The official website for the upcoming winter 2026 TV anime Playing Death Games to Put Food on the Table announced today that singer-songwriter Chiai Fujikawa will perform the anime's ending theme song, titled "Inori" ("Player"). The lyrics of the song are written by Fujikawa, with Seima Kondo (Elements Garden) working on the music and arrangement. Fujikawa shared the following comment on "Inori": This song is about the people who carry feelings too profound for words, yet still strive to move forward and live. To me, that sentiment felt like a kind of prayer. Even on days when good and evil, right and wrong, and salvation itself fade from sight, they still press onward, guided only by a tiny light… I wrote this song while picturing such people in mind. The final word "Yuku" carries not only the meaning of death, but also that of "going." Living may sound positive at first glance, but it is also, in truth, "advancing through time toward death." At that boundary, I believe there exists a moment that only those who choose to "go forward" can touch. I hope you can feel together with me, through this song, what color such a world might be. Fujikawa began her professional career in July 2015 as a member of the idol group Maneki Kecak. After graduating from the group in September 2018, she began her career as a solo singer and has released 17 digital singles, four full albums and three mini-albums to date. She is best known for her ending theme song works for The Rising of the Shield Hero anime series franchise. RELATED: Playing Death Games to Put Food on the Table Anime Reveals Premiere Date, "Ghost House" Game Trailer and Visual The Playing Death Games to Put Food on the Table TV anime is set to premiere in Japan on January 7, 2026 , with the first episode "All You Need Is —-" will be 60 minutes long. LIN, a member of MADKID, provides the instrumental opening theme "¬Ersterbend." Sota Ueno ( Days with My Stepsister ) directs the anime at Studio DEEN, with series composition by Rintaro Ikeda ( Insomniacs After School ), character designs by Eri Osada ( The World's Finest Assassin Gets Reincarnated in Another World as an Aristocrat ) and music by Junichi Matsumoto ( The Ancient Magus' Bride ). Yen Press publishes an official English version of Yushi Akai and Necometal's original light novel series, describing the story like so: Yuki wakes up to find herself in an unfamiliar manor, wearing a maid uniform and lying on a luxurious bed. Soon, she discovers five more girls, all dressed the same as her. This is the Ghost House, and the only way they can survive is to make it through the traps that lie in wait-deadly games full of blowguns, buzz saws, locked rooms, and weapons. It’s a hopeless, terrifying situation for everyone there…well, everyone except Yuki. After all, this is her career at seventeen. Do you think that’s odd? She would agree. But that’s how some people are-they earn their living playing death games. Source: Press Release
