A new release week means a big and bold new comic book day. AfterShock has a trio of books out including the debut of Monstro Mechanica while Archie Comics debuts Franken 9 alongside the Archie’s Christmas Spectacular. Black Mask kicks off Gracetrancers and BOOM Studios launches Judas this week. Dark Horse finishes off Aliens: Dead Orbit but launches the intriguing Giants. Image gets Rumble out the door while The Wicked + The Divine reveal a Christmas annual.

DC Comics sticks to ongoings for the most part this week with some fun books, including more Ragman and Scooby Apocalypse. Marvel Comics has a host of trades coming out and lots of ongoings but no new series starting.

On the Star Wars front, we get the latest ongoing installment out. Not too much in place to feed on the energy of a new film…

On the manga side, there’s a ton of Harlequin material this week and that’s about it.

© 2017 Ryo Mizuno, Miyuu / Kadokawa / Elam Magic Academy

The Grancrest War series is one of those slam dunks we already know about with Aniplex USA having picked up distribution rights for it and now they’ve set more details. The distributor has confirmed that the show will premiere on January 5th, 2018 at 11:30 am ET with it scheduled to arrive on both Crunchyroll and Hulu. Both of those services will add their own announcements and details with regional availability as well.

Mamoru Hatakeyama will be directing it based on the series composition by original creator Ryou Mizuno and writer Satoshi Yano. Hiroshi Yakou is on board as the character designer and A-1 Pictures is producing the animation.

The Japanese cast includes Reina Ueda as Aishera, Yuuichi Nakamura as Ervin, Natsumi Takamori as Priscilla, Ai Kayano as Marine Kreische, Takahiro Sakurai as Virale Constance, Satoshi Hino as Lassic David, Yoshitsugu Matsuoka as Moreno d’Ortous, Yuuichi Iguchi as Alex Deux, Wataru Hatano as Mirza Kooches, Minori Suzuki as Emma, Megumi Nakajima as Luna, Yuuko Kaida as Margaret Odius, Chika Anzai as Laura Hardly, Yumi Uchiyama as Helga Piaroza, Kaede Hondo as Coleen Messala, Satoshi Mikami as Aubest Meletes, Ayane Sakura as Layla, and Ari Ozawa as Cammy.

The work comes from Ryou Mizuni with artwork from Miyuu that began back in the summer of 2013 and currently has eight volumes in print. The project was suspected to be in the works when a manga serialization began this past June from Makoto Yotsuba. No details about the anime production or timeline were revealed at the announcement.

Ryou Mizuno has a solid following to be sure as the creator of Record of Lodoss War and Starship Operators.

Plot Concept: On a continent ruled by chaos, the Lords have the power of a holy seal that can calm the chaos and protect the people. However, before anyone realizes it, the rulers cast aside their creed of purifying the chaos, and instead start to fight each other for each other’s holy seals to gain dominion over one another. Shiruuka, an isolated mage who scorns the Lords for abandoning their creed, and a wandering knight named Theo, who is on a journey to train to one day liberate his hometown, make an everlasting oath to work together to reform this continent dominated by wars and chaos.

While they’ve been handling the short-form TV and web version of this show this year, the original series for THE IDOLM@STER CINDERELLA GIRLS has arrived. Originally streamed by Daisuki, the two-cour series is now available in its original Japanese language with English subtitles. Availability for it is strong as it’s open to members worldwide outside of Asia.

The series, which was produced by A-1 Pictures, debuted in January 2015 and is based on the mobile game of the same name. It featured the return of Noriko Takao to direct the series. The composition was done by Tatsuya Takahashi while Yuusuke Matsuo handled the character designs.

The series stars Ayaka Fukuhara as Rin Shibuya, Ayaka Ohashi as Uzuki Shimamura, Sayuri Hara as Mio Honda, Natsumi Takamori as Miku Maekawa, Nozomi Yamamoto as Rika Jōgasaki and Ruriko Aoki as Riina Tada.

Plot concept: There are many idols with long-established talent agency 346 Production. And now the company is starting a new program, the Cinderella Project!

Girls leading normal lives…

They are chosen to be aspiring idols and see another world for the first time in this Cinderella story. Can they all climb the stairs that lead to the palace?

The magic begins now…

Paramount Pictures and Skydance

Director Alex Garland’s next project with the adaptation of the first book from the Southern Reach trilogy with Annihilation has gone through some unfortunate changes recently with Paramount opting to distribute the film internationally through Netflix as opposed to a theatrical run. That doesn’t mean it’s a bad film but rather a film that they more than likely don’t quite “get” and can’t see how to market it with overseas partners. Thankfully, it’s still getting a theatrical release in North America on February 23rd, 2018 and we’ve now got a new trailer for it after bringing out a teaser trailer earlier this year.

The cast includes Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gina Rodriguez, Tessa Thompson, and Oscar Isaac.

As noted previously, each book from Jeff VanderMeer stands on its own with new casts joining each one to tell the larger tale. Within the book they’re only referred to by their profession, making casting an interesting aspect (and one we expected to get changed in the screenplay). All three books, averaging just under 400 pages each, were released in 2014.

Plot concept: For thirty years. Area X. monitored by the secret agency known as the Southern Reach. has remained mysterious and remote behind its intangible border-an environmental disaster zone. though to all appearances an abundant wilderness Eleven expeditions have been sent in to investigate;. even for those that have made it out alive. there have been terrible consequences. ‘Annihilation’ is the story of the twelfth expedition and is told by its nameless biologist. Introverted but highly intelligent. the biologist brings her own secrets with her. She is accompanied by a psychologist. an anthropologist and a surveyor. their stated mission: to chart the land…

It’s hard to invade a world when you can’t get too far beyond the beach.

What They Say:
Angered by mankind’s pollution of her beloved ocean, Squid Girl rises from the dark and mysterious depths in order to punish the loathsome human race! Unfortunately, that plan immediately hits more snags than a dozen fishing lines in a washing machine. Not only does her small stature not intimidate humans, but instead of unleashing a tsunami of destruction, her attempts only cause minor damage to a pleasant little beachside restaurant. And then, the unexpectedly aggressive Aizawa sisters, who run the Lemon Beach House, force her to work there to pay it off! They even make her provide her own squid ink for a tasty squid ink spaghetti!

The Review:
Audio:
The audio presentation for this release brings us the original Japanese language track in stereo along with the English language dub, both of which are encoded with the DTS-HD MA lossless codec. The serie is one that’s certainly fun with some of its wilder moments but it’s still kept within the standard design of a stereo mix, so it’s using some basic bits around the forward soundstage without going too awful far. For the most part, however, the series works your standard dialogue approach where it’s mostly center channel based with some fun bits here and there with with placement and depth for comedic effects. The two tracks definitely capture the show well as it goes for the comedy in the right way with solid levels and a clean approach. Dialogue is clean and clear throughout and we didn’t have any problems with dropouts or distortions during regular playback.

Video:
Originally airing in 2010 and 2011, the transfer for this TV series is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.78:1 in 1080p using the AVC codec. With the three OVAs included, the twenty-seven episodes total are spread across five discs. Animated by Diomedea, the show has a great look as it handles the character designs really well but shines the most when it comes to the color design. Having the various shades of blue and really nailing some strong design elements for it there it stands out in high definition with some striking scenes. But it also keeps it on a regular basis with the blue in Squid girl’s hair so there’s always something that’s vibrant and catches the eye. The encoding brings all of this to life with bright and solid colors that aren’t oversaturated and there’s little to no visible banding or gradients to be had. I love the look of the show in simulcast form and here it just feels richer and more fluid.

Packaging:
The packaging for this release comes in a thicker than normal Blu-ray case where with the hinge we get the five discs spread across it. The front cover artwork gives us a good visual of the three leading women which wasn’t used too often and it’s colorful and silly with the expressions and the costume designs. But with it taking place underwater as well it has a nice feeling that separates it out a little bit. The back cover keeps it simple with just a character shot of Squid Girl along the left and a few varied shots from the show itself to highlight the look of it. The premises is well covered since it is very simple overall and we get a good breakdown of the extras as well. The rest is filled out with a lot of text covering the production information and technical grid. Sadly, no show related inserts are included nor is there any reversible artwork.

Extras:
The extras for this release are definitely solid and fun ones where there’s a good bit to get out of it overall. The basics are here with the clean versions of the opening and closing sequences and certainly some fun promos. But we also get some commentaries that are great to dig into if you’ve got the time and interest and we’ve also got the shorts that are just adorable with mini Squid Girl, which is one of my favorite things in the world.

Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Based on the manga Masahiro Anbe that had seven volumes when it first started its broadcast run and finished out last year at twenty-two volumes, Squid Girl is a series that’s definitely a very strong and fun work. This show is something of a rescue as the first season was picked up and released by Media Blasters and Sentai Filmworks went and acquired that after it lapsed but also picked up the second season and the OVAs, making for a really strong complete work here. Anime comedy material can be difficult to get done when you’re not leaning into sex related gags regularly as it requires a different kind of mindset. Though there are some minor arcs at play within the show these are not its strengths. Its strengths is in the character comedy itself and with episodes running variable length stories that are somewhat self-contained it’s easier to just talk about a few favorites once past the setup.

The show focuses on a young girl named Squid Girl who arrives at a seaside restaurant and declares that she’s there to subdue the world in a squidly fashion. Because of the way humanity has ruined the seas, she’s intent on taking it all back with a vengeance. Not that anyone believes her since she looks like a kid who is simply cosplaying more than anything else. Introducing herself as Squid Girl certainly doesn’t bolster her position either. Amusingly, because of the way she’s fairly polite, the manager there corrals her into working as a waitress. It’s fairly cute how she goes from trying to conquer humanity to working the tables without realizing it for a few minutes. It actually works in a way once she gets into it as she’s told that she can’t subdue humanity if she can’t handle a thirty table restaurant.

Anime logic at its finest, I must say.

One of the things that drew me to this show early on is its structure, which was reminiscent of some of the classic comedies of old in that you’d get half episode stories so that it wouldn’t run a gag into the ground, such as Urusei Yatsura. With Squid Girl established at working at the seaside restaurant, and doing her best to learn things so she can achieve her world domination goal, she ends up meeting people along the way while using her powers at hand. The most interesting one at this state is that she has ten tentacles mixed into her hair that allows it all to blend. She’s able to control them individually to great skill and she uses them to abuse people at times as well. Though some of them, such as a kid she befriends in the middle story, ends up finding her to be pretty cool and offers to help her along as her first underling.

Squid Girl’s introduction to how life on land works, just at the beach at least, gets her to learn about life guards (light sabers for her) and she actually comes to some fair respect between her and Goro, the one she meets at this section of beach. It’s a cute enough encounter and she plays well with him in the water, but when she ends up having to save a kid from being stranded out to sea, she gets all embarrassed and tries to remind everyone that she’s intending to conquer the world for all their trespasses against the sea. It’s something that fits with her bit of impotent rage about things and the way she’s unable to really advance any of her barely thought out plans.

Squid Girl also has a hard time with human traditions and one of the first ones she gets introduced to is the concept of birthdays and birthday parties. She can only view it as an evil event with all kinds of dark and dangerous arts involved, but she ends up being the one to cover it all in darkness. Squiddie darkness in fact. The shop folk are pretty good in humoring her most of the time but they also soundly put her in her place when necessary, a rather welcome sight considering how many other characters practically get away with murder. Even more fun is the final story in which Eiko’s friend comes by the beach with her puppy and upon seeing everyone adore him, Squid Girl insists she be treated the same. Seeing her in a collar is likely to fill a few doujinshi pages I’m sure, but it leads to her getting to see more of normal people and their lives, and homes, which helps her to start grasping thing more as well as revealing an interesting little secret.

One of the early episodes kicks off at an amusing point on how American characters are portrayed in anime. Unless they’re in a serious SF oriented piece, they’re typically goofy, pushy and outlandish. Which is a well earned perception based on experience to be sure. Squid Girl plays with that a bit as well as an American researcher has come to the beach to find her, thinking she’s an alien, and is excited beyond words at finding her. And ready to take her back to the lab for lots of experiments. Cindy’ doesn’t break any boundaries but it is amusing that she and Squid Girl go back and forth about her origins. So much so that Cindy’s actually able to convince her that she’s an alien, which leads to Squid Girl hitting several alien parodies that are pretty damn amusing. Strangely, Cindy sort of disappears rather easily from the episode not long afterwards, but that may be a big plus.

Just as much fun is when school starts up again and Squid Girl gets quite interested in all of it. Well, after she realizes that it’s not a big cosplay event. She wants to get in on this since it sounds like fun from what she knows of it and there’s even the possibility of learning things useful to taking over the world. With her getting in there before it opens, her exploration of the school is priceless as she views it as a big place devoted to all sorts of military operations of sorts and everything has a way of fitting into that. Her naïve nature and lack of understanding makes it for a very fun fish out of water kind of gag where it hits up so many little points to such good effect that it makes you grin throughout it. I particularly loved the portrayal of the principal since it harkens back to the ones of yore, a very recurrent theme to this series.

Where Squid Girl absolutely delights however is in the third act of the episode. The whole idea is about Eiko having found a bottle with a tiny Squid Girl in it that doesn’t talk all that much but is more simple, if such a thing can be true. Taking her home and putting her in a fish tank, it’s an adorable piece that has her raising a tiny Squid Girl that’s very much like a pet. It’s all done with only a few words here and there and mostly by music and simple playfulness. Squid Girl really shines in this segment as everything is monstrously big to her but she gets into all of it, even as some of the cute things from the series so far comes into play to mock and torment her. She’s the kind of pet that you’d want to have and enjoy, so seeing her going through this kind of silly experience really is highly enjoyable.

Considering she’s a creature from under the sea, Squid Girl has done well in her time on the surface by not coming down with anything. It’d be easy to believe she’d be susceptible to things that we aren’t, or can largely fend off easily, so when she gets a bit under the weather, she can’t quite understand why. It takes her down a few pegs, but it’s definitely cute in how she plays it up and tries to come across worse than she actually is. So much so that she insists the only thing that can save her at this point is to eat lots and lots and lots of shrimp. That and a lot of rest will get her back on track, something that Eriko can’t quite believe but Squid Girl is acting so childish that you can’t help but to give into her a bit. So when Eriko messes with her on it, it’s priceless since it just shows how well she’s actually feeling.

Where Squid Girl gets interesting is when a couple of the kids tease her about her sandcastle ability and then get a bit more on her about her poor choice of hat. It turns out that it’s not actually a hat but rather her fins, though she doesn’t use them all that much. In fact, she hasn’t used them at all in the show yet and what little she uses them here causes her to cramp them rather easily. Her view of them is quite comical, especially as she insists they’ll grow huge someday and she can fly using them, but it’s all minor compared to the way she makes little squick squick sounds with them by moving them just a little bit, like some people wiggle their ears.

The third story deals with something that apparently hasn’t happened yet in the background with a bit of rain hitting the ocean side town. Squid Girl is intrigued by this strange device called an umbrella which keeps people from getting wet. So she heads out with Eriko to do some errands though she doesn’t quite use the thing correctly and even keeps it open indoors since she likes the whole idea behind it. It’s this kind of child like naivety that is fun about Squid Girl. She becomes so enraptured by the different kinds of umbrellas there are and the designs but she also views it as a way to be a weapon. She takes it far in her own dream vision of it, but just the way she sees others using it and views them as hostile is precious. Precious!

During its simulcast run the show had me a bit worried that at the end it would try to get all serious with some sort of storyline that would take over the whole episode and really change what has made it fun. Thankfully, Squid girl decided to go out by being itself and that means odd kinds of silly fun involving Squid Girl getting into things that will bring her much gain. That means it kicks off with a beach tournament event where she and Eiko team up so they can win a brand new big screen 3D TV set. And that has them going up against a lot of other familiar characters, from the kids who are always in the area to Cindy and the scientist assistant trio. Squid Girl herself may never have played before herself, but she has a lot of innate skill and even uses her tentacles to great effect.

The challenges they face along the way are really amusing, from the scientist whose hand breaks upon smacking the ball because he’s so frail to the robot design made by the South Wind duo who uses projected toothpicks to try and take them down. Of course, it all comes down to a match against the lifeguards who are out there doing their studly best, but there’s a lot of fun little distractions and gags along the way as the game goes far longer and more intense than any other one. Things go a bit more over the top than usual, but the comedic effect of it is spot on, right up to Squid Girls interactions with the 3D TV itself.

While the show doesn’t go overly serious, it does add an element that isn’t a surprise as Squid Girl seemingly loses the power of her tentacles as they’re now rather listless. She’s been able to use them with ease for awhile as if they were they were just another hand or finger, but once she loses control of them and they just flop there, she’s at a serious loss. Even worse, she’s lost the ability to create the ink that has made her a key part of the restaurant as something they’d use in the food to spice it up some, which has Eiko being a bit snarky with her which in turn causes Squid Girl to wonder if it’s time to leave and move on. She does rightly start thinking that in her mind, she has conquered this place and it may be time, but she’s also hoping that everyone asks her to stay there.

The quieter nature of the show after she leaves is interesting to watch, as everyone goes into their normal routines but it’s still rather subdued as they lost something that has given them a lot of excitement and life. It’s an appropriate kind of quiet reflective piece to show us how they’re missing her in their own way, but knowing that she had to go off on her own. And just as you can expect, she does return, different than she was before, but that’s the kind of charm that she has in that there’s more to her than just her tentacles. But that doesn’t sit well with everyone as she becomes a normal girl as they want the exciting, outgoing and wacky Squid Girl that they’ve come to know. Watching the challenge she and others go through over this as she tries to figure out what it is she needs to do, is nicely heartwarming. It avoids being too serious, too somber, but rather provides for some natural growth and changes to the character while highlighting what it is that’s made her special.

When it comes to the second season, fans initially had a wait of about a year but it’s not even noticeable here as it essentially picked up where things left off as she’s dreaming of making her invasion plans a reality and feels like she needs to redouble her efforts. Of course, her efforts have not accomplished much over the course of the first season beyond making a lot of friends, having fun and coping with some amusing American’s that are nothing but trouble. She’s come up with some creative ideas in the past for invasion and is ready to hit up more here, though she has to basically meet up with the whole cast first to reacquaint us all with them.

With the structure of the series, having the opening story here about that works pretty well and it doesn’t take long to get us back on track with how she fits into things. She’s still got her invasion mindset and comes up with silly ways to do it. The show also introduces some new folks along the way, though one of them insists he’s not new even though Squid Girl barely even registers him. What gets things moving a bit though is with Sanae as she gets jealous of the new friends that Squid Girl is making and it pushes her to bad thoughts. What’s amusing is how everyone just gets along so well with Squid Girl even as she rants about conquering the world. For Sanae, it’s having to understand that lots of people like her and for good reason, so she has to avoid being jealous. And for Squid Girl, it’s another notch in the softening up of her ways with the surface dwellers.

The show also gives us an opportunity to see how silly the surface world looks to her eyes, such as when she goes on a tear in the final story about how silly it is to think a guy with a stick can take care of the ocean. Of course, she has a mishap of her own and that leads to her having a jellyfish catching competition with everyone. Some things blossom big quickly and when Chizuru is involved, that’s even less of a surprise. Having everyone in the water in their swimsuits looking for jellyfish is a lot of fun, especially as Squid Girl gets to use her tentacles to make multiple attack and capture runs in a really fun way, going so far as to swipe them from other people directly. But as we’ve seen before, she is her own worst enemy and it’s just comical to watch it unfold, especially as she gets stung repeatedly.

While we often see characters going about their normal lives, it’s rare to see any of them exercising unless they’re involved in a sports show. And even then it’s hit or miss whether they’ll spend the time on it. So it was actually nice to see the gang out for a jog together and doing fairly well with it and doing it without complaint at that. They end up running into Goro on the run, though everyone is easily distracted by food outside of Chizuru and Goro. Since Goro has the hots for Chizuru, the pair spend their time going off un a run while the other three go and enjoy the sights of the city, which are pretty new and fun to Squid Girl. As much as she harbors invasion plans for her hated enemy, she does enjoy their world a whole lot as she gets into exploring it more and more.

The middle story here brings back Sanae again and I continue to find her the weak link in the series with the way she gloms onto Squid Girl. And that does get to others as well as a bunch of the young boys do their best to get Sanae to knock it off. Unfortunately, Sanae figures out a way not only to get closer to Squid Girl but also to keep others away by becoming a bodyguard. And through a mishap or two, she shows that she’s up for the job, which in turn freaks out Squid Girl even more. Sanae takes her job very seriously and it continues to push everyone out of the way, making her even more annoying than usual. I do like that Squid Girl gets frustrated with her, but Sanae just pushes this in a less than humorous direction.

Thankfully, they follow up this piece with what salvages the episode as a whole by going with the mini Squid Girl segment. The one that we had in the first season was a real highlight of the whole season for me, so going back to this pint-sized version that only says Squii and has a big, Ghibli-esque view of the world in just a few minutes is fun. Her exploration is great, her fears are well founded and she has a great little sequence with some cats that was just priceless from the sound effects alone and her expressions. I love these little bits and am glad they’re not more regular as it would kill the fun of it. As a small piece within the overall episode, it gives you just enough taste to want more but still very happy with what you get.

Squid Girl’s conquest is one that has some really fun moments, especially when she actually gets all commandeering and the like. The final episode of the second season has her taking over the Lemon restaurant for a bit, or at least trying to, in an effort to make the place her first line of defense against other invaders. Raising the possibility of more invaders like her is a double-edged sword since it could be really cute but also start us down the path of even more girls with distinct personalities, taking the focus off the really solid cast that we do have. Unfortunately for her, the attempts to train don’t go well because of the way Chizuru and Eiko are far more powerful than one would normally expect, both physically and through sheer intimidation. So giving Squid Girl a real challenge like this is definitely difficult for her.

One of the things I do like about the show is that you have such different personalities for the sisters. While Chizuru is soft in a sense while being brutally hard, Eiko is outgoing with her harshness and that plays well with Squid Girls own stubborn and unthinking behavior. So when the second story here focuses on the two in the midst of a fight that boils over in a big way, seeing how they handle the fallout is a lot of fun. The two are friends, they have to be at this point, but they’re both stubborn enough to be how they are by ignoring each other and trying to go about their days like normal without interacting. Which is hard, considering they work together as well, which leads to the expected tense yet cute moments where they play against each other. Add in the age difference between the two and it just makes it even more fun.

What this leads to is a bit of an unusual moment where Chizuru actually steps in to deal with the situation by closing the shop early for the day. By getting them out of the work environment, that helps a bit, but they also end up going to the festival that’s going on. So with lots of dress up involved and time spent with other friends, the two get some much needed time apart. Unfortunately for Squid Girl, she ends up separated even further and it’s difficult for her since it’s not all people familiar with her and her disconnect from human ways, so it has some cute and mild tension to it that tries to force everything back into place because of it. As a way to close out the season, it works rather well since it keeps things focused on a relationship that’s natural but doesn’t get a lot of time really devoted to it outside of the usual gags. It’s a bit slower, a little more character driven, but still has some good humor to it.

In Summary:
Squid Girl has long been a show I’ve enjoyed and revisiting it only reinforces it. Sentai’s put together a very solid package here for those that just want the show (a premium edition was also produced) as it has a lot of content with both seasons dubbed and a good helping of extras to be had. This series is one that has always felt just a hair below the radar for how appreciated it should be among anime fans since it keeps to simple things with several stories per episode instead of the usual tomfoolery. The structure is appealing, the charm of the characters, the minimal amount of sexytime fanservice, it all comes together to give us a show that’s not easily dated and simply enjoys playing to goofy events and not getting too serious. It’s not perfect throughout as there are areas where it falls flat, and I do recommend spacing it out viewings, but as a whole there’s far too much to enjoy here and it’s simply a delight.

Features:
Japanese DTS-HD MA 2.0 Language, English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Language, English Subtitles, Japanese Promos & Commentaries, Mini Squid Girl Short Stories, I Th-INK That’s English?!, Clean Version Short, Clean Opening and Closing Animations

Content Grade: A-
Audio Grade: B+
Video Grade: A-
Packaging Grade: B
Menu Grade: B
Extras Grade: B

Released By: Sentai Filmworks
Release Date: November 28th, 2017
MSRP: $99.98
Running Time: 675 Minutes
Video Encoding: 1080p AVC
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Widescreen

Review Equipment:
Sony KDL70R550A 70″ LED 1080P HDTV, Sony PlayStation3 Blu-ray player via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.

© Yuiko Tokumi / Houbunsha / Slow Start Production Committee

Yuiko Tokumi’s series Slow Start is getting prepped for its winter 2018 bow and we learned recently that it has a Japanese premiere of January 6th, 2018. Aniplex USA has now confirmed that they’ll be handling the series and streaming it through Crunchyroll with it coming out that same day with a planned 12:00 pm debut. Details about the streaming will be coming from Crunchyroll in the near future as well. Hiroyuki Hashimoto is set as the director and working from the series composition by Mio Inoue. Masato Yasuno is handling the character designs and A-1 Pictures will be working the animation production.

The Japanese cast includes Reina Kondou as Hana Ichinose, Ayasa Itou as Tamate Momochi, Tomomi Mineuchi as Eiko Tokura, Maria Naganawa as Kamuri Sengoku, Manami Numakura as  Kiyose Enami, Maaya Uchida as Hiroe Hannen, and M.A.O as Shion Kyōzuka.

The property has been serialized in Manga Time Kirara as a four-panel series since the summer of 2013 and has four volumes out so far.

Plot Concept: Hana Ichinose is a normal 16-year-old high school student. However, there is something different about her: She enrolled in high school one year late! Her classmates are unaware of this, and Hana will have to work hard to catch up with everyone else.

© Yūki Tabata / Shueisha · TV Tokyo · Black Clover Production Committee

The latest rankings are in as to what was watched this past weekend and that lets us get a look at what folks are tuning into when it comes to anime on Cartoon Network with the Toonami block. This week sees Dragon Ball Super expanding its viewership as it’s up from 1.029 million to 1.111 million this week, which is a good sign. We also see the 11:00 pm showing of Dragon Ball Z Kai gaining as it went from 799,000 the week before to 888,000 this week. Black Clover had a smaller gain by increasing about 43,000 viewers over last week while Jojo’s is pretty much flat as it went up just about 7,000 viewers.

Top 25 original cable shows among adults 18-49 for Saturday, Dec. 9, 2017

Source: The Nielsen Company

© 伍箇伝計画／刀使ノ巫女製作委員会

With a planned January 5th, 2018 debut for it in Japan, the Toji no Miko anime series has a new update. Kadokawa has brought out a new teaser for the series that clocks in at 41-seconds and shows off more of the project, the voice actors, and a taste of the ending theme song that has the cast involved with it. Koudai Kakimoto is set to direct based on the series composition by Tatsuya Takahashi. Yoshinori Shizuma is on board as the original character designer with Yuuko Yahiro adapting them and serving as the chief animation director with Kenji Oota for studio Gokumi.

The Japanese cast includes Kaede Hondo as Kanami Etou, Saori Oonishi asHiyori Juujuu, Azumi Waki as Mai Yanase, Hina Kino as Sayaka Itomi, Risae Matsuda as Kaoru Mashiko, Eri Suzuki as Eren Kohagura, Asami Seto as Yukari Origami, Yumi Uchiyama as Maki Shidou, M.A.O as Suzuka Korehana, Mai Fuchigami as Yomi Satsuki, and Inori Minase as Yume Tsubakuro.

Plot Concept: There’s an evil creature called Aratama that attack people, and group of Miko has been exorcised those creatures using swords since olden times. Those who usually wear uniforms and swords are called Toji, who officially called Tokubetsu Saishi Kitoutai (Special Ritual Maneuver Team) in police association. They are officially approved of having the swords by the government official, but they are female students who attend training schools that only have 5 schools and consists of junior and senior high levels. They normally spend their student life normally, they release special skills with the swords when there’s missions to protect people. This spring, there’s a competitions for these five schools. Among those girls who train for competition, there’s a girl training with a bit stronger feelings than any other girls. Where would the girl with the sword aim?

© Yoichi Takahashi / Shueisha

With thirty-seven volumes in the original manga run that ran throughout the eighties and a whole lot of sequels and adapations out there, Yoichi Takahashi’s Captain Tsubasa soccer manga is getting a fresh adaptation that’s set for the spring 2018 season as it goes back to the beginning. The show has Toshiyuki Kato directing it based on the series composition by Atsuhiro Tomioka. Hajime Watanabe is serving as character designer and chief animation director with David Productions handling the animation produciton.

The Japanese cast includes:

• Yuko Sanpei as Tsubasa Ōzora
• Kenichi Suzumura as Genzō Wakabayashi
• Ayaka Fukuhara as Tarō Misaki
• Mutsumi Tamura as Ryō Ishisaki
• Takuya Satō as Kojirō Hyūga
• Katsuyuki Konishi as Roberto Hongō

Plot Concept: Captain Tsubasa is the passionate story of an elementary school student whose thoughts and dreams revolve almost entirely around the love of soccer. 11-year-old Tsubasa Oozora started playing soccer at a very young age, and while it was mostly just a recreational sport for his friends, for him, it developed into something of an obsession.

In order to pursue his dream to the best of his elementary school abilities, Tsubasa moves with his mother to Nankatsu city, which is well-known for its excellent elementary school soccer teams. But although he was easily the best in his old town, Nankatsu has a lot more competition, and he will need all of his skill and talent in order to stand out from this new crowd.

He encounters not only rivals, but also new friends like the pretty girl Sanae Nakazawa and the talented goalkeeper, Genzo Wakabayashi, who shares the same passion as Tsubasa, and will prove to be a treasured friend in helping him push towards his dreams. Representing Japan in the FIFA World Cup is Tsubasa’s ultimate dream, but it will take a lot more than talent to reach it.

[Source: Comic Natalie via MAL]

© merryhachi

A new anime adaptation is slated to debut with the manga property Tachibanakan Triangle stepping up to the plate. The series translates as Love to Lie Angle and will have its staffing revealed in the future. The manga is serialized in Comic Yuri Hime and began in 2014 with five volumes out as of this month. Digital Manga Publishing brought out the series this year as Love to Lie Angle.

The Japanese cast for it includes:

• Minami Tsuda as Hanabi Natsuno
• Amisa Sakuragi as Konomi Fujiwara
• Arisa Nakada as Iori Takamura
• Rei Matsuzaki as Yoriko Fujiwara
• Mikako Komatsu as Yū Tsukishiro
• Eri Kitamura as Sonoa Mitsui

Plot Concept: After moving back to her hometown, Natsuno Hanabi is ready to start high school and excited to be living in Tachibana Mansion, a luxurious mansion-style dormitory. However, due to some complications, she winds up at run-down but lively Tachibana House… and finds herself stuck between her childhood friend and a mysterious beauty. Will this love triangle define her high school experience?

[Source: Comic Natalie via MAL]

An expanded and convoluted ending.

Creative Staff:
Story: Lights
Art: Lights
Colors: Lights
Letterer: Lights

What They Say:
Now trapped in Mitsuki’s strange domain, a vast and surprising truth is revealed to En about her world and those she knows and loves. In this last instalment of Skin&Earth, En finds new power in the depths of captivity, and it is up to her what she will do with it.

Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Skin & Earth has been an interesting series overall and is one that I suspect is going to work really well for some while others will just struggle through it. I liked the look and feel of it at the start and the kind of world that Lights was putting together but the structure of the storytelling opted more for ethereal and dreamlike, which made it a struggle for me. The designs complemented this approach very well and it has a kind of surreal element to it that helps to give it a good flow to go along with. The problem for me is that the more I went along with it the less sense it made and I just found myself somewhat confused. And when we get to a triple-sized installment like this clocking in at 60 pages, the massive exposition and backstory just didn’t work as it came across like an info dump.

En’s journey through this other world with Mitsuki is one that was visually engaging as it had the life that we didn’t see on the other world. You know there’s something up with Mitsuki and what we saw of this world and all the Vacants that exist there that there’s a danger to it all. En’s figuring that out slowly but surely but it comes in waves this time around, first as she starts to have some kind of deja vu with some of the statues that populates the landscape and then when Mitsuki makes it clear that her questioning things will not go well. Because once she realizes that things aren’t as they seem it all turns twisted, dark, and then disappears as it leaves them just as the tower in the middle of it all where Mitsuki operates out of.

There’s a lot of material in the second half of this that goes into backstory with En’s mother, the return of Priest, the truth of the world, and En’s place in it. But it’s just such a massive dump of information that unless you were really invested in it, which I became less of as the series went on, this is going to be a real struggle. En’s been set to be a part of this place for a long time and her mother guided her to ways to dealing with it and as a way to help fix the real world itself. There are some really great scenes visually here and with the designs but it lacks the foundations to give it weight and meaning. The further I went into it the less I cared because little had been set to really make us understand the nature of the world we were in before shifting to this world and upending everything.

In Summary:
Pretty and full of emotional weight but empty of substance is how I think of Skin & Earth at this point. There have been neat moments but it largely reminded me of a lot of what the 80’s independent scene was like. Some intriguing talents getting into the medium with ideas that feel fresh with how they’re presented but end up falling short, sometimes tremendously so, because of a lack of a solid enough structure. Perhaps this reads better as a single work, perhaps the songs from Lights recent release gives it more meaning, but the series as a whole and this book in particular is just a lot of sound and fury without the depth needed in the execution to pull it off.

Grade: C

Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: December 13th, 2017
MSRP: $4.99

© 2018 Studio Map

Mamoru Hosoda has been on quite the run with his feature films the last few years and after The Boy and the Beast his next work is on track with Mirai from the Future. The film is scheduled for a July 20th, 2018 release in Japan and it’s easy to imagine distribution will be pretty good overseas as well based on past performances and the growing interest in anime feature films in the theater.

Hosoda wrote and directs the film with Hiroyuki Aoyam and Ayako Hata serving as the animation directors. Studio Chizu has handled the animation production and we’ve got a brief teaser for it below.

Plot Concept: The film centers on Kun-chan, a spoiled four-year-old boy in a small house in a corner of a certain city. When his little sister Mirai is born, he feels that his little sister has deprived him of their parents’ affection, and is overwhelmed by a series of first experiences. Amidst his new life, he meets an older version of his little sister Mirai, who has come from the future.

© Go Nagai / Devilman Crybaby Project

Netflix is looking to get January 2018 off in a pretty good way with a lot of shows and movies landing on the service. The increased focus on original works is going to be a huge part of this year for them and a good number will be overseas projects, which includes the launch of the Devilman Crybaby property this month. There are a lot of movies coming through such as Cars 3 on the new side and Dallas Buyers Club that make their debuts. The original side of things has a slew of shows to check out and see what they actually are but there are some domestic shows getting release here as well, such as Colony with its second season. The beginning of the month is where we see a lot of backlist movies and it seems like Warner Bros. is going big with some franchise such as Batman and Lethal Weapon. And I know I’ll be playing Wedding Crashers a few times once it hits.

The chaotic situation continues.

Creative Staff:
Story: Tim Seeley
Art: Priscilla Petraites
Colors: Marco Lesko
Letterer:

What They Say:
Reluctant reporter Kennedy Avis, finds herself in the clutches of the God Hackers, a group of teenagers attempting to jailbreak their own bodies in the pursuit of superhuman powers. The key to human evolution now flows through Kennedy’s veins. What lengths will they go to to get back her head?

Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Brilliant Trash in its debut was a messy and chaotic work that introduced a lot of things quickly, which is designed to capture your interest and attention. That’s been part of comics forever, though I’ll admit I like series that work a little tighter and clearer to give me a hook into it, a connection. That was ostensibly done with the journalist, Kennedy Avis, to give us our eyes into this world. The problem is that her story was alongside what feels like a dozen others so it’s just moving fast and without anything to really connect with yet. It’s also made very busy thanks to Priscilla Petraites artwork, which is fantastic, but everything feels like it’s in motion and intense even when just standing around talking. That just made me tense reading several pages.

A lot of what we get here is also standard fare in that Kennedy is getting exposed to a lot of new things by people that know it all and just toss it out there, leaving her and us with questions. Which is fine, when you have enough grounding for what you think is your lead character. Kennedy’s finding herself with this group that calls themselves the God Hackers that are basically rewriting their DNA to get abilities, working the whole “jailbreaking what god gave us” mindset. It’s actually an interesting way of working the idea and the phrasing of it all and we get a brief almost scorecard-like approach to filling us in on this group that have her. None of it connects for me because of how busy it is and I get the sense that just about everyone outside of Kennedy at this stage is expendable so I’m not feeling like it’s worth investing in any of them.

There’s a lot of other things going on in the background with the group looking for Dr. Zhen that put this data into Kennedy and we see a creative way that’s dealt with. We also get someone else that has found Zhen’s body and has gained a few clues from it in order to find Kennedy from it. With Kennedy herself, however, she’s struggling with the after effects of what Zhen did to her and having flashbacks of Zhen’s life and the drive she had to achieve her various goals, though it’s not something that lands well narratively as it’s spread throughout the book and just adds to the overall jumpiness to it. It also doesn’t help that the God Hackers want to retrieve the data from her, which will ease her problems, but don’t particularly care if she lives or not since the data is what’s important. That doesn’t exactly enamor us to the group even if you know that they’ll likely change their tune as the series goes on.

In Summary:
Brilliant Trash jumps around a lot and has a lot of things going on. There’s a lot of exposition here but it doesn’t feel like it really reveals anything. I’m still trying to get a handle on this world design with what it’s about and how it works but I’m feeling more like Kennedy than anything else, being thrust from situation to situation in crazy ways and unable to get my bearings. Seeley’s a strong writer to be sure and I’m hopeful that things will even out so that I can really connect with it, especially as I want to enjoy it thanks to Petraites’ artwork as there’s a lot to like here. But there’s something about the structure and the lack of enough foundation for me to latch onto that’s making it rough to get into.

Grade: B

Age Rating: 16+
Released By: AfterShock Comics
Release Date: December 13th, 2017
MSRP: $3.99

© bkub Ookawa / Takeshobo / King record

The Pop Team Epic anime series is coming up as a part of the winter 2018 season and the official channel has now dropped two new promotional videos for it that are definitely amusing. But it was also a useful update as it’s been scheduled for a January 6th, 2018 premiere on Tokyo MX and BS-11 before moving onto other platforms over the next few days. .

The show was animated by Kamikaze Douga with King Records producing it. The original work is a webmanga that began in 2014 as a four-panel project. The first series ended in late 2015 and a second kicked off in early 2016.

Plot Concept: The story centers around two girls called Popuko and Pipimi and uses lots of news topics in a surreal way.

An explosive conclusion.

Creative Staff:
Story: James Stokoe
Art: James Stokoe
Colors: James Stokoe
Letterer: James Stokoe

What They Say:
With one last gambit aboard the space station, Wascylewski finds himself ambushed by two more deadly xenomorphs that will stop at nothing until he’s dead.

Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The first three issues of Aliens: Dead Orbit definitely made an impression with what they did as James Stokoe put together a book that looked great, hit all the right notes that Alien fans were looking for, and built up the tension and pacing with some nice twists and creativity. There are areas where this property can expand and do new things but there’s also something to be said for having creators play in the sandbox to bring their own particular vision to the familiar template. They’re not looking to go crazy weird in building onto the mythology but rather to tell a tale full of tension and horror mixed with action. Stokoe delivered that in spades here.

With this being the final issue there aren’t exactly any surprises here. In terms of story, Stokoe keeps it simple as Wassy and the other three survivors continues to look for a way to escape and work through a couple of options, none of which seem good, as they’re picked off one by one. It’s a brutal series of events that unfolds as everyone is panicking, though Wassy panics just a bit less than the others, and he makes out a bit better simply because he has the spacesuit on while trying to get things together. It’s something that gives him an edge but also puts him in more danger, but it also keeps him separate from the others as they’re dragged away and torn apart by the Xenomorphs.

The final act is definitely something that works wonderfully, though coming out five months after the third installment minimizes it in reading it in this form. The final confrontation between Wassy and the Xenomorph shifts to the exterior of the ship and that lets Stoke run with the visuals in a great way, giving us this large but empty vista with great coloring that sets the stage incredibly way. That’s combined with a lot of detail through the Xenomorph itself as well as the space station as we get that being run across, torn up, and blown up. It’s a fantastic fight that’s essentially wordless which gives it its own weight. And it shifts into something even darker and more ominous in the final pages with the clock counting down, no words, and the knowledge of just how bad things are. It’s technically open-ended but it has a real sense of finality about it.

In Summary:
I thoroughly enjoyed this series from start to finish as James Stokoe delivered a strong work across the board. The gap between issues is a killer but for those that read it in the future they’ll have a single run to just absorb and enjoy. This is almost a theatrical experience in what he produces here, giving us enough character to set the stage but keeping the focus on the tension, panic, and chaos that comes from trying to survive. The details are incredible and I love the look of this from the layouts to the character designs. This issue goes a bit bigger on the exteriors and that made me want a lot more of that as well. Definitely a great book and a wonderful way to dig into the franchise a bit more without needing a huge amount of mythology to engage with.

Grade: A-

Age Rating: 16+
Released By: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: December 13th, 2017
MSRP: $3.99

© YORIMOI PARTNERS

The winter 2018 series A Story That Leads to Antarctica has updated with some new information as we’re closing in on when it’ll be starting up. The show has been scheduled for a January 2nd, 2018 debut on most of the main networks and streaming services. In addition to a premiere being set there was an additional back of casting revealed with:

• Mamiko Noto as Gin Toudou
• Yoko Hikasa as Kanae Maekawa
• Lynn as Yumiko Sabejima
• Hisako Kanemoto as Megumi Takahashi
• Kaede Hondo as Rin Tamaki
• Sayaka Ohara as Tamiko Shiraishi

The previously announced cast includes:

• Inori Minase as Mari Tamaki
• Kana Hanazawa as Shirase Kobuchizawa
• Yuka Iguchi as Hinata Miyake
• Saori Hayami as Yuzuki Shiraishi

The show is being directed by Atsuko Ishizuka based on the series composition and scripts by Jukki Hanada. Takahiro Yoshimatsu is handling the character designs while also serving as the chief animation director and Madhouse is handling the animation production.

Plot Concept: It’ll focus on high school girls visiting the South Pole.

[Source: Moca News via MAL]

Surviving a world that’s gone mad.

Creative Staff:
Story/Art/Lettering: Carlos & Miguel Valderrama

What They Say:
A cataclysm of unknown origins unleashed a race of gigantic monsters whose presence has driven humanity underground. There, two orphans discover that the most dangerous monster is ambition, which unchecked, will grow until it devours you!

Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
While growing up as a child of the 70’s, back when there were five or six TV stations available even just outside of Boston, one of the things that I was exposed to regularly were the weekend Creature Double Feature showings of various monster movies. They weren’t my thing but at a time when there was little to watch you’d find yourself digging into anything new just because it was new. I’m still not a fan of the rubber suit movies of yore but I’ve enjoyed some of what we’ve had in the last few years in different forms of media. Dark Horse now has this new series underway from the very talented Valderrama brothers out of Spain and this series showcases some great talent that will appeal to Western kaiju fans but also anime/manga fans with its designs and the kind of motion that we get out of it.

The opening installment gives us a lot to work with while still holding a whole lot back. The world has changed in that some decades ago, a comet fell to Earth and it didn’t take long for the giant monsters to take over and mankind to retreat underground to survive. We see some of them at the start with their impressive shape and sense of power and there’s a solid action sequence that shows off some neat ideas in how they operate and fight/devour humanity. But this series is, at the moment, more of a human story with the giants as a backdrop. A dangerous backdrop that creates a particular kind of oppressive atmosphere because they are the apex creatures and mankind has traditionally not dealt well with having something that wants to kill them roaming about. So when in a losing situation it creates a particular kind of mindset.

The focus is on a pair of young teenage kids named Gogi and Zedo who know that the only way to survive in this world, or at least the section of underground they exist in, is to join up with the Blood Wolves gang. The first half of the book deals with them doing something that kind of saves the day but botches things as well, which leads to them getting a job that could earn them a patch and a place. It’s something that requires them to go to the surface to find the material that’s needed. It’s a good sequence in that they do explain why nobody comes to the surface often, reinforced with the giants arriving, and a look at the scale of the damage and destruction amid the wintry ruins. The two kids come across well as they have a certain youthful recklessness but also an understanding of how the world works with some good street smarts. Seeing them cope with something so far out of their league, and the panic that sets in, works well to provide the back half with some tension as it shifts to setting up the larger picture with what’s to come.

In Summary:
Giants offers up a series of possibility and potential. The Valderrama brothers deliver a fantastic opening issue, the kind that should the series work will propel them to intriguing works down the line if they have more in them. The visual design of the book is strong, especially if you like the creature design, and I like the look of the characters as well as the above and below ground worlds that exist. The story is in its first blush exposure and there’s plenty of familiar material ere but it’s executed with strength and confidence in what’s to come and that kind of confidence is engaging to watch unfold. This is definitely a series to keep an eye on and a reminder that Dark Horse continues to unearth some engaging talent and nurture them with their projects.

Grade: B+

Age Rating: 15+
Released By: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: December 13th, 2017
MSRP: $3.99

While the first season of The Punisher that dropped this fall got some very solid reviews it didn’t get a big promotional push amid a number of real world shootings and the complications that comes from trying to promote entertainment about a character like this. That said, the series that has Jon Bernthal at its head did very well for the streaming service as they’ve given a green light for a second season. While no dates are set for it one can easily imagine that some basic treatments are in place for it and everything will move forward quickly to get into a production phase.

Property Concept: After exacting revenge on those responsible for the death of his wife and children, Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal) uncovers a conspiracy that runs far deeper than New York’s criminal underworld. Now known throughout the city as The Punisher, he must discover the truth about injustices that affect more than his family alone. The series is executive produced by showrunner Steve Lightfoot (Hannibal), Jim Chory (Marvel’s Daredevil, Marvel’s Jessica Jones, Marvel’s Luke Cage) and Jeph Loeb (Marvel’s Daredevil, Marvel’s Jessica Jones, Marvel’s Luke Cage) who also serves as Marvel’s Head of Television. Marvel’s The Punisher is produced by Marvel Television in association with ABC Studios for Netflix.

© Makana / Suiseisha

Set for a January 7th, 2018 debut, the anime adaptation of Makana’s manga series 25-Sai no Joshi Kōsei~Kodomo ni wa Oshierarenai Koto Shite Yaru yo, aka 25-Year-Old High School Girl: I’ll Do What Can’t Be Taught to Children, has a new promotional video out for it. Well, sort of. We originally got this back at the beginning of the month where it gave us a taste of the opening song “Reunion” from Saki Hazuki but no dialogue. This one is the same promo but with dialogue so we can get a feel for the leads from the regular edition.

The series is directed by Hideta Ota based on the scripts by Shinichiro Sawayama. Sawako Yamamoto is handling the character designs and it’s being animated at studio Lilix. It’s also being produced in two versions, a regular version for broadcast and a version with explicit scenes for the online side through the Anime Zone service.

The Japanese cast includes:

• Hitomi Harada (regular edition), Kirika Waō (complete edition) as Hana Natori
• Chinatsu Sawashiro (regular edition), Kyohei Morishita (complete edition) as Okito Kanie
• Tomohito Takatsuka (regular edition), Tetsuto Furukawa (complete edition) as Naoyuki Aida

Plot Concept: The romance story centers around Hana Natori, an earnest, good-natured 25-year-old woman whose cousin refuses to go to high school. Hana takes her cousin’s place and attends the high school. On her first day, though, Hana’s ruse is discovered by her former high school classmate Okito Kanie — who happens to be the high school’s world history teacher.