Moshimoshi Terumi Desu Japanese Volume 1

The Moshimoshi, Terumi Desu. manga from Etsuko Mizusawa ended today in Japan and the final chapter has revealed that it’s getting an anime adaptation. No details are included regarding it but one can imagine it’ll be timed fairly soon with the serialization now ended and trying to capitalize on that a bit. The manga, a full-color series, has one volume out in Japan since it began in Big Comic Spirits.

Plot Concept: The story depicts the everyday life of Terumi-san, who dislikes the internet and works at a telephone company called Moshimoshi Dou, and middle school student Rintarou, who is in love with her.

[Source: Comic Natalie via MAL]

©Happy Elements K.K/LAST PERIOD ANIMATION PROJECT

The mobile game Last Period: Owarinaki Rasen no Monogatari is now on track for an anime adaptation as announced at a fan event over the weekend with it set to air as part of the Spring 2018 season. The series is directed by Yoshiaki Iwasaki based on the series composition by Hideki Shirane. With original designs by whoopin, Mika Takahashi handled the adaptation of the designs and served as the chief animation director with JC Staff working on the animation production.

The Japanese cast includes:

• Natsuki Hanae as Haru
• Yukari Tamura as Choco
• Mika Kikuchi as Liza
• Ayumu Murase as Gajeru
• Ai Kakuma as Erika
• M.A.O as Campanella
• Yamato Kinjo as Gilled
• Reina Ueda as Noin
• Ai Kayano as Iona
• Sayaka Harada as Mizaru
• Akari Kitō as Kikazaru
• Ayumu Mano as Iwazaru
• Shiori Izawa as Guru

Plot Concept: “Period” is how magic users called who beat “Spiral”—monsters that were summoned from isolation. Due to the rise of these beings, 14-year-old apprentice Period Haru, who is a part of the Eighth Arc-end Division, is called to break the cycle and cast himself into the endless battle. However, a mysterious thievery occurred and sank the division into bankruptcy, forcing Haru and his other comrades have to leave their headquarters. To rebuild a branch, they have to overcome quest after quest.

[Source: Moca News via MAL]

The next arc gets underway!

What They Say:
After the fall of Uoodo City, renegade Armored Trooper pilot Chirico Cuvie travels to the jungles of Kummen where he signs on as a mercenary in a bloody civil war. When he discovers the guiding hand of the sinister Secret Society behind the conflict, Chirico is swept up in a whirlwind of battles that not only reunite him with Fyana, but also bring him face to face with his deadliest opponent yet: Ypsilon ” a fierce Perfect Soldier with a score to settle! Contains Episodes 14-27 on 2 DVDs.

Audio: 
The audio presentation for this release brings us the original Japanese language track only encoded in stereo at 192kbps. The show is a pretty basic stereo mix that has hardly anything truly noticeable in a directionality way since it’s rather old. The mix is very full feeling in how it comes across though there are some areas where it can be faked a bit if you’ve got a large setup and your ears pick up both speakers in different ways. It is a good sounding mix overall though and it avoids problems such as dropouts or distortions. A few high notes here and there touch a little scratchiness but it’s so minimal across the entire run it’s barely a blip.

Video: 
Originally airing back in 1983, the transfer for this series is presented in its original full frame aspect ration. While CPM has cleaned up this release and it is certainly better than the NuTech release from a few years ago due to it being a clean print with no burned in subtitles, it’s not quite as clean and solid as the Japanese full remaster that was done a few years back. That said, this is still probably the best the show has looked in its various US releases and overall is something that people who watch any amount of older shows will find looks great. The main area that’s noticeable throughout the print is either the grain or the nicks and dirty on the print. The grain for me was less of an issue since I like how it gives it a more film like feel and with the bold colors such as Chirico’s red uniform, it adds a certain softness to it that helps. The nicks and dirt on the print, which is very much cleaned up overall, is still there though and can certainly be a problem for some. Like the grain, I have to admit that it almost adds a certain charm and it’s something that I do expect to see on something in the anime world that’s from the early 80’s. A cleaner print would definitely be better but I can’t begrudge this one for how it looks much.

Packaging: 
Essentially, the standalone digipak is good overall but without any kind of closure on it or way to latch it shut, it feels incomplete and prone to problems, such as the coupon falling out of it constantly or discs sliding out. The front artwork for the package has a good shot of one of the Scopedogs in action with fire and a ships interior behind it while the new logo sits overheard which looks really good. Each set is marked by both a stage number and what particular area it takes place in. The back cover has a strip of shots from the show down along the left while the space to the right provides a few choice quotes and information about the creators as well as a decent summary paragraph for it. The discs features are clearly listed though the technical information is a bit hard to find in the fine print below. The digipak opens to provide to plastic trays where the discs reside and other than the coupon that’s it.

Menu: 
The menu layout is nicely done with the top and right side having line artwork of the Scopedogs where the top has the logo and the right side has the standard navigation section that we see on most CPM releases. The rest of the menu is given over to a series of animated clips under a grid overlay that looks nicely done as almost a minute’s worth of vocal music plays along to it. It’s certainly far better than what we got with the NuTech releases and it’s all nicely in theme here between font and layout. Access times are nice and fast and with there being only one language available here, player presets are pretty much moot.

Extras: 
None.

Taking places three months after he escaped from Uoodo City, Chirico has found himself working alongside with the mercenary side of the army in the Kingdom of Kummen. The country is an oddity in that it’s an autonomous region outside of Melkia and has managed to keep its independence throughout the hundred years war that had gone on. The country hasn’t been devastated like much of the rest of the planet as we’ve seen in the first arc but it’s a very backwater place. The kingdom has found itself now in a civil war due to the way the royalty has decided to make changes in the nature of its make-up. Instead of continuing to work through the traditional ways, the king and most of the family has decided to make a move forward to becoming an industrialized nation that could potentially help everyone. One of the princes through wants to keep to the old ways and has gained a strong following which has led to the war that’s now in place.

Amusingly, Chirico easily falls in with the royalty side’s military movement as its made up of a lot of mercenaries which has allowed him to blend in quite well. Along the way he finds himself in a sizeable camp which actually is a decent sized village that has a number of real buildings to it, including a bar/restaurant that’s owned by Gotho and has Vanilla and Coconna employed there. They managed to get out of Uoodo as well and provide some good threads from Uoodo to shift over to this arc. While they do make appearances throughout, they’re not as strong as they were during the first arc but they do help out at key moments and provide some sort of semblance of friends for Chirico during his adventures here.

Chirico spends most of his time dealing with the mercenary crew he’s working with, which includes a somewhat cocky veteran type as the captain named Kan Yu who doesn’t like listening to others. He’s the military type who believes he knows exactly what needs to be done and nobody else has a real clue. He and Chirico butt heads continually which is amusing at times but the story shifts a bit when Chirico realizes that the renegade prince is working with those from Uoodo who were in charge of the Perfect Soldier program. The chance that Fyanna survived and that he can get closer to her again is now paramount in his approach which leads him to taking some chances along the way. But things aren’t as smooth as it could be when he finds out that another Perfect Soldier named Ypsilon is working with Fyanna but he’s not quite the prototype she is. His level of hate is much stronger and when set to find and kill Chirico he takes it to heart and the two end up in a number of solid action sequences throughout the arc.

The Kummen arc is a lot of fun after how the Uoodo arc played out where so much of it was underground in dank places as well as having to do so much setup in general with character interactions and motivations. Even better, the Kummen arc doesn’t really have anything in the way of recaps or real filler as everything is working towards the story goal of putting Chirico on the path to finding Fyanna and picking up where they left off. The setting change alone adds a good new element to it since it brings in more varied locales and then we also get the mercenary crew that Chirico spends a lot of time with after establishing his place with them. While they don’t have the camaraderie of some teams, particularly with Kan Yu as the captain, it’s a small but amusing group with distinct reasons for what they do and why they’re fighting in the war.

In Summary: 
With continuing background storylines from the first arc making its way through here as well as the overall plan of those behind the Society with their Perfect Soldiers, VOTOMS moves forward with some interesting revelations, lots of action and plenty of scenes of Chirico in those big red pants that you would think would make him a huge target in the jungle. The Kummen arc plays in some interesting political aspects as it gets further into the show and the military side from Uoodo gets involved but overall this is a solid and fun jungle military adventure that’s a bit over the top at times and hard to believe that these kinds of mecha could work in there but it sets the stage for the next arc just right as it goes forward. It’s definitely a series that’s showing its age but taken in context from when it was released and what it could do at the time, this is a good fun action piece.

Features:
Japanese 2.0 Language, English Subtitles

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

Released By: Central Park Media
Release Date: April 4th, 2006
MSRP: $34.95
Running Time: 350 Minutes
Video Encoding: 480i/p MPEG-2
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1

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.

© Satoru Noda / Shueisha

We learned back in August that Satoru Noda’s manga series Golden Kamuy was getting an anime adaptation and now a little more has surfaced. The official site has updated with some new cast additions that you can see below. It also revealed that the opening theme song will be performed by MAN WITH A MISSION while the ending theme is being done by THE SIXTH LIE with song titles to be revealed later.

Studio Geno is on board to handle the animation production for the show and has confirmed that Hitoshi Nanba will direct it based on the series composition by Noboru Takagi. Kenichi Ohnuki is handling the character design adaptation.

The new additions include:

• Houchou Ootsuka as Tsurumi
• Kenjirou Tsuda as Hyakunosuke Ogata
• Yoshimasa Hosoya as Genjirou Tanigaki

【TVアニメ『ゴールデンカムイ』キャスト情報 第3弾発表！】
鶴見中尉 役:大塚芳忠
尾形百之助 役:津田健次郎
谷垣源次郎 役：細谷佳正

キャストコメントも公式サイトにて公開ッ!!
⇒https://t.co/jpnUEZ3yof
#ゴールデンカムイ pic.twitter.com/Uo7wTUVc4E

— TVアニメ『ゴールデンカムイ』公式 (@kamuy_anime) February 5, 2018

The Japanese cast includes Chikahiro Kobayashi as Saichi Sugimoto, Haruka Shiraishi as Ashiriba, and Kentarou Itou as Yoshitake Shiraishi.

The series has ten volumes to its name so far as serialized through Young Jump and it looks like most recent volumes in Japan have sold around the 200,000 range. Viz Media is releasing the series in Englis in North America.

Check out our review of the first volume of the manga.

The manga won the 9th Manga Taishō award.

Plot Concept: In the early twentieth century, Russo-Japanese War veteran Saichi “Immortal” Sugimoto scratches out a meager existence during the postwar gold rush in the wilderness of Hokkaido. When he stumbles across a map to a fortune in hidden Ainu gold, he sets off on a treacherous quest to find it. But Sugimoto is not the only interested party, and everyone who knows about the gold will kill to possess it! Faced with the harsh conditions of the northern wilderness, ruthless criminals and rogue Japanese soldiers, Sugimoto will need all his skills and luck—and the help of an Ainu girl named Asirpa—to survive.

© DC Comics

Creative Staff:
Story: Marguerite Bennett
Art: Sandy Jarrell
Colors: Kelly Fitzpatrick
Letterer: Wes Abbott

What They Say:
There is a way to defeat Black Adam, but is it worth the price Batwoman and the Question must pay?

Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The War Bonds arc of the series comes to a close with this issue and while some of it felt a bit more drawn out than it needed to be it largely worked well. Marguerite Bennett definitely has a way with the words, as they say, and there’s a lot of emotion packed into this installment where little happens in the big picture or action sense of it all. But it’s one that Sandy Jarrell is ideal for as an artist as he brings all of those words and feelings out with great layouts and how the characters interact with each other, particularly when little or nothing is said verbally. That gives it all a good bit more impact and helps to bring to a close several things.

The opening segment of the book is the most interesting as we get a kind of redemption of sorts for Black Adam, at least in the personal sense. His realization of just how much wrong he’s done since the death of Isis all those centuries ago has made an impact on him with the words she said before returning to the pit that it’s like night and day for him. The realization that he didn’t live up to her ideals carries a lot of meaning and the way he essentially lets everything go, including his presence in this life, is touching even if it doesn’t remove all the evil that he brought forth with the hate, pain, and conflict. His attempt at a new life with her in another land has some really good emotion to it and I can see people being frustrated with such a positive end for him considering what he did over his life. That anger won’t achieve anything though and his departing this form for a rebirth is intriguing.

The bulk of the issue, however, deals with the fallout for Renee and Kate with the loss of Jason again. There are some good movements with this as we get Renee forgiving Cheetah over her part in it from what she saw recently, but noting that Kate may never come around. The idea of Cheetah and Talia seeking more Lazarus Pits to destroy them is an intriguing book that needs to be made. But most of what we get here is the slow dissolution of what Kate and Renee have had recently as they’re preparing for their separate paths and making it clear, in their own way, that they cannot have what they had before and that it’s time to move on. The acknowledgment that they are tied together forever in a way that they can’t know again is a familiar piece and one that works well, but hopefully gives Kate the push to remember that Maggie may not be the same but her own kind of incredible love.

In Summary:
Bombshells: United had a lengthy arc for this storyline and it largely worked well even if it felt like it went on a bit too much. The closing chapter on it serves as a solid epilogue for events and brings things to where they need to be for pretty much all of the characters to move on and become something more than they were at the start. They’re all changed and it’s all for the better. The Black Adam material can make one feel a little iffy but sadly there are many that are never brought to justice that need to be and find a peaceful way out of life. But overall there’s a whole lot to like here and it works well to deliver a good ending cap to the arc.

Grade: B+

Age Rating: 13+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: February 2nd, 2018
MSRP: $0.99

(c) Moritaka Yuji · Adachikeji / SKY PerfecTV! · Kodansha

We learned way back in March 2017 that the Gurazeni manga was getting an animated adaptation that would land in 2018. With it set for baseball season, it’s now been confirmed as an exclusive on BS Sky Perfect and new additional casting has been revealed alongside the first promotional video for it. The series has Ayumu Watanabe directing it based on the series composition by Hideo Takayashiki. Kenichi Oonuki is working on the character designs with Studio Deen animating it.

The newly announced cast includes:

• M.A.O as Yuki
• Issei Futamata as Tanabe
• Kenji Nomura as Sakota
• Ryuuzou Ishino as Kozato
• Daisuke Namikawa as Tokunaga
• Takanori Hoshino as Shibuya
• Hideo Matsumoto as Announcer Matsumoto

The previously announced cast includes Fukushi Ochiai as Natsunosuke Honda.

The manga comes from Yurji Moritaka and Keiji Adachi that began back in 2010 that ran for seventeen volumes before kicking off the sequel series in 2014.

Plot concept: This is the story of Natsunosuke Honda, a pro baseball player—a relief pitcher who has been playing pro in a team called Spiders for 8 years. The team operates as a highly-stratified society, where the player’s performance determines his annual salary. Natsunosuke is one of the highest paid players in the game. He measures how good players are by how much money they make, and he intends to be on top and stay there, and as such is always looking for players to challenge and does everything to ensure that he is better than they are.

[Source: Comic Natalie]

© 2015-2018 Sanrio/SEGA Toys

With a minimal amount of promotion out there for the winter turned into spring 2016 and then into summer, fall, winter, spring, summer and now fall TV series Rilu Rilu Fairilu that began back in February 2016, the promos for new episodes have been doing the heavy lifting. With little promotion to it and no pick-up for streaming either, it’s not a series that has garnered much in the way of attention, even with all of its cute aspects. A new promotional spot for the next episode on February 9th, 2018 has arrived, however, and it’s a pretty good piece so that people can see the series in action. The show, animated by Studio Deen, is being directed by Gojo Series based on the overall composition from Aya Matsui. Nishichi Yamaguchi is on board handling the character designs.

The show stars Yumiri Hanamori as Lip, Aya Uchida as Himawari, Rina Hidaka as Sumire and Aina Kusuda as Rose.

Plot Concept: In a strange magical world of Little Fairilu lives the Fairlu: small magical fairies representing flowers, insects and other entities born from the Fairilu Seed. Each of the Fairilu are born with their own key which only fits to a Fairy Door they need to search. If the certain Fairilu finds the right door, they can finally mature into full fairies, which also links them to the human world. But the Fairilu must study and go to school to learn about the world in which they live while meeting new friends.

Witchblade Japanese Cover

With the Witchblade comics undergoing a relaunch recently, the anime incarnation which did its own thing years ago has now found some additional streaming. Crunchyroll has added the complete series to their slate as part of their deal with Funimation and that means fans can now check it out in its original Japanese language with English subtitles. Because of it being an older license with limited rights, availability is set to the United States and Canada only.

The series was directed by Yoshimitsu Ohashi based n the series composition by Yasuko Kobayashi. Based on the original Image Comics from Marc Silvestri and Michael Turner, Makoto Uno handled the character designs and served as the chief animation director. It was animated by Gonzo.

The Japanese cast includes Akemi Kanda as Rihoko “Rico” Amaha, Mamiko Noto as Masane Amaha, Masaya Matsukaze as Yusuke Tozawa, Mie Sonozaki as Reina “Lady” Soho, Nana Mizuki as Maria, Rikiya Koyama as Reiji Takayama, Shinji Ogawa as Tatsuoki Furumizu and Shizuka Itou as Shiori Tsuzuki.

Funimation previously licensed and released the series in North America that was directed by Christopher Bevins for the dub. The cast for that, which is not included with this strreaming run, was Carrie Savage as Rihoko Amaha, Jamie Marchi as Masane Amaha, Cherami Leigh as Naomi, Christopher Bevins as Hiroki Segawa, Colleen Clinkenbeard as Reina Soho, Gwendolyn Lau as Rie Nishida, Jerry Russell as Mr. Cho, Kent Williams as Masaya Wado, Laurie Steele as Mariko Natsuki, Mark Stoddard as Reiji Takayama, Monica Rial as Maria, R Bruce Elliott as Tatsuoki “Father” Furumizu and Robert McCollum as Yusuke Tozawa.

Plot concept: Sought by the greed of Men since the dawn of Humankind, but only bestowed upon the woman whose fate it forever scars: The Witchblade. Is it the Righteous Sword of God, of the Hand of the Devil Himself? Now a new bearer has been chosen and she must discover the answers for herself. As she stands on the brink of destiny, she is forced to seek the balance between ecstasy and ruin…

Masane Amaha is a woman on the fringe of society, bouncing rootless from town to town with her daughter, Rihoko. She struggles to build a life for her family, with no memory of the past and no clue as to what the future holds. But upon their arrival back in Tokyo forces conspire to separate parent from child, unleashing the fury of the Witchblade. The young mother will find herself conscripted into the service of the Doji Group and hunted down by the emissaries of the NSWF, all while seeking to balance the weight of this forced duality.

© YORIMOI PARTNERS

The winter 2018 series A Place Further Than The Universe is underway with its sixth episode scheduled for a February 6th, 2018 debut at 8:30 am ET. Ahead of that, Kadokawa has put together a promotional spot for the episode that shows off more of it. Availability for it is strong as it’s open to viewers worldwide outside of Asia.

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.

The Japanese cast includes Inori Minase as Mari Tamaki, Kana Hanazawa as Shirase Kobuchizawa, Yuka Iguchi as Hinata Miyake, Saori Hayami as Yuzuki Shiraishi, Mamiko Noto as Gin Toudou, Yoko Hikasa as Kanae Maekawa, Lynn as Yumiko Sabejima, Hisako Kanemoto as Megumi Takahashi, Kaede Hondo as Rin Tamaki, and Sayaka Ohara as Tamiko Shiraishi.

Plot Concept: Scenery that we have never seen. Sounds that we have never heard. Scent that we have never smelled. Food that we have never tasted. And the surge of emotion that we have never experienced. This is the expedition of recollecting the pieces torn apart and sensation left alone. When we reach that place, what will we think? Howling, 40 degree angle. Raging, 50 degree angle. Shouting, 60 degree angle. A wilderness beyond the heavy sea. The furthest south, far from civilization. At the top of the Earth. We will find lights through the girls’ eyes to live tomorrow.

© 2004 Keitaro Arima / Wani Books • Victor Entertainment, Inc

The 2004 series Tsukuyomi: Moon Phase is the latest anime series from Funimation that’s now landed itself a run on Crunchyroll thanks to the partnership between the two companies. The twenty-six episode series is now available in its original Japanese language with English subtitles. Availability is a bit limited due to when it was picked up but it is available to viewers in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand.  The series last saw a home video release through the SAVE line back in 2011 where it’s DVD only and priced at $29.98.

The show is based on the manga of the same name by Keitaro Arima, which was published by TOKYOPOP for awhile in North America as it ran for sixteen volumes. TOKYOPOP produced twelve volumes before they ceased operations. The anime adaptation came in 2004 for two seasons where it was produced by Shaft with Akiyuki Shinbo directing it.

Plot concept: While Kouhei ranks among the best in paranormal photography, he’s never actually seen a ghost. So when he fails to capture a hauntingly beautiful young girl on camera, curiosity drives him into the arms of a vampire and a world he cannot comprehend. Hazuki, having waited years for someone to finally set her free, proves unwilling to part with her unwitting hero and follows him home, promptly adopting his life as her own. And as the petite fanged wreaks her own flavor of havoc, mysterious forces conspire to reclaim what was lost. The truth could be one that none dare to face.

© 2012 Ichiei Ishibumi. Miyama-ZERO / Fujimishobo / HighSchool DD Partners

After originally airing back in 2015, Kadokawa has now set a new Blu-ray box set release for the High School DxD BorN anime season. The set is planned for a March 28th, 2017 release where it’s priced at 22,000 yen and now Media Factory has brought out a quick but very fun and not safe for work commercial spot for the set. With the previous Blu-ray singles priced at 7,000 yen and six of them, it’s definitely a good price. It looks like it’s porting over the extras from the singles as well and a booklet that brings everything together from the individual booklets in a single piece.

Check out our review of the season.

The series was directed by Tatsuya Yanagisawa, who directed the previous season, based on the series composition by Takao Yoshioka and character designs by Junji Goto.

The English cast includes Josh Grelle as Issei, Jamie Marchi as Rias, Kelly Angel as Akeno, Sean O’Connor as Kiba, Jād Saxton as Koneko, Chloe Daniels as Asia, Felecia Angelle as Yuma Amano (one time flashback), Tyson Rinehart as Matsuda and Ruben Tadeo Garcia as Motohama.

The light novel series began in 2008 and has twenty-three volumes to its name so far. A manga adaptation kicked off in 2010 with the main run of it having ten volumes, but there are a few spinoffs as well. Yen Press has picked up the main manga as well as the first spinoff from 2012. A 3DS visual novel game was released at the end of 2013 in Japan as well.

Plot concept: Issei and his harem of hotties are back to take on their biggest, boldest, bounciest adventure yet as they fight to prevent Ragnarok (aka the end of the underworld)! With summer vacation just around the corner, Issei’s got one thing on his mind spending sunny days with bikini-clad babes. Unfortunately, the Chaos Brigade is planning something big, and with heavy-hitters like the Norse God Loki in their corner, the House of Gremory is going to have to survive Rias’ underworld boot camp if they hope to stand a chance. While they prepare, dark forces gather strength behind the scenes, Koneko’s family reunion turns into a real catfight, and Asia must survive an indecent proposal from a high-ranking demon. With plenty of balls-to-the-wall battles and bare-it-all beauties, fans of High School DxD should start making room on the shelf their perfect pair is about to become a menage a trois.

[Source: High School DxD]

© Seita Horio · Kodansha

The winter 2018 anime adaptation of the Kokkoku: Moment by Moment manga from Seita Horio is underway and the studio is doing promotion for it. The sixth episode is scheduled for a February 11th, 2018 premiere on Tokyo MX at 12:30 am on Mondays while it’ll get streaming on Amazon Prime overseas. The show will be directed by Yoshimitsu Ohashi with Noboru Kimura working on the series composition. Yasuomi Umetsu is on board with the original characters designs with Masaki Hinata adapting them for the show.

The Japanese cast includes Chika Anzai as Juri Yukawa, Asami Seto as Shōko Majima, Kazuhiro Yamaji as Old Man, Hozumi Gōda as Junji Sagawa, Kouji Tsujitani as Takafumi Yukawa, Hirofumi Nojima as Tsubasa Yukawa, Ryūto Iwata as Makoto Yukawa, Yuya Uchida as Shiomi,  and Hiroyuki Yoshino as Sako.

The manga from Seita Horio ran from 2008 to 2014 with eight volumes and just had its first volume released digitally by Kodansha Comics in English.

Plot Concept: In order to save her brother and nephew who have been kidnapped by a mysterious religious group known as the Genuine Love Society, Juri and her family cast a spell using a stone hidden by her grandfather to enter the world of stopped time known as Stasis. However, when they infiltrate the kidnapper’s base, they’re met by other people who can also move about freely. With grotesque creatures lurking about, will they be able to escape the parallel world and return to their normal lives?!

© 2017 Vanishing Line / Keita Amemiya / Tohokushinsha

The fall 2017 anime series Garo: Vanishing Line is also part of the winter 2018 season and that half is getting its home video releases handled by Pony Canyon in Japan. Two box sets have been scheduled for the series with the first set planned for a March 14th, 2018 release and the second now scheduled for a June 20th, 2018 debut. Both sets are priced the same with the DVD box at 20,000 yen and the Blu-ray box at 24,000 yen. Details regarding them are still to come.

The work comes from director Seong-Hu Park based on the series composition by Kiyoko Yoshimura. Takashi Okazaki is on board with the original character designs. Studio MAPPA will be handling the animation for it.

The Japanese cast includes Tomokazu Seki as Sword, Rie Kugimiya as Sophie, Nobunaga Shimazaki as Luke, Ami Koshimizu as Gina, Daisuke Namikawa as Knight, Romi Park as Queen, Kenyuu Horiuchi as Bishop, Chiaki Takahashi as Waitress Chiaki, Takaya Hashi as Fei Long, Ayahi Takagaki as Mei Fang, Yuuka Misaki as Miia, and Hironobu Kageyama as Zaruba.

The opening theme song for the first half is “EMG” as performed by JAM Project while Masami Okui will perform the ending theme song “Sofia.” With the second half, Shuhei Kita performed “Howling Sword” as the opening song and Chihhiro Yonekura performed “Promise” as the ending theme song.

Plot Concept: In a prosperous city named Russell City, an omen that threatens to shake its world begins to move within it. A man named Sword is the first to hear the first stirrings of the plot, and throws himself into a shadow war in order to expose it. His only clue is the key word “El Dorado.” He meets Sophie, a woman searching for her missing older brother who has only left her with the same words: “El Dorado.” With Sword having also lost his younger sister in the past, both are drawn together by the words, and work together to find out its meaning.

[Source: Garo]

The reactions continue to flow when it comes to the first full taser for Solo: A Star Wars Story as there are all sorts of expectations and paths to how we come to view things like this. While I’m in the enthused camp (but wary about the lead), I’m very excited to see what the worldbuilding is going to be like and the future inclusion of elements added in the prequels and Rogue One to tie things together more. With a marketing blitz set to happen over the next few months, Lucasfilm has now released the four main character posters and I need me some more Lando.

Most of us will just watch it and enjoy it or not think about it again. I’m hoping to love it because this is the one franchise that I just completely fanboy about.

Directed by Chris Miller, Phil Lord, and Ron Howard, the film stars Alden Ehrenreich, Donald Glover, Emilia Clarke and Woody Harrelson with a planned May 25th, 2018 release.

Plot Concept: This new film depicts Han in his formative years as a scoundrel on the rise in the galaxy’s underworld — years before the events involving Han, Leia, and Darth Vader in The Empire Strikes Back and his rise to Rebel hero in Return of the Jedi.

© Shigetsuji 2 / KADOKAWA / FMP! 4

The spring 2018 anime series for Full Metal Panic: Invisible Victory is moving right along in its production and the marketing campaign is getting further into things. The latest comes in the form of the second full promotional video, which is admittedly just a minute, as it gives us the opening theme song once again and a whole lot of action.

Katsuichi Nakayama will be directing the series while the original novel author Shoji Gatoh is handling the series composition and scripts. Osamu Horiuchi (Full Metal Panic!, Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid) is returning as the character designer and chief animation director and Aya Yamamoto (animation director for My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU TOO!) is the sub-character designer.

The Japanese cast includes Tomokazu Seki as Sousuke Sagara, Satsuki Yukino as Chidori Kaname, Ikue Kimura as Kyoko Tokiwa, Tomoyuki Morikawa as Hayashimizu Atsunobu, Natsuki Rio as Eri Kagurazaka, Yukana as Teresa Tesarossa, Miki Shinichiro as Kurz Weber, Mitiko Negoya as Melissa Mao, Akio Otsuka as Andre Kalinin, Tomomichi Nishimura as Richard Madukas, Daisuke Namikawa as Keonard Testarossa, Kazuhiro Yamaji as Kuruma, Tomokazu Sugita as Lee Fowler, Masaki Terasoma as Wilhelm Casper, Marina Inoue as Sabina Rechnio, Aya Uchida as Sachi Shinohara, Minori Chihara as Nami, Kenjiro Tsuda as Michel Lemon, Tessyo Genta as Police Chief in Namsaku, Show Hayami as George Lovelock, and Kappei Yamaguchi as Dragonfly (Falke AI).

Gatoh’s original novel series, illustrated by Doug Shiki, published by Fujimi Shobo (a Kadokawa imprint) ran for twelve volumes between 1998 and 2011. ADV Films and FUNimation previously released the anime material with FUNimation currently holding all the rights for it. FUNimation have since released the original series as well as the Fumoffu series in priced-down format.

Property concept: Jindai High School was a relatively safe place, right up until Sousuke Sagaka transferred there. A total nut, he wreaks havoc on the school’s student body and gets into a world of trouble with the teachers! But there’s more to Sousuke than meets the eye—not just a hell-raising student, he’s actually a member of an elite military unit, on an undercover mission to protect the beautiful schoolgirl Kaname Chidori from the KGB.

©2013 5pb. / Nitroplus Steins;Gate Project

With the launch of the full site for the upcoming Steins;Gate 0 anime adaptation a new key visual has been released that you can see below. The project is scheduled as part of the spring 2018 season in April with Kenichi Kawamura directing it and Tomoshige Inayoshi handling the character designs. White Fox is handling the animation production and one new cast member is revealed with Sayuri Yahagi joining as Maho Hiyajou.

Check out the breakdown of the character designs at ANN.

Check out our review of the visual novel

The Japanese cast includes Mamoru Miyano as Rintarō Okabe, Kana Hanazawa as Mayuri Shiina, Tomokazu Seki as Itaru “Daru” Hashida, Asami Imai as Kurisu Makise, Saori Goto as Moeka Kiryū, Yu Kobayashi as Luka Urushibara, Halko Momoi as Faris Nyan-nyan, Yukari Tamura as Suzuha Amane, Sayuri Yahagi as Maho Hiyajō, Megumi Han as Kagari Shiina, and Yukari Tamura as Yuki Amane.

Plot Concept: Steins;Gate 0 is the sequel to the award-winning time-travel science fiction interactive Visual Novel developed by 5pb. and Nitroplus – ‘STEINS;GATE’ – widely considered to be one of the greatest visual novels ever made and one of the best-selling Visual Novels ever released in the West! Branching off from the ending of the original STEINS;GATE to an alternate worldline, STEINS;GATE 0 sees Okabe and the Future Gadget Lab members return once again in a story centered around Artificial Intelligence and the creation of ‘Amadeus’ – a means of interacting with the stored memories of a fellow human being. STEINS;GATE 0 continues the series trademark of delivering incredible science fiction storytelling with rich characterization that most games can only dream of and will delight both newcomers to the series and existing STEINS;GATE fans.

©2013 5pb. / Nitroplus Steins;Gate Project

[Source: ANN]

© Yoshiki Tanaka / Shochiku · Production IG

It’s been a couple of years since we learned in 2015 that Production I.G. will be involved in adapting the Legend of Galactic Heroes novels of Yoshiki Tanaka with a new anime adaptation this spring. As things get closer and closer, new information has surfaced as the official site has delved into the music side of it – which was a key part of the original series. For this one, Hiroyuki Sawano is composing the opening theme song with “Binary Star” with Uru providing the vocals which you can sample here. The ending theme song is “Wish” as performed by ELISA.

The show is set to be directed by Shunsuke Tada based on the series composition by Noboru Takagi. Character designs are being handled by Youko Kikuchi, Iwao Teraoka, and Kei Tsushima with Takayuki Goto serving as the chief animation direct for it at Production I.G.

The Japanese cast includes:

• Mamoru Miyano as Reinhard von Lohengramm
• Kenichi Suzumura as Wen-li Yang
• Yuuichirou Umehara as Siegfried Kircheis
• Yoshimitsu Shimoyama as the narrator

Though there’s a lot of history with the original work, the potential for retelling the story in a more streamlined form with fresh animation holds a lot of appeal in exposing the property to new fans that may not care for the older designs or the sheer volume of animated material.

Property Concept: In humanity’s distant future, two interstellar states – the monarchic Galactic Empire and the democratic Free Planets Alliance – are embroiled in a never-ending war. The story focuses on the exploits of rivals Reinhard von Müsel and Yang Wen Li as they rise to power and fame in the Galactic Empire and the Free Planets Alliance.

[Source: ANN]

Press Release:

Valiant is proud to announce BLOODSHOT SALVATION #9 – a riveting STANDALONE ORIGIN ISSUE chronicling the never-before-revealed history of Project Rising Spirit’s first prototype in nanite enhancement: the indestructible canine weapons unit codenamed Bloodhound! On May 16th,New York Times best-selling writer Jeff Lemire (The Terrifics, Black Hammer), Eisner and Harvey Award nominee Ray Fawkes (Batman: Eternal), and astonishing artist Renato Guedes (X-O MANOWAR) come together for a special one-shot tale revealing the crucial early days of the Bloodshot program…and the brutal awakening that remade an ordinary animal as a weapon of untold destruction!

In the wire-strewn trenches of World War I, witness the true story of a good boy gone bad… Before he found his place at Ray Garrison’s side, Bloodshot’s loyal companion learned the depths of mankind’s inhumanity toward brother and beast alike on the battlefields of France. Now, as the Kaiser’s war machine approaches, find out firsthand how a beloved comrade with four legs and a soul full of fury inspired a legacy that still stands more than a century on!

On May 16th, Bloodshot’s die-hard sidekick finally gets his due as all-star creators Jeff Lemire, Ray Fawkes, and Renato Guedes weave a wreckage-laden story of heartbreak and havoc to let loose the ultimate dog of war in BLOODSHOT SALVATION #9 – featuring covers by Kenneth Rocafort (The Ultimates), Renato Guedes (BLOODSHOT SALVATION), Giuseppe Camuncoli (Amazing Spider-Man), Juan José Ryp (BRITANNIA), and Shane Davis (Superman: Earth One)!

But first: Jump on board for a wrenching new chapter of Valiant’s blockbuster monthly series in BLOODSHOT SALVATION #6 – the FIRST ISSUE of “THE BOOK OF THE DEAD”! On February 14th, New York Times best-selling writer Jeff Lemire and acclaimed artist Renato Guedes deliver an engrossing new entry point launching Ray Garrison into an otherworldly domain of death to fight the literal demons that now stand between him and his daughter’s safety!

Into the Deadside! Years ago, Project Rising Spirit’s cutting-edge nanite technology transformed Ray Garrison into the walking weapon codenamed Bloodshot. Now, those very same microscopic machines have infected his infant daughter’s physiology and threaten to destroy her from the inside out. As the life of an innocent hangs the balance, Bloodshot will be forced to make an unimaginable decision: to watch the child he loves die, or to confront death itself…and negotiate a deal for her safety. Now, with only Bloodhound and the enigmatic hero known as Shadowman to guide him, Bloodshot is about to undertake an unreal journey into the demon-haunted dimension known as the Deadside to save a life…or sacrifice his own…

On February 14th, the opening salvo of “THE BOOK OF THE DEAD” rakes its claws across BLOODSHOT SALVATION #6 – featuring covers by Kenneth Rocafort (The Ultimates), Renato Guedes (X-O MANOWAR), John Bivens (Spread), David Lafuente (Ultimate Spider-Man), and Jim Mahfood (Grrl Scouts)!

The summer 2017 anime series Hitorijime My Hero is getting a familiar and standard bit of distribution in Japan on home video. With the sixth and final volume coming up on February 23rd, 2018, we now have a look at the cover artwork for it and it’s pretty good looking alongside all the rest of it. The twelve episode series is getting a six-volume release that began on September 22nd, 2017. The DVDs are priced at 6,264 yen each while the Blu-ray’s are priced at 7,344 yen each.

Yukina Hiiro served as the director working from the series composition by Yuusei Naruse. Fumina Nishino is on board as the character designer and the chief animation director with Encourage Films handling the animation production.

The Japanese cast includes Tomoaki Maeno as Kousuke Ooshiba, Toshiki Masuda as Masahiro Setagawa, Shinnosuke Tachibana as Asaya Hasegura and Yoshitsugu Matsuoka as Kensuke Ooshiba.

Coming as a spin-off to Hitorijime Boyfriend, this series kicked off in 2012 and six volumes as of this month.

The opening theme song is “Heart Signal” as performed by Wataru Hatano while the ending theme song is performed by the four main voice actors.

Plot Concept: The property follows Kensuke’s brother, Ooshiba Kousuke and friend, Setagawa Masahiro from the Hitorijime Boyfriend manga series.

Hitorijime Boyfriend Concept: “Would you like to break up with me again or be held, which would you prefer?” My former friend with the beautiful face, whom I’ve run into again after so long, only says things that cause me trouble. In the winter of sixth grade, Kensuke was upset about having to separate from his best friend Hasekura in middle school, and ended up breaking off their friendship. Three years has passed since then, and Hasekura comes in contact with Kensuke like nothing had changed. Kensuke was happy they could repair their friendship, but Hasekura says something completely out of left field…

Hitorijime My Hero Japanese Volume 6 Cover

Hitorijime My Hero Japanese Volume 5 Cover

Hitorijime My Hero Japanese Volume 4 Cover

Hitorijime My Hero Japanese Volume 3 Cover

Hitorijime My Hero Japanese Volume 2 Cover

Hitorijime My Hero Japanese Volume 2 Packaging

Hitorijime My Hero Japanese Volume 1 Packaging

Hitorijime My Hero Japanese Volume 1 Cover

[Source: Hitorijime My Hero]

Funimation is getting things in order for the March 6th, 2018 release of the Kiss Him, Not Me anime series as a DVD/BD combo release. The latest bit comes in the form of a new trailer for it that focuses on the English language dub. Priced at $64.98, the bilingual set has the twelve episode run and includes the clean opening and closing along with a promo video as its extras.

The show was directed by Hiroshi Ishiodori based on the series composition from Michiko Yokote. Kazuhiko Tamura served as the character designer while Mina Oosawa served as the chief animation director. Brains Base produced the animation for it.

The Japanese cast includes Yu Kobayashi as Kae Serinuma, Yoshitsugu Matsuoka as Hayato Shinomiya, Yuuki Ono as Yūsuke Igarashi, Nobunaga Shimazaki as Asuma Mutsumi, Keisuke Koumoto as NozomuNanashima, Miyuki Sawashiro as Shima Nishina, Asami Shimoda as Amane Nakano, Yuu Sugimoto as Mitsuko Serinuma, Takahiro Mizushima as Takurou Serinuma, Daisuke Namikawa as Shion, Kenjirou Tsuda as Tella and Yuuichi Nakamura as Kazuma Mutsumi.

Tia Ballard directed the English language dub whose cast includes Jeannie Tirado as Kae Serinuma, Alejandro Saab as Yusuke Igarashi, Ryan Pitts as Nozomu Nanashima, Justin Briner as Hayato Shinomiya, David Wald as Asuma Mutsumi, Whitney Rodgers as Amane Nakano, and Cris George as Takuro Serinuma.

From4to7, which is made up of the various actors from the show, performed  the opening theme song “Prince x Prince”, while Rie Murakawa performed the ending theme song “Doki Doki no Kaze.”

The manga recently began simulpub distribution from Kodansha Comics through Amazon and ComiXology as well as bringing it out in print. The series has nine volumes released in Japan so far.

Plot concept: Kae is a normal, everyday high school girl with a secret – she’s a fujoshi, a fan of yaoi manga, who has fantasies about the boys in her school making out with each other. When the death of her favorite character causes stress-induced rapid weight loss, she becomes the object of those same boys’ affections. What can she do when she’d rather they kissed each other instead of her?