The anime adaptation of Ooyasan wa Shishunki! got underway this weekend and now a little bit more casting information has been finally revealed for it. Initially, the casting information was limited to just Yurika Kubo as Chie Satonaka. Now we’ve gotten the confirmations from the official site that Takashi Kondo is playing Maeda-san in it and Hitomi Nabatame is on board as Reiko. Additionally, Ibuki Kodi is playing Mayu and Erii Yamazaki is playing Yuki.

Crunchyroll has announced the pickup of the show for simulcast with plans for it to debut on January 10th at 10:30am ET. Availability for the series is fantastic as it’s open to Crunchyroll members worldwide outside of Asia.

The series was directed by Yuuki Ogawa working with Atsuki Shimizu who worked on the character designs and served as the chief animation director. Seven Arcs Pictures handled the animation for the series.

The series comes from creator Ruruu Minase and it began back in 2012 in Manga Time magazine. It’s got four volumes out so far, which is pretty good compared to a number of four-panel series.

Plot concept: Ooya-san wa Shishunki! follows the antics of Chie Satonaka, a middle schooler who is a landlord. Though she appears a little girl, at times, she behaves more like a grandmother, doing all the cleaning, cooking and housework around the apartment. Despite her responsibilities, she still enjoys a normal middle school life with her friends.

[Source: ANN]

Fans of the Non Non Biyori franchise got to savor a new season this past summer of the property in anime form and now a little more is on the way. The Official Twitter has revealed that the tenth volume of the manga from Atto that’s due out on September 23rd, 2016 will have a limited edition version that will bundle an anime episode. No details as to the length of it or what the content of it will be has been revealed yet. The last time an OVA was done was with the seventh volume back in the summer of 2014.

The summer 2015 series was directed by Shinya Kawamo based on the overall composition by Reiko Yoshida, who also write scripts alongside Fumihiko Shimo and Yuka Yamada. Mai Otsuka returned as the character design and the work was produced at Silver Link.

The manga sees release in North America from Seven Seas Entertainment

Plot concept: The closest book store sells Jump every Wednesday, the video rental shop is ten stations down. Vegetables are left out for sale, and no one’s ever even see a lock on a house. That’s the country life they live, but these five girls at Asahigaoka Branch School are enjoying it! Enjoy the leisurely, laid-back life of these unique girls!

Mera truly takes control!

Creative Staff:
Story: Marguerite Bennett
Art: Mirka Andolfo
Colors: J. Nanjan

What They Say:
Aquawoman and Supergirl fend off an attack from a giant, demonic squid while Stargirl learns an upsetting truth about her biological father.

Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The DC Comics Bombshells series has been on a roll for pretty much its entire run with only a couple of minor deviations that didn’t do too much for me overall. While I enjoyed the whole Batgirl arc and what it did, it wasn’t something that captivates me like this arc is currently doing – even though they largely are telling the same story. While we saw the Batgirls take control of their destiny, we’re getting that again here with Mera as she talks about who it is that narrates the story of her life. It’s an important message to be sure and Bennett weaves it into the story well without making it seem like it’s a message of the day or something last minute little add on piece. It’s very much at the core of things and for someone like Mera, and Courtney here as well, it’s the kind of defining moment that they need to truly chart the course of their lives.

Courtney’s story carries into this installment and you really do have to feel for her with what she goes through as Whitmore works to protect her. It’s very much of the time, and of the mind of many parents, but it’s hard to take him too seriously considering he only just got her back into his presence. But he has that kind of elite personality and position who always gets his way, hence Nygma making sure that Courtney is tucked safely away where she can just enjoy life without any worries. But for Courtney, she’s struggling not only with what Whitmore is doing but also what she herself did to Kara, coming to the realization that it was she who wanted adventure and Kara who just wanted to be with her in the world. There are some important flashback moments here that really do enhance the pairs relationship and it reinforces why Courtney will go the distance she does.

Mera and Kara’s story follows up from the previous issue as well as they deal with the mines in the bay and discover that Nereus is orchestrating all of this in an attempt to bring Mera back to Atlantis. This has Kara questioning what it was that Mera has been telling them all this time, but she makes it clear it’s how she’s viewed what she’s done as opposed to Nereus’ view of it all. The Atlantis side is intriguing as we learn that the king has aligned with the Tenebrae, citing their both being superior to humanity, and that looks to alter the scope of the war to some degree as well. There’s a lot of action to it all but it’s well tied to the dialogue that Mera and Nereus have with each other and as Kara copes with the underwater fighting aspect. It builds well here but it’s what Mera talks about throughout that sells it since she takes ownership of her other path, providing a solid complement to what we see with Courtney’s story.

In Summary:
The Bombshells series continues to be a real delight and one of the biggest highlights of my reading list every week. This issue is pretty much on par with last week’s in what it delivers and I’m loving it. Mera’s storyline is exactly what I want out of her and it feels like the character is finally getting the kind of proper characterization and exposure that she’s struggled to get over the decades. Combining her with Kara her works well and I’m definitely enjoying seeing Courtney’s storyline where she’s going to really take ownership of her own life path now. Very good stuff all around and made even more awesome this week with Mirka Andolfo’s artwork. Andolfo continues to deliver some of my favorite installments of the series with the character designs and layouts and this one is absolutely no exception, resulting in a fantastic read through the first time and a very fun exploration of the artwork and details the second time around.

Grade: A-

Age Rating: 13+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: January 7th, 2016
MSRP: $0.99

The light novel series Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash had its anime premiere this weekend, which Funimation is doing the simulcast for, and TOHO has now followed it up with something neat. The Japanese distributor has put together a new official music video for the show using the insert song Head Song from [K]NoW_NAME, who also did the opening and closing songs for the show. It’s definitely a good way to get the show out in the eyes of more people so they can see the visual quality of the series and the kind of style it tales.

The anime adaptation was produced by A-1 Pictures with Ryousuke Nakamura directing and Mieko Hosoi designing the characters. The cast includes Yoshimasa Hosoya as Haruhiro, Hiroyuki Yoshino as Ranta, Nobunaga Shimazaki as Manato, Fukushi Ochiai as Moguzou, Mikako Komatsu as Yume, Haruka Terui as Shihoru, Tomokazu Seki as Renji, Daisuke Namikawa as Kikkawa, Hiroki Yasumoto as Brittany and Mamiko Noto as Barbara.

The series comes from the novel series by Ao Jyumonji with illustrations by Eiri Shirai which began in 2013 and has six volumes out. A manga adaptation is currently being serialized as well from Mutsumi Okuhashi.

Plot concept: Why are we here? Why are we doing this?

Before Haruhito had realized what happened, he was surrounded by darkness. Why was he here? Where was here? Even now, he still didn’t know. Those around him were the same as him, no one remembered anything other than their own names. And when they emerged from the darkness, the world that awaited them seemed like something out of a video game.

In order to survive, Haruhito forms a party with the others, learns fighting skills, and as a soldier in the reserve force, takes his first steps into the world of Grimgal. What awaits him there, he doesn’t know…

This the story of an adventure born from the ashes.

The tools of a champion.

Creative Staff:
Story: Renae De Liz
Art: Renae De Liz, Ray Dillon
Colors: Ray Dillon

What They Say:
One brave Amazon stood against the rest, and won the right to escort the outsider beyond the boundaries of their world. Diana of Themyscira is about to face her biggest challenge yet!

Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
When dealing with a civilization that has been around for thousands of years as Themyscira has, it’s no surprise that there are all sorts of long and dark grudges that are held. Particularly when some are fostered and nurtured by the gods and their agendas that go back even further. We’ve seen some interesting movements in this series and I’ve liked that there are those that worship to the darker side of the gods in their own way here, rather than everyone seemingly on the same page and moving in the same direction. It adds a little more nuance to the landscape as a whole and gives it a more fleshed out feeling while introducing a different kind of politics and intrigue to the Amazon side that hasn’t been dealt with in a big way from what I’ve read over the years.

The reveal here that Diana was the one hiding her identity and winning the title of champion certainly sets of all sorts of alarms in Antioppe’s mind, though you know some of it is just her looking for advantage of her adversary. That she goes so public so quickly shows that she doesn’t have the real skill for one to lead in a true political way, but as it unfolds we see that she is smart enough to see weaknesses and potentially try to exploit them. With Diana confirmed as champion, the toll that it takes on Hippolyta certainly offers up that angle to be worked with and that’s going to have those two coping or using it in their own ways. For Diana, you know there’s a sense of guilt over it and the pair do have a good conversation later on prior to Diana’s departure to bring Steve back – which has its own further conversation to be had later.

Diana’s journey is definitely the focus here and we get some good moments with it, such as her mother giving her an array of items that are familiar and iconic to be sure. There’s some mild history given with them in brief in order to add to the mystique and importance of them all and it works well since Diana accepts them with humility and a sense of awe. And she’s going to need them as we see the journey begin to bring Steve outside of the boundaries of the island. It’s an interesting journey in that it’s quiet yet we see the threats around the edges, which do make their move towards the end. You know they’re guided by a higher power but that doesn’t diminish the impact of it in how it unfolds, particularly as the team here really makes it a fantastic sequence with the quiet visuals and the mystery of it all before it dumps Diana out into a brave new world.

In Summary:
While serving a bit more as a transitional issue, bringing some events to a close while preparing others to run behind the scenes, the Legend of Wonder Woman series continues to delight. There’s some good growth to be seen here and Diana’s about to enter a whole other world that will change everything for her. Having spent as much time as we have with her so far will make it all the more engaging to watch how she’s going to react and handle it all and I’m definitely looking forward to that. And to see how the team here brings the rest of the world to life. I’ve loved their take and color design on Themyscira, but I’m really eager to see how they present this as a contrast once it gets underway, since there are a few different ways that they can go.

Grade: B+

Age Rating: 13+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: January 6th, 2016
MSRP: $0.99

With the success of the property A Certain Magical Index and its spinoff and then the Heavy Object work that looks to be doing well, spawning a two-cour anime adaptation that’s currently airing, it’s generally worth taking notice when creator Kazuma Kamachi does something new.

The Dengeki Bunko publisher has now listed a new light novel from the creator with illustrations from Mahaya that’s scheduled to ship on March 10th, 2016. A single novel won’t set anything in motion, but you can see it being paid very close attention to, particularly if a manga adaptation comes quickly for it. The new series is called Saikyō o Kojiraseta Level Counter Stop Ken Seijo Beatrice no Jakuten Sono Na wa “Buu Buu”, which ANN is translating as The Name of the Weakness That Has Aggravated the Strongest Max Level Sword Holy Woman Beatrice, is “Buu Buu”.

We’ll just call it Buu Buu, I guess?

Plot concept: Set in an alternate world, Beatrice is alone in her brilliant and shining position that she has earned for mastering sword and magic, and she wants to cry a little. It seems she is promised to marry a miniature orc, but what’s aggravating her?

[Source: ANN]

With the second half of the sixth season of The Walking Dead coming up next month, AMC has revealed that Fear the Walking Dead will return for its second season on April 10th, 2016 at 9pm. This has it returning the week after The Walking Dead finishes up and it’ll run for a half season with seven episodes airing consecutively before the remaining eight arrive later in the year. The Walking Dead with its seventh season might shift to earlier instead of October depending on how they want to rework things, or the second season could hit in late August to lead into The Walking Dead.

Additionally, Talking Dead will now follow each episode of Fear the Walking Dead. It was done with just the final episode of the first season but is getting a sizable expansion.

The series stars Kim Dickens as Madison,Cliff Curtis as Travis, Frank Dillane as Nick, Alycia Debnam-Carey as Alicia, Elizabeth Rodriguez as Liza, Mercedes Mason as Ofelia and Rubén Blades.

Plot concept: “Fear the Walking Dead” takes us back to the beginning of the zombie apocalypse – a time when the world was changing rapidly for reasons unknown, before anyone understood exactly what was happening, when life as everyone knew it was upended and altered in ways no one could have ever imagined.

FUNimation has one of their new series now streaming on Hulu as part of the subscription service with HaruChika now available. It’s going with the longer title of Haruchika: Haruta & Chika. Hulu will add new subtitled episodes within seven days from their original Japanese air date with episodes streaming sooner with a subscription.Those that do subscribe to Hulu can watch this show on your TV and mobile devices.

Hulu no longer offers a preview for episodes that are subscription only, but you can hit up the page here for when they shift out of subscription mode.

The series adapts the Haruchika series of novels from Sei Hatsuno. It’s set to star Sarah Emi Bridcutt as Chika Homura, Souma Saito as Haruta Kamijo, Natsuki Hanae as Shinjiro Kusakabe, Seiichiro Yamashita as Keisuke Katagiri, Haruka Chisuga as Miyoko Narushima, Nobunaga Shimazaki as Maren Sei, Asami Seto as Naoko Serizawa, Nobuhiko Okamoto as Sakaiyu Hiyama and Yuki Yamada as Akari Goto.

Haruchika is being directed by Masakau Hashimoto based on scripts and composition by Reiko Yoshida. Namaniku ATK handled the original character design and Asako Nishda will be doing the designs for the series.

The work is based on the novels that began in 2008 with four out so far and a fifth in the works.

Plot concept: Haruta and Chika are members of their high school wind instrument club that is on the verge of being shut down. The two are childhood friends, and they spend their days practicing hard while also trying to recruit new members. When a certain incident happens within their school, they work together to solve it.

11-22-63

We’re just under a month away from the TV series adaptation of the Stephen King novel 11/22/63, which lands on February 15th, 2016. The President’s Day of the Hulu original series now has a new trailer out for it as well that goes bigger in making clear what it is that it wants to do and some of the overall approach and style about it. .

The cast includes James Franco as Jake Epping, Sarah Gadon as Sadie Dunhill, Chris Cooper as Al Templeton, Daniel Webber as Oswald, Cherry Jones as Marguerite Oswald, George MacKay as Bill Turcotte, Lucy Fry as Marina Oswald and Leon Rippy as Harry Dunning.

Plot concept: Dallas, 11/22/63: Three shots ring out.

President John F. Kennedy is dead.

Life can turn on a dime—or stumble into the extraordinary, as it does for Jake Epping, a high school English teacher in a Maine town. While grading essays by his GED students, Jake reads a gruesome, enthralling piece penned by janitor Harry Dunning: fifty years ago, Harry somehow survived his father’s sledgehammer slaughter of his entire family. Jake is blown away . . . but an even more bizarre secret comes to light when Jake’s friend Al, owner of the local diner, enlists Jake to take over the mission that has become his obsession—to prevent the Kennedy assassination. How? By stepping through a portal in the diner’s storeroom, and into the era of Ike and Elvis, of big American cars, sock hops, and cigarette smoke. . . . Finding himself in warmhearted Jodie, Texas, Jake begins a new life. But all turns in the road lead to a troubled loner named Lee Harvey Oswald. The course of history is about to be rewritten . . . and become heart-stoppingly suspenseful.

Good news for UK anime fans that like to use Netflix to get their needs sated as the streaming service now has the first twenty-seven episodes of the classic and excellent Rurouni Kenshin series available. It’s been released there now using the Media Blasters English-language dub that was created an age ago and definitely a big part of a lot of people becoming anime fans during that time period. In North America, I believe the last time this series was released was from Media Blasters back in 2010 with a massive 2375 minute complete TV series collection.

The show is one of our favorites and we definitely recommend it to our UK friends who may not have seen it.

Plot concept: The Meiji Era was one of great renewal for Japan, where swords and killing were outlawed. However, many survivors from the time of Revolution still live, lurking in the shadows and waiting for a chance to use their killing blades again. Only Kenshin Himura, formerly one of the most brutal of killers, hopes to keep his swordsman’s honor and still live in the new era.

[Source: NormanicGrav]

The CW’s online side of the business with CW Seed streamed the Vixen animated series that’s connected to the live action programs Arrow and Flash and it looks like it did well enough as a second season has been given the approval. The first season took place between episodes fifteen and sixteen of Arrow and the voice actress for it, Megalyn Echikunwoke, is going to bring the character to the live-action side as well in Arrow this year.

The character dates back to 1981 with her first appearance in the comics and has been a staple ever since. The web show clocks in at five minutes per episode with Warner Bros. Animation production it in the style that we see for the bulk of their TV shows and direct-to-video releases.

The series stars Megalyn Echikunwoke as Mari McCabe / Vixen, Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen / Arrow, Neil Flynn as Chuck, Grant Gustin as Barry Allen / Flash, Emily Bett Rickards as Felicity Smoak, Anika Noni Rose as Kuasa, Sean Patrick Thomas as Professor Macalester, Carlos Valdes as Cisco Ramon and Kari Wuhrer as Patty.

Plot concept: After her parents were killed in Africa by local corruption, Mari McCabe inherits her family’s Tantu Totem, gaining the powers of animals, using them to fight as Vixen to stop threats like those that claimed her family.

DC's #Vixen will return for season two in 2016! Watch the first season NOW to catch up: https://t.co/jSZmqBL2Dt pic.twitter.com/g9is31dmig

— cwseed (@cwseed) January 10, 2016

The winter 2016 anime series Ao no Kanata no Four Rhythm got underway earlier today and the official channel for the series also launched a new thirty-second TV spot to herald it and get folks to check it out. Crunchyroll is simulcasting the series in the United States, Canada, Central and South America (including the Caribbean), South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Ireland, Scandinavia, and the Netherlands.

The previously announced cast includes Misato Fukuen as Asuka Kurashina, Azumi Asakura as Misaki Tobisawa, Nozomi Yamamoto as Mashiro Arisaka, Madoka Yonezawa as Rika Ichinose, Naomi Wakabayashi as Madoka Aoyagi, Kondou Takayuki as Shion Aoyagi, Risa Taneda as Reiko Satouin, Kazuyuki Okitsu as Kazunari Shindou, Ryota Osaka as Masaya Hinata, Yuko Gibu as Minori Hosaka and Megumi Ogata as Aoi Kagami.

The series is set to be directed by Fumitoshi Oizaki based on series composition by Reiko Yoshida. It’s being animated by Gonzo. Mami Kawada is on board to sing the opening theme song,  Contrail ~Kiseki~, while Ray is going to be handling the ending theme a-gain.

The sprite/fairys side has had one anime adaptation before of note with Love, Election and Chocolate, which was licensed and released in North America by Sentai Filmworks.

Plot concept: The story is set in an archipelago of four islands far south of Japan or even the South Seas. It is all but a different world from modern Japan. From the discovery of anti-gravitons came the dream invention of anti-graviton shoes (“grash”) that let people fly the skies. They introduce people to a new realm by enabling flight with just one’s own body strength, without feathers or engines. This led to the rise of the sport of “Flying Circus” (dogfight race).

The protagonist who once hoped for a future in this sport suffered a setback due to an overwhelming defeat, and withdrew from the sport for this and some other reason. However, he met the transfer student Haruka Kurashina, and in teaching her to fly the skies, the old passion returned. He takes part in the Flying Circus again.

Add another series to the Blu-ray only list with Avex Pictures stepping up to the plate in that direction with the Schwarzesmarken series. The twelve episode series is getting a six-volume release, two episodes per volume, that begins on March 25th, 2016. The releases will be priced at 7,00 yen each. Check the chart below for the schedule and known extras.

The series was directed by Tetsuya Watanabe based on series composition by Tatsuto Higuchi. Character designs were done by Shuuichi Hara while ixtl and LIDENFILMS handled the animation with SANZIGEN handling the CG animation. The opening song was performed by fripSide with the song being titled 1983-Schwarzesmarken.

The cast includes Kenichi Suzumura as Theodor Eberbach, Minami Tanaka as Katia Waldheim, Nozomi Yamamoto as Irisdina Bernhard, Yoshino Nanjou as Lise Hohenstein, Chika Anzai as Anett Hosenfeld, Kiyono Yasuno as Gretel Jeckeln, Emiri Kato as Pham Thi-Rang, Michiyo Murase as Sylvia Kschessinska, Kenta Miyake as Walther Krüger, Yukari Tamura as Beatrix Brehme, Ken Narita as Heinz Axmann and Manami Numakura as Kirce Steinhoff.

Plot concept: In 1983, the East German Army 666th TSF Squadron, “Schwarzes marken,” is a special-response force tasked with assaulting BETA forces. They specifically target Laser and Heavy Laser class BETA to disable their enemy’s immense firepower. This merciless team’s orders are given the highest priority, and they follow them so exactly that the 666th is known to ignore allied distress calls that would interfere with an ongoing mission, even if only for a moment.

[Source: Schwarzesmarken]

Funimation’s involvement in the Dimension W anime adaptation from the ground up as a production committee member has them taking advantage of that with a Production Diary series of promos that will be coming out for it now that the series has debuted. This one goes back to the script meeting and sits down with the original manga creator and others to show the process. Clocking in at just under five minutes,  it’s definitely a fun extra and one that we’ll see with the home video releases more than likely.

The series is based on the manga by Yuji Iwahara which had its eighth volume coming out recently. The anime is directed by Kanta Kamei based on scripts by Shoutarou Suga and character designs by Tokuyuki Matsutake. It’s being animated at Studio 3Hz.

The Japanese cast includes Daisuke Ono as Kyouma Mabuchi, Reina Ueda as Mira Yurisaki, Akira Ishida as Albert Schumann, Eri Suzuki as Elizabeth Greenhough-Smith and Kimiko Saito as Marie.

With the opening song Genesis from STEREO DIVE FOUNDATION, the series premiered on January 10th, 2016 in Japan and was simulcast in North America by Funimation.

Plot concept: In the year 2071, the world’s energy problems seem solved by a network of cross-dimensional electric-field inductors- “coils” -that extract energy from a seemingly infinite source. That source is the W dimension, a fourth plane that exists beyond the X, Y, and Z dimensions. In this world, unofficial “illegal” coils harness powers that the police can’t hope to counter. Dealing with these coils is the job of coil-hating repo man Kyoma, whose run-in with the unique coil android Mira leads the two to form a reluctant partnership.

Marvel’s brought Miles Morales into the mainline universe after the events of Secret Wars and his new series kicks off on February 3rd, 2016. Ahead of that, the publisher has now brought out the finalized cover artwork for the series as well as a few unlettered preview pages that shows off Sara Pichelli’s artwork. Written by Brian Michael Bendis, we also get a look at the variant covers produced for it, which includes a hip-hop variant and a really cute Skottie Young one.

Plot concept: Sure, he’s been doing the super hero thing for a while now, but following the events of Secret Wars, Miles finds himself a full-fledged member of the Marvel U. Swinging next to Iron Man, Captain America and Thor as a member of the Avengers and patrolling the Big Apple’s rooftops as NYC’s own Spider-Man! But it’s not all fun and games. A lot has transpired in the eight months since Secret Wars and an entire new universe awaits him – friend and foe alike. Plus, his grades are in the toilet. The adventure begins this February in the can’t-miss SPIDER-MAN #1!

SPIDER-MAN #1 (DEC150723)
Written by BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS
Art & Cover by SARA PICHELLI
Hip-Hop Variant by ADI GRANOV (DEC150724)
Variant Covers by MICHAEL CHO (DEC150725),
SKOTTIE YOUNG (DEC150726), and MARK BAGLEY (DEC150727)
Blank Variant Also Available
FOC – 1/11/16, On-Sale – 2/03/16

We had the Macross Delta preview back on New Year’s Eve where it showed the first episode and revealed the cast for the series. Now the folks at Big West have added it to their YouTube channel with no regional restrictions, allowing anyone to watch it worldwide. Naturally, there are no subtitles, but could this be the way that BigWest can finally start making this available to overseas fans? We expect the regional aspect to change for this at some point, especially if someone raises a stink over it, but if you’re wanting to get a clean and legal look at Macross Delta, this is your chance.

The series is scheduled to premiere in the spring 2016 season.

The cast includes Yuma Uchida as Hayate Immelman, Minori Suzuki as Freyja Wion, Asami Seto as Mirage Farina Jenius, “Who Ami” as Mikumo Guynemer, Kiyono Yasuno as Kaname Buccaneer, Nao Toyama as Reina Prowler, Nozomi Nishida as Makina Nakajima, Toshiyuki Morikawa as Arado Mölders, Koki Uchiyama as Messer Ihlefeldt, Shinji Kawada as Chuck Mustang, Unsho Ishizuka as Ernest Johnson, KENN as Bogue Con-Vaart, Kei Minegishi as Theo and Zao Jussila, Kaito Ishikawa as Loyd Blaim and Ryouhei Kimura as Keith Aero Windermere.

Also revealed is that the composers for the soundtrack, always a key feature of the franchise, is being handled by Saeko Suzuki, TOMISIRO, and Mina Kubota. The first two worked on Lagrange while Kubot has a number of projects to her name, including Kaleido Star and A Letter to Momo.

The show is being directed by Shoji Kawamori while Kenji Yasuda is serving as the hands-on director. Toshizou Nemoto is handling the series compositions and scripts while Majiro and yuu Shindou are handling the character designs adapted from the original work done by Chisato Mita. Satelight is animating the series.

Plot concept: Macross Δ (Macross Delta) is set eight years after the events of Macross F.

Amid all of the new shows that are kicking off (and still not showing up on a lot of streaming services calendars yet!), there’s also some new dubs making their debut this week. First, Crunchyroll has their latest simulcast up for Shin Atashinchi, delivering some very fun humor this morning.

• 7:30am - SHIN ATASHINCHI - Episode 14

While last week’s episode is now available for free viewing.

• 7:30am - SHIN ATASHINCHI - Episode 13

Funimation’s subscriber side is rolling out the first two dubbed episodes of Tokyo ESP today as well as the full series in its original Japanese using the home video materials. They’ve also done the same for No-Rin in providing the first two episodes dubbed and th full season subtitled.

	Tokyo ESP - Season 1	1-2	Dub	TV-MA	1/12/16
	NO-RIN - Season 1	1-2	Dub	TV-MA	1/12/16
	NO-RIN - Season 1	1-12	Sub	TV-MA	1/12/16
	Tokyo ESP - Season 1	1-12	Sub	TV-MA	1/12/16

On the free side, they’ve rolled out the first two episodes of Lord Marksman and Vanadis with its English language dub to tempt you into either subscribing to see more or picking up the home video release.

Lord Marksman and Vanadis - Season 1

1-2

Dub

TV-MA

1/12/1

The Anime Network works through a few more of its fall 2016 anime series as they near the end.

• 6:00 AM GMT – Young Black Jack  - Details - 11 – The Gruesome Chronicle Part 3
• 3:30 PM GMT – Is the Order a Rabbit?? Season 2  - Details - 10 – 10th Bunny: Everyday Life Searching for E

It’s caption time again, but first things first is to reveal the winner for last week’s competition:

No sappy linkes this week from Hitsugi Amachi, for the best caption of the week. Overall a lot of great captions for the girls on Aqua.


Just like always, please post a caption to go with the following image. There is no prize, except the knowledge that you are better at putting words into the mouths of anime characters than your peers.

Here is this week’s image:

The Star Wars Rebels series is back next week after taking some time off for the holidays like most shows do and it’s certainly going to be interesting when it arrives. Set to debut on January 20th, 2016, the Disney XD series is again sinking its hooks into the original trilogy material while also being the first episode to arrive since The Force Awakens debuts. The character’s appearance as played by Julie Dolan is the only one planned for this season. Dolan is also voicing the character in the Star Wars: Uprising game.

“We thought we had an opportunity to show her learning to be a leader, experimenting with the personality that becomes the stronger more resolute character you see in A New Hope,” Filoni says. “One of the complex challenges of depicting Leia in Rebels is that we have to remind the audience that at this point she is part of the Empire. She doesn’t believe in the Empire, but she is acting the part, almost a double agent.”

The series stars Freddie Prinze, Jr., Taylor Gray, Steve Blum, Tiya Sircar and Vanessa Marshall. The second season got underway on October 14th, 2015.

Plot concept: Set five years before Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope and fourteen years after the fall of the Galactic Republic and the Jedi Council in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, the series follows a motley group of rebels (all of whom have been affected by the Galactic Empire in one form or another) that band together aboard a freighter starship called the Ghost. The series will also focus on the origins of some of the groups that will form the Rebel Alliance.

With the second volume of the home video release of Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blood Orphans from Bandai Visual arriving in just a couple of weeks, the third volume is now getting its due. That comes in the form of the cover artwork for the release, carrying through the trend from the first couple of volumes. The twenty-five episode series is getting a nine-volume release that began on December 24th, 2015. The show is getting limited edition Blu-ray releases, priced at 7,800 yen (the first volume is 3,800 with one episode) while the DVDs are at 5,800 yen each (and 2,800 yen for the first volume with one episode).

The series is directed by Tatsuyuki Nagai based on story composition by Mari Okada. Michinori Chiba is handling the character design adaptation of Yuu Itou’s work.

The cast includes Kengo Kawanishi as Mikazuki Augus, Yoshimasa Hosoya as Orga Itsuka, Natsuki Hanae as Biscuit Griffon, Yuichiro Umehara as Eugene Seven Stark, Yasuaki Takumi as Akihiro Artland, Taishi Murata as Norba Shino, Kōhei Amasaki as Takaki Uno, Sōma Saitō as Yamagi Gilmerton, Mutsumi Tamura as Ride Mass, Yuka Terasaki as Kudelia Aina Bernstein, Hisako Kanemoto as Atra Mixta, Takahiro Sakurai as McGillis Fareed and Masaya Matsukaze as Gaelio Bauduin.

Plot concept: 300 years after the end of a great war between Earth and Mars called Yakusaisen (Calamity War), the Earth, losing the ruling authority during the war, structured a new world with a ruling system. A new war on Mars is starting while the Earth is in temporary peace.

The main character Mikazuki Augus, from Chryse Guard Security (CGS), was on a mission to protect Cuderia Aina Bernstein, who wants Chryse, Mars’ city, to be independent from Earth’s ruling. However, a group named Gjallarhorn started a rebellion, attacked CGS and Cuderia, and the adults in CGS decided to use the boys in the team as decoy to evacuate. Orga Itsuka, the leader of the boys, decided to use that as a chance to launch a coup d’état because the adults have been treating them badly for a long time. Mikazuki, with Orga’s request to defeat Gjallargorn, uses Gundam Barbatos, a major mobile suit that CGS used during Yakusaisen to fight.

Mobile Suit Gundam Iron Blooded Orphans Japanese Volume 3 Cover

Mobile Suit Gundam Iron Blooded Orphans Japanese Volume 2 Cover

Mobile Suit Gundam Iron Blooded Orphans Japanese Box (Holds All 9 Volumes)

Gundam Iron-Blooded Orphans Japanese Cover 1

Gundam Iron-Blooded Orphans Japanese Packaging 1

[Source: Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans]