© Hobby Japan

What They Say:
The angel of patience tries to protect her candidate for Messiah, and her only enemies will be his lack of effort and nature’s overpowering call. SHARE ON FACEBOOK

The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
With a fun first episode that introduced us to the Messiah and how the angels are going to handle this whole experience, this one brings us Uriel as she watches over the Messiah Candidate from a distance in the shadows. Of course, she’s anything but in the shadows and everyone can see her (and all her assets) quite plainly, which has him begging people to just ignore her. There are some hilarious ways she believes she’s invisible to him while just being so blatantly obvious as she falls further and further in love with him. With Uriel talking mostly in narration and getting more serious as she realizes she has to do more to support him and train him, it just becomes more and more of a drag for him. But delightfully silly for the viewer.

In Summary:
With another round of blunt fanservice and sexuality, the series delivers what I suspect its fans want. It’s completely what I expected from this series, much like most Hobby Japan based series, and it’s enjoyable to have a show that doesn’t try to hide or play coy with what it really wants to be. It goes silly and over the top but not in a way that just leaves me thinking it went too far like some shows I’ve seen in the past. Uriel’s a fun one here but I don’t think she’ll be one of my favorites when all is said and done simply because of her lack of forward interaction with the Messiah Candidate.

Grade: B

Streamed By: HIDIVE

We learned in October that Shoji Kawamori was working on a new project with the spring of 2018 two-cour series Juushinki Pandora. As we’re closing in on the spring season some new details have arrived through the official site with a planned April 4th, 2018 premiere on broadcast networks while it’ll get a March 29th, 2018 Netflix premiere. A new key visual arrived alongside a new promotional video as well.

Kawamori is the chief director and worked on the mechanical design for it in coming up with the original concept that sees Hidekazu Satou as the main director. Toshizou Nemoto is handling the series composition with Risa Ebata handling the original character designs and Satelight on board for the animation.

The Japanese cast includes Kana Hanazawa as Queenie Yō, Nao Tōyama as Chloe Lau, Tomoaki Maeno as Leon Lau, Ai Kayano as Cecil Soo, Kenjiro Tsuda as Doug Horvat, Unshō Ishizuka as Cain Ibrahim Hassan, Yuichiro Umehara as Jay Yoon, Yūma Uchida as Glen Ding, Akira Ishida, Asami Seto, Kaito Ishikawa, Mamiko Noto, Nobuyuki Hiyama, Takayuki Kondou, and Yūichi Nakamura.,

Plot Concept: In the year 2031, an incident called Shouryuu Crisis because of Neo Shouryuu happened. An energy device called Element Reactor was made to improve the environment of lack of resources, but it berserk and exploded because unknown energy leaked from the device. Advanced creatures that exceeds normal creature, machine and plants called B.R.A.I were released in the result, filled the area and destroy them. B.R.A.I have sizes of insect to over 100m. The destruction of the city is from the large-sized B.R.A.I. MOEV, the mecha, was created before the incident, but is used to fight against B.R.A.I. Main characters Leon and Chloe are not related in blood, but connected by the family contract in order to survive.

© Anime – MitchiriNeko

What They Say:
The cute and mysterious cat-like creatures called Mitchiri Neko that seem to gather around each other if you leave them alone now get their own anime with a glorious voice cast! The free and happy-go-lucky Mitchiri Neko’s daily life is filled fluff and surreal laughs! Say it with me, “Mitchiri! Mitchiri!”

The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
There are moments where I almost wonder if this show would work better without dialogue. The cuteness underway here is there from the start with the cats being taken out by the claw machine and watching how they react and the weirdness of it all that we’ve seen before, notably with the “long guy” and his stretching side. Thankfully, that’s not the only sketch they stick with variations of and seeing something like the changing room skit in which the cat changes its entire body for a new one like a snake skin is kind of surreal.

In Summary:
The cats again have some silly bits in the mix that also go in some weird directions that feel like they’re not what you’d expect from a kids show. Watching them herd in following someone or trying to get under an umbrella and then drawing in more has its cuteness but the whole cat wearing a cat suit kind of just weirds me out far more than it probably should.

Grade: C-

Streamed By: Crunchyroll

With revealed way back in 2014, Junya Inoue’s manga series BTOOOM! was going to end as it moved into its final arc as serialized in Monthly Comic @Bunch magazine. With the 25thvolume released this week, details have surfaced regarding what’s going on with the 26th and final volume due out later this year. The manga itself will have two endings with a light and dark kind of version under the name of the “Friendship Arc” and the “Truth Arc”, the former of which is what’s being serialized in the magazine. The dark ending is getting a short serialization in June and both of them will be included with the 26th volume in July. All of that is certainly an interesting and creative way to give both sides of the fans what they want.

Yen Press is releasing the manga in North America while Sentai Filmworks released the TV series on DVD and Blu-ray in bilingual form.

Series concept: In the blink of the mind’s eye, Ryouta Sakamoto suddenly finds himself transported from playing the hit Btooom! video game to being stranded on a mysterious island, equipped with a day’s worth of provisions, a bag of bombs, a strange crystal embedded in his left hand and a huge gaping hole in his memory. But it doesn’t take long to figure out what’s going on, especially after the first person Ryouta meets tries to kill him. Someone is attempting to recreate the ultra-violent Btooom! game in real life, and the island has been filled with an army of other unwilling players, each armed with one of the multiple variants of explosive weapons called BIM. Fortunately, Ryouta’s an ace Btooom! player, but this insane version of the game has no reset switch or second lives, and there’s only one way off the island: kill seven other people before they can kill you! Can Ryouta repurpose his game based skills fast enough to survive?

[Source: ANN]

© GSC

What They Say:
Calico Tapio Chatorazawa, who’s got more energy than anyone, Russian Blue Kuehiko Roshihara’s a bit of a sourpuss. These two classmates will do all kinds of different jobs to learn how fun and hard it is to work!

The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
With some fun jobs so far I have to admit this one made me a touch worried as I’m not good with heights. Tapio and Kuehiko are doing some window washing gig this time and it’s no surprise that Tapio is totally fine with it while Kuehiko is nervous as hell. Every little movement makes him sweat nervously while Tapio almost bounds around, encouraged by the supervisor who is doing that even more. I have to feel for Kuehiko who nearly passes out when he looks down! To his credit, he keeps going and works hrd, doing his best to focus even as Tapio gets distracted by watching what’s inside the building even as he’s told to respect their privacy.

In Summary:
Working Buddies has another very cute episode with what it does here and it left me enjoying it simply because I sympathized with Kuehiko a good bit. I like the little nuggets of wisdom gotten and some of the surreal aspects of what they come across along the way. But there’s also just the enjoyment of watching how Kuehiko struggles with this and really does what a lot of people do in how they focus in order to get the job as bets and as quickly as he can in order to survive.

Grade: B-

Streamed By: Crunchyroll

© Icchokusen Moko / Magic Girl Ore Production Committee

The reveal last year that the Maho Shojo Ore manga is getting an adaptation that’s scheduled for the spring 2018 season was definitely a delightful thing. After bringing out some new cast additions through the official site site last month, some new pieces have surfaced. The latest confirms the ending theme song with “Glass no Ginga” which is being done by two of those announced previously with Toshiyuki Toyonaga and Koji Ysa under the unit named STAR PRINCE.

The previously revealed Japanese cast includes:

• Ayaka Ohashi as Saki Uno
• Sachika Misawa as Sakuyo Mikage
• Kazuya Ichijo as Kokoro
• Aya Hisakawa as Sayori Uno
• Toshiyuki Toyonaga as Mohiro Mikage
• Kouji Yusa as Hyoue
• Shoutarou Morikubo as Konami Yamo

The manga comes from Icchokusen Moko which began as a webmanga in 2012 before getting a new serialization in 2014 in Comic Be magazine.

The anime has set Itsuro Kawasaki to direct it at Pierrot+ with Yukiko Ibe handling the character designs.

The opening theme song is going to be performed by Ayaka Ohashi with “NOISY LOVE POWER.”

Plot Concept: The story focuses on Saki Uno, a high school girl and rookie idol who has a crush on Mohiro, her best friend’s older brother. When Mohiro is kidnapped by demons, Saki hastily makes a shady contract to be able to transform into a magical girl, which transforms her body into that of a handsome man.

Chi Takes On Halloween

What They Say:
Chi is a sweet playful kitten, always full of energy. She gets milk from Yohei, and is relaxing at home, nice and full. As she searches around the house for something exciting, she comes across Yohei walking with a handful of rubber balls. The balls bounce everywhere as he drops them, and Yohei and Chi can’t get more excited. The day ends with Chi and the family making a great memory together.

The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
With a lot of shows focused on food in the last couple of years in the anime and manga world, having this show delve into it for an episode was definitely fun. Doing it cat style just made it all the more enjoyable since Chi is as Chi is and that meant a whole lot of trouble. The series has been working better for me than I expected since the CG style was something that I wasn’t sure was going to work as it did and it’s definitely finding its groove the more it goes on. While I do admit that I would have preferred a more traditionally animated show I’ve also been watching more kids anime lately so it doesn’t bother me as much as I figured it would.

With this episode, the show takes us to the fun of Halloween for the cast. Halloween episodes can be hit or miss in general but the chance to just be weird and silly is in the forefront and that always works well. Chi’s confusion over the event is there from the start, though my American-ness has me cringing at Mom making homemade treats to give out. Chi’s cute in wanting the treats for herself but also unsure about Yohei in his costume, which is simple even for this show. The imagined outfits for Chi, however, are terribly cute. Watching as Dad tries to put an actual cute little outfit on Chi, however, is something that’s just wonderful to watch with the way we see it from Chi’s perspective at first before she just goes nuts over it. It’s not a surprise but it’s just so perfectly done, right down to the distrust.

In Summary:
The show plays well with Dad trying to get the costume on her and getting some pictures of it and that fills out a decent part of the back half of the episode nicely. Watching the way he approaches it and comes up with a way to get what he wants is definitely fun. Halloween is played fairly quietly here when you get down to it with what it could do with the idea but with its focus on Chi herself it’s pretty enjoyable. It’s probably the weaker of the episodes so far but I just enjoyed seeing how Chi looked at what was happening with the costume from her own perspective and with what Dad was up to as it felt very cat-like.

Grade: B

Streamed By: Amazon

© BNP / Bandai / Dentsu / TV Tokyo

The third series for the Aikatsu franchise is gearing up for an April 2018 debut and it was recently revealed that it’ll be called Aikatsu Friends! when it lands alongside the game. The official site has now brought out a new extended promo that clocks in just under three minutes where it introduces the characters from the series, mostly with stills, while also giving us some of the music side of things. Tatsuya Igarashi on board to direct based on the series composition by Yuuko Kakihara. Satomi Watanabe is handling character design and BN Pictures is handling the animation production.

The Japanese cast includes:

• Akane Matsunaga as Aine Yūki
• Ibuki Kido as Mio Minato
• Karen Miyama as Maika Chōno
• Yui Ninomiya as Ema Hinata
• Azusa Tadokoro as Karen Kamishiro
• Ayaka Ohashi as Mirai Asuka
• Sumire Morohoshi as Koko

The current series is directed by Teruo Satou based on the series composition by Yuuko Kakihara. Yukiko Aikyou serves as the character designer and it’s produced by Bandai Namco Pictures. The main cast includes Miyu Tomita, Ayaka Asai and Minami Tsuda.

The original series has been ongoing since 2012 with almost 150 episodes so far while the first theatrical feature landed from Sunrise back in December 2014.

Plot Concept: The series features a new protagonist named Aine Yūki, who is good at making friends, and is enrolled in Star Harmony Academy’s general education track. She befriends Mio Minato, the school’s top idol, and becomes an idol herself.

It’s a new month of anime on Crackle and while we’re a bit behind it’s definitely worth checking out what’s been added. The streaming service has brought on several new series for this month that are definitely worth checking out with:

• Cromartie High School
• Dallos
• Black Jack: The Movie
• Fist of the North Star: The Movie
• Lupin the Third: The Legend of the Gold of Babylon
• Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie
• Urusei Yatsura: Beautiful Dreamer
• Wicked City
• Street Fighter II (TV)

A few properties have returned to the service with:

• Appleseed Alpha
• Avengers Confidential: Black Widow & Punisher
• Iron Man: Rise of Technovore
• Resident Evil: Damnation

And a few titles have been removed once more with:

• Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
• Resident Evil: Degeneration
• Steamboy
• Tokyo Godfathers
• Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within

And there are the seemingly evergreen titles still streaming with:

• Blue Exorcist (Season 1)
• Durarara!! (Season 1)
• Ghost Stories (dub)
• Iron Man (Marvel Anime)
• Robotech
• Sword Art Online (Seasons 1 & 2)
• Viper’s Creed
• Wolverine (Marvel Anime)
• Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade
• Steamboy
• Tokyo Godfathers
• Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles

[Source: WTK]

© Maruyama Kugane · Published by KADOKAWA / Overlord 2 Pro

Crunchyroll is streaming the winter 2018 anime series Overlord II and they’re rolling out new episodes every Tuesday on the service. With the fifth episode set to arrive on February 6th, 2018 at 10:00 am ET for their members, Kadokawa has now put out the two different previews for the episode that showcases the different sides of the storyline getting their own say.

Check out our review of the first season.

The series comes from author Kugane Maruyama with illustrations by so-bin that’s published by Enterbrain. It began in the summer of 2012 and released its twelve volume so far, which are released by Yen Press domestically along with the manga adaptation. The series has had two drama CDs released with previous volumes.

It’s being animated by Madhouse with Naoyuki Itou directing it based on scripts by Yukie Sugawara and character designs by Takahiro Yoshimatsu as they adapt from the original works.

The series will star Kenta Miyake as Cocytus, Manami Numakura as Narberal Gamma, Masayuki Katou as Demiurge, Shigeru Chiba as Sebas Tian and Yumi Uchiyama as Mare Bello Fiore.

Plot Concept: The series follows a salaryman who remains online when the service for an MMORPG ends. In doing so, he becomes a powerful skeletal wizard. In his new form, he begins attracting followers and conquering the digital world that remains.

© Yomi Hirasaka / Shogakukan

The fall 2017 anime series Imoto sae Ireba Ii is having its home video release plans handled by Bandai Visual and they’ve set a box set plan for it. As we’re about two months away from the second set arriving, Bandai Visual is doing some new promotion. What they’re doing here isn’t something we usually see in that they’re basically streaming ten minutes of one of the episodes from the second half to show it off – and they naturally start it off with some lingerie shopping online. Things get a lot more naughty about six minutes into it, however… The twelve episode series is getting a two-volume release where they’ll both be priced at 18,000 yen. Details of what to expect will be coming soon.

Shin Oonuma directed with Hitoshi Tamamura as the series director while Yomi Hirasaka is handling the series composition. Sumie Kinoshita served as character designer and chief animation director with Silver Link handling the animation production.

The Japanese cast includes Yuusuke Kobayashi as Itsuki Hashima, Nozomi Yamamoto as Chihiro Hashima, Hisako Kanemoto as Nayuta Kani, Ai Kakuma as Miyako Shirakawa, Satoshi Hino as Haruto Fuwa, Kaori Mizuhashi as Haruto Sister, Manami Numakura as Ashley Oono, and Akane Fujita as Kaoko Mikuniyama.

Seven volumes of the light novel series have been published so far this year. Hirasaka may not be a well-known name but his work on the Haganai property has proven popular overseas and it’s easy to imagine this one being on some publisher’s radar.

Plot Concept: The story follows the everyday life of Itsuki, a novelist and “modern day Pygmalion” who works day in and day out to create the ultimate younger sister. He’s surrounded by various other characters: a beautiful genius writer who loves him, his big-sisterly classmate from college, a fellow male writer, a sadistic tax accountant, and his editor. They’re all looked after by Itsuki’s perfect younger step-brother, Chihiro, who has a serious secret.

Imoto sae Ireba Ii Japanse Box Set 2 Cover

Imoto sae Ireba Ii Japanse Box Set 2 Packaging

Imoto sae Ireba Ii Japanse Box Set 1 Full Packaging

Imoto sae Ireba Ii Japanse Box Set 1 Packaging

Imoto sae Ireba Ii Japanse Box Set 1 Packaging Flat

[Source: Imoto]

©2005 Takeaki Momose / Kodansha / Magikano Project

Tubi TV is beefing up its catalog with a little more variety today as the streaming service has added the Magikano series from way back in 2006. The full series is available in its original Japanese language with English subtitle while the dub remains on Funimation’s site.

The series was directed by Seiji Kishi based n the series composition and scripts by Hideki Mitsu from the original manga by Takeaki Momose. Takashi Kobayashi served as the character designer and chief animation director with Tokyo Kids handling the animation production.

The Japanese cast Mitsuhiro Ichiki as Haruo Yoshikawa, Sakura Nogawa as Ayumi Mamiya, Halko Momoi as Marin Nijihara, Kanako Sakai as Chiaki Yoshikawa, Mai Nakahara as Maika Yoshikawa, Nana Inoue as Rika Anju, Natsuko Kuwatani as Michiru Mamiya, Noriko Namiki as Yuri Kurosu, Noriko Rikimaru as Tetsuko Hondo, and Tomoko Kaneda as Fuyuno Yoshikawa.

The English cast was directed by Chris Ayres and includes Clint Bickham as Haruo Yoshikawa, Jessica Boone as Ayumi Mamiya, Carli Mosier as Yuri Kurosu
Christine Auten as Tetsuko Hongo, Hannah Alcorn as Marin Nijihara, Hilary Haag as Fuyuno Yoshikawa, Kira Vincent-Davis as Maika Yoshikawa, Luci Christian as Chiaki Yoshikawa, Monica Rial as Michiru Mamiya, and Tiffany Grant as Rika Anju.

Plot Concept: Haruo Yoshikawa’s life goes from average to unbelievable when his sneaky sisters share their family’s dirty little secret—they’re all witches! Things only get crazier with the arrival of Ayumi—an enchanting young girl who’s bound and determined to arouse Haruo’s inner-magician.

German distributor Filmconfect Home Entertainment GmbH brought out some single collections for To Love Ru last year with separate DVD and Blu-ray releases and are now moving onto the next series with To Love Ru Darkness. These are being done with four episodes per disc with the first set now scheduled for a March 2nd, 2018 debut and that means we’ve got a dubbed preview for it. They’re releasing the twelve-episode run with them being in their original Japanese language along with the German dub and subtitles.

Plot concept: As close encounters of the twisted kind between the residents of the planet Deviluke (represented primarily by the female members of the royal family) and the inhabitants of Earth (represented mainly by one very exhausted Rito Yuuki) continue to escalate, the situation spirals even further out of control.

When junior princesses Nana and Momo transferred into Earth School where big sister Lala can (theoretically) keep an eye on them, things SHOULD be smooth sailing. But when Momo decides she’d like to “supplement” Rito’s relationship with Lala with a little “sisterly love,” you know Lala’s not going to waste any time splitting harems.

Unfortunately, it’s just about that point that Yami, the Golden Darkness, enters the scene with all the subtleness of a supernova, along with an army of possessed high school students! All of which is certain to make Rito’s life suck more than a black hole at the family picnic. Unless, of course, a certain semi-demonic princess can apply a little of her Devilukean Whoop Ass to exactly that portion of certain other heavenly bodies

YO-KAI WATCH © 2013 Noriyuki KONISHI / SHOGAKUKAN ©LEVEL-5 Inc.

TV Tokyo is continuing its promotion for the long-running ongoing series Youkai Watch. The 209th episode of the series is scheduled for a February 16th, 2018 debut and they’ve now brought out the first teaser preview of it.

Please note that TV Tokyo takes these previews down when the episode airs.

The series is directed by Shinji Ushiro based on the series composition by Yoichi Kato. Toshiya Yamada is handling the character designs and it’s animated by Oriental Light & Magic.

The Japanese cast includes Etsuko Kozakura as Jibanyan, Haruka Tomatsu as Kēta Amano, Tomokazu Seki as Whisper, Aya Endo as Fumika “Fumi” Kodama, Chie Satou as Kanchi Imada, Naoki Bandou as Jinmenken, Ryoko Nagata as Kēta’s mom and Tooru Nara as Gorōta “Kuma” Kumashima.

Plot Concept: When Keita frees Whisper, a ghost-like yōkai, from 190 years of imprisonment, Whisper pledges to protect Keita from supernatural dangers. Whisper also gives Keita a watch that allows Keita to see other yōkai. Together with the twin-tailed cat spirit Jibanyan, they encounter lots of yōkai-related problems and solve them.

TC Entertainment is digging into their back catalog a bit more with the reveal that they’re bringing Ginga Reppuu Baxingar to Blu-ray. The series is getting two Blu-ray box sets priced at 20,000 yen each that will arrive on April 27th, 2018 and May 25th, 2018 respectively. It looks like these may be upscales based on the wording and coming from what was used for the DVDs which doesn’t look like it’ll offer much hope for an already mediocre at best looking show. Extras for the sets include the previews and clean opening sequences.

Originally airing in 1982 and 1983, the series was directed by Takao Yotsuji based on the series composition by Yu Yamamoto. Kazuo Komatsubara handled the character designs with Kokusai Eigasha handling the production.

Plot Concept: 600 years after Ginga Senpuu Braiger, Jupiter has been destroyed, and many planets have come from it, bringing about more colonization. To combat the increasing lawless activity, Don Diego Condor gathers Billy the Shot, Samanosuke Dodi, Layla Minesato, and Shuteken Radcliffe, a.k.a. J9-II. They pilot Cosmo Bikes, which combine into the robot Baxingar.

[Source: Ginga Reppuu Baxingar]

© Akiyoshi Hongo · Toei animation

With the fifth film in the series released at the end of September, the official site for Digimon Adventure tri has back in November revealed that the sixth and final film will arrive on May 5th, 2018. This one will be going with the title of Our Future added to it and we now have the first trailer for it. Similar to past films, fans will be able to buy the Blu-ray edition on-site that are screening it and it’ll get some solid streaming as well as we’ve seen before.

The films are directed by Keitaro Motonaga based on the series composition by Yuuko Kakihara and character designs by Atsuya Uki. The Japanese case includes Chika Sakamoto as Agumon, Hitomi Yoshida as Mimi Tachikawa, Junko Takeuchi as Gomamon, Junya Enoki as Takeru Takaishi, Junya Ikeda as Jō Kido, Katori Shigematsu as Piyomon, Kinoko Yamada as Palmon, M.A.O as Hikari Yagami, Mayumi Yamaguchi as Gabumon, Miwa Matsumoto as Patamon, Mutsumi Tamura as Kōshirō Izumi, Natsuki Hanae as Taichi Yagami, Suzuko Mimori as Sora Takenouchi, Takahiro Sakurai as Tentomon, Yoshimasa Hosoya as Yamato Ishida and Yuka Tokumitsu as Tailmon.

Film Series Concept: It’s been six years since that summer adventure when Taichi “Tai” Yagami and t of the DigiDestined crossed over to the Digital World. And nearly three years have passed since the final battle between Hikari Yagami’s group and BelialVamdemon. As the peaceful days passed by, at some point the gate to the Digital World closed. Not even the DigiDestined know what caused this, and time alone continues to pass.

On one such day, a Kuwagamon suddenly appears in Odaiba. Its rampage leaves the town in ruins, and the people there in turmoil. Taichi happens to catch sight of the Kuwagamon, and he chases after it all by himself in an effort to halt its rampage. But there’s nothing he can do against a Kuwagamon.

Having enjoyed a lot of what Brian Wood has been up to the last few years, particularly the historical themed Rebels series, it’s welcome news to hear that he’s got a new project in the works for release on July 4th, 2018 with Rome West. He’s working on the book with writer Justin Giampaoli (DMZ, Starship Down, The Mercy Killing) and artist Andrea Mutti (Rebels, Prometheus: Life and Death) as they delve into exploration of an alternative history of the Americas.

The project was originally published by Stela but Dark Horse is bringing this project to print for the first time.

Plot Concept: When a lost armada of Roman soldiers arrives a thousand years before Columbus, they don’t seek to conquer and exterminate, but instead set up a cooperative society with the indigenous peoples that radically alters the timeline of the Americas… and the rest of the world

“ Calling all moonies! Announcing the Sailor Moon Moonlight Masquerade at @AnimeBoston! We can’t wait to see your beautiful dreams.”

Valiant is doing some promotion for the upcoming May 23rd, 2018 release of X-O Manowar, which is serving as a solid jumping-on point for the property as written by Matt Kindt and art from Trevor Hairsine.  The four-part series is working to tell a tale from ARci’s past just as the whole Harbinger Wars 2 gets put into motion elsewhere in the Valiant universe.

“I wanted to try to do something a little different than we’ve seen in past ‘event’ books that crossover with other books and become these massive unwieldy narratives,” writer Matt Kindt told SyFy Wire. “So instead of getting a double-dose of X-O Manowar during HARBINGER WARS 2 and in his own book, I thought it would be more interesting to have him take on a larger role in the HARBINGER WARS book and then have a contrasting tale taking place in his own title – one that tells a story of him as a Visigoth in Rome – that would both inform his past self and also serve to work in harmony with HARBINGER WARS 2… Two stories that can be read independently of one another, but also work together in this crazy harmonic way if you’re reading both. Both storylines are standalone and also…not.”

“PLUS: Valiant is rewarding fans who reserve “BARBARIANS”, the next staggering arc of Valiant’s best-selling epic series, with specially expanded, limited editions of each issue in the X-O MANOWAR #15-18 PRE-ORDER EDITION BUNDLE – available only as a pre-order set! Released monthly from May 2018 through August 2018, each PRE-ORDER EDITION comes packed with trade paperback-style extras and bonus content, including creator commentary, behind-the-scenes looks at the creation of the comics, process character designs and artwork, and first looks at upcoming issues – plus exclusive covers by Shane Davis (Superman: Earth One) that can’t be found anywhere else!”

Plot Concept: As HARBINGER WARS 2 besieges the Valiant Universe – and X-O Manowar along with it – Aric of Dacia cannot escape the flames that now threaten his future…or the shadows that cloud his past. Before space… Before the armor… Return to the apex of Visigoth conquest as a younger, brasher Aric and a sword-wielding grifter set off on a continent-spanning quest for fortune, glory, and power! From the bloodstained sands of the gladiatorial arena to the dunes of the Arabian Desert, meet the man who would become the warrior-king of an alien civilization – and our own world’s most powerful hero – as he sets out to seize his destiny once upon a time in a land of faraway kings and unrepentant conquerors!

X-O MANOWAR (2017) #15 (NEW ARC! “BARBARIANS” – PART 1)
Written by MATT KINDT
Art by TREVOR HAIRSINE
Cover A by LEWIS LAROSA
Cover B by JIM MAHFOOD
Variant Cover by VERONICA FISH
X-O Manowar Icon Variant by VIKTOR KALACHEV
$3.99 | 32 pgs. | T+ | On Sale MAY 23rd (FOC – 4/30/18)

X-O MANOWAR (2017) #15-18 PRE-ORDER EDITION BUNDLE
Written by MATT KINDT
Art by TREVOR HAIRSINE
Covers by SHANE DAVIS
$3.99 each [4 issues]| 40 pgs. each | T+ | Issue #15 on Sale MAY 23rd (IOD – 3/29/18)

© Darling In The Franxx Production Committee

With Crunchyroll streaming the simulcast of the Darling in the Franxx series, they’re doing some extra promotion for it with clips coming out here and there. As the show reveals more of its particular nature, the clips can definitely be a good bit of easy to share the saucy fun. The latest additions are a bit more copious as there are four new clips that showcase different parts of the season so far with a good mix of character and action material.

The project is directed by Atsushi Nishigori who collaborated with Naotaka Hayashi with the series composition. Masayoshi Tanak is serving as the chief animation director and character designer on it with A-1 Pictures and Studio Trigger handling the production.

The Japanese cast includes Haruka Tomatsu as Zero Two, Yūto Uemura as Hiro, Aoi Ichikawa as Mitsuru, Hiroshi Gotō as Futoshi, Kana Ichinose as Ichigo, Mutsumi Tamura as Zorome, Nanami Yamashita as Miku, Saori Hayami as Kokoro, Shizuka Ishikawa as Ikuno, Yuichiro Umehara as Goro, Marina Inoue as Nana, Konishi Katsuyuki as Hachi, and Kenyuu Horiuchi as Dr. FranXX.

Plot Concept: The story is set in the distant future. The land is ruined, and humanity establishes the mobile fort city Plantation. Pilots produced inside Plantation live in Mistilteinn, also know as the “birdcage.” Children live there knowing nothing of the outside world or the freedom of the sky. Their lives consist of battling to carry out missions. Their enemies are mysterious giant lifeforms known as Kyōryū, and the children pilot robots called Franxx to face off against them. For the children, riding the Franxx proves their existence.

A boy named Hiro is called Code:016, and he was once known as a prodigy. However, he has fallen behind, and his existence seems unnecessary. Not piloting a Franxx is the same as ceasing to exist. One day, a mysterious girl known as “Zero Two” appears before him. Two horns grow out of her head.