© The CW

The CW is getting a look at the next episode of The Flash that’s set to arrive with “Legacy,” which is scheduled for a May 14th, 2019 debut. The 22nd episode of the 5th season, it’s directed by Gregory Smith based on the story by Lauren Certo and the screenplay by Todd Helbing and Eric Wallace.

The series airs on The CW with streaming the day after through their site and app.

The main cast includes Grant Gustin as Barry Allen / Flash, Candice Patton as Iris West-Allen, Danielle Panabaker as Caitlin Snow / Killer Frost, Carlos Valdes as Cisco Ramon / Vibe, Hartley Sawyer as Ralph Dibny / Elongated Man, Danielle Nicolet as Cecile Horton, Jessica Parker Kennedy as Nora West-Allen / XS, Chris Klein as Orlin Dwyer / Cicada, Tom Cavanagh as Harrison Sherloque Wells, and Jesse L. Martin as Joe West.

Season Concept:  Shortly after defeating The Thinker, Barry Allen aka The Flash (Grant Gustin) and his wife, Iris West-Allen (Candice Patton), were stunned by the arrival of their already grown, speedster daughter from the future, Nora West-Allen (Jessica Parker Kennedy). However, acclimating to their new lives as parents won’t be the only challenge they face, as season five pits Team Flash against Central City’s latest scourge – the DC Super-Villain Cicada. A grizzled, blue-collar everyman whose family has been torn apart by metahumans, Orlin Dwyer aka Cicada (Chris Klein) now seeks to exterminate the epidemic — one metahuman at a time.

The latest rankings have come in for where things stand with this past weekend’s Toonami ratings and it’s mostly steady for the bulk of the shows. Dragon Ball Super maintains its top spot with 756,000 viewers, down just 10,000 from last week and essentially just statistical noise. The Promised Neverland increased by about 27,000 viewers at the midnight slot while Sword Art Online: Alicization gained about 40,000 over last week. We also get Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure climbing a bit as it went from 298,000 viewers to 327,000 viewers.

On the repeat side, My Hero Academia is still at the tops with 586,000 viewers and it had the biggest jump going from 457,000 viewers last week. Black Clover dropped 20,000 viewers but Boruto went up about 30,000 viewers. And both of the late-late shows saw some increases as well.

[Source: Programming Insider]

So many UFOs, so little time.

Creative Staff:
Story: David Avallone
Art: Julius Ohta
Colors: Ellie Wright
Letterer: Taylor Esposito

What They Say:
Flying saucers in the sky, treason on the ground, and only two brave young women can save the world from invasion and domination. Lucky for us those two women are the Queen of Pin-ups and the Queen of England! If you thought DOWNTON ABBEY was great but needed more extraterrestrials (and who didn’t?), you’ll want to read the fourth chapter of this Bettie Page adventure, brought to you by David Avallone (Elvira: Mistress of the Dark, Twilight Zone: The Shadow) and Julius Ohta (Sherlock Holmes).

Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
With intonations of something bigger yet to come that Bettie is a part of, this segment of the arc wraps up pretty tight and clean. David Avallone has done a great job in keeping things moving so that within these smaller blocks we get some good stories told all while building to something larger going back to the original series. A series of miniseries may be the best way to work things like this. It also helps immensely having such a great talented artist like Julius Ohta on board, especially with Ellie Wright’s color work, as they’re bringing this all to life in such a magical way. The expressions that Bettie gets, as well as Queen Bettie, are just delightful and it complements the action material beautifully.

This issue is pretty much final act for this section of the storyline and that means a lot of chasing going on at first. With the two Bettie’s facing off against the spaceship, they’re trying to figure out how to calm things down without revealing who they actually are since they don’t want to get zapped. And that lasts only so long before Harling actually finds a way to communicate with the ship and set them to actually chasing the women. It’s a really good action sequence as the two craft move through the air with a bit of panic and various attempts at handling it, but a lot of what works is just how Ohta illustrates it with interior and exterior scenes and how both women are reacting to the situation in a calm panic that works beautifully.

Everything comes to a head on the ground, however, and having Harling and his group show up to make a final takedown pushes it pretty well. It’s actually one of those situations where you’re just waiting for the twist that will save the day because there isn’t much in the way of an actual out otherwise. While it may be due to McKnight and Lyssa showing up, it does work well since they’re part of everything and have a plausible enough reason for being there. But the real fun is both in watching the Queen put Harling in his place and seeing both aliens now here, one coming to collect the other, but also finding some time to go shopping for proper tea items and a little more. The book just hits that kind of absurd level as it’s done before so well so that you connect with things in the moment and just enjoy it for how silly it all is, especially with how everyone is mostly happy.

In Summary:
I continue to have a blast with Bettie Page and can’t wait for more. There’s a lot of charm and fun in what’s basically a wrapup moment for part of the current story and it’s bittersweet. Watching as we finalize things with the Queen is quite enjoyable since you know it couldn’t last long but you want more time between the two as they play off each other so well. It’s something where you know the Queen has made out better for knowing Bettie, beyond just being kept alive. Julius Ohta and Ellie Wright are a great time and the visual design of this book is spot on throughout and I absolutely adore the cover. I can’t wait to see more of what this team will be putting together.

Grade: A-

Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: May 8th, 2019
MSRP: $3.99

© Takeshi Hinata / Kodansha / Ahiru no Sora Production Committee

With some pretty good sales behind it over the last couple of years, the long-running Ahiru no Sora manga is making the leap to anime with as we learned this past February. The site has now updated with some new information as the first promotional video has dropped and the cast has been detailed. The new project is set for an October 2019 debut and has Keizou Kusakawa serving as the chief director working with Shingo Tamaki as the director. Go Zappa is handling the series composition while Yoshino Honda is working on character designs with animation production done by diomedea.

• Yuuki Kaji as Sora Kurumatani
• Yūma Uchida as Momoharu Hanazono
• Katsuyuki Konishi as Chiaki Hanazono
• Kishō Taniyama as Kenji Natsume
• Mamoru Miyano as Kaname Shigeyoshi
• Taku Yashiro as Shinichi Yasuhara
• Chado Horii as Ryuhei Nabeshima
• KENN as Masahiro Saki
• Sayaka Senbongi as Madoka Yabuchi
• Yuna Taniguchi as Nao Nanao
• Aya Endo as Yuka Kurumatani

The manga comes from Takeshi Hinata which began in 2003 in Shonen Magazine. It has 49 volumes as of March 2018.

Check out the official site and Twitter.

Plot Concept: 15-year-old Sora Kurumatani is only 149 centimeters (4.9 feet) tall, but he loves basketball. He enthusiastically joins the basketball club as soon as he gets to high school, but the club is comprised of two terrifying twins who rule the school and their friends. Can Sora continue in this kind of club?

[Source: Cast via ANN]

A chaotic escape attempt!

Creative Staff:
Story: Jeff Parker
Art: Ibrahim Moustafa
Colors: Michael Garland
Letterer: Simon Bowland

What They Say:
“RUSSIAN RUSE, Part III” Injured and alone, lieutenant James Bond has escaped his Russian captors, only to be thrust into the heart of war. The epic World War 2 tale continues from JEFF PARKER (Aquaman, Fantastic Four) and superstar artist IBRAHIM MOUSTAFA (Mother Panic, The Flash).

Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The James Bond: Origin series continues to work some really good story material and execution and this closing part to the Russian Ruse storyline is pretty solid. Jeff Parker doesn’t work too much story material itself into it per se but it has all the right third act kind of action aspects that you like to drive it all home. And that’s made easier with Ibrahim Moustafa working the artwork, this time with Michael Garland on colors, that really makes the flow and movement of the action work beautifully. It’s fast-paced but has all the right aspects of something that’s very much on the fly and haggard with how Bond is feeling.

James on the run is definitely something fun to watch, whether in film or here, and Moustafa nails it. Dropping us right in from last time with an explosion near him and chaos all around, he’s got the Russian’s trying to get him back and he’s hoofing it out of there, only to end up putting on one of their uniforms to blend in. That gets him thrown on one of the transport trucks only to drive right into an oncoming German assault. There’s so much going on with different stages of this war that it’s comical to see him fighting alongside the Russians that want to get him (though this batch doesn’t know it) while taking down the German’s along the way. Even Bond has a look of incredulity about all of this as it unfolds until he can finally get away and make his way toward the docks to find transport out.

The back and forth nature of his escape is a lot of fun to watch play out but once he does reach the docks it gets to that kind of ridiculous level since Yegor comes across him at the same time. It’s that luck of the moment thing that the two end up facing off each other while Bond is hopeful that the Norwegians will get close enough that he can get some sanctuary. The arc ends about as you’d expect with a decent little debrief along the way, one that doesn’t earn Bond any friendship out of the captain from before, but things are fairly straightforward here. That Bond is going to get some R&R next considering the damage he took from this fight at the end means we might have an interesting issue or two, or a standalone story ahead, and that could be fun. But mostly this arc ends on the quieter side even though it’s all action.

In Summary:
James Bond: Origin works through a lot of action here and it’s a lot of fun with how Moustafa puts it together. The flow is great, Bond’s expressions are spot on, and it keeps moving at a great pace throughout that keeps you engaged. It does all largely end as you’d expect it would for this part of the storyline so there are no real surprises. It’s a quieter ending with a debrief and a tease of what’s to come but it doesn’t feel like a whole lot got accomplished here even as enjoyable as it was.

Grade: B

Age Rating: 15+
Released By: Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: April 10th, 2019
MSRP: $3.99

© Yumi Tamura / Shogakukan / 7SEEDS Project

The anime adaptation of the 7SEEDS manga from Yumi Tamura was announced last year has been planned for an April 2019 debut but was pushed back to a June 2019 debut back in March. Now, the official site has hit one more update that has revealed a June 28th, 2019 worldwide debut for the project. The series has Yukio Takahashi directing based on the series composition by Touko Machida. Youko Satou is handling the character designs with GONZO handling the animation production.

The newly added cast is part of the Summer A team with:

• Sho Hayami as Takashi
• Kazuyuki Okitsu as Mark Ibaraki
• Minako Kotobuki as Maria Miki

【速報】配信日決定

.:*゜:。:..:*゜:。:..:*゜:。:..:*゜:。:..:*゜

Netflixオリジナルアニメシリーズ
『7SEEDS』
6月28日より全世界独占配信開始

.:*゜:。:..:*゜:。:..:*゜:。:..:*゜:。:..:*゜

その日、唐突にサバイバルが始まった―。
少年少女を待ち受ける運命とは#ネトフリアニメ pic.twitter.com/pN2S9E8gx0

— Netflix Japan Anime (@NetflixJP_Anime) May 8, 2019

The previously announced Japanese cast includes Nao Tōyama as Natsu Iwashimizu, Jun Fukuyama as Arashi Aota, Katsuyuki Konishi as Semimaru Asai, Yoko Soumi as Botan Saotome, Kana Asumi as Matsuri Tendō, Akira Ishida as Chimaki Yamori, Aoi Yūki as Hotaru Kusakuri,  Kazuhiko Inoue as Kaname Mozunoto, Yōko Hikasa as Hana Sugurono, Hirofumi Nojima as Haru Yukima, Ryotaro Okiayu as Mansaku Tsunomata, Eri Kitamura as Hibari Niigusa, Mamiko Noto as Chisa Taiami, Ryou Hirohashi as Momotarō Nobi, Shizuka Itou as Fujiko Amacha, Hisao Egawa as Dōsei Yanagi, Mayumi Asano as Ran Shishigaki, Kenta Miyake as Akiwo Haza, Ai Kakuma as Kurumi Shikano, Kaito Ishikawa as Ryusei Ogiwara, Mikako Komatsu as Akane Nashimoto, Daisuke Sakaguchi as Sakuya Yamaki, Takanori Hoshino as Hazuki Karita, Nozomu Sasaki as Takahiro Aramaki, Kenji Nojima as Fubuki Samejima, Houko Kuwashima as Mitsuru Kagurazaka, Kenjiro Tsuda as Ryoya Izayoi, Kensho Ono as Ango, Takahiro Sakurai as Ryō, Haruka Chisuga as Koruri, Yu Shimamura as Ayu, Takuma Terashima as Ban, Takuya Satō as Gengorō, Junko Minagawa as Nijiko, and Masashi Sugawara as Unami.

The manga from Yumi Tamura began in 2001 and wrapped up in 2017 with 35 volumes total.

Check out the official site and Twitter as well as the Netflix site.

Plot Concept: In the immediate future, a giant meteorite has collided with earth. All living organisms, including mankind, have been wiped off the face of the planet. The government, who had foreseen this outcome, took measures to counter the worst-case scenario called Project 7SEEDS, in which five sets of seven young men and women were carefully selected and placed into teams. Each participant sought ways to survive on a deserted island.

We learned back in February at the Television Critics Association event that the upcoming third season of Legion on FX would be the last one – and that was part of the initial plan from creator Noah Hawley. The third season is set for a June 24th, 2019 debut and now the first promotional spot has come out for it clocking in at just a minute. With the ending line being the potential key here, it looks to be an exciting season ahead. This series has been one of the strongest visual design series of the decade and it provides so much context within the story itself.

Suffice to say, we really recommend it.

The series stars Dan Stevens, Aubrey Plaza, Rachel Keller, Bill Irwin, Jean Smart, and Jemaine Clement.

Plot Concept: David Haller, a troubled young man who is diagnosed as schizophrenic, but after a strange encounter, he discovers special powers that will change his life and the worlds forever.

I can’t wait to see how this can be continued.

Creative Staff:
Story: Brian Wood
Art: Robert Carey
Colors: Dan Jackson
Letterer: Nate Piekos of Blambot

What They Say:
Amanda Ripley and Zula Hendricks are engaged in a desperate battle on the jungle moon, losing the fight against genetically modified Aliens and synthetics for survival. One desperate, last-ditch, option remains, and the two women are forced to decide how much of a sacrifice they are willing to make. Written by Brian Wood of Aliens: Defiance.

Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The Aliens: Resistance series has definitely been firing on all cylinders for me as we’ve gotten Amanda and Zula together. Brian Wood has been playing with these characters for a while across various books that have exposed more of what Weyland-Yutani is up to and it’s been pretty tense and exciting. This series has been putting in a bit more than it should have as I would have liked more time to explore some of what’s been revealed, but the quick and tense mood has definitely clicked. That’s also been reinforced by some great artwork from Robert Carey who once again really does a fantastic job here. While most of the xenomorphs are kept to a distance shot they still have this kind of intense herd aspect that’s frightening in how he lays out the panels and places everything to such great effect.

The hunt that Amanda and Zula are on here plays out well as they move throughout the jungle, the narration talking about some of the past experiences in an abstract kind of way. That unfolds as the visual is all about one of the colonists that’s going through the final stages of gestation which continues to be horrifying even all these years later. When we do get to our leads, however, they’re thrown off a bit by the arrival of another colonist, a young woman named Alec who ends up attacking them because of how loud they’re being. Surviving on this jungle moon is not easy and the pair is making it harder, so they kind of earn the smack that they get. This leads us to a fun little group dynamic as they hide and survive for a while, getting details from Alec and filling her in on the reality of what she signed up for. You can understand how she ended up in this way and really feel bad for just how terrible it has all gone down.

With this in mind, Alec is key to the pair now as she’s proof of what Weyland-Yutani has done, and they need to get her off-world before the nuclear explosion goes off. That we do all of this plus the escape sequence in this single issue means things are packed and maybe a bit too-quickly paced for my tastes, but it moves right along with what it has to get done all while Carey gives it such a great look as the xenomorphs attack. We do get some good material from Davis as he moves in to set the escape plan fully into motion with Alec, but I’m mixed of feeling about how much more time should have been spent with Amanda and Zula as things turned from really bad to unfathomable.

In Summary:
With more to come, I’m not sure if there’s some surprising twist to be pulled out to change course on it and I’m not sure if there should be. Or if this is the right decision for the two either, because of all our investment in them and the books. Brian Wood definitely keeps things moving at a good pace but we get our quiet moments as well which definitely helps. I like what we’re presented with overall and the way the character arcs have gone but I’m still holding my breath for some finality. Wood and Carey have a really good run here with the Resistance series and I’m curious to see what’s in store for the Alien comics universe overall going forward.

Grade: B+

Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: May 8th, 2019
MSRP: $3.99

An advertisement for the fifth volume of the Kono Yūsha ga Ore TUEEE Kuse ni Shinchō Sugiru, aka This Hero is Invincible but “Too Cautious”, novel series back in November 2017 revealed that an anime adaptation of some sort is in the works for the project. The first volume of the manga that began alongside the announcement has now landed and it’s provided some details on the wraparound band. The series is set for an October 2019 debut where Masayuki Sakoi will be directing based on the scripts from Kenta Ihara. Mai Toda is on board with character design while White Fox will be producing the animation for it.

The series comes from writer Light Tuchihi which began in 2016 and has five volumes out while the manga by Koyuki has one volume.

Plot Concept: The story begins when the goddess Rista summons a hero to help her hard mode video game-like world. The hero, Seiya, is exceptional in every way, but he is incredibly cautious. He does things like buy three sets of armor (one to wear, a spare, and a spare for the spare) and go full power against weak slimes (just in case).

ド慎重勇者&駄女神コンビ、
超難度の異世界救済に挑む…︎
ドラゴンコミックスエイジ最新刊
土日月×こゆきが贈る
TVアニメ10月放送開始の
大人気異世界転生ノベル
コミカライズ!
『この勇者が俺TUEEEくせに
慎重すぎる①』が発売したよ♪
カバー裏面に土日月書き下ろし
短編小説を収録! pic.twitter.com/ArPXqy6iKS

— 戸田書店沼津店 (@toda_numazu) May 7, 2019

[Source: ANN]

A smack to the head is what most of this group needs.

Creative Staff:
Story: Jeff Lemire
Art: Dean Ormston
Colors: Dave Stewart
Letterer: Todd Klein

What They Say:
The Eisner Award-winning superhero saga returns! With the team coming together, Black Hammer, Abe, and company try to figure out what’s happened to throw their lives upside down. Lucy, however, receives a call from an unexpected hero, which thrusts their plan into chaos. Black Hammer has been optioned by Legendary Pictures!

Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
This arc of the series has definitely been interesting even if you have the basic predictability about it in bringing the team back together. Jeff Lemire has focused well on what the other lives of these characters could have been without the superheroics and I definitely like that it’s a mixed bag at best while also giving us more of a look at who they are and how they respond to situations. It’s also given Dean Ormston more to work with in terms of locations and settings while also presenting new ways to look at the characters. The result for fans like me is a whole lot to enjoy and more fully realized characters to deal with as everything starts to come together.

With Lucy and Talky-Walking having figured out some of the basics at this point that has them trying to collect the others so that they can deal with what’s coming. The skies are changing, a storm is coming, and they know the Anti-God is on his way and a world without superheroes won’t be able to face him. The fun is in trying to get everyone back together as Lucy needs to use the Hammer to reawaken who they were before reality was rewritten. It’s happened easily enough for the first two but when they go to approach Abraham about it things don’t go as well. He’s still in a bad place after his fight with the punks recently and on guard because of it. Even worse, just touching the hammer isn’t enough at this point to restore their past lives. Lucy has to give them a good whack to the head.

I love getting the gang back together like this as there’s a kind of ragtag sense of fun about it as the trio head off to find Gail. She’s sadly a shell of her former self as she’s gotten so old and uncommunicative, but for the trio to basically kidnap her from the home gives us something of an ‘80s comedy vibe as they roll away because they know that they just can’t leave her behind. It does move quickly in Colonel Weird appearing, but that felt the least-weird thing ever for him, and he’s able to get them together with Barbalien on Mars. I really liked Barbalien’s arc on Mars and all he went through there and to have it be the bigger fight of the run as Lucy tries to get him to remember is great. But it also has some sweet moments toward the end that just made me smile very broadly. Between the time at the farm and all the backstory we’ve gotten before, watching this team come together again is something special.

In Summary:
I’ve been enjoying Black Hammer since the start and it continues to be a whole lot of fun with what it does even if there does feel like we’re kind of looping around the same central issue. This installment helps to get a bunch of the team back together again as the big threat is on its way and it works really well since these are characters we know so well and are intriguing when viewed through new iterations. I love the dialogue, the pacing, the artwork, it all just comes together spot on. I’m excited to see where this particular arc builds to next as all the pieces are falling into place wonderfully.

Grade: B+

Age Rating: 15+
Released By: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: May 8th, 2019
MSRP: $3.99

© DC Comics

The original Watchmen 12-issue series ran in the 1980s and was very much a product of that time. I later spawned the 2009 live-action film with animated side story material. DC Comics hasn’t let the property really rest in recent years with a Before Watchmen batch of books and now the characters involved in the Doomsday Clock storyline that’s running as an event.

We knew previously that HBO was looking to bring the property to series form with an expanded view and not a strict adaptation of the original comic series with Damon Lindelof working on it after a fantastically successful run with the Leftovers series. The project was given a series order after the pilot that was produced late last summer and the show is on track for a fall 2019 debut. Ahead of that, they’re bringing out the first teaser for it that doesn’t say much but attempts to tweak the interest of those that know the property while intriguing others, particularly as they close out Game of Thrones and look for their next big thing.

The cast includes Jeremy Irons, Regina King, Don Johnson, Tim Blake Nelson and Louis Gossett Jr., Adelaide Clemens, Andrew Howard, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Tom Mison, Frances Fisher, Jacob Ming-Trent, Sara Vickers, Dylan Schombing, Lily Rose Smith, and Adelynn Spoon.

The original comic was written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons.

Original Concept: In an alternate world where the mere presence of American superheroes changed history, the US won the Vietnam War, Nixon is still president, and the cold war is in full effect.á WATCHMEN begins as a murder-mystery but soon unfolds into a planet-altering conspiracy. As the resolution comes to a head, the unlikely group of reunited heroes—Rorschach, Nite Owl, Silk Spectre, Dr. Manhattan and Ozymandias—have to test the limits of their convictions and ask themselves where the true line is between good and evil.

The nonsense continues.

Creative Staff:
Story: Christopher Cantwell
Art: Martin Morazzo
Colors: Miroslav Mrva
Letters: Clem Robbins

What They Say:
Luna’s mental health deteriorates as her obsession with the Flying Woman reignites. Benji searches for his mother Kido while Dana begins to worship at her feet. Bill gets help mounting an escape, and Luna’s doctors become worried . . . plus, she might have a boyfriend now?

Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
It’s like a trainwreck I can’t look away from. The first series had some intriguing moments early on that were appealing, like a new train rolling out of the station as you admire its potential and what it can accomplish. As it went on things went off the rails toward the end as it felt like it rushed an ending when it needed a few more issues. With the second series, things start off in the trainwreck yet it manages to keep moving, just flopping around though, becoming worse and worse. There are so many subplots going on in the book and so many things that I suppose make sense but really don’t that you can’t quite be sure where to connect with the story.

The main character of Luna has been interesting to watch from the psychological aspect of things as she struggles with a lot and we see some of the effects of her medication on her during the school day here. Which is played a little oddly because anyone taking anything in most schools of this type would be watched and “understood” and dealt with in far better ways than this shows it. So that took me out of it a lot. But we also see her struggling at the start with her dreams as she talks with Joan of Arc and then everything throughout just sprawls with the way she’s unable to handle anything. Including suddenly getting a boyfriend, a simple guy named Gary, and being motivated to use him for his car for a getaway weekend for bigger plans that she has. It’s just all over the place and feels utterly disconnected.

We do get some time with Bill that’s fun as he’s coping as best as he can in the prison he’s in but he gets busted out by someone that I’m assuming we’re supposed to know but who can say at this point with the way nothing makes sense here. It’s a fun blow a hole in the wall kind of escape and whisks off in a helicopter move that pretty much delighted me for its silliness. But with Verna being on there and an absolute mess in terms of how she looks under the face mask she wears, the bulk of what we get here is essentially a whole lot of technobabble and Bill’s regrets about his work and why he did what he did, which isn’t all that interesting.

In Summary:
I had hopes that this sequel series would smooth things out from the first series as it got underway but it seems intent on doubling down on bad things, executing it worse, and making me like the cast even less than I already was, which I wasn’t quite sure was possible. It’s a mess of a book that I can’t look away from and from a mental health perspective frustrates me with what it perpetrates.

Grade: D

Age Rating: 16+
Released By: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: May 8th, 2018
MSRP: $3.99

© Yomu / TRUSS

The anime adaptation of Miru Tights is set for a May 11th, 2019 debut and a neat little detail has arrived for it. The closing theme song for the series will be done by the three lead actresses – separately. They’ll be singing the same song but each will have their own solo version of it where it’ll rotate out, giving us a chance to hear some different interpretations of the same work. The show is slotted for the Nico Nico Channel and dAnime Store with episodes arriving weekly for Japanese audiences. Yuki Ogawa is directing the series based on the scripts by Fumiaki Maruto. Yukari Hibano is working on the character designs while Yokohama Animation Lab is animating it.

The Japanese cast includes Yōko Hikasa as Yua Nakabeni, who likes 30 denier tights (sheer); Haruka Tomatsu as Ren Aikawa, who likes 60 denier tights (opaque); Aya Suzaki as Homi Moegi, who likes 110 denier tights (thick); and Ai Kayano as Yuki Ogawa, who likes 20 denier tights (sheer).

The work comes from Yomu, an illustrator whose work deals pretty heavily with women in tights.

Check out the official site and Twitter.

Plot Concept: A show about girls who like tights.

[Source: ANN]

©ONE / Yusuke Murata / SHUEISHA, Hero Association HQ

The second season of One-Punch Man is underway and the official site is rolling out a new preview. The eighteenth episode of the series is set to land on May 14th, 2019, and they’ve got the first preview piece for it. The show has its distribution in the US handled by Viz Media as they work through Hulu with it while Tubi handles it in Canada. Crunchyroll is coming through for European subscribers as they’ve picked the show up for members with it open to viewers in Europe, excluding French Speaking Europe and German-Speaking Europe, and MENA. They expect to set up for Italian speaking territories to launch later this year.

The new season has Chikara Sakurai on board as the director and instead of Madhouse animating it, the series will be animated by J.C. Staff.

Check out our review of the first season.

The anime adaptation for the first season was produced by Madhouse for the animation with Shingo Natsume set to direct based on the overall scripts by Tomohiro Suzuki. Chikashi Kubota worked on the character designs for it.

The cast for the TV series includes Makoto Furukawa on board to play Saitama, Kaito Ishikawa will be playing Genos, Yuuki Kaji as Speed of Sound Sonic and Aoi Yuki as Tornado of Terror. Supporting cast includes Yūichi Nakamura as License-less Rider, Kazuhiro Yamaji as Silver Fang, Hiroki Yasumoto as King, Takahiro Sakurai as Zombieman, Katsuyuki Konishi as Tanktop Master, Saori Hayami as Blizzard of Hell, Mamori Miyano as Sweet Mask, Kenjiro Tsuda as Atomic Samurai, Minami Takayama as Child Emperor, Tesshô Genda as Metal Knight, Youji Ueda as Drive Knight, Daisuke Namikawa as Pig God, Satoshi Hino as Superalloy Blackluster, Yuji Ueda as Watchdog Man, Kousuke Toriumi as Flashy Flash, Wataru Hatano as Metal Bat and Masaya Onosaka as Puri-puri Prisoner.

The manga comes from ONE and Yusuke Murata, which began in 2012 in Tonari no Young Jump online after it was originally started back in 2009 by Murata online and Viz Media is releasing the manga in North America in both print and digital form.

Plot concept: Saitama started out being a hero just for fun. After three years of “special” training, he became so powerful that he can defeat opponents with a single punch. Now, alongside Genos, his faithful cyborg disciple, Saitama is ready to begin his official duties as a professional hero working with the Hero Association.

However, the frequency of monster appearances is surging and it increasingly appears as if the Great Seer Madame Shibabawa’s prediction about the Earth’s doom is coming true. In the midst of this crisis, the “hero hunter” Garou makes his own appearance.

With all thirteen episodes of the 3DCG Ultraman series now available worldwide on Netflix, the US service side has brought out a new piece that gives us some good interview material with the creators. Just in going back in time with Aramaki’s career to his first work with MADOX-01 or Minipato for Kamiyama is delightful and seeing how they’ve evolved since then.

The Japanese cast includes Ryohei Kimura as Shinjiro Hayata, Takuya Eguchi as Dan Moroboshi, Megumi Han as Seiji Hokuto, Hideyuki Tanaka as Shin Ha, Sumire Morohoshi as Rena Sayama, Ken Uo as Mitsuhiro Ide, Shigeru Ushiyama as Edo, Ryota Takeuchi as Jack, Eiji Hanawa as Yosuke Endo, Hirokazu Sekido as Kurata, Kenjiro Tsuda as Adad, Minoru Shiraishi as Shiraishi, and Kaiji Soze as Bemlar.

The manga comes from Eichi Shimizu an Tomohiro Shimoguchi which began in 2011 and has eleven volumes out so far. Viz Media is bringing the manga out in North America with ten volumes out so far.

Check out the official site and Twitter as well as the Netflix site.

Plot Concept: Several years have passed since the events of Ultraman, with the legendary “Giant of Light” (光の巨人 Hikari no Kyojin) now a memory, as it is believed he returned home after fighting the many giant aliens that invaded the Earth. Shin Hayata’s son Shinjiro seems to possess a strange ability, and it is this ability, along with his father’s revelation that he was Ultraman, that leads Shinjiro to battle the new aliens invading the Earth as the new Ultraman.

© 2020 Fumikane Shimada · KADOKAWA / 501 Integrated Battle Group

The next project is underway for the Strike Witches franchise with the Strike Witches 501st Unit, Taking Off! anime adaptation. The sixth episode is scheduled for a May 14th, 2019 debut, and the official site through Kadokawa has put out a new preview for the episode. Funimation is bringing it out at 12:15 pm ET for their members every Tuesday and the availability for it is pretty solid as it’s open to viewers in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, and Australia.

Fumio Ito is directing based on the series composition by Shinya Murakami. The anime production lists acca effe and Giga Production, with Production I.G and Anime Beans involved.

The Japanese cast includes Misato Fukuen as Yoshika Miyafuji, Saori Seto as Mio Sakamoto, Kaori Nazuka as Lynette Bishop, Miyuki Sawashiro as Perrine-H. Clostermann, Rie Tanaka as Minna-Dietlinde Wilcke, Mie Sonozaki as Gertrud Barkhorn, Sakura Nogawa as Erica Hartmann, Chiwa Saito as Francesca Lucchini, Ami Koshimizu as Charlotte E Yeager, Mai Kadowaki as Sanya V. Litvyak, and Ayuru Ōhashi as Eila Ilmatar Juutilainen,

The project comes from Makoto Fujibayashi’s manga that ran in 2012 as a four-panel series with a couple of volumes to its name and some additional incarnations later on.

Check out the official site and Twitter.

Plot Concept: Strike Witches, the 501st Joint Fighter Wing girls, are back from battle and ready to relax as best they can! War with the deadly Neuroi won’t last forever, but one thing is certain, the war on laundry is eternal. Join these aerial combat cuties in a down-to-earth series highlighting the team’s hijinks between missions.

If you’re not finding much to watch these days and are looking for something fun from the old days to binge, check out the newly added Gokudo series on Asian Crush. The streaming service has added this from the Discotek Media catalog – which was originally released by Media Blasters years ago – in its original Japanese language with English subtitles as well as dubbed.

Plot Concept: Where is it written that heroes have to be heroic? Gokudo is the perfect adventurer. Reckless, greedy and ambitious, his star qualities make him one imperfect crown prince and an even worse hero. With his flaming sword, a tomboy looking for excitement and the prince of his rival kingdom, he sets off on a quest to uncover all the great treasures of the world. He’ll succeed, or make a total fool of himself trying!

Peppermint Anime is getting ready for the home video release in Germany for the second part of Garo: Vanishing Line and that means we’re getting a listen to the dub for it. The distributor has now released the fifth dub clip for it that clocks in at just over two minutes and deals with some solid character material but also the darker side of events. The bilingual release is out with a May 21st, 2019 debut where it’ll have the second batch of six episodes as well as the clean opening and closing sequences. The series 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.

YU-GI-OH! © 1996 by Kazuki Takahashi/SHUEISHA Inc.

The sixth series in the franchise with Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS debuted back on May 10th, 2017 and it got picked up for streaming with Crunchyroll bringing out new episodes every Wednesday for it. Ahead of the debut of the 102nd episode of the series that’s set for a May 15th, 2019 debut, TV Tokyo has now brought out the first promotional spot for it.

Please note that these previews are removed by TV Tokyo when the episode itself airs.

Masahiro Hosoda is directing it based on the series composition by Shin Yoshida while Kenichi Hara is on board to work on the character designs. Studio Gallop will be handling the animation for it.

Plot Concept: In “Den City” where the latest network has developed, people were dueling day and night in the VR world called “LINK VRAINS” managed by SOL Technology Inc. The main character, Yusaku Fujiki is a quiet high school student with great insight. He has been dueling, transforming himself into his avatar “Playmaker”, to battle the “The Knights of Hanoi” that plots to destroy “LINK VRAINS”.

© 2019 Five fairy scholars / Fairy Gone Production Committee

P.A. Works original series Fairy gone is getting its home video releases handled by TOHO in Japan and they’ve set a solid schedule for the two-cour series. It’s getting an eight-volume release that begins on July 17th, 2019 with three episodes per disc. It’s well priced, respectively, with the DVDs at 5,800 yen each and the Blu-rays at 6,800 yen each. Check out the full schedule of known details below!

The series has Kenichi Suzuki directing with the scripts from Ao Jumonji, the author of Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash. The original designs by Haruhisa Nakata were adapted by Takako Shimizu with P.A. Works handling the animation production. [K]NoW_NAME is on board for music production.

The Japanese cast includes Kana Ichinose as Maria Noel, Tomoaki Maeno as Free Underbar, Ayaka Fukuhara as Veronica Thorn, Yoshimasa Hosoya as Ulfran Low, Ayaka Suwa as Clara Kisenaria, Yoshiki Nakajima as Serge Tovah, Mie Sonozaki as Nein Auraa, Takehito Koyasu as Damian Carme, Houchu Ohtsuka as Marco Bellwood, Eizou Tsuda as Ray Dawn, Atsumi Tanezaki as Lily Heineman, Kōji Okino as Robert Chase, Mikako Komatsu as Eleanor Need, Yasuhiro Mamiya as Oz Maher, Kenjiro Tsuda as Griff Mercer, Mugihito as Cain Distaroru, Shinji Kawada as Axel Rabū, Minako Kotobuki as “Sweety” Bitter Sweet, Yuka Iguchi as Patricia Pearl, Kazuyuki Okitsu as Jonathan Passepierre, Hisao Egawa as Biivii Risukaa, Shizuka Itou as Sophie, Takaya Hashi as Schwartz Diese, Hiroki Touchi as Jet Glaive, and Kenji Nomura as Ewan Breeze.

Check out the official site and Twitter.

Plot Concept: The show is set in a world where fairies possess and reside within animals, granting them special powers. By surgically removing and transplanting the organs of a possessed animal into a human, humans can partially summon the fairy and use it as a weapon. Eventually, such individuals were used for war, and were called “Fairy Soldiers.” After a long war, these soldiers lost their purpose and had to reintegrate into society. From the government to the mafia, and even becoming terrorists, each treads their own path.

Fairy Gone Japanese Volume 1 Packaging

Fairy Gone Japanese Volume 1 Cover

[Source: Fairy Gone]