The NewSenpai

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CARACAS, MONDAY, MAY 02, 2016

VOLUME 01, No. 01

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New Cardcaptor Sakura Manga Sequel Launching in June

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Scarlett Johansson Cast as Mokoto Kusanagi

Series takes place in Sakura’s 1st year of junior high school

Interview with Hayao Miyazaki:

“Anime was a mistake”

Fairy Tail’s Hiro Mashima Draws Captain America: Civil War Posters Fairy Tail creator Hiro Mashima showed off his love for American superheroes by drawing posters for the Japanese premiere of Captain America: Civil War

Shonen Jump NEXT!!

Magazine to Change Names “A special edition for newcomers”

Noriaki Sugiyama, Tomokazu Sugita, Ami Koshimizu and More Join D.Gray-man Hallow Anime’s Cast The official website for D.Gray-man Hallow, the new television anime of Katsura Hoshino’s D.Gray-man manga, revealed additional cast members on Saturday. Among them Noriaki Sugiyama as Arystar Krory, Ami Koshimizu as Miranda Lotto, Tomokazu Sugita as Reever Wenhamm and Takuya Eguchi as Madarao

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CARACAS, MONDAY, MAY 02, 2016

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ANIMATION pany has not announced plans to print its own titles. Among other writers, Straight Edge has a contract with A Certain Magical Index author Kazuma Kamachi.

So apparently this article needs a few extra paragraphs to reach the required word count, and so I’m forced to write some random sentences here. I suppose it’s not that bad considering that the project has to do with designing and not the articles themselves, but it’s kind of bad how much time I spent choosing these articles only to completely ruin them adding sime random filler words.

Yen Press is publishing the A Certain Magical Index light novels and manga adaptation in North America, while Seven Seas Entertainment is publishing the A Certain Scientific Railgun and A Certain Scientific Accelerator spinoff manga. Funimation released the first season of A Certain Magical Index on DVD in 2013, and on DVD and Blu-ray Disc in 2014.

Funimation has released all of the A Certain Magical Index and A Certain Scientific Railgun anime in North America.

A Certain Magical Index Producer: “3rd Anime Season Is Plausible” Producer, Straight Edge founder, and former Dengeki Bunko Editor-in-Chief Kazuma Miki posted on his official Twitter account on Monday regarding the possibility of a third season of the A Certain Magical Index anime. He writes: “Please understand that this is an unofficial statement. I am always receiving everyone’s passionate opinions on this. Index anime [season 3] is plausible, so please wait!!”

A Certain Magical Index adapts Kazuma Kamachi’s light novel series of the same name. The first television anime series premiered in 2008, and was followed by a second season in 2010, and the A Certain Magical

Index: The Miracle of Endymion anime film in 2013. Motoi Fuyukawa’s spinoff manga series A Certain Scientific Railgun also received a television anime series in 2009, and a second season titled A Certain Scientific Railgun S in 2013. Miki is credited as producer in all of the above anime.

Miki recently left his position as Editor-in-Chief of Kadokawa’s Dengeki Bunko on March 31 to start a new company called Straight Edge alongside Kazutomo Suzuki, executive manager at Kadokawa’s ASCII Media Works. The new company’s focus will be on managing talent and producing content such as publications and animation. The new com-

The Heroic Legend of Arslan 2nd Season Reveals Character Illustrations for Gieve and Falangies The official website for the Arslan Senki: Fūjin Ranbu (The Heroic Legend of Arslan: Dust Storm Dance) television anime series revealed the character illustrations for Gieve and Falangies on Thursday.

KENN and Maaya Sakamoto respectively are returning to voice the two characters.

The website previously revealed the character illustrations for Arslan, Daryun, Narsus, and Elam earlier this month.

The second season will premiere

in July. The new season will air on Sundays at 5 p.m. on MBS and TBS, which is the “Nichigo” timeslot.

I can’t believe how many random sentences I’ve had to write in this articles in order to reach the required work count. Maybe someone is reading these a having fun noticing them? That’d be kind of funny actually. I haven’t really checked if my classmates are doing this too.

The staff and cast are returning to the new series, but Kyō Yamashita is the new CG director, replacing Dai-

suke Suzuki, and Tatsuya Shimano is replacing Hiroshi Adachi as the modeling director. Felix Film is replacing SANZIGEN with the 3DCGI. Eir Aoi (Sword Art Online, Fate/Zero) will perform the new season’s opening theme song and Kalafina (Madoka Magica, first season of The Heroic Legend of Arslan) will perform the ending theme song.

Crunchyroll Adds Mazinger Edition Z Anime to Catalog

gy crisis, just living a quiet life in a mansion isn’t going to last. Japanium, an ore capable of producing Photon Energy, promises to lead humanity into a bright future... though not everyone wants to use it for good. The evil Dr. Hell is determined to use Photon Energy to power his malicious Mechanical Beasts, which would make him unstoppable! Darkness falls upon Kouji’s home town of Atami, the first city lit

by Photon Energy, and the first step on the doctor’s quest for world domination! Not all is lost, however, as Kouji’s grandfather grants him the power of Mazinger Z - the ultimate fighting robot!

Let’s add some random senteces here or else the article won’t reach the required length. I really wonder if someone’s already noticed that I’ve been placing these paragrapghs to fill space. I suppose professors don’t bother reading these articles.

The series, based on Go Nagai’s 1972 Mazinger Z manga and television anime, premiered in 2009.

Discotek Media released the series on DVD under its Eastern Star label last June.

Mazinger remains one of Go Nagai’s most enduring success stories, spawning many products in the realm of merchandising, model kits, plastic and die-cast metal toys (the now famous Soul of Chogokin line), action figures and other collectibles. other anime franchises.

Naruto Shippuden Anime Reveals Visual For New Arc Starting in May

Tsubasa to Hotaru Anime Gets More Episodes This Month

Tokyo TV’s official website for the Naruto Shippūden television anime series revealed a new visual on Monday for the series. The visual is for the new arc of the series that will start in May. The combined 21st and 22nd issue of Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine provided more details on Monday regarding the new arc. The issue confirmed that the new arc will go back to material based on Masashi Kishimoto’s original manga, featuring the “final decisive battle” between the original Team 7 and Kaguya.

This article is pretty short so let’s add a sentence here to reach the required length. I only need one more line.

Asian Kung-Fu Generation will perform a new opening theme song titled “Blood Circulator” for the series starting in May. The anime started its airing of the Naruto Shippūden: Itachi Shinden-hen: Hikari to Yami arc on March 3. The arc adapts Takashi Yano’s two-volume Naruto spinoff novels Itachi Shinden, which tell the story of Itachi before the start of the manga.

The June issue of Shueisha’s Ribon magazine announced on Saturday that the television anime adaptation of Nana Haruta’s Tsubasa to Hotaru shojo romantic comedy manga will receive more episodes this month.

The new episodes will air on May 10, 17, and 24 as segments within the Oha-Suta (“Good Morning Star”) program on TV Tokyo. Kanae Itō, Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, and Takahiro Sakurai will reprise their roles as Tsubasa Sonokawa, Aki Hidaka, and Yūma Toba, respectively.

The first anime adaptation of Haruta’s manga was a special that was screened at the Ribon Festa 2014 event. The anime received three additional episodes last March.

The story of Tsubasa to Hotaru revolves around Tsubasa Sonokawa, a 15-year old high school girl who fell in love with her upperclassman when he saved her after she fainted at the train station from anemia. She thought it was a meeting of fate, and visited him at his class every day. However, he told her that her feelings were

Mazinger Z (is a Japanese super robot manga series written and illustrated by Go Nagai. The first manga version was serialized in Shueisha’s Weekly Shōnen Jump from October 1972 to August 1973, and it later continued in Kodansha TV Magazine from October 1973 to September 1974.[2] It was adapted into an anime television series which aired on Fuji TV from December 1972 to September 1974.

Crunchyroll announced on Thursday that it has added Mazinger Edition Z: The Impact! anime to its catalog. The series is available to users in the United States and Canada.

The entire series is available to premium users, while only the first 13 episodes are available to free users, with the next 13 episodes available next week. Crunchyroll describes the series: What would you do if you had ultimate power thrust into your hands? As a normal high school boy, Kouji Kabuto never thought he would have to face that problem.

But when your grandfather is a scientist known for having discovered the means to end the world’s ener-

Source: Anime News Network and MoCa News.

“heavy,” and he dumped her. She once again meets a boy after taking over her friend Yuri’s job as boy’s basketball team manager. She learns that she might have more of a connection with this boy named Aki than she first thought...

Haruta began the manga in 2013, and Shueisha published the seventh compiled volume of the manga in Japan on Monday. The first chapter of the manga is available to read for free on Ribon’s official website. Viz Media publishesd Haruta’s Cactus’s Secret and Chocolate Cosmos manga in North America.

Source: Anime News Network

Girls & Panzer Film Earns Over 1.9 Billion Yen The official blog for the Girls und Panzer anime franchise announced on Monday that the Girls und Panzer film has sold 1,144,720 tickets for a total of 1,912,179,484 yen (about US$17.23 million) as of April 24.

The film has been in theaters for 23 weeks.

The film opened in Japan last November, and it ranked #38 in the top 39 highest grossing Japanese domestic films of 2015 (tied with Grasshopper).

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CARACAS, MONDAY, MAY 02, 2016

Complete Haruhi Suzumiya Soundtrack Announced With Teaser for More in 2016 The cast of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya anime series recorded new audio to advertise the upcoming Haruhi Suzumiya compilation album on Lantis Channel’s YouTube channel. In the recording, which began streaming this Saturday, Aya Hirano (Haruhi) gushes about the SOS Brigade’s “YouTube debut” and says, “We’re planning to do lots of other fun stuff as the SOS Brigade this year, so make sure to check for news!”

Haruhi: Listen, Mikuru, these days it’s all about YouTube to get rich quick! The SOS Brigade has made a YouTube channel too, so go and grab those views from those elementary and middle school boys with that crazy outfit of yours!

Mikuru: Whaaaaat? B-but that’s so embarrassing...

Kyon: Haruhi! Stop trying to get Asahina to wear such immoral clothing. Japanese guys ten years from now’s sexual inclinations will be biased!

Itsuki: Now, now. We can always say that this is a kind of a public service announcement informing the public of the dangers of a society reliant on the Internet. As this may be a good opportunity for parents to realize that a single click could affect their child’s future, I think it would be best to see how things turn out...

Kyon: Your face is too close! Koizumi, you can only say that because you don’t understand the explosive spreading force Asahina has. This video is going to be a viral one that will make its mark on Internet history. At least half of the population of Japan is going to see it.

Mikuru: Um... W-what are you talking about Kyon?

Haruhi: Viral sounds great! OK Mikuru, you gotta give the customers that fan service! Actually, maybe it’d be best if we lose like 20 percent of your outfit’s fabric...

Kyon: How about you stop trying to take off her clothes? Huh? What’s up, Nagato?

Yuki: ...An error in the video feed.

Probability of restoring video is approximately 0.038 percent.

Itsuki: Oh, it looks like the camera is broken. Haruhi: Hey, Kyon!

Go file a claim with the computer research club and tell them to bring us a camera that’s not broken!

Kyon: As I remember, the camera we borrowed from the computer research club broke because you got water on it last month during the “Swimming in Winter With Lots of Mikuru Tournament.”

Mikuru: I always get pushed into those kinds of duties...

Haruhi: OK, well, your camera is fine then.

Itsuki: I have memories of someone forcefully putting Kyon’s camera on a drone and letting it fly, only to have it go missing.

Haruhi: Kyon’s the one at fault for buying that piece-of-crap drone!

Well, anyway, guess it can’t be helped. Let’s make today’s video audio-only. Kyon, think of something for us to do.

Kyon: Yeah, like I’d have something for us to do all of a sudden. And anyway, what’s a “YouTuber” really supposed to do anyway? Itsuki: Most people do things like experiments.

There also seem to be a lot of Let’s Plays and cooking videos.

Kyon: And those are all things you need visuals for...

Mikuru: U-um! I’ve seen product introduction videos before! There are ones for things like makeup and home electronics and I end up really wanting to buy them after watching...

Haruhi: Yeah! That’s it! We can do that with just audio, right?

Kyon: Well, yeah, I guess we technically can, but what are we supposed to introduce exactly?

Haruhi: Hm... Hey, Yuki, do you have anything cool?

Yuki: I do. The promotion of the same of sound data on optical media.

Kyon: Wait, Nagato. Does that...?

Mikuru: Does that have our songs and BGM?

Netflix to Stream Magi: Adventure of Sinbad TV Anime Worldwide Streaming begins in Japan on Thursday, followed by other regions later Netflix will be the exclusive streaming service for the fantasy television anime series Magi: Adventure of Sinbad in Japan, and it will also stream the anime worldwide.

Weekly streaming in full HD will begin on Thursday, April 21 in Japan, followed by other regions later.

The television anime adapts Shinobu Ohtaka and Yoshifumi Ōtera’s spinoff manga Magi: Sinbad no Bōken (Magi: Adventure of Sinbad).

It premiered on April 15 on MBS, TBS, CBC, and BS-TBS in the “Animeism” programming block.

The manga is a prequel to Ohtaka’s main Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic manga, which also inspired a television anime. Magi: Adventure of Sinbad takes place 30 years before the events of Magi and focuses on Sinbad’s journey to become king.

The manga has already inspired five original video anime (OVA) episodes that have shipped with previous volumes of the manga. The main staff and cast are returning from the video series for the television anime. Yoshikazu Miyao (Inazuma Eleven, S.A) is directing the series at studio Layduce (Classroom Crisis) off scripts

by Taku Kishimoto (Haikyu!!, Silver Spoon).

Souichirou Sako is designing the characters for animation and is also serving as chief animation director,

Itsuki: So in other words, it’s a complete soundtrack.

Haruhi: Oh yeah! Now I remember that some music producer was saying he wanted to release something like that around Tanabata this year! OK, Mikuru!

Hurry up and tell the viewers the information they need to know!

Mikuru: So it’s me again...

Sniffle. Um... A complete album with all of the TV series’ soundtracks included titled “Suzumiya Haruhi no Kansō” will be released on June 7. Kamimae...

Kyon: You read that as “Kōsaki.”

Mikuru: Th-the music composed by Satoru Kōsakiincluding unused tracks- will add up to a total of approximately 140 tracks. In addition, ten tracks including the theme songs that we sang for the TV series and radio program and the ENOZ insert songs will also be a part of the album. The album will be five CDs and the price of the album is a stunning discounted 4900 yen (about US$46). P-please look forward to itHaruhi: So that’s the scoop!

We’re planning to do lots of other fun stuff as the SOS Brigade this year, so make sure to check for news!

Kyon: And you’re going to end the damn thing yourself after all!?

Yuki: Recording finished. Beginning upload.

The Complete Soundtrack of Haruhi Suzumiya (Suzumiya Haruhi no Kansō) will include the complete soundtracks of the first and second seasons (including previously unreleased tracks), along with the opening and ending themes, insert songs, and radio theme songs. It will ship on July 7, for about US$46.

and Tomohiro Ōkubo is composing the music. PENGUIN RESEARCH is performing the opening theme song “Spotlight,” and Fujifabric is performing the ending theme song “Polaris.”

Daisuke Ono is returning from the main Magi television series and the OVAs to play Sinbad. Other returning cast members include Akira Ishida as Yunan, Tomokazu Sugita as Drakon, Ai Kayano as Serendine, Katsuyuki Konishi as Badr, Yōko Hikasa as Esra, Keiji Fujiwara as Hinahoho, Takahiro Sakurai as Jafar, Ayumi Fujimura as Pipirika, Takehito Koyasu as Barbarossa, and Hiroki Touchi as Baal.

Netflix is also the exclusive streaming service of Kuromukuro, the ongoing 15th anniversary project of the anime studio P.A. Works.

It began streaming the anime in Japan with English subtitles last week.

As part of its efforts to produce more content worldwide, Netflix will stream Production I.G’s Perfect Bones anime worldwide and Dream-

works’ reimagining of the Voltron animated series.

Well, since I need to add some random sentences to fill space, let’s talk about my newfound obsession: collecting figures. It really is a shame that there are no high quality Sinbad figures. Megahouse has already created both Morgiana and Aladdin figures, but there’s no Sinbad yet, which is really sad.

Previous anime with Netflix streaming exclusivity — including Knights of Sidonia and Ajin — streamed on Netflix outside of Japan after an entire season had finished its Japanese broadcast. Netflix streamed new Ajin episodes in Japan three days after they originally aired on television, but without English subtitles.

Some titles are streaming on Netflix in Japan with English subtitles, such as the main Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic television anime, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Kill la Kill, Cyborg 009 Vs. Devilman, and Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence.

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CARACAS, MONDAY, MAY 02, 2016 Review by Psgels

Anyone who tries the first episode of Baccano! will immediately notice one thing: the immensely huge cast of characters. I could be wrong, but this can very well be the 13-episoded series with the biggest amount of characters ever. While it’s incredibly hard to make a story with so many characters that stretches over three different timelines come together, the creators of Baccano! actually pull this off. And how!

Basically, Baccano! combines immortal alchemists with the American Mafia in 1930. It works quite well, because there are so many different characters, they just have to go beyond the clichés in order to prevent characters who look too much like each other. This results in the quirky thieves of Isaac and Miria, the psychotic Ladd and the charming Luck.

While it’s of course impossible for the character to reach the same level of depth as, say, Toward the Terra, but the creators did manage to give every important character (if I had to guess, there’s about thirty of them) an identity, a clearly defined role, a small piece of development and an actual personality.

And I haven’t even started talking about the story yet. Basically, it goes

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Anime Review: Baccano!

from a completely incomprehensible first episode to a captivating mystery-series, where all the threads of the huge amount of side-stories end up resolved at the end of the final episode. It furthermore tells the story of three, sometimes even four,

Hidden Anime Gems: Armed Librarians The Book of Bantorra Article by Psgels each other in the explanation of the ties between the different characters Armed Librarians was always in- in each arc as we learn about why the teresting to watch, it always brought central characters became involved nice ideas to the table, and it always with the plot in the first place. Each was wrapped in a tight script. There arc really takes care to make its charare just so many thing to like about acters complete and even the character-development is very well thought this series.

For a fantasy series, the premise out within the plot. Conclusions are already stands out with its simple often very clever combinations of idea to turn people into ‘books’ after circumstances of everyone’s unique they die: these books can be read by circumstances.

And this just goes on for the enanyone who touches them, and the lead characters are basically book- tire series. Every arc continues to keepers of these books (so yeah, the throw interesting plot twists that are term ‘librarians’ in this series has full of creativity like it’s nothing! very much a double meaning). The This comes at a price, of course. idea an sich is already very creative, While this series really has had the but the beauty really lies in how the best plot I have watched in YEARS, series makes use of those books to the characters don’t feel exactly like characters, but instead are much weave past and present into one.

Every arc is basically laid out more part of the plot. Because of with a number of seemingly unrelat- this, you don’t want to watch this ed plot-threads, that get woven into sereis for realistic or characterizaone brilliantly. Past and present cross tion. The reason the characters rock

Answerman: Why Haven’t Light Novels And Visual Novels Caught On In America?

By Justin Sevakis

It’s always difficult to answer questions like this, and I usually avoid them.

Trying to come up with a reason why something hasn’t happened is a bit like trying to explain why the sky isn’t orange. You can conjecture and come up with a handful of reasonable sounding ideas, but frankly, you’re never going to come up with anything definitive, or even vaguely satisfying. But as these are two pretty major differences between the US and Japanese markets, I think they deserve at least a cursory look.

Let’s start with the easy one: visual novels. I can come up with a dozen different reasons why the American audience wouldn’t really gravitate towards

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them (they’re slow-paced, they’re not all that visually impressive, they tend towards romance, they have a reputation for adult content, etc.) but most of those reasons boil down to one thing: Japan has always integrated a hell of a lot of text and reading into their games. American game developers and consumers tend not to.

Visual novels really came of age in Japan on a computer that was unique to the country, the NEC PC-9801.

While on the surface it looked like a standard PC (it ran a Japanese flavor of DOS), under the hood it was a completely different beast, and entirely incompatible with anything sold outside of the country. The PC98 series was hugely popular in Japan, and even as regular PCs and Windows edged out the platform, it was the otaku system of choice for visual novels. Since there was no easy way to release these games in English speaking countries, and no obvious audience for them in the West, the vast

related timelines right through each other. Because of this, the creators are able to plan the climaxes really well, and they turn into one huge success, with a near-perfect combination between comedy, drama and action. I really mean it when I say in this series is because of what they represent, and how their development ties into the rest of the series.

Then there’s also the matter that this show would have fit better within 35 episodes. Throughout the majority of this series, you won’t notice much of it, however the final arcs are clearly rushed, and you can visibly see that the creators have troubles fitting everything into such a short time spam. Nevertheless, whem compared to so many series that were put into the same situation, it really got away with its rushed ending. While cheesy, it always stays true to what it is, and ands with a huge bang that gives it its best shot to resolve the plot as good as possible.

So overall, Armed Librarians has been an utter delight to watch for me. If you’re looking for an exciting fantasy adventure then it’s an excellent recommendation. The production values by David Production get increasingly better after its first episode, and its soundtrack is truly epic and fits its setting perfectly. It’s been a consistently fun an entertaining ride for me, and I hope it will be for you as well.

majority stayed in Japan. The fact that the vast majority of these early visual novels were erotic in nature -- and not in a tongue-in-cheek way -- was a further cultural barrier.

Since then, of course, the visual novel has found a home on virtually every game and computer platform, and become a diverse art form all its own. But as playing them is still a slow burn with mostly still graphics, they lack the inherent sexiness of a bigger, more graphically intensive game. A few small publishers have, of course, made their mark in either translating Japanese visual novels or creating new ones in English, but these efforts have largely stayed niche: nobody has really made a big splash yet. There’s been no “killer app,” or anything that has simply gone viral (Hatoful Boyfriend aside). It could happen, but it would have to be so interesting that it would overcome a lot of preconceived notions about what a video game should be.That lack of inherent sexiness, I think, is also the

that Baccano! has some of the best writing of the entire year.

In terms of production-values, this series also shines. Especially the character-designs: not only do the creators manage to give every one of the about thirty important

characters a unique look, they manage to actually do this for even the unimportant and side-characters (if I had to guess, there are about eighty of them). The animation may not look crisp, but it’s detailed, never giving off a feeling of still-frame abuse. The soundtrack consists out of a bunch of catchy Jazz-tunes, which makes me wonder why not more anime turn to this, as it works great to give action-scenes a bit of a quirky touch.

Regarding the bad points, there aren’t really any true flaws about this series, apart from the sacrifices that had to be made for the good points. The first episode is basically one huge puzzle, and only later in the series will things start to make sense. The characters individually aren’t very special either. It’s only when they are combined with others that they become special and interesting.

Let’s add some random sentence here to reach the required length for the article. Overall, there need to be more anime like Baccano!

It’s not often when you run into a series that’s as well-written as this one. It’s a definite recommendation from me, provided that you can take a few gory scenes that pop up once in a while.

Above: Official Art of Noloty Malche from one of the DVD cases.

main thing that keeps light novels from being a bigger thing in the US. They’re much harder, more expensive and more time-intensive to translate than manga, and the unique visuals of anime - the chief motivating factor in Western fandom - aren’t present, save for the cover and sometimes a few illustrations. No matter how you spin it, without those visuals, a translated light novel is just a book, with nothing special to differentiate it from the thousands of other pieces of fiction released to the American market.

I want to stress that there have been plenty of success stories both with visual novel and light novel releases in the US - these are not dying or stagnating mediums, quite the opposite - but we’re talking about mainstream success here, emerging out of a niche market. By all accounts, plenty of light novels sell pretty darn well in the US - for a niche product. While translation quality varies wildly, the simple Japanese that light novels are usually written in of-

ten doesn’t make for especially good English prose. A well-translated novel reads just fine, of course, but the inherent limitations in what can be expressed in Japanese can make for English that can come across as stilted.

This is a pretty common refrain in reviews of English-translated light novels, anyway. Further, a book that’s just full of text is “just a book”, if you’re thinking about this as a product. It loses the “specialness” that attracts so many fans to Japanese content in the first place. And if the way the writing comes across isn’t exceptionally good in English, there aren’t many other selling points left.Again, this is all conjecture, based on broad strokes and stereotype. There are always exceptions to all of these.

I’ll add this sentence here to reach the required length for this article.

Let’s hope no one notices. Japan’s and America’s media market will never be the same, and we shouldn’t expect them to be.

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New Cardcaptor Sakura Manga Sequel Launching in June

Series takes place in Sakura’s 1st year of junior high school The June issue of Kodansha’s Nakayoshi magazine is announcing on Saturday that the members of the creative team CLAMP are launching the new Cardcaptor Sakura sequel manga series in the magazine’s July issue on June 3. The manga will take place after titular character Sakura graduates from Tomoeda Elementary School, in her first year of junior high school. Sakura sees a mysterious dream, and an incident takes place.

The magazine notes that the manga series has sold over 12 million copies.

The magazine announced last month that CLAMP will publish a new manga in the franchise.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the original manga. NHK’s BS Premium began re-running the Clow Card arc of the Cardcaptor Sakura anime on April 6. A book compiling previously published il-

lustrations shipped on March 24. Six Animate Cafés in Japan began hosting a Cardcaptor Sakura theme starting on April 1.

The original Cardcaptor Sakura magical girl manga series ran in Nakayoshi from May 1996 to June 2000, and Kodansha published 12 volumes of the manga from November 1996 to July 2000. Tokyopop released the series in English in two editions, and Dark Horse Comics released the series in omnibus format.

An anime series produced by Madhouse aired in Japan from April 1998 to March 2000. A film titled Cardcaptor Sakura: The Movie premiered in Japan in 1999, and Cardcaptor Sakura: The Sealed Card followed in 2000.

NIS America licensed the television anime in 2014 and re-released it in a Blu-ray Premium Edition and DVD Standard Edition in North America. NIS America describes the story: Ten-year-old Sakura lives a pretty normal life with her older brother, Toya, and widowed father, Fujitaka.

At least she did, until the day she returned home from school to discover a glowing book in her father’s

Shonen Jump NEXT!! Magazine to Change Names “A special edition for newcomers” This year’s second issue of Shueisha’s Shōnen Jump NEXT!! magazine revealed on Monday that the magazine will undergo a name change. The temporary title for the new name is Jump GIGA and its concept will be “a special edition for evolved newcomers.”

The magazine will launch with the name change this summer. The magazine will feature completely new serialized works from authors from the main Weekly Shonen Jump magazine, as well as serialized works from other authors. The announcement did not specify yet which authors will start new series in the magazine. Weekly Shōnen Jump will give more details about the magazine in the future.

The magazine originally launc with the title Shōnen Jump in 1969

as a spinoff magazine when Weekly Shōnen Jump became weekly. The magazine changed to a seasonal magazine published four times a year in the 1980s, and was then rebranded as Akamaru Jump with three publications a year in 1996. The publication then changed names to Shōnen Jump NEXT! in 2010, and changed to being published four times a year in 2012. In 2014 the magazine changed names again to Shōnen Jump NEXT!! and was published every other month.

Yay let’s add some random bullshit here too. I really hope my teacher doesn’t take the time to read all these articles, or it’ll probably be awkward.

Shōnen Jump NEXT!! currently publishes spinoff chapters of manga featured in the main Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine, one-shots by current and past Weekly Shōnen Jump contributors, and one-shots by newcomers.

study. After opening the book and releasing the cards within, Sakura is tasked with collecting each of these magical cards, while trying to live the life of a normal fourth grader. In the monumental task of collecting all the cards, Sakura must rely on her friends and family, and decide what she finds most important in life.

Discotek licensed Cardcaptor Sakura: The Movie, which was previously owned by Geneon, in 2013 and released it on home video the following year. Geneon released Cardcaptor Sakura: The Sealed Card on DVD in 2003 with a new dub cast.

The Cardcaptor Sakura 20th Anniversary project was teased back in February but with little to no details.

In March, Nakayoshi magazine revealed that the project will be a new manga series for the franchise but, again, with not many details.

While it seems there are no immediate plans for the Cardcaptor Sakura manga sequel to get an animated adaptation, if it becomes popular enough anything can happen.

But it looks like Cardcaptor Sakura is poised to enter a second golden age this summer. Nakayoshi, the monthly girl’s manga anthology in

K Project Gets New Anime, Stage Play, and Dance Performance The “K -Do you know K?” event for the K media project announced on Saturday that production on a new animation project, a new stage play run, and a dance performance has been green-lit.

Shingo Suzuki is returning as director and character designer at the studio GoHands for the new K Seven Stories anime. GoRA and GoHands are once again credited for the original story.

The stage play K―Lost Small World― will run from July 22 to July 24 at the AiiA 2.5 Theater Tokyo. It will then move to the Kyoto Gekijō theater from July 30 to July 31. The play adapts Yukako Kabei’s spinoff novel which tells how Misaki Yata and Saruhiko Fushimi met and parted ways.

Kenichi Suemitsu is writing and directing the play. Keisuke Ueda will

which Cardcaptor Sakura ran from 1996 to 2000, announced last month that a new Cardcaptor Sakura manga was coming soon from creators Clamp. While this was good news for fans, oftentimes manga revivals that happen several years after a series’ conclusion are single-chapter affairs, such as the recent one-shot epilogues for fellow shojo manga hits Nodame Cantabile and Kodomo no Omocha.

But it turns out Clamp has something much more substantial planned for its longest-lasting success. The most recent issue of Nakayoshi contains an announcement that not only is Sakura about to make her triumphant return to the magazine’s pages, she’s going to be sticking around for a while, as the new Cardcaptor Sakura isn’t a one-time appearance, but the start of a brand-new sequel arc.

“The new serial begins in the July issue!” the magazine goes on to boast, and if you’re one of Sakura’s many fans who can’t wait to see her again, you’ll be happy to know that the July issue of Nakayoshi actually goes on sale June 3.

Source: Anime News Network and Rocket News.

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Scarlett Johansson Cast as Mokoto Kusanagi

Ghost In The Shell, the legendary Anime classic, is ramping up its path to the big screen – especially thanks to Scarlett Johansson finally being locked into the lead role of Major Motoko Kusanagi. Of course, a lead actor being locked into a production doesn’t always turn a film’s production speed to “turbo,” and the long in development adaptation is no exception.

It pains us to tell you Ghost In The Shell fans that you’re going to have to wait quite a long time for the live action version to hit the big screen.

Deadline has reported that Ghost In The Shell has officially been scheduled for the release date of April 14, 2017. This weekend doesn’t currently present any competition for the film, but that’s not a huge surprise given how far out it is.

The extra time that Ghost In The Shell has in its schedule before the set release date is hopefully enough that any and all kinks the script can be worked out. It also gives Scarlett Johansson some time to do human thing like enjoy time with her husband and baby daughter in between press junkets and production schedules. Johansson gets to spend time with her family, Disney gets to develop the property in a manner that might not piss off fans of the original, and everyone gets to go home happy.

You can see Scarlett Johansson next in The Avengers: Age Of Ultron on May 1st.

Source: Cinema Blend play Misaki Yata and Shintarō Anzai will play Saruhiko Fushimi.

Wow, I’ll need to write a lot to fill this whole missing paragraph. It really is a pain when you have to design a newspaper using articles you find online. They’re never the required length, so I’m forced to write these filler paragraphs everywhere. But, since we’re at it, let’s take some time to talk about K Project. I haven’t actually seen the anime, and I’ve encountered diverse opinions about it online. Some people love it, some people think it’s pretentious and devoid of substance. I am interesed in watching it, as I think the concept could be entertaining and its graphic style is interesting (although there’s many people who hate the color filters used in the show. Most notably the blue one.) Ok so I’m only missing a line now. There it is.

The novel already inspired a manga from Yoru Ōkita in 2014. The K Official Supporters Clan will launch to commemorate K Seven Stories.

More details will be provided this fall. There are also plans to release a short text story written by GoRA and an illustration by Suzuki.

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Fairy Tail’s Laxus Dreyar Spinoff Manga Launches Previous Fairy Tail Gaiden: Rhodonite spinoff ended in March Kodansha’s “Magazine Pocket” app launched the first chapter of the Fairy Tail Gaiden: Raigō Issen manga on Wednesday. The spinoff manga by Kyōta Shibano focuses on the character Laxus Dreyar from Hiro Mashima’s Fairy Tail manga.

Shibano started the Fairy Tail Gaiden: Rhodonite spinoff manga in “Magazine Pocket” last November, and ended it on March 30. That previous manga centered on Gajeel Redfox.

Shibano debuted Fairy Tail Gaiden: Kengami no Sōryū (Fairy Tail Spinoff: Twin Dragons of Sabertooth) in the “Magazine Pocket” app

last July as a part of the app’s launch.

Kodansha released the manga in one compiled volume in Japan in January.

Kodansha Comics will publish the compiled volume in English this fall.

Laxus Dreyar (Rakusasu Doreā) is an S-Class Mage of the Fairy Tail Guild. He is the grandson of Fairy Tail’s Guild Master, Makarov Dreyar, and the son of Raven Tail’s Master, Ivan Dreyar. After Fairy Tail’s disbandment, he joined the Blue Pegasus Guild along with the members of the Thunder God Tribe.[2] However, after the guilds reformation, he later left to join Fairy Tail again along with the team.

Laxus’ look changes after his first appearance in the manga, when he was depicted as a smoker, had metal greaves and wore a cape.

Naoshi Arakawa’s New Farewell My Dear Cramer Manga Gets Simultaneous English Release Your Lie in April manga creator Naoshi Arakawa launched the Sayonara Watashi no Cramer (Farewell, My Dear Cramer) soccer manga in the June issue of Kodansha’s Monthly Shonen Magazine on Friday.

Kodansha Comics additionally announced on Friday that the manga is getting a simultaneous digital release in English on Kindle and Comixology. The first chapter is available now in English on Kindle.

The June issue of Monthly Shonen Magazine featured the new manga on the cover (pictured at right), and the first chapter included an opening color page. The first chapter is 69 pages long. The May issue of Monthly Shonen Magazine originally announced the new series on April 6, and it described the “youthful story

of girls soccer” as follows: Sumire Suō is 15 years old. She has passion for soccer, but can’t seem to grasp victory... After having a gloomy life as a middle school student, will a single moment as a high school student make her heart dance!?

The first chapter of the manga begins with Sumire in middle school.

The short-haired girl shows overwhelming power at a soccer game, and makes a great shot from a dribble during a counter, but the match ends when a girl with pigtails named Midori Soshizaki (seen below) blocks her. The two end up going to a regular high school instead of one that prides itself in athletics, and decide to work together as a team.Arawaka previously drew the two-volume

Zelda:Twilight Princess Manga Creators Tease Overseas Release The official Facebook account of manga creator duo Akira Himekawa posted previews of their currently running manga The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess on April 29 (see gallery below). The duo also posted in English that the compiled book of the manga is slated for June 24. After the book’s release, the post notes that “other countries publishing companies will have contracts with a Japanese publishing company to publish it by other languages.

Sayonara Football manga about girls soccer in 2010. The manga featured a female protagonist in middle school.

Arakawa’s Your Lie in April manga inspired a 22-episode television anime series that premiered in October 2014, and Aniplex of America is releasing the series on home video.

The manga is also inspiring a live-action film that will open on September 10. Kodansha Comics is releasing the original manga in English.

Source: Anime News Network

To Love-Ru Darkness Artbook Gets More Lewd With Nudity Revealing App

Gintama Manga Has 50 Million Copies in Print in Japan The Amanto, aliens from outer space, have invaded Earth and taken over feudal Japan. As a result, a prohibition on swords has been established, and the samurai of Japan are treated with disregard as a consequence.

However one man, Gintoki Sakata, still possesses the heart of the samurai, although from his love of sweets and work as a yorozuya, one might not expect it. That’s the premise.

Shueisha revealed on Monday that Hideaki Sorachi’s Gintama manga has more than 50 million copies in print in Japan. The manga’s 64th volume shipped on Monday.

Shueisha released an official app for iOS and Android for the manga on Monday to commemorate the

Probably we think that the Twilight Princess will publish by countries and the languages that published the Zelda series.”On February 8th, Akira Himekawa’s adaptation of 2006’s The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess starts its run on Shogakukan’s Manga One, with the manga offered on the digital platform’s iOS and Android apps. Subsequent chapters will follow on a biweekly basis. Twilight Princess marks Akira Himekawa’s return to Zelda game adaptations.

announcement. The app will eventually feature all volumes of the manga available to read for free, and it is adding one new free volume each week.

Sorachi began the manga in 2004 and it continues to be ranked among the top-selling manga in Japan. Sorachi previously reported that he is starting the manga’s final arc this year, although he himself does not know if the manga will end this year

or next year. Viz Media published the first 23 volumes in English.

The latest Gintama television anime series premiered in April 2015, and ended in March. Crunchyroll streamed the series as it airs in Japan. The manga also inspired two anime films, including the “final” Gekijōban Gintama Kanketsu-hen: Yorozuya yo Eien Nare film that opened in 2013, and various OVAs and event anime.

Always at the forefront of ecchi technology, Saki Hasemi and Kentaro Yabuki’s To Love-Ru -TroubleDarkness manga is at it again with the release of To Love-Ru -TroubleDarkness Art Book Harem Gold.

The book is set for release on May 2 and comes with an hidden “enhancement.” Customers can download an app on their phone that will remove the characters’ clothing.

The Augmented Reality (AR) app imitates the “Suke-Suke Google-Kun” device from the manga that allowed Rito to see through his costars clothing. Customers are granted the same power by installing the SATCH VIEWER app for iOS and Android devices. They can then use the “Imasugu SCAN” (Im-

mediate Scan) function to strip the illustrations. This extra content will be available for about one year.

It’s time for filler sentences again!

I almost managed to go an entire page without having to add these extra lines, but oh well. Maybe I’ll do better with the next page. I have never really read To-Love-ru Darkness, or anything related to the franchise for that matter. I did read Kentaro Yabuki’s original manga Black Cat though, and I really enjoyed it.

Shonen Jump+ publishes To Love-Ru -Trouble- Darkness alongside Jump Square magazine. The website has also “enhanced” chapters of the manga by adding clickable elements that bounce, jiggle, and move up and down.

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Fairy Tail’s Hiro Mashima Draws Captain America: Civil War Posters Fairy Tail creator Hiro Mashima showed off his love for American superheroes by drawing posters for the Japanese premiere of Captain America: Civil War. The film opened in Japan on Friday, and Mashima drew both a largescale poster for the film and a miniature poster that was given out to attendees on opening night. Mashima is a self-professed fan of the Avengers series while Marvel’s vice president of international business development & brand management C.B. Cebulski is a fan of Mashima’s work. Cebulski relocated to Shanghai earlier this year to “spearhead efforts to further manage and develop Marvel’s brand in Asia.” A request was sent to Mashima to draw the poster, and the manga creator replied happily, “I cannot believe Marvel authorized me to draw Iron Man and Cap!”

Vampire Knight memories Sequel Manga’s 1st Volume Ships on June 3 This year’s June issue of Hakusensha’s AneLaLa magazine (cover pictured at right) revealed on Saturday that the first volume of a Vampire Knight memories manga by Matsuri Hino will ship in Japan on June 3. The issue stated that the manga is a sequel series, and that the first volume will feature Kaname as a child. Warning, the following sentence features spoilers for the Vampire Knight series: [The first volume will also fea-

ture the appearance of Yuki’s children.]

Hino is launching a new Vampire Knight manga series in the July issue of the LaLa DX magazine on June 10.

LaLa DX lists the new manga’s title as simply Vampire Knight.

Since Hino formally ended Vampire Knight in May 2013, she published several extra chapters of the series in 2013-2015. It is currently unclear if Vampire Knight memories’ first volume

will feature these extra chapters, chapters from the upcoming new series launching in LaLa DX, other material, or a combination.

The June issue of AneLaLa also published Hino’s “Mattete Darling!!!”

(Wait Darling!!!) one-shot manga. The one-shot is featured on the cover in the image above right.

Hino launched Vampire Knight in LaLa in 2004, and Hakusensha pub-

lished the 19th and final compiled book volume in November 2013. Viz Media published the final volume in North America in October 2014. Viz also released the 2008 Vampire Knight anime series and its Vampire Knight Guilty followup. The manga has also inspired two stage plays.

The manga revolves around Yūki, a high school girl whose unique school features a “day class” of normal kids

Shōnen Magazine in 2013. The manga adapts Tanaka’s novel series.

The television anime adaptation of the manga premiered in April 2015 and ran for 25 episodes. Funimation streamed the anime as it aired in Japan.

A second season of the anime titled Arslan Senki: Fūjin Ranbu (The Heroic Legend of Arslan: Dust Storm Dance) will premiere in July.

Kodansha Comics published the fourth volume in North America last December. Crunchyroll is also releasing the manga as it is published in Japan.

Central Park Media released the earlier 1991-93 original video anime adaptation of the novels.

P to JK Romantic Comedy Manga Gets Live-Action Film

and a “night class” of vampires. She works with her adopted father and headmaster to prove that vampires can coexist with humans peacefully, but the school — and the vampires — hide many secrets. Viz Media is also publishing Hino’s two-volume Shuriken and Pleats manga in North America. Again! almost managed to complete the page without having to add these extra lines.

Who knows? maybe in the next one I’ll actually succeed. I still have to fill like two more lines. God what should I write here. Almost there, I just need one line.

There, I made it. The company also previously published her Wanted, Captive Hearts, and MeruPuri - The Marchen Prince manga in English.

Yona of the Dawn Manga to Resume on May 20 Manga had been put on hiatus due to Kumamoto earthquakes The official Twitter account of Hakusensha’s Hana to Yume magazine announced on Sunday that Mizuho Kusanagi will resume her Yona of the Dawn (Akatsuki no Yona) manga in this year’s 12th issue of the magazine on May 20.

Kusanagi had put the manga on hiatus following the Kumamoto earthquakes. Hana to Yume’s editorial de-

partment confirmed that Kusanagi, who lives in Kumamoto, had not been injured. Kusanagi explained on Twitter on April 21 that the manga would not appear in the 11th issue of Hana to Yume because, even though there was little damage from the first earthquake on April 14, she became unable to complete the manuscript due to the state of affairs after the second earthquake on April 16. She also said she would do her best to return to work quickly.

Viz Media licensed the manga, and it will ship the manga’s first volume in North America on August 2.

The Heroic Legend of Arslan Manga’s 6th Volume Listed With Bundled DVD Amazon is listing that a limited edition version of the sixth volume of Yoshiki Tanaka and Hiromu Arakawa’s The Heroic Legend of Arslan (Arslan Senki) manga will bundle a DVD. Amazon lists that the limited edition of the volume will ship in Japan on December 9 and the set is retailing for 3,480 yen (about US$32). The listing does not state if the DVD will contain anime footage. A limited edition version of the

fifth volume will also bundle a DVD on May 9. The Honya Club retailer is listing that Arakawa is supervising the “original DVD,” which will feature “another comedy story” that takes place in the middle of the war. In the story, Gieve gives Arslan a love lesson, and the romances of Daryun, Narsus, and “that hero” are also revealed.

Arakawa launched The Heroic Legend of Arslan manga in Bessatsu

A website opened on Saturday to announce that Maki Miyoshi’s P to JK romantic comedy manga will receive a live-action film adaptation in spring 2017. Kazuya Kamenashi (live-action Joker Game’s Jiro Katō) and Tao Tsuchiya (Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends’ Misao, live-action Aozora Yell’s Tsubasa Ono, live-action Orange’s Naho Takamiya) will star in the film as Kōta Sagano and Kako Motoya, respectively. Ryūichi Hiroki (live-action Strobe Edge, live-ac-

tion Wolf Girl & Black Prince) will direct the film, and Nami Kikkawa will write the script. Filming will begin in June and is expected to end in July.

The manga revolves around a first-year high school student named Kako who is a beginner at love, and a handsome policeman named Kōta. The two meet at a mixer and are immediately attracted to each other, but Kōta starts treating her coldly after he realizes she is a high school student.

The two decide to get married instead of just date, and after getting Kako’s parents’ permission, they marry secretly and have a commuter marriage until Kako graduates from high school. The manga follows them through their marriage.

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While there are famous exceptions (Osamu Tezuka being the biggest), the tradition of manga artists being more or less anonymous goes back quite far. Masamune Shirow, for example, is a pen name, and nobody really knows what he looks like. Most manga artists are not public people, and the majority do not publish photos of themselves. Some of them occasionally depict themselves in silly cartoon form, either in the sidebar “notes from the author” column or afterwards in the graphic novels. But that’s pretty much it.

Many anime directors also tend to shy away from cameras.

Being a manga artist is generally not thought of as a glamorous job.

Most of the artists prefer to have quiet lives, keeping their private life separate. You must remember that the majority of these people spend their lives hunched over a desk in a small office, drawing either manually or with a tablet. For the majority

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Why Do Manga Artists Prefer To Stay Anonymous? of them, they are not rich enough to hire assistants, so the hours are long, and the deadlines are never-ending.

So on the rare occasions that they do go out, the last thing most of them want is to be recognized. Otaku can be scary. If they stay anonymous, otaku won’t hassle them or their family over whatever series they draw, or approach them on the street about a character, or their choice of story arc. It really is a profession for a quiet art nerd, who would much rather keep their head down.

Or at least, that’s the stereotype.

Obviously sometimes successful manga artists become prominent in the media, and become higher pro-

file. But this is rare, and even most the ones who break out and have a huge bestseller keep a pretty low profile. Video of Rumiko Takahashi is very hard to come by, despite the fact that at one time she was one of the most popular manga artists in Japan. The manga artists I’ve interviewed tend to be pretty shy people, and don’t engage in things like interviews.

One must also remember that the Japanese press is a lot less cavalier than Western media about showing pictures of someone without their permission. Unless the artist and/ or their corporate representation approve of an image being used, most

press outlets won’t print it. Anonymity is also something that Japan as a society seems to crave much more than Americans. The country’s preference for using anonymous usernames on social media is often cited as a major reason why social network mixi got such a head start on Facebook in the country. While the desire to have some level of personal notoriety is hardly restricted to America, our trademark individualism makes us the opposite of Japan in that regard. Let’s fill some space in this article with some random trivia, shall we? Did you know that Hiro Mashima is actually a pen name? Weird right?

Mahoutsukai no Yome gets OVA Adaptation Hatori Chise is only 16, but she has lost far more than most. With neither family nor hope, it seems all doors are closed to her. But, a chance encounter began to turn the rusted wheels of fate. In her darkest hour, a mysterious magus appears before Chitose, offering a chance she couldn’t turn down. This magus who seems closer to demon than human, will he bring her the light she desperately seeks, or drown her in ever deeper shadows?

Mahoutsukai no Yome was initially serialized in Monthly Comic Garden starting from the October Blade, until the magazine changed 2014 issue.

The official website for the anthe format of publication from paper to digital, and moved to Comic ime of Kore Yamazaki’s manga

The Ancient Magus’ Bride (Mahō Tsukai no Yome), began streaming the first “grand promotional video” on Thursday.

The series has been published in English as The Ancient Magus’ Bride by Seven Seas Entertainment since May 12, 2015. It will be also published in Spanish

by Norma Editorial beginning April 2016.

Seven Seas publishes the manga in North America, and it describes the story: Chise Hatori has lived a life full of neglect and abuse, devoid of anything resembling love. Far from the warmth of family, she has had her share of troubles and pitfalls. Just when all hope seems lost, a fateful encounter awaits her. When a man with the head of a beast, wielding strange powers, obtains her through a slave auction, Chise’s life will never be the same again.

The man is a “magus,” a sorcerer of great power, who decides to free Chise from the bonds of captivity. The magus then makes a bold statement: Chise will become his apprentice - and his bride!

Kimagure Orange Road Kickstarter Funds Final Omnibus Volume Digital Manga Inc.’s Kickstarter campaign to publish Izumi Matsumoto’s romantic comedy manga Kimagure Orange Road reached its fifth and final stretch goal of US$119,900 on Thursday.

This will allow the company to publish a sixth and final 3-in-1 omnibus volume for the manga.

The campaign will end on May 10 at 6:00 p.m. EDT. As of press time, the campaign has raised US$120,912.

The campaign previously updated on April 26, making all of the manga’s 3-in-1 omnibus volumes available as add-ons for all backers. Backers can add all planned omnibus volumes of the manga to their pledge in both physical and digital versions with a corresponding cost. The update noted that this change was made to the campaign by request of Matsumoto.

Backer tiers range from US$1 to US$1,500, and rewards include: digital or print editions of the manga, bookmarker magnets, a pub glass, USB drives, beach towels, sunglasses, eco bags, wall scrolls, signed soundtrack CDs, stickers, reproduction prints, reproduction shikishi boards, posters, and an artbook.

Other add-on merchandise includes: a set of seven posters; a USB drive; a “beach bundle” that includes a beach towel, sunglasses, and an orange eco bag; a large limited wallscroll; a pub glass; a set of three different stickers, bookmarks, and canvas illustrations. The merchandise add-ons range from US$12 to US$80, and all of the merchandise add-ons are only available to pledges of the US$20-US$170 reward tiers.

Maid Sama!’s Fujiwara Starts Final Arc of ‘Does Yuki Fall To Hell?’ Manga The June issue of Hakusensha’s LaLa magazine announced on Saturday that manga creator Hiro Fujiwara’s Does Yuki Fall To Hell?

(Yuki wa Jigoku ni Ochiru no Ka) manga launched its final arc in the chapter published in the same issue.

The “military history story concerning boys and girls” revolves around Yuki, a girl who has lived in the rural area of Kyoto with her six childhood friends who all share a secret that they cannot tell anyone. On her 16th birthday, Yuki’s fate begins to change.

Fujiwara (Maid-sama!) launched the manga in February 2014.

Hakusensha published the manga’s fourth compiled book volume on March 4.

Fujiwara ended her Maid-sama! manga in LaLa in 2013. Fujiwara launched the manga in 2006, and Tokyopop published eight volumes of the manga before the company shut down its North American publishing division in 2011. Viz Media

is now publishing omnibus versions of the manga in English with new translations.

Maid-sama! inspired a 26-episiode television anime series from J.C. Staff in 2010, and Sentai Filmworks released the series on DVD

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Attack on Titan: Junior High Manga Teases Upcoming Ending The June issue of Kodansha’s Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine published a new chapter of Saki Nakagawa’s Attack on Titan: Junior High spinoff manga on Monday along with a note that reads “In just a little bit... the final chapter!!” in the chapter’s margin.

Nakagawa launched the comedy manga in Kodansha’s Bessatsu

Shōnen Magazine in April 2012. The manga re-imagines Eren, Mikasa, Armin, and other cast members from Hajime Isayama’s original Attack on Titan manga as students and teachers at Titan Junior High School. Kodansha will release the 10th compiled volume in Japan in April.

Kodansha Comics is releasing the manga in English, and it pub-

lished the fourth compiled volume in December. The manga inspired a 12-episode anime adaptation that premiered in October, and Funimation streamed the series as it aired in Japan. I just need a bit of filler here.

Attack on Titan: Junior High (Shingeki! Kyojin Chūgakkō?, lit.

Attack! Titan Junior High is a Japanese comedy manga series written

Barakamon Prequel Manga Handa-kun Ends in June The June issue of Square Enix’s Monthly Shonen Gangan magazine announced on Thursday that Satsuki Yoshino’s Handa-kun manga will end in the July issue on June 11.

The series has an upcoming anime adaptation that will premiere in July.

The manga is a spinoff of Yoshino’s Barakamon manga. Yen Press has licensed Handa-kun and is releasing it digitally and in print. The company describes the first manga volume: Handsome teenage calligrapher Sei Handa is worshipped by all his classmates as an aloof superstar--too bad Sei’s inherent negativity makes him believe that everyone actually hates him...?! A youthful comedy of misunderstanding and melancholy unfolds in the first volume of this hilarious prequel to Barakamon!

Yoshino launched the prequel manga in Monthly Shonen Gangan magazine in October 2013, and Square Enix published the fifth compiled volume in Japan on Febru-

Viz’s Shonen Jump to Preview Takuan and Batsu’s Daily Demon Diary Manga Viz Media’s digital anthology Shonen Jump series. Viz will then let Start” series Viz would add to the Weekly Shonen Jump announced on readers cast a vote for which “Jump magazine’s lineup.

Monday that it will begin Kentarō Itani’s Takuan and Batsu’s Daily Demon Diary (Takuan to Batsu no Nichijō Enmachō) manga on May 16 as part of its “Jump Start” initiative.

The manga will debut in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine in Japan on the same day.

The manga begins with carefree high school student named Takuan, who meets Batsu, daughter of Enma, the king of the underworld. His everyday life is upended in a bizarre comedy.

Itani first published the manga as a one-shot in the magazine last October, and again in March in the Shonen Jump Next!! magazine.

This will be Itani’s debut serialized series. Before publishing the original one-shot, he also published another one-shot titled “Migimaki Jigoku Tantei Jimusho” (Clockwise Hell Detective Agency) on Shueisha’s Jump Live app in 2013.

For its “Jump Start” initiative, Viz’s Shonen Jump runs the first three chapters of almost every new

and illustrated by Saki Nakagawa and published in Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine since 2012. The series is a parody of Hajime Isayama’s manga Attack on Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin).

The story is a parody of the Attack on Titan manga (aka Shingeki no Kyojin), featuring younger, chibi versions of the characters as they attend Titan Junior High School. ary 12. Yen Press released the fourth volume digitally last October, and will release it in print this October.

Yoshino launched the original Barakamon (pictured at left) sliceof-life comedy manga in Square Enix’s Gangan Online magazine in 2009, and Square Enix published the manga’s 13th volume on March 12. Yen Press is also publishing Barakamon, and it will publish the 11th volume on June 21. The manga follows the calligrapher Seishuu Handa after he moves to an island on the westernmost edge of Japan, and learns to live a rural life that he hasn’t ever experienced before.

I can’t believe I’ve had to put these random sentences in every page. How bad is that? On a side note, I didn’t know Barakamon had a prequel. I wonder how good the story is when you remove Naru from the equation. Her antics and her relationship with Handa were incredibly enjoyable in anime and manga, so I wonder how it’ll go.

Barakamon inspired a 12-episode television anime series that premiered in July 2014. Crunchyroll and Funimation both streamed the series as it aired, and Funimation also has the home video rights to the series.

Killer Killer Manga is Revealed as Danganronpa Spinoff in 3rd Chapter Sasako Mitomo launched series on March 9 The June issue of Kodansha’s Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine revealed the full title of Sasako Mitomo’s Killer Killer manga on Monday as Danganronpa Gaiden: Killer Killer, revealing the manga as a spinoff of Spike Chunsoft’s Danganronpa game series, and specifically a spinoff of the upcoming Danganronpa 3: The End of Kibōgamine Gakuen television anime series. Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine published the manga’s third chapter on Monday.

The original protagonists of the manga, Takumi Hijirihara and Misaki Asano, are revealed to be members of the Future Founda-

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Manga Artist Hisashi Eguchi Takes “Credit” for Hunter x Hunter’s Hiatuses Despite achieving popularity and success, Yoshihiro Togashi’s manga series Hunter × Hunter has been plagued with many hiatuses since launching in 1998. Since 2006, it has been on hiatus more than in publication, frustrating fans and bookstores.

On the May 12 episode of the Kanto regional talk show Otona no! (“For Adults!”), manga artist Hisashi Eguchi (Stop! Hibarikun!) was featured as a guest. The host, Yūsuke Santamaria, teased Eguchi about his frequent hiatuses on Hibari-kun! Eguchi claimed that “drawing weekly isn’t something humans can do. It’s impossible... in the end, [the publisher] told me ‘We don’t need you anymore.’”

When Santamaria then compared Eguchi’s hiatuses to Togashi’s, Eguchi blamed himself for inspiring Togashi. “I taught him it was all right to be lazy. Togashi looked at me and [kept taking hiatuses]. It’s my accomplishment...

I’m the one who said you don’t have to draw weekly.” Santamaria objected: “No! I want to read it! It ended at a really good part now!,” drawing laughter from his guests.

Despite the assumption among Eguchi and some fans that Togashi is on hiatus due to laziness, the official reason is chronic lower back pain. To get a visual sense of how many hiatuses Togashi has taken and when, refer to these charts and graphs. Some bookstores have abandoned hope and sold the existing Hunter × Hunter volumes as complete sets. Volume 33 will be sold on June 3 in Japan. tion’s 6th Branch’s Special Case Bureau. In the manga’s initial chapters, Misaki works as the partner of Takumi Hijirihara, the sole survivor of the “Gibo’ura Middle School LargeScale Massacre.” However, Takumi doesn’t hate the culprit. He loves all killing and killers in general, and even rates the grotesqueness of the very culprits he now apprehends as a detective. As of the manga’s third chapter, Misaki has been kidnapped by former Hope’s Peak Academy student and former Ultimate Fireworks-Maker Ted Chikachiro. In the vehicle where she is being held, Misaki is shocked to find the corpse of who appears to be Makoto Naegi.

Only Mitomo was originally listed as creating the manga, but now Spike Chunsoft is credited for the original work, and Kazutaka Kodaka and Yōichirō Koizumi are listed as providing the scenario for the manga.

Mitomo launched the manga in Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine on March 9.

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The truth behind the words of one of the hearts of the industry

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THE MAKERS

Hayao Miyazaki: Anime was a mistake

“Anime Was a Mistake” is a troll quote misattributed to Hayao Miyazaki, one of the most popular and influential Japanese artists and film directors in anime history, that conveys a strong sense of disdain towards the art of anime and its fanbase at large, including those who identify themselves with weeaboo and otaku subcultures.

The troll quote stems from the transcript of Miyazaki’s interview with the Japanese news site Golden Times, published on January 27th, 2014. During the interview, Miyazaki expressed skepticism regarding the current state of anime as an art form and a cultural industry, particularly how little the new generation of animators are seeking inspiration from actually observing human behaviors and interactions in real life. On January 30th, a translation of the original interview was provided by English-language Japanese news site RocketNews24.

“You see, whether you can draw like this or not, being able to think up this kind of design, it depends on whether or not you can say to yourself, “Oh, yeah, girls like this exist in real life. If you don’t spend time watching real people, you can’t do this, because you’ve never seen it. Some people spend their lives interested only in themselves.”

It’s hard to imagine legendary anime director Hayao Miyazaki needing to be any more lauded than he already is.

Over 95 percent of Japan’s population has watched one of his movies, people see uploading his films to the Internet as being the fast track to popularity, and he’s even got a celestial body named after him. Really, though, after seeing the quality of his work, it’s hard to argue with the respect he receives.

The man is clearly a genius.

However, Miyazaki is also a 73-year-old man, and like many individuals who have reached such an age,

Illustrator T-Ray Arrested for Solicitation of a Minor Saitama prefectural police arrested Yūki Okamura – the real name of illustrator T-Ray – on Wednesday on charges of soliciting a minor to perform sexual acts.

According to police, the 28-year old T-Ray allegedly gave money amounting to 22,000 yen (about US$202) to a 17-year old female high school student from Tokyo at a hotel in Saitama in January to solicit the sexual act. The two allegedly contacted each other through the LINE messaging app in May last year. Let’s write some filler here again. I don’t like that news about people are usually negative.

T-Ray is a freelance illustrator. He drew art for WHITESOFT’s Unmei wa Kimi no Oya o Erabu, Kimi no Yūjin wa Kimi ga Erabu adult PC game. In 2014, he drew the cover art for enka singer Sachiko Kobayashi’s “Sachi Sachi ni Shite Ageru” single, which Kobayashi released during the 86th Comiket event. T-Ray also drew the end card illustration for the second episode of the SHIMONETA anime.

Source: Anime News Network

Princess Knight, Kimba the White Lion Composer Isao Tomita Passes Away Pioneering synthesizer artist, frequent Osamu Tezuka collaborator was 84 Record company Nippon Columbia Co., Ltd. announced on Sunday that famed composer and synthesizer artist Isao Tomita passed away of chronic heart failure at Tokyo Metropolitan Hiroo Hospital at 2:51 p.m. on Thursday. He was 84.

Tomita was born in 1932 and started his music career while in college at Keio University. In 1963 he composed the music for NHK’s first “Taiga” historical drama Hana no Shōgai, and in 1965 he composed music for the Kimba the White Lion television anime series, based on Osamu Tezuka’s manga. Tomita would then compose the music for many other of Tezuka and Mushi Production’s anime, such as: Princess Knight, Dororo, Jungle Taitei Susume Leo, the 1996 and the 1997 Jungle Emperor Leo films,

New Treasure Island, Cleopatra, Nihon Tanjō, Mermaid, Senya Ichiya Monogatari, and Pictures at an Exhibition.

Often known simply as Tomita, was a Japanese music composer, regarded as one of the pioneers of electronic music and space music, and as one of the most famous producers of analog synthesizer arrangements.

In addition to creating note-by-note realizations, Tomita made extensive use of the sound design capabilities

of his instrument, using synthesizers to create new sounds to accompany and enhance his electronic realizations of acoustic instruments. He also made effective use of analog music sequencers and the Mellotron and featured futuristic science fiction themes, while laying the foundations for synth-pop music and trance-like rhythms. Many of his albums are electronic versions and adaptations of famous classical music pieces and he received four Grammy Award

occasionally can’t resist the stubborn urge to grumble about how the people who came up after him are screwing up his industry.

A series of screen captures from an interview given by Miyazaki was recently posted on Japanese website Golden Times. In the images, we see the director working on a drawing of a young girl, of course with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth (we’re beginning to suspect the smokes are some sort of growth that protrudes from Miyazaki’s mouth, given the rarity of seeing him without one).

As he sketches, Miyazaki expounds on why he’s able to do the things he does.

“You see, whether you can draw like this or not, being able to think up this kind of design, it depends on whether or not you can say to yourself, ‘Oh, yeah, girls like this exist in real life.If you don’t spend time watching real people, you can’t do this, because you’ve never seen it. Almost all Japanese animation is produced with hardly any basis taken from observing real people, you know. It’s produced by humans who can’t stand looking at other humans.”

On one hand, it seems a little obvious that Japan’s animation studios would largely be staffed by the people known as otaku, given that the term, in its most commonly used unqualified form, generally refers to people who really like anime.

At the same time, it’s hard to argue with Miyazaki’s criticism of otaku in relation to the more pejorative connotation the word holds, that of a person lacking in social breadth and well-rounded life experiences. Given the way in which his films’ characters have been striking chords with audiences for decades, the famed director’s derision of many other artists’ inability to properly project human elements in animation definitely has some credibility behind it.

So if your dream is to be the next big thing in the anime industry, it might be in your best interest to get out of the house a little more.

nominations for his 1974 album Snowflakes Are Dancing.

He also composed the soundtrack for Toei Animation’s 1962 film Sinbad no Bōken film and the 1965 film Gulliver’s Space Travels: Beyond the Moon, as well as the 1964-1965 Big X television anime series. More recently he composed music for Black Jack: The Two Doctors Of Darkness, Dr. Pinoko no Mori no Bōken, and all three of Yoji Yamada’s “Samurai Trilogy” films (Twilight Samurai, The Hidden Blade, Love and Honor).

In the 1970s Tomita was among the first to introduce the analogue synthesizer to Japan, and he was the first Japanese musician to be nominated for a Grammy Award in the U.S. He released the Symphony Ihatov album in 2013 that featured virtual idol Hatsune Miku as a soloist.

Tomita had collapsed in his home around noon on Thursday and was taken to the hospital. He passed away with his family at his side. Tomita’s family held a private funeral on Saturday and Sunday, but a public farewell party is planned for a later date.

At the time of his death he was preparing a new work titled Dr. Coppelius, which was slated for November.

In 2015, in recognition of his long career and global influence on electronic music, Tomita won the Japan Foundation Award.

Tomita died on May 5, 2016 of cardiac failure at 2:51 p.m. at Tokyo Metropolitan Hiroo Hospital.

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Answerman: Would An American Creator Have Control Over Their Anime?

Branko asks: Japanese authors appear to have a lot of control over how their works get adapted into anime. However, that is not true everywhere especially in Hollywood. So if an American author, like say George R.R. Martin wanted to produce an anime adaptation of A Song of Ice and Fire, would he have the same creative control over the project as a mangaka?

It depends. Japanese copyright law basically allows for the creator of an original work or their agent to sign-off on pretty much every aspect of its adaptation and its resulting business. If the producer of the anime is in Japan, it’s pretty rare for them to consider adapting a foreign work that isn’t old and in the public domain. In the hand-

ful of cases where a foreign original work is licensed, they’ll usually only do a deal if the creator or their agent is not insisting on much creative oversight. The producer is usually mindful of the language barrier, and the tight deadlines and budgets that anime is produced under. Having to go through a translator, multiple time zones, and waiting for sign-off usually seems like more trouble than it’s worth.

So by default, Japanese production staff don’t talk much with Western creators of shows that they decide to adapt into anime. This doesn’t happen often enough for me to have heard of any stories of an author trying to give input and not being received, but there are always quiet, passive-aggressive ways to get around any limitations,

particularly when there’s a language barrier. Ursula LeGuin was not really consulted in any way during the production of Tales of Earthsea; upon seeing the final work she reportedly told director Goro Miyazaki that it was good, but not representative of her work. She was pretty gracious: E. E. “Doc” Smith, creator of the Lensman series of books, was so unhappy with the 1980s anime adaptations that he’s banned any further release of them.

Perhaps more amusingly, AnimEigo’s Robert Woodhead gained notoriety in the early PC era for programming the first PC RPG game, Wizardry. An OVA adaptation was made a few years later, which was widely panned and is now forgotten.

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Mr. Woodhead does not talk about this anime.

But if the producer of the show is American and aligned with the American creators, it’s a completely different story. An American producer of some sort is usually on the ground in Japan, breathing down the necks of the director and creative staff, and dictating the overall direction of the show.

The anime studio is basically working for the Americans at this point. This process has proved very difficult for Japanese creative staff to work under, and while some anime studios still seek out work-for-hire jobs like this, most will quietly give the work to its least qualified production team. I’ve even heard rumors that some have secretly outsourced the work to Korea.

This might explain why this doesn’t happen very often anymore.

Do YOU have a question for the Answerman?

We want your questions! Send in as many or as often as you like. Questions can be submitted by email only, to answerman@animenewsnetwork.com

Anime Expo Hosts Chaika, Sound! Euphonium Voice Actress Chika Anzai Los Angeles anime convention Anime Expo announced on Tuesday that it will host voice actress Chika Anzai at this year’s event. This will be her first appearance at a United States convention. She will host a Q&A panel and autograph sessions during the convention.

Anzai has played roles in such anime as Sound! Euphonium (Reina Kōsaka), Chaika - The Coffin Princess (Chaika Travant), Riddle Story of Devil (Suzu Shutō), Danbōru Senki Wars (Sakuya Hosono), AntiMagic Academy “The 35th Test Platoon” (Kiseki Kusanagi), Grimgar of

Love Live! Voice Actress Aina Kusuda’s 2nd Album Ranks #3 With 9,000 Copies Voice actress and singer Aina Kusuda’s new album, Next Brilliant Wave, sold 9,000 copies in its debut week and ranked #3 on the Oricon album chart for the week of May 2-8.

The album shipped on May 4. Next Brilliant Wave both sold more copies and ranked higher on its first week than her first album, last October’s First Sweet Wave. That earlier album sold 8,000 copies and ranked #5 in its first week.

Kusuda made her debut as the voice of the character Nozomi Tojo from the Love Live! School idol project franchise. Since then, she has voiced roles in such anime as Nyuru Nyuru!! Kakusen-kun 2-ki (Nyururin), Million Doll (Sūko), and Rilu Rilu Fairilu ~Yōsei no Door~ (Rose). Apart from her participation in numerous Love Live! singles as part of the franchise’s nine-girl μ’s idol group unit, she has also released four singles as part of the “Please&Secret” duo unit (fellow Love Live! voice actress Pile is her partner in the unit).

Fantasy and Ash (Mary), Schwarzes Marken (Anett Hosenfeld), and Sky Wizards Academy (Amie Mustung).

She will play the role of Asuha Chigusa in the upcoming Qualidea Code television anime, and has also been cast as Tōko Ichinose in the upcoming Taboo-Tattoo anime.

Anime Expo will celebrate its 25th anniversary at its convention this year from July 1-4. Previously announced guests include Vampire Hunter D and Final Fantasy artist Yoshitaka Amano, Your Lie in April manga creator Naoshi Arakawa, and singer Michi.

Oh dear I need so much filler for this

Controversial Artist Rokudenashiko Found Guilty on Obscenity Charge Recently engaged artist Megumi Igarashi —pen name Rokudenashiko— was found guilty of breaking Japan’s obscenity laws in Tokyo court on Monday. 44-year-old Igarashi was arrested in July 2014 for distributing 3D printer data of her own genitalia as part of a backer reward for her crowdfunding campaign to construct a vagina kayak.

Judge Mihoko Tanabe ruled that the data was “flat and inorganic” but realistic enough to “sexually arouse viewers.” The court did not seek jail time but Igarashi was fined 400,000 yen (US$3,690) for the crime.

She was also charged with displaying the art after she was released for her initial charge. She and adult shop manager and writer Minori Watanabe (also known as Minori Kitahara) were arrested for displaying her artwork in Watanabe’s shop window in December 2014.

That charge was dropped. Igarashi appeared with her lawyer outside the courthouse celebrating the partial victory (above right) with a sign

that reads “a part is not guilty.”

Igarashi always maintained that her artwork and her own genitalia, are not obscene.

Japanese commentators have called out the arrest as hypocritical as Japanese legislators backtracked on regulating artistic depictions of underage characters in sexual situations due to concerns of restricting artistic freedom.

This concern seemingly did not extend to Igarashi’s artwork.

Igarashi is engaged to Michael Scott, the lead singer of the British-Irish rock band The Waterboys. The couple expects to wed in the fall and then live in Ireland afterward. She credited the international attention the controversy had attracted for her relationship with Scott.

Igarashi’s graphic memoir detailing her court case, What is Obscenity?

The True Story of a Good for Nothing Artist and Her Pussy, will be available in English on Wednesday. She also appears in director Graham Kolbeins and co-writer Anne Ishii’s Queer Japan documentary project.

one article I don’t even know what to write about. Well, we could talk about how pretty this voice actress is. So pretty that I’ll put two photos.

Last year’s Anime Expo set a new attendance record with 90,500 unique attendees, up 12% from 2014. This year’s event will launch a Youth Protection Program. The Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA), the California-based non-profit organization behind Anime Expo, is partnering with the Nonprofit Risk Management Center to launch the program to protect young attendees at Anime Expo.

Dallas’ AnimeFest to Host Voice Actor Toshio Furukawa, Voice Actress Shino Kakinuma Furukawa voiced DBZ’s Piccolo, One Piece’s Ace, Urusei Yatsura’s Ataru, more AnimeFest announced on Thursday that it will host voice actor Toshio Furukawa and voice actress Shino Kakinuma at its August 12-15 event in Dallas, Texas.

Toshio Furukawa began his prolific voice acting career in 1974. He has voiced dozens of roles including Piccolo in Dragon Ball Z, Portgas D. Ace in One Piece, Kageroza Inaba in Bleach, Kai Shiden in Mobile Suit Gundam, Ataru Moroboshi in Urusei Yatsura, Shin in Fist of the North Star, Sakamoto in Maison Ikkoku, Asuma Shinohara in Patlabor, Leon McNichol in Bubblegum Crisis, Hawks Eye in Sailor Moon Super S, and Asura in Soul Eater.

Kakinuma’s roles include Naru Osaka in Sailor Moon, Videl in

Dragon Ball Z Kai, and Rie Kakinoki in Kemonozume. She and Furukawa are married.

The event previously announced that it will host directors Shingo Natsume and Shuhei Morita, animators Kazuhiro Miwa and Chikashi Kubota, and voice actress Fumi Hirano. The event will also host voice actresses Apphia Yu, Brina Palencia, Erica Mendez, Kristen McGuire, and Lisle Wilkerson; and voice actor Micah Solusod.

AnimeFest will take place at the Sheraton Dallas Hotel in Dallas, Texas on August 12-15.

He became famous for his anime character roles in his career as Kagege (Keroro Gunso), Kai Shiden (Mobile Suit Gundam), Shin (Fist of the North Star), Asuma Shinohara (Mobile Police Patlabor), Piccolo (Dragon Ball), Ataru Moroboshi (Urusei Yatsura) and Portgas D. Ace (One Piece). His debut voice role is a soldier in Brave Raideen. Toshio is a veteran who has played a variety of characters from comedians like Ataru of Urusei Yatsura and Inumaru of Gosenzo-sama Banbanzai!, to calm, serious ones like Shin from Fist of the North Star and Piccolo of the Dragon Ball series

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Sadako & Kayako Want Your Vote for the Ghost with the Most The promotional campaign for Sadako vs. Kayako, the upcoming horror film that pits Juon: The Grudge and Ringu ghosts against one another launched tongue-in-cheek “general election” ads. The commercials have a seemingly serious political slant for what is actually a popularity contest between the two characters.

In the video, using an interpreter, Sadako tells potential voters that the country is slow in advancements because it has a tendency to hold back.

Sadako mentions that she has even gone to haunt America (referring to the American film The Ring), and that she learned there how important it is to step forward. She tells viewers that the Japanese people now are too reclusive, and that if you don’t have the motivation to get up and haunt people,

you can’t change the world. Sadako then goes on to say that she knows that people doubt her abilities because she is a regretful spirit, but insists she has confidence in her footwork, and can move around anywhere in Japan as long as there is a TV lying around. She says because of this, she will be able to hear all of the voters voices, and ends by saying that she is going right now to visit the person beyond the screen.

In Kayako’s video, she first asks the audience if they’re being haunted, and introduces her son Toshio, who she tells to introduce himself. Kayako goes on to say that what Japan lacks now right now is bonds of friendship and love, as well as communication within the family.

She says that on the other hand, she and her son have a strong bond, and

that she treasures her household over anything else. Kayako proves this by stating that she and her son haunt and kill anyone who comes into their house together. In conclusion, she admits that while haunted video tapes are a great method for reaching viewers, young people nowadays don’t even know what a VHS tape is.

Kayako is currently winning the general election with 5,599 votes to Sadako’s 5,460 votes. Participants can cast their vote once per day on Twitter with the hashtag “#総選恐_貞子派” for Sadako or “#総選恐_伽椰子派” for Kayako after following the campaigns official account “@sadakaya_ cp”. Campaign merchandise like cup companion figures, t-shirts, and posters will be given away to participants.

The film is taking part in three different campaigns including a poll to decide which spook is scarier. Patrons vote with their ticket stubs, and may win a present by lottery.

The ghosts will continue to appear in a variety of promotional events, including a wrestling match on June 18. They’ve both allegedly joined the line-up of heavy metal band Seikima II.

Warner Delays Godzilla 2, Schedules Godzilla vs. Kong Godzilla 2 now slated for March 22, 2019, Godzilla vs. Kong for May 29, 2020 Hollywood news website The Wrap reported on Tuesday that Warner Bros. has set the release dates for its Godzilla 2 sequel film and its Godzilla vs. Kong film. Godzilla 2 is now slated for March 22, 2019, delayed from its original June 8, 2018 date. Godzilla vs. Kong is now slated for May 29, 2020.

Warner Bros. is also producing the Kong: Skull Island film alongside Legendary Pictures, which moved the prequel movie project from Universal Studios to Warner Bros. last September to allow for the possibili-

Studio Ghibli Co-Produced Film The Red Turtle’s Trailer Streamed Film from Dutch director Michael Dudok de Wit to screen at Cannes, Annecy French television news website Télérama posted the first trailer to the Studio Ghibli co-produced film The Red Turtle (La Tortue rouge) on Friday.

The Red Turtle is the latest work by award-winning Dutch animator and director Michael Dudok de Wit (“The Monk and the Fish,” “Father & Daughter” animated shorts). Studio Ghibli is co-producing the film with French film production and distribution company Wild Bunch.

The film is screening at the Cannes Film Festival this month and it will open the 40th Annecy International Animation Film Festival

in June. TOHO will open the film in Japan in September.

Director de Wit temporarily moved to Koganei in Tokyo (where Studio Ghibli is headquartered) to work on the film, completing the film’s storyboards and the scenario in his time there, while Studio Ghibli director Isao Takahata checked them. Takahata also serves as the “artistic producer” for the film. Pascale Ferran (Bird People) wrote the film’s script.

The director’s “Father & Daughter” short won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 2001. The Red Turtle is de Wit’s first feature film.

Wild Bunch co-produced Studio Ghibli’s 2010 anime film The Secret World of Arrietty. The company also distributed Park Chan-Wook’s 2003 live-action film Oldboy, which was inspired by Garon Tsuchiya and Nobuaki Minegishi’s manga of the same name.

Studio Ghibli, Inc. is a Japanese animation film studio based in Koganei, Tokyo, Japan. The studio is best known for its anime feature films, and has also produced several short films, television commercials, and one television film. It was founded on June 15, 1985 after the success of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984), with funding by Tokuma Shoten.

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Jurassic World Co-Writer Derek Connolly Works on Pacific Rim 2 Entertainment news source The Hollywood Reporter revealed on Thursday that Derek Connolly has joined the production team for Pacific Rim 2, the planned sequel to Guillermo del Toro and Travis Beacham’s 2013 science-fiction robot film. It is currently unclear if Connolly is writing another draft of the script or developing story ideas. Connolly previously wrote Safety Not Guaranteed, and cowrote Jurassic World. He is currently also working on the sequel to Jurassic World, as well as Warner Bros.’ Kong: Skull Island film.

Steven S. DeKnight, showrunner and director on Netflix’s Daredevil series, will direct the film.

Thomas Tull, Jon Jashni, Mary Parent, and del Toro are credited as producers, and Jillian share is credited as executive producer for the film. Jon Spaihts wrote the current script attached to the film.

Universal Pictures will release the film in 3D worldwide.

Creator del Toro previously posted on his Twitter account in January that production on the sequel to his Pacific Rim film is “still

ty of a crossover project with Godzilla. Warner Bros. retains the right to participate in the Godzilla sequels.

Kong: Skull Island is slated to open on March 10, 2017. The film has a budget of more than US$125 million, but Warner Bros. is including the film in a three-picture deal that also includes the planned sequel and crossover film.

Legendary licensed the Godzilla film rights, and produced Gareth Edwards’ 2014 Godzilla film. The 2014 film opened in the United States in May 2014, and earned over US$500 million worldwide.

So, I think the image to the left is actually from Death Battle. You know, that youtube channel that makes videos about hypothetical battles between different characters. I don’t usually like their reasoning for choosing the winners, as they seem to have a superficial understanding of most of the characters they analize. Chinese company Dalian Wanda Group recently acquired a majority stake in Legendary Entertainment in January.

going,” and that he will “remain w [sic] it in one way or another!” He had submitted the script and budget for the film last November.

Pacific Rim is a 2013 American-Japanese science fiction monster film directed by Guillermo del Toro, and starring Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba, Rinko Kikuchi, Charlie Day, Robert Kazinsky, Max Martini, and Ron Perlman. The screenplay is by Travis Beacham and del Toro, with a story by Beacham.

The film is set in the 2020s, when Earth is at war with the Kaiju,[a] colossal monsters which have emerged from an interdimensional portal on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.

To combat the monsters, humanity unites to create the Jaegers, gigantic humanoid mechas each controlled by at least two pilots, whose minds are joined by a neural bridge. Focusing on the war’s later days, the story follows Raleigh Becket, a washed-up Jaeger pilot called out of retirement and teamed with rookie pilot Mako Mori as part of a last-ditch effort to defeat the Kaiju.

Universal removed the film from its release schedule, but insisted with Legendary Entertainment last September that they remain committed to making the film. The sequel had been slated for August 2017, after previously being planned for April 2017.

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‘Phantom of the Kill -Zero Kara no Hangyaku-’ Concept Movie Debuts Online in May

One Piece Film Gold’s Trailer Reveals GLIM SPANKY’s Theme Song One Piece Film: Gold is the 13th One Piece movie, which will be released in Japanese theaters on July 23, 2016. The title and release date of the film was revealed in the first 2016 issue of Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine.

The movie was first announced following the broadcast of Episode of Sabo.

The official website for the One Piece Film Gold anime movie began streaming a trailer for the film on Tuesday.

The trailer reveals and previews the film’s theme song “Ikari o Kure yo” by GLIM SPANKY, and also reveals the title of Mayumi Kojima’s insert song as “Gold & Jive ~ Silver Ocean.” One Piece Film Gold will open in Japan on July 23. Kazuhiro Yamaji (Kamen Rider Blade’s Kei Karasuma, Psycho-Pass’ Jouji Saiga, One Piece’s Senor Pink) will guest star in the film as the main

Kraken Releasing Adds The Return of Godzilla Film Kraken Releasing announced on Thursday that it has licensed the 1984 film The Return of Godzilla (titled Godzilla in Japan) and plans to release it on Blu-ray Disc and DVD on September 13. The home video releases will have the Japanese version and an English-dubbed version.

The film has previously been released in North America in a localized version, but Kraken Releasing will offer the film uncut.

Kraken previously released Godzilla vs.Hedorah (Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster), Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (Godzilla Vs. The Sea Monster), and Godzilla vs. Gigan (Godzilla® on Monster Island) on Blu-ray Disc and DVD. Uncut release to include Japanese, English audio. Kraken Releasing is a licensing studio that specializes in licensing international films that are of the fantasy, science fiction and horror variety. Like Maiden Japan, it is a sister label of Switchblade Pictures.

antagonist Gild Tesoro (pictured far left in image at right). Gild Tesoro a casino king who controls the huge golden ship Gran Tesoro. He is a devil fruit user who ate the “Gol Gol fruit.” He is an extremely rich man who is said to possess 20% of the monetary “Beli” that exist in the world.

The cast members include: Hikari Mitsushima as Carina, a popular and mysterious songstress in Gild Tesoro’s crew, with ties to Nami’s past. Gaku Hamada as Mr. Tanaka, a devil fruit user who ate the “nuke nuke” fruit.

With his secretive devil fruit powers he is in charge of Gran Tesoro’s internal security. Nanao as Baccarat, a devil fruit user who ate the “lucky lucky” fruit. When she touches someone, their luck changes. She is a mysterious and elegant woman who acts as an escort

The staff of “Phantom of the Kill -Zero Kara no Hangyaku-” (Phantom of the Kill: Treason From Zero), the prequel concept anime film short based on the popular smartphone game Phantom of the Kill, announced on Thursday that the film will debut online in a Nico Nico livestream on May 26. The livestream will correspond with a live event in Tokyo, the final stop in the short film’s preview screening tour.

The pre-program will begin at 6:00 p.m. JST and the short movie itself will begin at 7:00 JST. It will be followed by a discussion and Q&A session with director Naoyoshi Shiotani, voice actress Kana Hanazawa, and producer Jun Imaizumi. After an intermission the staff will present news on the Phantom of the Kill game and franchise.

Naoyoshi Shiotani (Psycho-Pass, Blood-C: The Last Dark) directed the

15-minute concept film at Production I.G. The Roppongi Hills Arena in Tokyo hosted a premiere screening, VR experience, and red carpet event on April 7. The preview screening tour is visiting Nagoya, Osaka, Sapporo, Fukuoka, and Tokyo.

The concept anime film short is part of a larger “Project Zero” prequel campaign. The “Project Zero” website teases an upcoming VR experience. Other recent tie-in works include a December 26 light novel

by Takaaki Kaima with with illustrations by Mai.E, a character figure slated for this summer, a soundtrack that shipped on December 24, a background music compilation with gatcha ticket that shipped October 23, and an artbook.

Fuji & Gumi Games’ strategy drama RPG follows mysterious girls who carry the names of legendary weapons (such as “Masamune”) as

for the Straw Hat pirates. She is Gran Tesoro’s concierge who attends to VIPs visiting the area. Kinya Kitaōji as Reizu Max, a famous gambler who is actually a key figure in the Revolutionary Army. Comedian Kendo Kobayashi as Dice, a gigantic card dealer and part of Gild Tesoro’s crew. Actor Arata Furuta as Kent Beef Jr. and Pork, two partners who compete in the turtle car race with Luffy. Comedian Korokke as Jimmy Myers, another turtle car racer, and the Red Eyed Owls that cry out when intruders are detected. Comedian Nadaru as Morkin, a member of the Long Long Pirates who attack the Straw Hat Pirates.

Mayumi Kojima will perform an insert song that will appear in the film’s opening sequence. Kojima previously performed the opening theme song for Ghost Hound. The song will be a “big band swing” song over 10 minutes long.

Original manga creator Eiichiro Oda is serving as the film’s executive producer as well as being credited with

the original work. Oda also served as the executive producer for the previous film in the franchise, One Piece Film Z. Additionally, Oda also designed the various new costumes for the Straw Hat crew for the film, drew the rough drafts for the new characters, and also drew the film’s first visual (pictured at left).

Hiroaki Miyamoto (One Piece episodes 352-679, assistant director for One Piece: Baron Omatsuri and the Secret Island) is directing the film, and Tsutomu Kuroiwa (live-action Black Butler film, live-action Liar Game: The Final Stage film, live-action The Perfect Insider TV series) is writing the script.

Masayuki Sato designed the characters for animation, and is also serving as chief animation director. Kazuo Ogura is the art director, while Nobuhito Sue is credited for art setting.

Ticket pre-orders for the film began in December. Those who pre-ordered tickets for the film will get a calendar featuring Oda’s designs for the film.

The calendar is limited to 50,000 units.

Paramount Pictures Streams Satoshi Kon’s Millennium Actress Film Paramount Pictures posted late director Satoshi Kon’s Millennium Actress film in its entirety on its Paramount Vault YouTube channel on Tuesday. The film is available for free in the United States only, in Japanese with English subtitles.

Paramount Pictures describes the story: Following up on his highly acclaimed animated psychological thriller Perfect Blue, Satoshi Kon

spins this mystery about a documentary filmmaker and a legendary actress. In honor of Gin Ei studios 70th anniversary, a small production house run by Genya Tachibana is selected to make a commemorative documentary.

Genya decides to focus his film on actress Chiyoko Fujiwara, a massive star who at the height of her popularity retreated from public life. Accompanied an eager young cameraman, Genya doggedly tracks her down to discover

her living a hermit-like life of charmed isolation. He also learns that in spite of her advanced age, she has lost little of her famed charm or elegance. As he interviews her, Genya learns of Chiyoko’s troubled past and eventually the reasons for her sudden retirement.

The film debuted in 2001 and Dreamworks released the film on DVD in North America. Bandai Visual released the film on Blu-ray in Japan in February 2014.

they search for their lost memories.

The game allows players to collect characters and weapons, and enter dungeons to engage in turn-based tactical battles. Ghost in the Shell director Mamoru Oshii supervised the opening animation for the game.

The game has had crossovers with the Puella Magi Madoka Magica franchise, anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day, Psycho-Pass, and Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works.

The game launched in Japan in October 2014, and it launched in the West last Wednesday.

The news came from a confirmed source published online, whatever this sentence is bullshit and you all know it.

Gumi reached out to ANN to clarify that the game launched in the West last Wednesday. Gumi has also provided ANN with a press release about the global release with more information.

2016 Death Note Film Brings Back Sota Aoyama as Touta Matsuda The staff of Death Note Light up the NEW world, this year’s live-action Death Note sequel film, revealed on Wednesday that Sota Aoyama will reprise his role as Tōta Matsuda in the film. He previously played the character in the Death Note and Death Note: The Last Name live-action films.

The staff also unveiled five new stills featuring the Death Note task force’s headquarters, which shows Ryūzaki (Sousuke Ikematsu) and Tsukuru Mishima (Masahiro Higashide) interacting.

The new film will open in Japan on October 29. Those who purchase advance tickets for the film will receive a ticket with special art featuring Ryuk, and a folding fan themed after the six Death Notes.

The film is a “forbidden sequel” to the two earlier live-action Death Note films, 2006’s Death Note and Death Note: The Last Name and Warner Brothers will distribute.

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Hyouka Anime’s Original Novel Series Adds New Volume Novelist Honobu Yonezawa announced on Twitter on Saturday that he plans to release a new volume in his Kotenbu series of mystery novels in November. The new volume will collect previously published short stories in the series, including “Renpō wa Hareteiru ka?” “Kagami ni wa Utsuranai,” “Nagai Kyūjitsu,” and “Ima Sara Tsubasa o Iwaretemo.”

The new volume will be the sixth in the series. Yonezawa published the fifth book, Futari no Kyori no Gaisan, in 2010. Yonezawa pub-

lished Hyou-ka, the series’ first novel, in 2001, and it inspired Kyoto Animation’s 22-episode television anime adaptation in 2012, as well as a manga adaptation in Kadokawa’s Monthly Shōnen Ace magazine.

The story of Hyou-ka follows a boy named Hōtarō who is not assertive about getting involved, but was ordered by his older sister to join the classic literature club. In the club, he gets close to the truth about an incident, involving a female member’s uncle, which happened 33 years ago. The “energy-saving” boy

is joined by an inquisitive girl in this adolescent mystery.

Annaka City in Gunma Prefecture posted a casting call for a live-action film adaptation of Hyou-ka last month. According to the casting call, Mari Asato (Ju-On: Black Ghost, Bilocation, Real Onigokko 3-5) is directing the film and penning the script.

Yonezawa also wrote the Shōshimin mystery novel series that has had several manga adaptations, including Anko Manjūya’s Shunki Gentei Ichigo Tart Jiken (The Case

Latest Sailor Moon Musical Reveals Brand New Main Cast, October Debut The website Comic Natalie revealed the five new main actresses in the fourth 20th-anniversary stage musical of Naoko Takeuchi’s Sailor Moon manga on Wednesday. The musical will debut with an initial run at the AiiA 2.5 Theater Tokyo venue from October 15 to 23, before moving to Canal City Theater in Fukuoka from October 29 to 30, and then Sankei Hall Breeze in Osaka from November 4 to 6.

Takeuchi was part of the panel judging auditions for the new cast.

The staff of the musical will reveal images of the main cast in costume in a few days.

The cast is replacing the main cast from Bishōjo Senshi Sailor Moon -Un Nouveau Voyage-, the third new stage play celebrating

Blue Exorcist Stage Play Unveils Additional Cast The official website of Ao no Exorcist: Kyōto Guren-hen (Blue Exorcist: Kyoto Crimson Chapter), the new stage play adaptation of Kazue Katō’s Blue Exorcist manga, revealed a new visual and additional cast members for the play on Sunday.

The play will adapt the Impure King Revival arc from volumes five to nine of the manga,

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of the Springtime Limited-Edition Strawberry Tart). Hyouka is a Japanese 2001 mystery novel by Honobu Yonezawa. It is the first volume of the Classic Literature Club (Kotenbu) series. Four additional volumes have been published between 2002 and 2010. A manga adaptation drawn

by Taskohna began serialization in the March 2012 issue of Kadokawa Shoten’s Shōnen Ace. A 22-episode anime adaptation produced by Kyoto Animation and directed by Yasuhiro Takemoto aired from April 22 to September 16, 2012.

At the request of his older sister, student Hōtarō Oreki joins Kamiyama High School’s Classic Literature Club to stop it from being abolished, joined by fellow members Eru Chitanda, Satoshi Fukube and May-

aka Ibara. The story is set in Kamiyama City, a fictional city in Gifu Prefecture that the author based on his real hometown of Takayama, also in Gifu. The fictional Kamiyama High School is based upon the real life Hida High School.

A manga adaptation, titled Hyōka and illustrated by Taskohna, started serialization in the March 2012 issue of Kadokawa Shoten’s Shōnen Ace. The first tankōbon volume was released on April 26, 2012, and nine volumes have been released as of August 26, 2015.

The anime series displays and incredible amount of detail in its animation and background art, as expected from the studio Kyoani.

Maybe the release of a new novel will mean a new anime season too.

the manga’s 20th anniversary. The former cast graduated after the third musical finished its run. Nomoto is the sixth actress to play the title character in a stage musical, including those who played Sailor Moon in the first string of productions that ran from 1993 to 2005. Nomoto said her favorite character is actually Chibiusa, while Kobayashi (Sailor Mars) is a fan of the former Sailor Jupiter actress Yu Takahashi and had attended Takahashi’s final run last year. Bishōjo Senshi Sailor Moon -Un Nouveau Voyage- ran last

September at AiiA 2.5 Theater Tokyo.

A home video release of the musical was released on February 24. It features recorded footage from the stage production itself, as well as a round table discussion between Karin Takahashi (Sailor Saturn), Yūga Yamato (Tuxedo Mask), Shū Shiootsuki (Sailor Uranus), Sayaka Fujioka (Sailor Neptune), and Mikako Ishii (Sailor Pluto).

It will also have footage of the “graduation ceremony” of Satomi Okubo, Momoyo Koyama, Kanon Nanaki, Yu Takahashi, and Shiori Sakata.

which begins when the “Left Eye of the Impure King” is stolen from the academy. Yukio chases after the culprit, while Rin and the others look for the “Right Eye” that is sealed away in Kyoto.

The play will run for 11 performances at Tokyo’s Zepp Blue Theater Roppongi from August 5 to 14. Advanced tickets went on sale on May 3, while general admission tickets will go on sale on June 18 for 7,800 yen (about US$73). Daisuke Nishida, who directed the Ao no Exorcist: Ao no Homura Kakusei-hen/Kyōto FujōŌ-hen stage play in 2014, will return

to direct and write the script for the new play. Manga creator Kazue Katō is also helping with the script, and Office ENDLESS is producing the play.

The additional cast includes: Ikkei Yamamoto as Ryūji Suguro, Kōji Saikawa as Renzō Shima, Yūto Doi as Konekomaru Miwa, Nozomi Maeda as Shiemi Moriyama, Mami Katō as Izumo Kamiki, Taiyō Ayukawa as Mephisto Pheles, Hitomi Yasueda as Shura Kirigakure, Asami Tano as Nemu Takara, Kōhei Hayashida as Jūzō Shima, Ryūnosuke Matsumura as Kinzō Shima and Mitsuru Karahashi as Shirō Fujimoto.

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4th Black Butler Musical Adapts Manga’s Circus Arc The official website for the new stage musical of Yana Toboso’s Black Butler manga opened on Wednesday. The website reveals the production’s full title Musical Black Butler ~Noah’s Ark Circus~, a visual, and the cast.

Uchikawa, Miura, Tamaki, Tano, Mitsuya, Matsui, Kurachi, Chinen, Gotō, and Kote are all new actors, while the rest reprise their roles from previous productions.

The musical will debut at the Tokyo Dome City Hall in Tokyo and will run there from November 18 to 27. The musical will then run at Fukuoka’s Canal City Theatre on December 3-4, at Amagasaki’s Amashin Archaic Hall in Hyogo prefecture on December 9-11, and then at Kariya’s Kariya Cultural Center in Aichi prefecture on December 17-18.

The musical will adapt the Circus Arc from the sixth to eighth volumes of the manga, where Ciel and Sebastian’s investigation of missing (presumed dead) children will lead them to a traveling circus troupe. The Black Butler: Book of Circus television anime adapts the same arc.

The new stage musical will be the fourth musical adaptation of Black Butler. The third musical, which is based on the manga’s Jack the Ripper

arc, originally ran in Tokyo in September 2014 and in Osaka in October 2014. That musical had additional runs last November and December in Osaka, Miyagi, Tokyo, and Fukuoka, as well as the first overseas performance of the musicals in Shanghai, Beijing, and Shenzhen last December.

Sono Shitsuji, Yūkō (That Butler, Friendship), the first Black Butler musical, ran in Tokyo in 2009. The second musical, Musical Kuroshitsuji- The Most Beautiful DEATH in The World- Sen no Tamashii to Ochita Shinigami (Musical Black Butler: The Most Beautiful Death in The World – A Thousand Souls and The Fallen Grim Reaper), debuted in 2010 and had a second run in Tokyo in May 2013 and in Osaka in June 2013.

Toboso launched the manga Square Enix’s Monthly G Fantasy magazine in 2006, and Square Enix released the manga’s 22nd compiled volume last November, with the 23rd volume slated for 23. Yen Press is releasing the manga in North America, and it released the 21st volume last November, with the 22nd volume slated for May 24.

The original manga revolves around a noble English boy named

Ciel Phantomhive and Sebastian Michaels, Ciel’s butler who is more than he seems. The manga already inspired a television anime series in 2008, a television anime sequel in

2010, several original video anime, and a live-action film. The manga also inspired the Black Butler: Book of Circus television series that premiered in July 2014.

A new anime film has been greenlit, with Daisuke Ono and Maaya Sakamoto reprising their roles as main characters as Ciel Phantomhive and Sebastian Michaelis.

New Haikyu!! Stage Play Good Smile Company Designs Revealed For This Fall Brand-New Cardcaptor Sakura Figure for 15th Anniversary A new stage play adaptation of Haruichi Furudate’s Haikyu!! volleyball manga has been green-lit.

The stage play’s full title is Hyper-Projection Gekijō Haikyu!!

“Karasuno, Fukkatsu!” (Hyper-Projection Stage Play Haikyu!!

“Karasuno Returns!”). The play will debut this fall.w The story will feature Nekoma High and Date Tech High, as well as the destined “Battle at the Trash Dump” match between Karasuno and Nekoma, and the interhigh qualifiers.

“Worry Kinoshita” is directing the stage play, and Norihito Nakayashiki and Kinoshita are writing the script. Both return from last year’s Haikyu!! stage play adaptation. The cast will be announced at a later date.

The previous stage play ran at the AiiA 2.5 Theater Tokyo and Osaka’s Theater Brava! last November, and

then at the Tagajō Shimin Kaikan’s Great Hall at Miyagi’s Tagajo City Cultural Center last December. Like the new play, last year’s play was billed as a “hyper-projection play,” with video projections that allow for manga-styled speech bubbles, as well as views of the stage floor, and a revolving stage.

Production I.G’s anime adaptation of Haruichi Furudate’s volleyball manga premiered in April 2014.

Crunchyroll streamed the series as it aired and Sentai Filmworks licensed and released the series on DVD and Blu-ray Disc last June and August.

The second season of the anime premiered last October. Crunchyroll streamed the series as it aired in Japan, and Sentai Filmworks licensed the series for North America.

A third season will premiere this fall. The anime franchise received two compilation films on last July and September.

Touken Ranbu Stage Play’s Digest Video Streamed Marvelous Inc. began streaming a digest video for the stage play adaptation of DMM’s Tōken Ranbu online browser game on Friday.

Marvelous previously streamed a commercial for the play in April that showed the cast in costume. The commercial also advertised a streaming event and the Blu-ray Disc and DVD release.

The Blu-ray Disc and DVD will ship on September 7 for 9,800 yen (about US$90) and 8,800 yen (about US$81), respectively. Both will have a second disc with backstage video and other bonus content. The streaming

event will be held on May 27 and will feature coverage of the stage play’s concluding festivities from May 20.

The video will cost 1,450 yen (about US$13) to stream in HD and 2,500 yen (about US$23) to download.

The play opened at Tokyo’s Theater 1010 on May 3, with an additional performance on May 14, before moving on to Osaka’s Mielparque on May 17. Theatrical production company PEACEPIT supervised the play’s production. Kenichi Suemitsu directed the play and penned the script, and manzo (Yowamushi Pedal stage play) composed the music.

Figuremaker Good Smile Company is celebrating its 15th anniversary with a brand-new 1/7-scale Cardcaptor Sakura figure. The figure is based on an entirely new design drawn by CLAMP and sculpted by Takayuki Kawahara. It has so far only been shown unpainted and is currently on display until May 5 at the Animate AKIBA Cultures Zone in Tokyo, Akihabara.

Good Smile Company’s will also reveal its 600th Nendoroid, a tie-in with the Grand Summoners smart-

phone game, and exhibition event, and more as part of the festivities.

The magical girl is in the midst of her own 20th anniversary. The original Cardcaptor Sakura magical girl manga series ran in Nakayoshi from May 1996 to June 2000, and Kodansha published 12 volumes of the manga from November 1996 to July 2000.

SuperGroupies has released Cardcaptor Sakura jewelry, pillows, watches, umbrellas, loungewear, wallets, and actual dresses. A sequel manga series taking place during Sakura’s first year

of junior high will launch in Nakayoshi magazine’s July issue on June 3. To celebrate both anniversaries, CLAMP has drawn an all-new original illustration that will be sculpted into a figure by Good Smile Company’s Takayuki Kawahara to preserve Sakura’s 20th anniversary as a special memorial product. The unpainted prototype of the figure will be on display from the 1st May 2016 until the 5th May 2016 at the animate AKIBA Cultures Zone in Tokyo, Akihabara.

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Morgiana’s 1/8 scale figure

by Megahouse The scale we’ll be observing this time is the 1/8 scale Morgiana by Megahouse! This figure represents many firsts since she is not just the first and only scale of this character, she is also my first scale this year and my first figure by Megahouse. Mor is from Megahouse’s G.E.M line which is aimed towards female collectors.

Most characters in the line are of course male, but there are a few females like Morgiana as well. However Mor can certainly be enjoyed by both genders.

With just the figure itself and base included, Mor is easy to assemble and display. The base is pink and decorated with designs commonly seen in Magi. It also bears the series’ and Morgiana’s name. Two metal pegs in the center serve as Mor’s support.

Attaching Morgiana to the base can be difficult, so I advise pushing the peg into her heel first. After that, the front peg should slide in easily.

The festival garb of Sindria is a white veil, skirt, and bra like top accented with gold and tropical flowers. The figure captures Morgiana mid twirl with her arms outstretched

and a smile on her face. The outfit is made from transparent plastic which makes it look sheer and allows you to partially see her body underneath.

Ripples replicated in the sculpt contribute to a nice sense of movement in the statue.

The most apparent feature on Morgiana’s head is her side ponytail, but she is also wearing a headdress with flowers and what I call golden pine cones. The flowers have a simple spiky sculpt and are painted in flat bright colors. I would probably find their details to be underwhelming were the figure from a company like Goodsmile or Alter, but for Megahouse I have no complaints.

A better look at the gilded pine cones which I am happy to see are a rich gold color. Gold is a color which is often lost in the transition from prototype to finished product, so I am happy to see that Morgiana’s outfit is accented by gold and not brown. Morgiana’s hair has a blocky sculpt with minimal shading.

In fact, there is barely any shading on the whole figure. Also notice that while the manga depicts Mor’s hair

Tasty Pokémon Recipes Head West in New Cook Book

Cardcaptor Sakura Teacup Sets Given as Game Prizes

Viz Media announced on Thursday that it will deliver the tastiest incarnation of Nintendo’s Pokémon franchise to Western fans this December. The North American licensor acquired the rights to The Pokémon Cookbook, a volume containing 35 mouth-watering dishes from snacks to full entrees.

Readers can learn how to make Pokéball sushi rolls, Pikachu ramen, and mashed Meowth potatoes.

Maki Kudo created the Japanese version of the book and Viz will release it on December 6 for US$14.99.

Beginning this month, fans of Cardcaptor Sakura can add teacups to their growing list of collector’s merchandise. The two cups are part of prize giveaways at arcades and shops.

Cardcaptor Sakura ribbon pins were given away last month. In September, a Sakura figure will become available, followed by a Tomoyo figure and gift pouches in October, pocket watches and brooches in November, and blankets and a second round of pocket watches in December.

The magical girl is in the midst of her own 20th anniversary. The original Cardcaptor Sakura magical girl manga series ran in Nakayoshi from May 1996 to June 2000, and Kodansha published 12 volumes of the manga from November 1996 to July 2000. SuperGroupies has released Cardcaptor Sakura jewelry, pillows, watches, umbrellas, loungewear, wallets, and actual dresses.

A sequel manga series taking place during Sakura’s first year of junior high will launch in Nakay-

Good Smile Company Lends Support to Kumamoto With Figure Sales Good Smile Company is lending its support to the earthquake affected Kumamoto Prefecture by donating the proceeds from two figure sales to aid relief efforts through Cheerful Japan.

Good Smile Company, in collaboration with Crypton Future Media, DMM.com, and Nitroplus is releasing Hatsune Miku: Cheerful version and Nendoroid Mikazuki Munechika: Cheerful version.

The Hatsune Miku: Cheerful version is a 1/8-scale figure of the popular Nendoroid in a cheerleader outfit leaping over a giant speaker. The figure was previously created for the charity in 2011 based on the bun150’s winning illustration for pixiv’s 2011 “Cheerful JAPAN! feat. Miku Hatsune Cheerful Illustration Contest.”

The figure comes with a B3-size poster. Pre-orders opened on Monday and will last until May 25. Each order costs 10,800 yen (US$97) and the transaction will be processed at time of ordering instead of shipping to better help relief efforts. For each figure sale, Crypton Future Media will donate 2,000 yen (US$18). Hatsune Miku will ship in December.

The Munechika: Cheerful version Nendoroid shows the Tōken Ranbu character smiling. He comes with a sign that reads “Cheerful Japan,” two small fans, and his sword. The figure also comes with badges of Nendoroid Doudanuki Masakuni, Nendoroid Hotarumaru, Nendoroid Heshikiri Hasebe and Nendoroid Petite Kasen Kanesada.

Pre-orders opened on Monday and will last until May 25. Each order costs 4,200 yen (US$38) and the transaction will be processed at time of ordering instead of shipping to better help relief efforts. For each figure sale, Good Smile Company, Nitroplus and DMM.com will donate 1,000 yen (US$9). Munechika will ship in August.

Companies like Level-5 (Inazuma Eleven, Professor Layton, Yōkai Watch) and Cygames, as well as Japanese rock and visual kei star YOSHIKI have donated millions of yen to help the area after earthquakes hit on April 14 and 16. Other celebrities, including those associated with One Piece and Attack on Titan’s Hajime Isayama, have offered their support and solidarity.

and eyes as red, they are pink in the anime, and the figure interprets them the same way. Having begun with the anime, I do not mind this or blame Megahouse for choosing this route.

The veil adheres well to her head and flutters outwards. It looks nice, but I feel that the plastic is a little too thick for the desired effect. Instead, Morgiana straddles the line between a light airy outfit and being draped in a white fruit roll-up.

Her chest is well sculpted, and one thing I like about this figure is that in spite of her revealing outfit, Morgiana is not overly sexualized as she could have been. Sculpted folds in the fabric help to convey movement.

I do still think this would have looked better were the plastic used for her clothing thinner.

But Morgiana is necessarily not all that’s included in the package!

First release editions of the figure also include a chibi key chain! The keychain is great quality for it’s size and a cute addition to the package.

Source: neveroutgrewtoys.wordpress.com

oshi magazine’s July issue on June 3.Cardcaptor Sakura, is a Japanese shōjo manga series written and illustrated by the manga group Clamp. The manga was originally serialized in Nakayoshi from May 1996 to June 2000, and published in 12 tankōbon volumes by Kodansha from November 1996 to July 2000. The story focuses on Sakura Kinomoto, an elementary school student who discovers that she possesses magical powers after accidentally freeing a set of magical cards from the book they had been sealed in for years. She is then tasked with retrieving those cards in order to avoid an unknown catastrophe from befalling the world.