While we look at the numbers weekly and some of the second-week additions, it’s definitely worth taking a look at how things stack up over the course of a month. While these obviously aren’t final numbers as books tend to eke out a couple thousand copies here and there at times for various reasons, it’s definitely a good way to get an idea of how books are performing. The big winner for June is Hunter x Hunter on the manga side as it hit 1.1 million copies moved. And there’s still enough material before the hiatus for another volume to come. The closest book behind it is Assassination Classroom and it’s just over 300,000 volumes difference. There’s a bit more competition further down the chart but we’re glad to see both Drifters and D.Gray-man getting some additional attention while also getting a handle on how both Tokyo Ghoul:re and One-Punch Man are doing. We’re also seeing slow but steady growth trends for My Hero Academia including a lot of previous volumes bumping up nicely.

On the light novel side, there’s some very strong movement with overall sales to keep an eye on. Overlord is just killing it with its tenth volume while Accel World may surprise folks with its 78,000 volume sales with the twentieth volume of the series. The top ten didn’t have any first volumes hitting big but there’s a lot of popular titles moving forward here that have people hopeful for more anime adaptations.

Rank / Monthly sales by copies / Titles

Manga
*1. 1,116,619 Hunter x Hunter Vol.33
*2. *,797,712 Ansatsu Kyoushitsu Vol.20
*3. *,664,629 One-Punch Man Vol.11
*4. *,594,765 Tokyo Ghoul:re Vol.7
*5. *,422,690 Boku no Hero Academia Vol.9
*6. *,416,724 Nanatsu no Taizai Vol.21
*7. *,385,761 D.Gray-man Vol.25
*8. *,367,817 Drifters Vol.5
*9. *,348,285 Kuroshitsuji Vol.23
10. *,313,678 World Trigger Vol.15

11. *,282,536 Mix Vol.9
12. *,266,924 Prison School Vol.21
13. *,262,207 Kimi ni Todoke Vol.26
14. *,235,203 Nisekoi Vol.23
15. *,221,823 Toriko Vol.39
16. *,180,377 Ahiru no Sora Vol.44
17. *,176,138 Bokura wa Minna Kawaisou Vol.8
18. *,175,066 P to JK Vol.7
19. *,171,295 Bungou Stray Dogs Vol.10
20. *,170,087 Berserk Vol.38


Light Novels
*1. *,141,434 Overlord Vol.10
*2. *,*78,416 Accel World Vol.20
*3. *,*52,593 Dungeon ni Deai wo Motomeru no wa Machigatteiru Darou ka Gaiden: Sword Oratoria Vol.6
*4. *,*50,057 Hataraku Maou-sama! Vol.16
*5. *,*30,292 Last Embryo Vol.3
*6. *,*28,173 Netgame no Yome wa Onna no Ko ja Nai to Omotta? Vol.11
*7. *,*28,170 Isekai Cheat Majutsushi Vol.5
*8. *,*24,597 Arslan Senki Vol.15 “Senki Futou”
*9. *,*24,430 Ansatsu Kyoushitsu: Korosuu – Marugoto Chuugaku Kiso Suugaku
10. *,*24,201 Kyoukaisenjou no Horizon Vol.23

11. *,*22,914 Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu Vol.1
12. *,*21,843 Amagi Brilliant Park Vol.8
13. *,*21,232 Dungeon ni Deai wo Motomeru no wa Machigatteiru Darou kaVol.10
14. *,*19,576 Seishun Buta Yarou Series Vol.6
15. *,*19,262 Rokudenashi Majutsu Koushi to Akashic Records Vol.6
16. *,*18,558 Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu Vol.2
17. *,*17,937 Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu Vol.4
18. *,*17,895 Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo! Vol.9 Limited Edition
19. *,*17,730 Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei SS
20. *,*17,476 Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu Vol.3

[Source: Oricon Youtaijou via MAL]

Kadokawa is handling promotion for the summer 2016 anime series New Game and ahead of the July 19th debut of the third episode they’ve now brought out a quick teaser for it to get fans excited. The series is being simulcast by Crunchyroll.

The series has set Yoshiyuki Fujiwara to direct based on series composition from Fumihiko Shimo. Ai Kikuchi is on board for character designs and it’ll be animated at Doga Kobo.

The cast includes Yuuki Takada as Aoba Suzukaze, Megumi Yamaguchi as Hifumi Takimoto, Megumi Toda as Hajime Shinoda, Ayumi Takeo as Yun Iijima, Yoko Hikasa as Kou Yagami, Ai Kayano as Rin Tooyama, Eri Kitamura as Shizuku Hazuki, Chitose Morinaga as Umiko Ahagon an Madoka Asahina as Nene Sakura.

The opening theme is “Sakura Skip” by fourfolium while the ending theme is “Now Loading!!!!”, also by fourfolium.

The manga comes from creator Shoutarou Tokunou which began back in the winter 2013 season. There are two compiled volumes of the manga released so far. Tokunou has several works under his belt so far so this is not the first. The magazine is certainly home to familiar properties adapted into anime form such as Hidamari Sketch, Kill Me Baby and A-Channel.

Plot concept: Follow Aoba Suzukaze, a fresh high school graduate that is easily mistaken as a middle school student, as she joins the game company that produced her favorite game as a 3D artist.

Anime Limited made some good announcements in the past few weeks for UK fans in how they’ll be getting acceses to a lot of Funimation titles in the near future quicker than they used to there. With Anime Limited handling the distribution there, they’ve put together a pretty good basic Q&A as part of their latest blog piece that digs into what can be expected from the titles in terms of formats and compatibility as well as some of the general fun that comes with multi-regional licensing and distribution with so many hands in the pie.

FUNIMATION TITLE UPDATES
Last time in the Newswire we told you about the first few titles that will be coming out and set out the plan of where things will be going. There are no title specific updates to bring you this week, so instead what I’ve done is correlated the most recurring questions we’ve received via social media and email below.

Q: Will you be bringing out Limited Edition sets of Funimation titles like you do with AllTheAnime titles?
As things stand, no. However as time progresses that may change depending on the title in question. Currently, excluding Fairy Tail which is DVD only, we will be releasing these as Blu-ray/DVD combi packs.

Q: Is there a chance you will release Fairy Tail on Blu-ray?
It’s something we’re looking into but as things stand it will be DVD only releases of the 12-episode ‘Part’ sets specifically starting with Part 10 in August.

Q: Will you be distributing series like Toriko, Dragon Ball or One Piece?
All three of the titles listed in this question are unique cases, as these are not part of the Funimation distribution arrangement and these are licenses of Toei Animation specifically. Dragon Ball titles and One Piece is being distributed by Manga Entertainment in the UK. As to whether Toriko might be a possibility, we honestly don’t know at the moment. But if an opportunity comes about with this it’s certainly something we’ll look into.

Will the content be the same on these discs as the Funimation versions in the USA?
All titles are subject to BBFC certification, which is required by U.K. law and is unavoidable, so unless something has to be omitted following that process the on-disc content will be the same, yes. But we want to stress we have absolutely no desire or plans to change/alter on-disc.

Will DVD discs be PAL or NTSC?
All DVD discs as part of our Funiamtion releases will be NTSC.

How soon are you looking to release [insert name of title] following its release in the U.S,A.?
Our hope is that we can cut down the time significantly between its release in the U.S.A. and it’s release over here in the UK. But as we get the ball rolling on releasing Funimation titles it may take few months before you start to see significant reductions in release times. To add context from our point of view, currently it’ll likely workout as being within a few weeks of release in the U.S.A., but our ultimate goal is to release them day in date with the U.S.A release.

Are you doing any special packaging for these release, like with your AllTheAnime Collector’s Editions?
Using an earlier answer as a point of reference, in short no. There may be exceptions the rule as time goes on but the plan is to release the titles, unless otherwise stated, as Blu-ray/DVD combi packs. They will be packed inside an amaray case and it will be as simple as that.

To add to this, our goal in the early going it to bring as many titles to the UK as quickly as we can, as we appreciate there was a fairly big gap when it came to Funimation titles being brought over here. But as I say, this isn’t set in stone for how all titles will be released going forward. We are following the model established by Funimation in the U.S.A. in the early going, but this can always be reevaluated at a later time.

Will the FunimationNow streaming service impact your releases in any way?
Am honestly not sure how it could impact these releases, so the simple answer to this is no.

Funimation released [insert title] in the U.S.A., but [insert name of distributor] released it in the UK. Does this mean you’ll be releasing it now?
More than likely no. This would ultimately depend on the terms of the licensing agreement with the distributor in question. What it will come down to is whether Funimation have the home video rights for the United Kingdom and Ireland. Sometimes they may only have home video rights for a title in the U.S.A., while having the streaming/simulcasting rights for U.S.A. and the United Kingdom.

King Records is bringing out the next Sailor Moon Crystal CD this month with a July 22nd, 2016 release of New Moon ni Koishite. The six track CD is being priced at 1,200 yen and it features material from most of the main voice cast going by what’s on it. The preview clocks in at thirty-seconds and gives us a bit of a taste of what it’ll be like.

The track list for it includes:

The new season changed things up a bit with the staffing as it was directed by Chiaki Kon. The character designer position changed as well with Akira Takahashi taking on those duties after working as an episode animation director for the previous season. Yuki Kobayashi remained on board in charge of scripts for the series.

The cast for the show includes Kotono Mitsuishi as Usagi Tsukino/Sailor Moon, Hisako Kanemoto as Ami Mizuno/Sailor Mercury, Rina Satou as Rei Hino/Sailor Mars, Ami Koshimizu as Makoto Kino/Sailor Jupiter, Shizuka Itou as Minako Aino/Sailor Venus, Ryou Hirohashi as Luna, Kenji Nojima as Tuxedo Mask/Mamoru Chiba, Junko Minagawa as Haruka Tenou/Sailor Uranus, Sayaka Ohara as Michiru Kaioh/Sailor Neptune, Yukiyo Fujii as Hotaru, Tomoe/Sailor Saturn, Hikari Yono as Kaolinite, Takuya Kirimoto as Professor Tomoe, Takaya Hashi as Pharaoh 90, Yuki Nagaku as Mimete, Chiaki Takahashi as Eudial, Rina Hon’izumi as Viluy, Naomi Ōzora as Tellu and Umeka Shouji as Cyprine.

The first two seasons were directed by Munehisa Sakai at Toei Animation with Yuji Kobayashi doing the scripts. Yuki Sako worked on the character designs while Yasuharu Takanashi served as the composer. Art direction was done by Takashi Kurahashi and Yumi Hosaka.

Property concept: Usagi Tsukino is a second-year middle school girl who is a little clumsy and a crybaby, but she is full of energy. One day, she meets Luna, a black cat with a crescent moon on her forehead, and she transforms into Sailor Moon, a sailor-uniformed pretty guardian of love and justice! As a chosen guardian of justice, Usagi seems to have a mission to find the Illusionary Silver Crystal with the other guardians and to protect the princess.

Meanwhile, the queen of the Dark Kingdom, Queen Beryl, also sends minions to the town where Usagi lives to obtain the Illusionary Silver Crystal, which has immense power. This causes strange events to unfold….

Can Sailor Moon really find the Illusionary Silver Crystal with the other Sailor guardians, and protect the princess…!?..

The planned July 11th, 2016 release of Gonna be the Twin-Tail from Funimation as distributed by Anime Limited in the UK looks like it didn’t click as expected based on the original solicitation material earlier this year as the title has now slipped that date. Anime Limited has now revealed that the series will drop on August 8th, 2016, which is actually right around the same time as Madman is bringing it out in Australia as well.

Check out our review of the recent Funimation US release here.

The English cast includes Austin Tindle as Soji, Sarah Wiedenheft as Aika/Tailblue, Mikaela Krantz as Erina/Tailyellow, Morgan Garrett as Twoearle, Bryn Apprill as Tailred, Leah Clark as Dark Grasper/Acena/Anko, Michelle Rojas as Mikoto, Jennifer Green as Mihiaru and Tia Ballard as Mega Ne.

Extras: Episode Commentaries, Textless Opening, Textless Closing Songs

The series was directed by Hiroyuki Kanbe at Production IMS based on scripts by Naruhisa Arakawa and character designs by Kazuaki Morita. Toru Kitahata served in the production as the assistant director while Masahiro Yamane is on board to work on the action animation and alien design. Studio Noise handled set design while Tetsuya Watanabe has worked on 3D direction.

The Japanese cast includes Nobunaga Shimazaki as Sōji Mitsuka, Maaya Uchida as Thouars, Chinatsu Akasaki as Erina Shindō, M.A.O as Mikoto Sakuragawa, Yōko Hikasa as Isna, Tesshô Genda as Lizadgildy, Tetsu Inada as Draggildy and Sumire Uesaka as Tail Red. The opening song is being done by Maaya Uchida while the ending song is being done by the three main voice actresses.

Plot concept: Soji Mitsuka is an ordinary high schooler with an extraordinary obsession. Twin tails are his fire, his air, his will to live! But when a mysterious woman from another world enlists his help to fight hideous monsters with various moe fetishes, Soji much transform into a powerful pigtailed…girl? With the help of his childhood friend, the class president, and his endless devotion to pigtails, Soji and his crew form a twin-tailed threesome to take on the monsters who feed on the “attribute power” of humans. But Soji’s new pigtailed powers come with a price; his surging popularity as the new heroin in town makes the twin-tailed trend explode, giving the monsters ample attribute powers to feed upon!

With the spring and summer 2016 anime series Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- now at the halfway mark of its run, Kadokawa is handling the web promotion for it and are going a bit further than usual. The company has put together a 51-second preview for the sixteenth episode that’s due out on July 18th, 2016, which gives us a good look and listen to what the series is about. Crunchyroll is streaming the series on their service for members worldwide excluding Asia.

Based on the light novels from writer Tappei Nagatsuki and illustrator Shinichirou Ootsuka, the series has seven volumes to its name so far and was announced as being a part of the spring season back in December 2015.

The series was directed by Seiji Watanabe working off of series composition by Masahiro Yokotani. Character designs were done by Kyuta Sakai with White Fox handling the animation production. The cast includes Yuusuke Kobayashi as Subaru Natsuki, Rie Takahashi as Emilia, Yumi Uchiyama as Pack, Chinatsu Akasaki as Felt, Rie Murakawa as Ram, Inori Minase as Rem, Satomi Arai as Beatrice and Yuuichi Nakamura as Lineheart.

Plot concept: Natsuki Subaru, an ordinary high school student, encounters a beautiful silver-haired girl from another world. Subaru wants to stay by her side and help her, but the burden she carries is far beyond anything Subaru imagined. They’re faced with one attacking monster after another, betrayal, irrational violence… and finally death. Subaru doesn’t want to see her get hurt, so he vows to take down any enemy, any fate that comes his way, to protect her. And so this powerless boy obtains “Return by Death,” a unique ability that allows him to turn back time by dying. It becomes the potential to guide all people to a world where everyone can always be smiling, dependent on Subaru’s life and loneliness. By using his power, the past can be lost, and memories can be rewritten. Subaru must now fight the fate that dooms him to keep all those forgotten memories hidden within, to be perpetually beaten, to see his own heart wearing down, to wager his life… all to protect the people he cares about. To get back the precious times that he’s sure must have happened.

“Even if you forget me, I will never forget you.”

The summer 2016 anime series Tsukiuta is moving right along and the official channel for it is definitely keeping fans engaged with new clips and promos that play heavily to the music, which is what you’d expect. The channel has now produced a new 90-second promo that focuses on the band performing with the CG animation for it while also promoting the upcoming CD and DVD/BD releases for the property.

With Funimation having picked up the streaming rights for it, fans will be able to get into the latest singing sensation series pretty quickly. The property is an interesting one that certainly plays to various aspects of Japanese culture as well as the way anything can be made human as it’s about human representations of the months of the year combined with music and attractive characters. The cast is made up from those that have participated in the CDs released so far, with their visual designs shown below.

Directed by Itsuro Kawasaki, it’s working with scripts by Sayaka Harada and character designs by Yukiko Ban. Animation is produced by Studio Pierrot.

The series stars Six Gravity members Yuuki Kaji, Kousuke Toriumi, Toshiki Masuda, Tomoaki Maeno, Yoshimasa Hosoya, KENN. Procellarum will be made up of Shouta Aoi, Wataru Hatano, Tetsuya Kakihara, Takashi Kondo, Kensho Ono and Ryohei Kimura. The student goddesses will comprise Hisako Kanemoto, Asami Imai, Mako, Rumi Ookubo, Ai Nonaka and Yumi Uchiyama.

Plot concept: Tsukiuta has two versions — a male version and a female version. The male version centers around the Tokyo idol unit Six Gravity (composed of characters representing December to May) and the sibling rival unit Procellarum (composed of idols born in Western Japan and representing June to November).

Unlike the male version which is set in modern Japan, the female version is set on another world. The people of this world live in a separate dimension from people of Earth. However, they manage and guide the spiritual energy of Earth people, thus converting it into life energy and maintaining a relationship of co-existence and co-prosperity between the two worlds. The women of this world are known by many on Earth as “goddesses.” The six characters (representing December to May) are students at a school that gathers talented individuals striving to become goddesses.

Kadokawa has set the plans for the release of Planetarian, which is getting streaming in five parts this summer. The work will be coming out on Blu-ray only on September 28th, 2016 priced at 4,800 yen in Japan. The release will come with extras to be determined while first-press materials include event ticket material for local audiences.

Funimation has picked up the domestic rights for the work.

A theatrical film will arrive on September 3rd, 2016 that adapts a side story from the original material. The project was directed by Naokatsu Tsuda with Katsuichi Nakayama serving as the series director. They worked from the script by Shogo Yasukawa and character designs by Hitomi Takechi going off the original work by E-Ji Komatsu from the visual novel.

The cast includes Keiko Suzuki as Yumemi Hoshino, Daisuke Ono as Kuzuya, Yasumichi Kushida, Satoshi Taki, Rina Satou, Masaru Shinozuka, Sanae Fuku, Yoko Hikasa, Minami Tsuda, Shizuka Ishigami, Yuuki Kuwahara, Akiko Takeguchi and Tamio Ooki.

The original visual novel came out back in 2004, which saw translation through Sekai Project back in 2014.

Plot concept: It is thirty years after the failure of the Space Colonization Program. Humanity is nearly extinct. A perpetual and deadly Rain falls on the Earth. Men known as “Junkers” plunder goods and artifacts from the ruins of civilization. One such Junker sneaks alone into the most dangerous of all ruins—a “Sarcophagus City.” In the center of this dead city, he discovers a pre-War planetarium. And as he enters he is greeted by Hoshino Yumemi, a companion robot. Without a single shred of doubt, she assumes he is the first customer she’s had in 30 years. She attempts to show him the stars at once, but the planetarium projector is broken. Unable to make heads or tails of her conversation, he ends up agreeing to try and repair the projector…

[Source: Planetarian: Chiisana Hoshi no Yume]

With the 2010 release of Tales of Vesperia ~The First Strike~ coming out very soon with a new special priced edition in Japan, Bandai Visual now has another new clip out for it. This one is being billed as a recommended/favorite scene from the director from the project, Kanta Kamei, as one of their favorites for it. This release brings a new lower priced Blu-ray edition out on July 22nd, 2016 for just 4,000 yen. The previous edition for the Blu-ray was priced at 8,000 yen when it came out. No DVD or UMD editions are being released alongside this at a reduced rate. And yes, the UMD isn’t a serious thing, though the 2010 release did have one.

Extras for the release include an audio commentary and various promos.

Check out our review of Funimation’s release of this back in 2012 here.

Plot concept: n a mythical kingdom, the mighty Imperial Knights harness a magical substance known as Aer to power their weapons and protect humanity from the monsters of the forest. But something strange is afoot. The Aer is somehow changing, causing the wilderness to waste away and stirring the woodland beasts to attack with greater frequency. As danger creeps steadily closer to civilization, two young recruits – Flynn, the rigid son of a fallen hero, and the rebellious and brash Yuri – must ride with their fellow Imperial Knights to distant ruins in hopes of uncovering the truth behind the transforming Aer.

Some will not survive the thrilling journey. Some will be betrayed. If Flynn and Yuri cannot overcome their differences and learn to fight together, all will be lost for the people of the realm.

You should never take candy from strangers

Saturday has landed and that means a busy day of new simulcasts to be had. Crunchyroll has the biggest slate with a few ongoings such as Ace Attorney and One Piece up as well as half a dozen or so new summer simulcasts on deck.

• 7:00am - ACE ATTORNEY - Episode 15
• 7:00am - RIN-NE SEASON 2 - Episode 40
• 10:00am - FOOD WARS! THE SECOND PLATE - Episode 3
• 12:00pm - REWRITE - Episode 3
• 12:30pm - QUALIDEA CODE - Episode 2
• 1:00pm - B-PROJECT - Episode 3
• 3:30pm - DAYS - Episode 3
• 6:30pm - MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM UNICORN RE:0096 (ENGLISH DUB) - Episode 14
• 8:30pm - FOLKTALES FROM JAPAN - Episode 223
• 10:00pm - CARDFIGHT!! VANGUARD G STRIDE GATE - Episode 40
• 10:00pm - ONE PIECE: DRESSROSA CONT. (700-CURRENT) - Episode 750

The free side unlocks the same from last week plus the most recent Case Closed episode.

• 7:00am - ACE ATTORNEY - Episode 14
• 7:00am - RIN-NE SEASON 2 - Episode 39
• 10:00am - FOOD WARS! THE SECOND PLATE - Episode 2
• 12:00pm - REWRITE - Episode 2
• 1:00pm - B-PROJECT - Episode 2
• 3:00pm - CASE CLOSED - Episode 824
• 3:30pm - DAYS - Episode 2
• 8:30pm - FOLKTALES FROM JAPAN - Episode 222
• 10:00pm - CARDFIGHT!! VANGUARD G STRIDE GATE - Episode 39
• 10:00pm - ONE PIECE: DRESSROSA CONT. (700-CURRENT) - Episode 750

Funimation’s subscriber side is still not listing any summer shows so we get the double-hit of Endride plus Love Love! Sunshine! and First Love Monster along with One Piece.

	Endride - Season 1	15	Sub	TV-14	7/16/16
	Endride - Season 1	10	Dub	TV-14	7/16/16

The free side only talks about Endride.

Endride - Season 1

14

Sub

TV-14

7/16/16

The Anime Network has its two latest streaming episodes going live today with:

• 5:00 AM GMT – Haven’t You Heard? I’m Sakamoto – 12 – Goodbye, Sakamoto-kun
• 11:00 AM GMT – RIN-NE 2 – 15 – Episode 15

Announced back in June, the official site for the new anime production called Shuumatsu no Izetta has updated with a new key visual for the series that should really delight. This comes after we got a couple of similar teasers since the first announcement and having a little bit new definitely helps to get a bit more excited about it.

There’s still nothing to be had in terms of staff or cast details and other than it being slotted for the fall 2016 season, this is all we know so far.

Plot concept: Set in the wake of Germania’s 1939 invasion of its European neighbors, the series follows Izetta, the last of a clan of witches, who had been travelling in hiding across Europe with her grandmother from a young age and Fine, the smart and gentle heir to the leadership of the small Alpine state of Altstadt – struggling to remain independent as it prepares for invasion.

Previous teasers:

[Source: MoCa]

This one is a bit odd in that Kadokawa is now bringing out a new TV spot for the No Game No Life NEET edition Blu-ray box set – that came out this past February. It’s a great looking set, one that we didn’t actually cover during its release earlier this year as we were focused on the North American editions, but the new TV spot does a nice job of promoting it. The set is pretty well priced for Japan with it being listed at 21,611 yen and it comes with some good looking extras.

The anime adaptation comes from original creator Yuu Kamiya and is directed by Atsuko Ishizuka (The Pet Girl of Sakurasou, NANA) with series composition by Jukki Hanada (Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions!, Beyond the Boundary), art direction by Eiji Iwase (Campione!, Divergence Eve) and animation production by Madhouse Studios (Highschool of the Dead, BTOOOM!).

Check out our review of the Collector’s Edition from Sentai Filmworks.

Plot concept: Bored with life and considering it in the real world to be just a “crappy game,” savvy siblings Sora and Shiro have withdrawn into their own fantasy world filled with video games. It is because of this that they are summoned to another world by a boy calling himself “God.” It’s here in this world where Sora and Shiro’s abilities are put to the test. They are now in a world where their fate – and the fate of all humanity – is decided by game. Can they beat the hardest game they’ve ever played?

No Game No Life Japanese Box Set Packaging

Funimation is getting ready to debut the First Love Monster anime Broadcast Dub when it hits at 11:30am ET today on their subscriber service and ahead of that they’ve now revealed the main cast for the series. The show has set Jerry Jewell to direct it with the main cast including:

• Bryn Apprill as Kaho Nikaido
• Eric Vale as Kanade Takahashi
• Ian Sinclair as Atsushi Taga
• Chris Ryan as Ginjiro “Gin” Sannomiay
• Austin Tindle as Tomu “Tom” Kaneko
• Chris Burnett as Kota Shinohara
• Dallas Reid as Kazuo “Kaz” Noguchi
• Dawn M Bennett as Chiaki Yokouchi
• Aaron Roberts as Renren

Animated by Studio Deen, the series is directed by Takayuki Inagaki based on the series composition from Hiroko Kanasugi with character designs by Mariko Oka.

The original manga series was created by Akira Hiyoshimaru in ARIA and it began its run back in the summer of 2013 with four volumes released so far. The property received a drama CD in February 2015 where it used some well-known actors in the main roles which could have been a test run to see how well it had done.

The announced cast includes Yui Horie as Kaho Nikaidō, Takahiro Sakurai as Kanade Takahashi, Showtaro Morikubo as Tomu Kaneko, Tomokazu Sugita as Ginjirō Sannomiya, Ayumu Murase as Kazuo Noguchi, Kenichi Suzumura as Jōji Takahashi, Nobuhiko Okamoto as Kōta Shinohara, Kaito Ishikawa as Atsushi Taga, Kenjiro Tsuda as Arashi Nagasawa, Shouta Aoi as Renren, Takuya Eguchi as Munemitsu Makurazaki, Hikaru Midorikawa as Daikoku Nikaidō, Mizuki Wai as Chiaki Yokouchi, Ai Kayano as Mafuyu Hayashi, Shunsuke Takeuchi as Shūgo Takahashi, Iori Nomizu as Yuki Fukaya and Akio Ohtsuka as Narrator.

Plot concept: Nikaido Kaho is a daughter of a rich family and her whole life everyone’s been nice to her. When moving to her new high school dormitory, she almost gets hit by a truck but is saved by a boy. It’s love at first sight for Kaho but when asking him his name, he tells her she’s weird. Kaho is shocked since it’s the first time anyone’s ever said mean things to her. Soon enough, she finds out that the boy who saved her lives in the same dormitory and so she bravely confesses her love. The boy says his name is Kanade and agrees to go out with her. Unfortunately, the following day Kaho finds out that her first boyfriend is a 5th grader.

The fifth home video release for Dagashi Kashi arrives next week in Japan and the focus is now forward looking to the sixth and final volume. The sixth volume is scheduled for an August 17th, 2016 release and we’ve got a look at the finalized cover for it  as well as the overall packaging design. The twelve episode series is getting a six-volume release where the Blu-ray’s are listed as limited editions priced at 6,800 yen while the DVDs are priced at 5,000 yen and are listed as regular editions. The series began its release on March 16th, 2016 with new volumes following monthly. Check out the chart below for dates and known extras.

The show was directed by Shigehito Takayanagi, who wrote the scripts along with Yasuko Kamo. Character designs were done by Kanetoshi Kamimoto and it was animated at studio feel.

The cast includes Ayana Taketatsu as Hotaru Shidare, Atsushi Abe as Kokonotsu Shikada, Keiji Fujiwara as Yō Shikada, Manami Numakura as Saya Endō and Tatsuhisa Suzuki as Tō Endō.

The 2014 manga series comes from Kotoyama, his first work.

Plot concept: Shikada Kokonotsu’s father owns a rural sweets shop, and his plan is for Kokonotsu to take it over one day. However, Kokonotsu wants to be a manga author instead! One day in summer, the cute but weird girl Shidare Hotaru, from the famous sweets company, comes to pay a visit. Apparently, Kokonotsu’s father is famous and she wants him to join her family’s company. However, he will only agree if she can convince Kokonotsu to take over the family business!

Dagashi Kashi Japanese Volume 6 Cover

Dagashi Kashi Japanese Volume 6 Packaging

Dagashi Kashi Japanese Volume 5 Cover

Dagashi Kashi Japanese Volume 5 Packaging

Dagashi Kashi Jaanese Volume 4 Cover

Dagashi Kashi Jaanese Volume 4 Packaging

Dagashi Kashi Japanese Volume 3 Cover

Dagashi Kashi Japanese Volume 3 Packaging

Dagashi Kashi Japanese Volume 2 Cover

Dagashi Kashi Japanese Volume 2 Packaging

Dagashi Kashi Japanese Volume 1 Cover

Dagashi Kashi Japanese Volume 1 Packaging

[Source: Dagashi Kashi]

Media Factory previously revealed the details for the winter 2016 anime series BBK/BRNK with its home video release and has now updated things a bit. While we’re just a couple of weeks or so away from the fourth and final release of the first cour, the cover artwork and packaging design for it has now been revealed and it’s pretty interesting and colorful. The twenty-four episode series is getting a split-cour run so what we have now are the solicitations for the first cour. The twelve episodes are getting a four-volume release that began on May 27th, 2016 and will be priced at 6,000 yen for the DVDs and 7,00 yen for the Blu-ray releases.

The TV series was directed by Daizen Komatsuda as his directorial debut. He worked with Jiro Ishii and Yukinori Kitajama’s scripts for the project while Yuuseuk Kozaki did the character designs.

The cast includes Yuusuke Kobayashi as Azuma Ikki, Ari Ozawa as Kogane Asabuki, Soma Saito as Hiiragi Nono, Shizuka Ishigami as Noa Oogi, Mikako Komatsu as Shizuru Taneomi, Megumi Han as Rioko Banryuu, Kenjirou Tsuda as Shuusaku Matoba, Yoko Hikasa as Zetsubi Ken, Subaru Kimura as Souya Arabashiri and Kazuyuki Okitsu as Akito Tsuwabuki.

Komatsuda’s an interesting choice to tackle it as he’s progressed through the ranks, doing a lot of key animation including all three of the Evangelion films where he also served as the assistant director. He’s done a lot of episode direction over the years but hasn’t tackled the primary chair before.

Plot concept: When Azuma Ikki returns to Japan after 10 years, he gets assaulted by a group of armed men and becomes their prisoner. Kogane Asabuki, a childhood friend, saves him with a weapon on her right hand known as Bubuki; a weapon with its own mind. Azuma Ikki, who is a Bubuki user himself, learns about the existence of Bubuki and goes on a journey alongside the companions he has found, in an attempt to find and revive Oumai, a Buranki (titan) who sleeps underground.

Bubuki Buranki Japanese Volume 4 Cover

Bubuki Buranki Japanese Volume 4 Packaging

Bubuki Buranki Japanese Volume 3 Packaging

Bubuki Buranki Japanese Volume 3 Cover

Bubuki Burank Japanese Volume 2 Cover

Bubuki Burank Japanese Volume 2 Packaging

Bubuki Burank Japanese Volume 1 Cover

Bubuki Burank Japanese Volume 1 Packaging

[Source: BBK/BRNK (Bubuki Buranki)]

The spring 2016 anime series Endride had its home video release information sorted out awhile back and now now things are shifting significantly after likely seeing some pretty bleak sales and preorders. The twenty-four episode series was getting an eight volume release that began on June 22nd, 2016. and now it’s shifted to a five volume release with the third through fifth volumes being updated. The remaining three discs are now six episodes per disc with new dates and are priced at 7,800 yen for the DVD while the Blu-ray’s are at 9,800 yen. The Blu-ray’s for the first two are priced at 5,800 yen each while the DVDs are at 4,800 yen with three episodes per disc.

The series was directed by Keiji Gotou of Kiddy Grade fame among others, and the series composition comes from rom Touko Machida. The character designs were done by Kazushi Hagiwara and Nobuhiro Watsuki and it was animated at Brains Base.

The announced cast for the series includes Kensho Ono as Shun Asanaga, Toshiki Masuda as Emilio Langheim, Karen Miyama as Alicia, Ayaka Ohashi as Faralion, Hiroki Takahashi as Demetrio, Kousuke Toriumi as Eljuia, Shizuka Itou as Louise, Yuuma Uchida as Felix, Akio Ohtsuka as King Delzaine, Yuu Mizushima as Pascal, Tomoaki Maeno as Gidoro and Tetsu Inada as Ibelda.

Ryota Fujimaki performed the ending song with go my way while the opening song is Limit from Luna Sea.

Plot concept: Shun Asanaga is a 15-year-old junior high school student with an optimistic and bright personality. One day, he finds a mysterious crystal at the office of his father, a scientist and a businessman. When he touches it, the world becomes distorted, and he is sent into the world of Endra. Emilio, a prince of the kingdom of Endra is nearing his 16th birthday and despises the reigning king Delzain. Since Emilio is now at the age when he can inherit the throne, he takes up a weapon and attempts revenge. However, because Emilio is too weak, he is captured by Delzain and put in prison. When Emilio is in grief, the wall of his cell becomes distorted and Shun appears from there. One, with a goal to return to his own world; another, with a goal to complete his revenge. What future lies ahead for the two boys trying to survive in Endra yet raised in two different worlds?

Endride Japanese Volume 2 Cover

Endride Japanese Volume 1 Cover

[Source: Endride]

Aniplex Japan is handling the home video release for the summer 2016 anime series B-Project and has laid out all the release dates and volumes ahead of time. The series is getting a six-volume release that begins on August 31st, 2016 where both DVD and Blu-ray are being listed as limited editions as each comes with a bonus CD. The DVDs are priced at 5,800 yen while the Blu-ray’s are priced at 6,800 yen.

With A-1 Pictures producing the animation, Eiji Suganuma directed it with Akira Satou as the assistant director. Deko Akao worked on the series composition with the MAGES production team. Toshie Kawamura served as the character designer and chief animation director.

The cast for the show includes Daisuke Ono as Tomohisa Kitakado, Daisuke Kishio as Ryuuji Korekuni, Toshiyuki Toyonaga as Goushi Kaneshiro, Natsuki Hanae as Yuuta Ashuu, Kazuki Kato as Kento Aizome, Yuto Uemura as Kazuna Masunaga, Tetsuya Kakihara as Momotarou Onzai, Showtaro Morikubo as Hikaru Oosari, Genki Okawa as Tatsuhiro Tome, Toshiki Masuda as Mikado Sekimura, Hisako Kanemoto as Tsubasa Sumisora, Kousuke Toriumi as Sakutarou Yashamaru, Kazuyuki Okitsu as Atsushi Daikoku and Daisuke Namikawa as Shuuji Daikoku.

Plot concept: Tsubasa Sumika joins the large record company Gandala Music. Not long after she enters, she is assigned to manage the B-Project idol units, as if she has fallen into a trap. To manage B-Project means she has to manage three groups – Kitakore, THRIVE, and MooNs. It’s difficult for her to concentrate on her job, and she will also get into troubles and accidents……!? Be ambitious with colorful and and unique boys!

[Source: B-PROJECT ~Kodou*Ambitious~]

Lunch time

Sunday’s slate of simulcasts are rolling in and there’s a pretty good range of shows coming on board today for fans. Crunchyroll has the biggest slate with shows like Orange  and Re:Zero as well as more Days and Active Raid with its second cour.

• 11:30am - THE MOROSE MONONOKEAN - Episode 3
• 12:30pm - ORANGE - Episode 3
• 1:00pm - ACTIVE RAID SECOND - Episode 2
• 1:35pm - RE:ZERO -STARTING LIFE IN ANOTHER WORLD- - Episode 16
• 3:30pm - DAYS - Episode 3

The free side brings out a few shows from last week’s run as well.

• 11:30am - THE MOROSE MONONOKEAN - Episode 2
• 12:30pm - ORANGE - Episode 2
• 1:35pm - RE:ZERO -STARTING LIFE IN ANOTHER WORLD- - Episode 15

Funimation’s simulcast calendar is still off as it only lists Sansha Sanyou with its new Broadcast Dub but they should also have more Heroic Legend of Arslan and Tales of Zestiria.

Three Leaves, Three Colors - Season 1

10

Dub

TV-14

7/17/16

The free side for Funimation is empty.

The Anime Network doesn’t have anything on schedule for today.

Kodansha Comics has the only book on tap for us today through the ComiXology service that’s also available on Amazon with GTO: Paradise Lost. The 56th weekly chapter from Toru Fujisawa delivers another round of very fun material for our favorite Onizuka for a buck. A buck!

Series concept: The next stage for Eikichi Onizuka: Kissho Academy’s Class G, a newly-established class for young celebrities. But as Onizuka soon finds out, his new teaching assignment is no superstar paradise—it’s a super problem class, feared by all!

Slowly pulling the curtain back on the larger world.

What They Say:
Having cleared the Abyssal Shaft, the members of the raiding party have returned to Akihabara to consider their next options. First, though, there’s an unexpected lesson in history as the founder of the Debauchery Tea Party, the legendary Kanami, resurfaces with an extremely peculiar entourage and some even more stunning revelations about connections to the outside. But the ramifications of this will have to wait. With new political situations brewing between the Guilds,

Shiroe sets Isaac to the task of training Maihama’s knights while the younger members of Log Horizon are sent out on what should be a simple quest. Collecting the materials required to make a magic bag, however, becomes much more difficult when ogres and nightshades get involved! Fortunately, the junior team is about to get a jolt of fresh blood… in the form of a Vampire! The action escalates and the world gets even wilder in the second thundering collection of LOG HORIZON – SEASON 2!

Log Horizon 2 Collection 2 contains episodes 14-25.

The Review:
Audio:
The audio presentation for this release brings us the original Japanese language track and the new English language dub in stereo encoded using the DTS-HD MA lossless codec. The show is one that uses the forward soundstage well enough with its mix of magic, science and dialogue to convey a pretty decent balance of material as the characters interact. There’s a good full feeling when it’s all about the non-spoken dialogue while the placement throughout the rest of the dialogue is certainly well handled and properly set so that multiple characters on the screen feel like they’re where they’re supposed to be. There isn’t a lot of action in the show but we do get a few sequences of it here and it’s definitely a lot of fun with the way it goes in a kind of big way without being overblown or too dramatic. The opening and closing sequences are naturally the bigger areas in terms of music and having the strongest design, but dialogue is well done throughout and we didn’t have any problems with dropouts or distortions during regular playback.

Video:
Originally airing in the fall of 2014, the transfer for this TV series is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.78:1 in 1080p using the AVC codec. The twelve episodes of this half of the series are spread across two discs in a nine/three format. Animated by Studio Deen, the series has a good range of detail about it in both the backgrounds with the world setting and the character designs and the virtual aspects that essentially keeps to the tone and style of what Satelight produced in the first season. There’s a good bit of color to the show in general with a lot of variety, but also a lot of shades of green for all the overgrowth that’s definitely got a lot of appeal. The show isn’t huge with detail when you get down to it, but we do get some good designs for the characters that make them all individual and with more than just simple outfits while the backgrounds are nicely lived in. Colors are strong and solid throughout and it has a very rich look when you get down to it.

Packaging:
The packaging design for this release definitely plays to the world design side of things as we get a pretty busy but also pretty colorful and appealing front cover with a lot of natural aspects in the background, decay and growth, as well as a nod to some of the more primary characters of this set in the foreground lined up. The back cover goes with a different design than the first season where it works the angled approach with darker background colors as we get a solid summary of the premise and a slew of shots from the show in small form. The disc and episode count is clearly listed as are the basic extras that we get here. The bottom has the standard design layout with the production credits and the technical grid that lays it all out cleanly and clearly in an easy enough to read format even with the small font. No show related inserts are included nor is there a reversible cover.

Menu:
The menu design is another odd choice piece, though one that certainly does work in a very good way. The layout for it goes in a very earth-natural kind of way where the navigation strip along the right is just a slightly curved piece that uses black for the breakout of episodes by title while the left side of it has the numbers in blue/green, the text for all of it in white. It has a very natural feeling to it that works well, especially with the first menu screen that has a larger and expanded background piece from the show itself with the building with the beautiful but creepy overgrowth on the modern builds design. The logo is kept to the left in the middle and there’s no character artwork, which is a little unusual but I really like the backgrounds here so I can’t complain. Navigation is fairly standard overall with no real deviations outside of a little stylistic point here and there so it’s easy to navigate and everything loads quickly and smoothly from the top level and as a pop-up menu.

Extras:
The only extras included in this release are the clean versions of the opening and closing sequences.

Admittedly, a decent chunk of this half of the season left me cool to it, more so than the first half which had its own problems in pacing and quality of material it wanted to explore as it adapts those novels. One of the bigger focuses here is that we get some of the younger set of characters like Rudy and Izuzu, where they’re being given quests to go on together as a group that’s designed to help them grow and become better at handling the world and all its experiences and personalities. With Nyan-ta watching from afar in order to make sure they’re not in any serious trouble they can’t handle, it’s a decent enough time in watching them learn more about the world that lets us discover new things. At the same time, I really find these characters fairly dull and uninteresting compared to the adults that populated most of the first season and that just makes this uninteresting overall as it moves through far too familiar story ideas and character growth material.

What is interesting in their journey is that they come across a woman that’s named Roe2, or Shiroette, as she really is essentially a female version of Shiroe that’s on her own journey. We get a bit more about who she is later in the season when she sends a letter to Shiroe as it makes it clear that there are those like the Adventurers that have gotten stuck here themselves from elsewhere, naming her type Travelers and the others Collector’s as they look for empathy. It’s an interesting angle to take and it kind of weirdly expands the narrative because you have to wonder who they are and where they all come from, leading you to “aliens” surprisingly quickly, depending on your point of view. Shiroette is frustrating to watch though because it’s all about the cliches of being a genderbent version of Shiroe as she retains a good chunk of his memories while her own quirk is that she wants to be called Big Sister by the gang. I like the potential of what this new group represents, but it’s almost just weirdly shoehorned in along the way here.

A lot of the smaller parts of the season are interesting, though again it tends to avoid using a lot of the more regular characters and instead digs into some of the side characters. Which is good, because you want a properly expansive cast, but at the same time it just separates us further from those that defined it early on. Some of what I liked ended up involving Isaac as we see Shiroe assigning him the task of teaching some of the People of the Land to fight, as there are rumblings across the landscape of war brewing among these groups, and he’s intent on just leveling them up and doing no more than that. That it actually requires real training and connection is a nice touch because these NPC characters aren’t “human” controlled in the same way and don’t have the external stimuli to connect with from their lives to handle actual gaming combat. It’s a nice reminder of how the People of the Land are different and how they have to be worked with in a separate way.

The set also digs into some guild business, such as seeing the problems Harmony is going through with a large base of members that don’t do anything or contribute, as well as exploring the problem of income inequality through the Round Table Conference. There are some neat real world issues brought into the show as we’ve seen in the past when it comes to managing Akihabara and the larger world itself and I like that there are options given here but nobody can agree on the best course of action to follow. It’s these little areas that made the first season so interesting for me and it’s been the area where things are weaker this season. We saw a bit more of this in the first half of this season when it came to the idea of where the gold and treasure monsters have come from, so looking into how to deal with players that are not exceptional with adventuring skills are dealing with becoming less important to the realm has its moments. Basic incomes are brought up as well as wealth redistribution alongside ways of expanding and opening up craft skillsets that in turn would styme innovation.

The show does go bigger toward the end of the season with the action as there’s a new threat that has arrived which seemingly only impacts People of the Land. It comes at the same time that Shiroe is learning more from Roe2 about the moon and what people are there and how it all ties to the possibility of getting back to the “old world” that so many crave as they narrow in on being here for just about a year in realtime. There are interesting ideas at play here with the ways player deaths work and are connected to the moon, but mostly the end arc is about the action and a light nod toward Kanami as she’s over on the China server getting her game on, bringing another piece of Shiroe’s past to light and giving us a new side of him to look at. It’s all good stuff but it’s just so weirdly paced and coming at us in such a rush that it lacks a kind of resonance that makes it work.

In Summary:
While this half of the season didn’t do much for me I’m still hoping that we get a third season to explore more of this world and what it is that’s going on here. The show has some good stuff going for it as I like the way it digs into social and political aspects and the deep connection to economics and security. But these issues feel like they take more of a backseat this time around, especially for the journey that they kids are on, and it becomes less interesting because of that. But also because we get a lot less of the core main characters in general as only Shiroe really has a role of any note in this and even that’s pretty reduced. While this isn’t the best way to bring the season to a close it does hit a lot of material and opens up the possibilities even more, so I’m pretty hopeful though a little guarded about the real chances for more.

Features:
Japanese DTS-HD MA 2.0 Language, English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Language, English Subtitles, Clean Opening, Clean Closing

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

Released By: Sentai Filmworks
Release Date: July 26th, 2016
MSRP: $69.98
Running Time: 300 Minutes
Video Encoding: 1080p AVC
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Widescreen

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