Anime Origins, the tower defense experience from Origins Project, is heading into its first numbered content drop. Update 1 is built around a Re:Zero theme, and the previews shown ahead of launch cover new maps, two new units, and a rebuilt way of entering matches. Everything below is what the developers have actually shown, not what players are hoping for.
Quick answer: Update 1 is listed on the official Anime Origins Roblox page as a Saturday, September 5 event at 9:00 PM (shown in your local time), with maintenance starting a few hours before that. It adds the Library of the Dead map, the Pleiades Tower desert map, secret unit Reinhard Van Astrea, mythic support Emmy (Spirit Arts), and a new matchmaking and map selection interface.
Update 1 release time and maintenance window
The update is scheduled through Roblox’s own event system, which means the countdown and time you see are converted to your device’s clock rather than a fixed regional slot. Servers go down for maintenance a few hours before the update goes live, so any run you are mid-way through in the hours leading up to launch is worth finishing early.
You can set a reminder and join directly from the experience page once servers come back up.
Everything confirmed in Update 1
The preview footage covered five distinct additions. Here is the full confirmed set, with the exact in-game naming used on screen.
| Addition | Details |
|---|---|
| Library of the Dead | New story map with its own placement layout |
| Pleiades Tower | Desert tower map featuring three portals |
| Reinhard Van Astrea | Secret-rarity unit with fire-based attacks |
| Emmy (Spirit Arts) | Mythic support unit built around ice slows and freezes |
| Matchmaking screen | Train-themed lobby with a map selection menu |
Emmy (Spirit Arts): Passives and skill
Emmy is the mythic unit of the update, and she is a support piece rather than a damage carry. Her value comes from stretching how long enemies stay inside your damage range, which matters most on maps where lanes are short or contact time is limited.
| Ability | Type | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Curse of the Witch | Passive | Slows enemies she hits |
| Frozen Territory | Passive | Creates a zone that slows enemies inside it |
| Al Huma | Skill | Ice attack used in her showcase |
Tip: pair her placement with your highest single-target damage unit rather than spreading her slow across an empty stretch of the path. A slow zone only pays off where something is already shooting.
Reinhard Van Astrea, the new secret unit
Reinhard sits at secret rarity, the rarest tier shown in the preview. His cinematic showcase leans entirely on fire-based attacks, positioning him as the offensive counterpart to Emmy’s control kit. Stat values and drop rates were not shown alongside the showcase, so treat any circulating numbers as unconfirmed until the unit is live and visible in-game.
The new matchmaking and map selection screen
The biggest structural change is how you start a match. The old system had you walk into a portal in the lobby to queue for content. Update 1 replaces that with a dedicated matchmaking interface, set inside a train-themed lobby, where you pick your map from a list instead.
The map selection shown in the interface includes West City Story – Act 1 alongside the two new entries, Library of the Dead and Pleiades Tower. The Pleiades Tower layout stands out because it contains three portals of its own, which hints at either a new mode or a boss encounter attached to that map.
How to confirm Update 1 has gone live
If you still see the old portal layout after the scheduled time, leave the experience completely and rejoin so the Roblox client loads the updated place instead of a cached older server.
Anime Origins has moved fast since launch, clearing 23.5 million visits and sitting in Roblox’s tower defense subgenre with free private servers and support across mobile, tablet, PC, and console. Update 1 is the first real test of whether that pace holds up, and the two new maps are the parts most likely to change how existing teams are built.
