Ryō YOSHIZAWA

Shelf Life - Twin Star Exorcists

Sep 24, 14:57

anime

Twin Star Exorcists is finally out on bluray, and Gabriella Ekens is here to take it for a spin. PLUS: all of this week's DVD & bluray anime releases! ― Holy crap, we have a lot of new releases this week. You'd almost think it was the beginning of the holiday rush or something. Well, no matter how many titles get shoved out the door in a single week, we'll be here to cover them. Welcome to Shelf Lif...

column

6 comments

Answerman - Why Doesn't Anime Record Voices Before Animating?

Sep 24, 12:00

6 comments

anime

Western animation - particularly the big-budget mainstream kind - tend to record performances before they animate, but when it comes to anime, this is rarely the case. Why is that? Justin gets into it. ― James asked: Some time ago, you stated that one of the major differences between western animation and Japanese animation is that, in western animation, all dialogue is recorded first, and then the ...

game review

Capcom Beat 'Em Up Bundle

Sep 24, 11:00

games

Capcom resurrects a bunch of their classic arcade brawlers with a seven-game collection. Do they still put up a fight? ― Brawlers. Beat 'Em Ups. Belt-Scrollers. Double Dragon Clones. Punk Punching Parades. Those Arcade Games That Mom And Dad Always Said Were Too Violent For You Back in 1988. Whatever you call them, they never quite got their moment on top. True, they were staples of arcades in the la...

review

5 comments

UQ Holder! GN 10

Sep 23, 13:10

5 comments

manga

UQ Holder’s tenth volume leans heavily on Akamatsu’s laziest tendencies, trending far more harem than action spectacle. ― Ken Akamatsu's works have been a balancing act between harem shenanigans and fantasy aspirations, ever since Love Hina's mild-mannered Keitaro was spirited away by a squad of zeppelins. Negima more or less split the difference between these goals, offering legitimately thrilling a...

column

51 comments

The List - 7 Times Western Music Invaded Anime

Sep 22, 12:00

51 comments

anime

From Radiohead to the Backstreet Boys, here are 7 times Western music found its way into some of your favorite anime opening and closing theme songs. ― A recent article about the potential death of the 90-second anime song intro got me thinking about some of my favorite opening and ending sequences. I realized that while the vast majority of anime credit songs are in Japanese (with a few English fla...

review

Escape Journey GN 1

Sep 22, 10:34

manga

Escape Journey is one of those BL manga that struggles to hit a note between “romantic” and “kind of upsetting.” ― Escape Journey is one of those BL manga that struggles to hit a note between “romantic” and “kind of upsetting.” It's the story of a relationship that could be termed unhealthy from some points of view, and like many of what are known as “Old Skool” romances, consent isn't always a given...

feature

Anime Spotlight - Zombie Land Saga

Sep 21, 20:00

anime

Without any say in the matter, the girls wander into the "Greatest x Worst Zombie World." They only have one wish.

"We want to live." ― Zombie Land Saga Official Website: https://zombielandsaga.com/ Introduction Story Characters Cast & Staff Gallery Premiers October 4, 2018 (JST) Key Staff Director: Munehisa Sakai ("One Piece Film Strong World (movie)", "Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Crystal (ONA 201...

column

3 comments

The Best of "This Week in Anime"

Sep 21, 16:34

3 comments

anime

Just over a year after its creation, Nick, Micchy, Jacob, and Steve of This Week in Anime have laughed and cried over an avalanche of great and terrible anime. Here are some of our favorite memorable moments. ― Hello everyone! Our "This Week in Anime" feature will return next Tuesday to cover the newest avalanche of Netflix premieres, but in the meantime, we thought we'd put together a Best Of TWIA t...

column

13 comments

ANNCast - Your Eternal Reward

Sep 21, 14:00

13 comments

manga

Kodansha Comics is releasing the Sailor Moon manga all over again, so Manga Answerman Deb Aoki joins the show for a chat with Kodansha editor Lauren Scanlan and superstar translation team Alethea and Athena Nibley for a chat about what it took to put this giant book together. ― ANNCast 335 - Your Eternal Reward Kodansha Comics is releasing the Sailor Moon manga all over again, so Manga Answerman Deb...

feature

27 comments

30 Years of Gunbuster

Sep 21, 13:00

27 comments

anime

It's been three decades since a team of now-legendary artists at Gainax first unleashed the sci-fi mecha classic Gunbuster on the world - Dawn H. files an appreciation of this massively influential OVA. ― For people of a certain age (like yours truly), Gunbuster might have been something you first saw at an anime club viewing many years ago. Crowded around a 19” tube TV, watching the old US Rendition...

column

43 comments

Manga Answerman - Why Do So Many Manga Artists Avoid Being Photographed?

Sep 21, 12:00

43 comments

anime

Many mangaka are notoriously camera-shy, choosing instead to only represent themselves with an illustration. What are their reasons for this? Deb gets into it. ― Editor's note: Originally published June 2018 - Manga Answerman is taking the week off, but we'll be back next week with a new column. Q: Why do a lot of manga artists prefer to not have their photos taken at events, like comic or anime con...

review

7 comments

The Rising of the Shield Hero Novel 12

Sep 21, 10:22

7 comments

novel

Too many rushed plots and the continuation of the slave issue make this one of the series' weaker volumes. ― The Rising of the Shield Hero has been consistently upping the stakes for protagonist Naofumi, the eponymous Shield Hero, with mixed results. While early volumes dealt with the prejudices he faced as the Shield Hero, beloved of the demi-humans and not so much by the human population of Melroma...

feature

Anime Spotlight - Bloom Into You

Sep 21, 07:00

anime

"I think I could fall in love with you." ― Bloom Into You Official Website: http://yagakimi.com/ Introduction Characters Cast & Staff Gallery Premieres October 5, 2018 Key Staff Director: Makoto Kato (Beautiful Bones: Sakurako's Investigation (TV)) Series Composition: Jukki Hanada (Student Council's Discretion (TV), Steins;Gate (TV), Sound! Euphonium (TV)) Music: Michiru Oshima (Fullmetal Alchemist ...

news

Tokyo Game Show 2018 News & Trailer Roundup

Sep 20, 04:00

games events

Catch up on all the news and videos from this year's biggest event for Japanese games all in one place! ― Here's our roundup of all news, trailers, and gameplay videos from Japanese developers at this year's Tokyo Game Show event. We'll be updating this article continually, so be sure to check back for content added throughout the event. Tokyo Game Show runs from September 20-23. News Thursday, Sept...

giveaway

My Neighbor Totoro 30th Anniversary Ticket Giveaway!

Sep 17, 00:00