced the series on November 26, 2025 and released all 20 episodes worldwide on January 15, 2026.[1](https://about.netflix.com/ja/news/love-through-a-prism) • [7](https://www.crunchyroll.com/pl/news/latest/2025/11/27/love-through-a-prism-original-anime-january-2026-announced) The episode titles follow an art vocabulary, from "Black Bread and Iridescent Hope" through "The Golden Ratio Between Them" to the finale, titled like the series itself.[8](https://latestnetflix.com/series/306762)
Rotten Tomatoes' critics' consensus describes the series as delivering a satisfying love story that balances romantic pursuits with the other passions that make life worth living.[9](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/love_through_a_prism/s01) Common Sense Media describes the series as a slow-build historical romance that also touches on art, culture, and conflict.[10](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/love-through-a-prism)
## References
1. [ロンドンを舞台に贈る、大貴族と留学生の恋物語！Netflixシリーズ「プリズム輪舞曲」, About Netflix](https://about.netflix.com/ja/news/love-through-a-prism)
2. [『花より男子』の漫画家・神尾葉子が描く 恋のきらめきの、その先へ――初アニメ『プリズム輪舞曲』, ORICON NEWS](https://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2431974/full/)
3. [Love Through a Prism, TVmaze](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/88758/love-through-a-prism)
4. [Netflix new releases, Tom's Guide](https://www.tomsguide.com/entertainment/netflix/new-netflix-shows-and-movies-january-12-18-2026)
5. [『プリズム輪舞曲』劇伴：全20話フィルムスコアリングの極致, Real Sound](https://realsound.jp/2026/03/post-2347294_2.html)
6. [プリズム輪舞曲, AniBase.Net](https://anibase.net/ja/anime/mRa7e/%E3%83%97%E3%83%AA%E3%82%BA%E3%83%A0%E8%BC%AA%E8%88%9E%E6%9B%B2)
7. [Original Anime Love Through a Prism Premieres in January 2026, Crunchyroll News](https://www.crunchyroll.com/pl/news/latest/2025/11/27/love-through-a-prism-original-anime-january-2026-announced)
8. [Love Through a Prism (2026), Latest Netflix](https://latestnetflix.com/series/306762)
9. [Love Through a Prism: Season 1, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/love_through_a_prism/s01)
10. [Love Through a Prism, Common Sense Media](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/love-through-a-prism)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Anime and manga › Anime series, episodes, and franchises › OVAs, ONAs, and streaming-original anime*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 19, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 18, 2026; Sep 19, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license