A full-length trailer for Encouragement of Climb: Next Summit has been released, providing a preview of the anime’s visuals, characters both old and new, and the opening song “Omoi Nochi Hare.” An October 4 Japanese premiere date and a new key visual were also revealed.

“Omoi Nochi Hare” is performed by Yuka Iguchi and Kana Asumi as their respective characters as Aoi and Hinata.

Next Summit is the latest instalment in the Encouragement of Climb (Yama no Susume) anime series, which began in 2013 and had three seasons as of 2018. The anime is based on the Earth Star Entertainment-published Yama no Susume manga series by Shiro. 

Crunchyroll describes the series as:

Aoi prefers indoor hobbies and is afraid of heights, but her childhood friend Hinata loves to show off her passion for mountain climbing. As young children they once watched the sunrise from the top of a mountain, and now they’ve decided to take up mountain climbing in hopes of seeing that sunrise again. They have cooking battles with mountaineering gear, climb small hills in their neighborhood, and meet new mountaineering friends as they learn the ropes of the hobby. When will they finally see that sunrise again?

The returning staff from previous seasons include director Yuusuke Yamamoto, character designer Yuusuke Matsuo, photography director Hiroshi Satou, color designer Yukari Fujiki, and Season 2 and 3 co-music composer yamazo. Eight Bit is once again the animation production studio. Ayumi Miyakoshi (Fate/Grand Carnival Season 1) is taking over the art director role.

Meanwhile, the returning cast aside from Iguchi and Asumi includes Youko Hikasa as Kaede, Yui Ogura as Kokona, and Nao Touyama as Honoka. Emiri Iwai is joining the cast as Koharu.

The Encouragement of Climb manga began in 2012 and released its 21st volume in September 2021. It is serialized on Comic Earth Star and published under the Earth Star Comics label. The 22nd tankoubon volume will be released on September 12.