The official website for the Hyakka Ryōran Samurai Girls television anime series began streaming a new promotional video last Saturday. (In the linked page, select the "動画" item from the lefthand menu.) The anime adapts Akira Suzuki's light novels which are set in the early 21st century — except in this alternate world, the Tokugawa shogunate never lost power and Japan maintained its enforced seclusion from the rest of the world. The 25th shogun assumed the mantle of Japan's leadership 20 years ago, and the student council enforces the suppression of rebellious elements at a giant academy for children of military families at the foot of Mt. Fuji. The girls Yukimura Sanada and Matabei Gotō battle the mostly female members of the ruling student council faction such as Sen Tokugawa ("Sen-hime"), Hanzō Hattori, and others. A 16-year-old male student named Muneakira Yagyū and a female Jūbei Yagyū are caught in the middle. The anime will premiere this October, and Hobby Japan announced at Anime Expo that it will bring the light novels to North America.
The official website of Bushiroad's Cardfight!! Vanguard trading card game began streaming a promotional video with short animated clips this month. The game itself will go on sale next year. The game is a collaboration between Yu-Gi-Oh! R manga creator Akira Ito, the original Duel Masters technical advisor Satoshi Nakamura, and Bushiroad President Takaaki Kidani. A television anime and a manga has been green-lit for the franchise.
The American television network G4 began streaming a promotional video for the Iron Man anime series last Saturday. Like the other Marvel Anime projects, the Iron Man anime adapts the American comic book series of the same name into 12 episodes from Madhouse studio. G4 wil launch the series in 2011 after the October premiere in Japan.
The North American anime distributor Funimation began streamimg promotional videos for both Sengoku Basara and Corpse Princess earlier this week. Funimation also announced the English dubbing cast for Sengoku Basara:
Date Masamune: Robert McCollum
Oda Nobunaga: John Swasey
Sanada Yukimura: Johnny Yong Bosch
Ranmaru Mori: Maxey Whitehead
Nagamasa Asai: Christopher Bevins
Oichi: Laura Bailey
Kasuga: Stephanie Sheh
Uesugi Kenshin: Greg Ayres
Akechi Mitsuhide: Vic Mignogna
Sarutobi Sasuke: Michael Sinterniklaas
Takeda Shingen: Christopher Ayres
The path to get to this point was definitely not a clean one, and the pacing of these final couple of episodes definitely feels more rushed than I would like it to be.― This is it, the end of the first major saga of Pokémon Horizons. This is where everything comes ahead with payoffs to major setups in a true confrontation with the main villain, Gibeon. The path to get to this point was definitely no...
Time travel is a cool angle to approach a power fantasy anime, but poor writing prevents it from ever feeling like it’s living up to its full potential.― I'm not going to sit here and legitimately argue that it's either a point for or against this anime that its esteemed hero of a protagonist—the legendary warrior who's transcended time itself to save everyone—is named Kyle. Friggin… Kyle. But there...
Season to premiere next year with returning main cast, staff― The official website for the television anime of Rikito Nakamura and Yukiko Nozawa's The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You (Kimi no koto ga Dai Dai Dai Dai Daisuki na 100-nin no Kanojo) manga announced on Saturday that the anime will have a third season next year. The tagline on the teaser visual below re...
Dancer/actor Min Tanaka, playwright/actor Hideki Noda also honored― The Japanese government has selected 21 honorees for this year's roster of Persons of Cultural Merit. The roster includes Masako Nozawa (Dragon Ball's Son Goku, Gegege no Kitarō's Kitarō) as the first voice actor to be so honored, as well as manga creator Keiko Takemiya (Toward the Terra, The Door into Summer, Andromeda Stories), da...
Shindou-kun's Tight Squeeze may not be the most creative romance manga out there, explicit or otherwise, but if you're looking for a spicy good time, it more than fits the bill.― I've read most of Seven Seas' releases under its Steamship imprint, in no small part because I've crusaded for years on the concept that those of us who were little girls reading Sailor Moon and Cardcaptor Sakura are now ad...
Jean-Karlo takes next week off, but not before he imparts some Digimon deep cuts from the "Prelude" anime short.― Welcome back, folks! So, I know what this looks like, and by the time you read this, I will be in San Diego on vacation. But this past Sunday rolled around, and I was preparing myself to write this week's column, only to remember I was supposed to be on vacation. But then I realized, my ...
This Halloween season marks the perfect occasion to sit down and watch some of the best horror anime out there—and the ANN staff is here with their recommendations!― Horror is a broad genre with many facets. For some, it's simply ghosts and monsters—the eldritch and the unknowable. For others, it's more psychological—the twisted aspects of the human soul and the terror born therein. And for still o...
Nikkei Entertainment! shares a behind-the-scenes interview with the cast of the summer's hottest film, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle!― English translation of articles from the Japanese entertainment magazine Nikkei Entertainment! Read Nikkei Entertainment! on the web! Find Nikkei Entertainment! on Instagram and X On July 11, a Pre-release Blessing Event was held at Zojoji Temple in ...
Ayune Araragi's story of police officer, detective's journey to discovering love― Kadokawa announced on Friday that a television anime of Ayune Araragi's Isshiki-san wa Koi o Shiritai (Isshiki-san Wants to Know Romance) manga has been green-lit. Araragi drew an illustration to celebrate the news: The romantic comedy follows Rinna Isshiki, an elite, straight-laced officer who joined the police at age...
Tomokazu Seki, Shunsuke Takeuchi, Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, Chiaki Kobayashi, Kikunosuke Toya star in modern remake― A new television anime of Motoei Shinzawa's High School! Kimengumi (High School! Funny-Face Club) manga will premiere next January. It will run in Fuji TV network's Noitamina programming block on Fridays at 11:30 p.m. (9:30 a.m. EST). A website opened on Friday with an image music video an...
The first episode's premiere ends up being a set-up appetizer for the rib-eye steak of its second episode, which knocks it out of the park.― “Love and Peace,” hollered scores of Vash cosplayers at the Trigun Stargaze panel at New York Comic Con, hosted by Crunchyroll. That's a lofty dream for the much-beloved pacifist gunslinger, Vash the Stampede, in the desert Noman's Land. At the panel, the Trig...
I’m just amazed by how much you could squeeze out of this bizarre premise.― Let's Go Karaoke! is a series that succeeds in making the unbelievable believable. It's a comedy at heart, yet the bond between its two unlikely leads makes for melodrama that's both kitschy and effective. Who'd'a thunk that the best way to overcome your musical failures and teen angst was by teaching a yakuza member how to ...
"Final message" posted on Itagaki's Facebook account― The official Facebook account of game designer Tomonobu Itagaki announced on Thursday that he has died. A "final message" from Itagaki stated on the account that if the message has been posted, it means that he has died. Itagaki was 58. The message translates:My final words:The light of my life is finally fading.If this message has been posted, i...