Kadokawa is handling promotion for the summer 2016 anime series New Game and ahead of the September 6th debut of the tenth 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.

We talked a bit about this a month ago after when the first solicitation information came up from Madman Entertainment about their bringing out the complete InuYasha series as a box set. As noted before, they’re looking to bring it out in a big way on home video for collectors that may have passed up on it before as they’re planning a November 2nd, 2016 release of the complete series with 167 episodes from the original run plus the 26 episodes from the Final Act run. The set has a running time of 4,825 minutes and is being released in bilingual form for $299.95.

Now, the retail solicitation has surfaced and it’s confirming the date and price as well as the extras but also noting that the release will have 48 DVDs within it, which means we’re essentially getting a repackaging of previously authored materials and not a new reconfigured/authored set that uses less space. I believe, like the Viz Media releases, that the previous Madman releases were the standard 3-4 episodes per disc, hence it having so many, instead of the more current form of 6-7 episodes per disc, which would significantly cut down the number of them in this set.

Extras for the release include Line Art, Japanese Promos, Textless Opening and Closing Songs, Original Japanese Trailer and Commercials

Plot concept: Fifteen-year-old schoolgirl Kagome Higurashi, whose family tends a shrine, falls into an old well one day and literally tumbles into ancient Japanese history. On the other side she meets Inu yasha, the dog-like demon (inu means dog in Japanese) who claims she smells just like the woman who fifty years ago pinned him with her arrow to a tree, where he’s been all this time.

Unwilling allies at first, the two become closer as their search for the sacred “Jewel of Four Souls” continues. If Kagome really is the reincarnation of the shrine-maiden Kikyo, can it be that she’s becoming jealous of herself…?

[Source: InuYasha]

The first Tuesday release of the month has some intriguing works to it worth checking out. Dark Horse Comics has a lot of attention on its Margaret Atwood release of Angel Catbird and they also have out a couple of other trades. DC Comics works the latest Injustice while also bringing out new trades such as Telos and Young Justice. They also have the twelve issue run of The War That Time Forget which is just curiously intriguing.

Marvel digs more into its backlist with another batch of Alpha Flight and Excalibur while also bringing out a good chunk of Secret Defenders. This week also sees a good run of Thor arriving and the old X-Forcebook as well.

On the manga side, Viz Media has all ongoings today with fun titles like Idol Dreams and Haikyu along with Nisekoi and the Dragon Ball Full Color: Freez Arc with its third installment. Kodansha Comics has lots of digital-only trades out from the Del Rey Manga days but also the third installment of Paradise Residence. There are also a good slate of simulpubs up on tap today with Fairy Tail – hitting its 500th chapter – as well as Space Brothers and more.

As the season progresses and we still seem to have no hope or hints toward any progress to be had on bringing out Dragon Ball Super to English-speaking audiences yet, the dream lives on. While we continue to wait to see what Toei Animation is going to do with it, they’re still doing their promotion for the show and they’ve added this, a preview for the fifty-eighth episode of the series that lands this coming September 11th, 2016 in Japan, clocking in at 30 seconds for it.

Toei Animation is animating the series that comes from a story concept from Akira Toriyama. The debut of the series marks the first new series for the property in eighteen years. The show will be broadcast in Asia and Germany next year through recently brokered deals.

Please note that Toei removes these previews when the episode airs.

The cast includes Masako Nozawa as Son Goku, Son Gohan and Son Goten, Ryo Horikawa as Vegeta, Hiromi Tsuru as Bulma, Takeshi Kusao as Trunks, Mayumi Tanaka as Krillin, Masaharu Satou as Kame-Sen’nin, Toshio Furukawa as Piccolo, Naoko Watanabe as Chi-Chi, Yuko Minaguchi as Videl, Unshou Ishizuka as Mr. Satan, Kôzô Shioya as Majin Buu, Kouichi Yamadera as God of Destruction Beerus and Masakazu Morita as Whis.

Plot concept: Reuniting the franchise’s iconic characters, Dragon Ball Super will follow the aftermath of Goku’s fierce battle with Majin Buu, as he attempts to maintain earth’s fragile peace. Overseen by Dragon Ball’s original creator, Akira Toriyama and produced with Fuji Television, Dragon Ball Super will draw on its historic past to create a bold, new universe welcoming to fans and endearing to new viewers.

With Cinelicious Pics having released Belladonna of Sadness in North America and Anime Limited acquiring the UK rights recently while German distributor Alive has it there, another player has entered the mix. French distributor Eurozoom has now picked up the rights for a two-disc release on Blu-ray there with plans for a November 30th, 2016 street date priced at 50 euro. It’ll be working off of the same 4k restoration materials as the other distributors and will include the original Japanese language with DTS-HD 2.0 encoding and German subtitles.

The film, produced by Osamu Tezuka and directed by Eiichi Yamamoto, has had some extensive distribution around the world theatrically in art houses and other circuits but was previously largely been unavailable in North America. It was originally released in 1973 and Cinelicious Pics worked some limited theatrical engagements in North America prior to their home video release that’s due out on July 12th, 2016.

“It took months of negotiations to convince the Japanese rightsholders to entrust us with the original camera negative of the film which we’re restoring in-house,” said Cinelicious Pics’ President Paul Korver back when it was acquired in summer 2015 for North American release. “People will be simply blown away by the wild, hallucinatory images and soundtrack,” he added. “BELLADONNA OF SADNESS belongs on a short list with Rene Laloux’s FANTASTIC PLANET and Ralph Bakshi’s WIZARDS as one of the trippiest animated films ever conceived,” added Cinelicious Pics’ EVP of Acquisitions & Distribution Dennis Bartok. “This is a major rediscovery – and I have to give credit to Hadrian Belove at The Cinefamily here in L.A. for bringing the film to our attention.”

Plot concept: An innocent young woman, Jean (voiced by Katsutaka Ito) is savagely assaulted by the local lord on her wedding night. To take revenge, she makes a pact with the Devil himself (voiced by Tatsuya Nakadai, from Akira Kurosawa’s RAN) who appears as an erotic sprite and transforms her into a black-robed vision of madness and desire. The film is fueled by a Japanese psych rock soundtrack by Masahiko Sato. The deal was negotiated by Cinelicious Pics’ President Paul Korver, President of Business Affairs Kristine Blumensaadt and EVP Dennis Bartok with Japanese rightsholders Gold View Co. and Mushi Productions.

[Source: Belladonna of Sadness]

Toei Animation has started promoting the next episode of One Piece that’s due out Saturday on September 10th, 2016, in the US with episode 756. The series has been chugging along for quite a few years and is showing no signs of slowing down and as they’ve crossed the 700 line and have finished the Dressrosa arc and are now engaging full on with the Zou arc. Check out the absurdly short promo for the new episode below!

Crunchyroll streams the series in the USA, Canada, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and Latin America. FUNimation streams it to the USA and Canada.

Please note that Toei removes these previews when the episode premieres.

Series premise: Monkey. D. Luffy refuses to let anyone or anything stand in the way of his quest to become the king of all pirates. With a course charted for the treacherous waters of the Grand Line and beyond, this is one captain who’ll never give up until he’s claimed the greatest treasure on Earth: the Legendary One Piece!

NBC Universal Japan announced recently that they’re bringing out one of their older shows for release this summer with the complete Ai Yori Aoshi property. With the set having come out now back on August 24th, 2016 priced at 25,000 yen, a better look at the packaging has been submitted to retailers as well so we can see the disc silk screening and the other side of the box too. It includes the twenty-four episode first season and the twelve episode second season across six discs. The set comes with a booklet and a CD that combines the dramas and soundtracks together into one disc. On-disc extras include the clean opening and closings and the bonus footage that was released previously.

Originally airing in the spring 2002 season for the first season, it was directed by Masami Shimoda based on the series composition by Masaharu Amiya. Yumi Nakayami is serving as the chief animation director while Kazunori Iwakura handled the character designs and it was animated by JC Staff. The Japanese cast includes Ayako Kawasumi as Aoi Sakuraba, Souichiro Hoshi as Kaoru Hanabishi, Akiko Hiramatsu as Miyabi Kagurazaki, Halko Momoi as Chika Minazuki, Kaori Mizuhashi as Taeko Minazuki, Satsuki Yukino as Tina Foster and Sayaka Narita as Mayu Miyuki.

The original work comes from Kou Fumizuki and was serialized in Young Animal for seventeen volumes between 1999 and 2005. It was released in North America through TOKYOPOP.

The series was released in North America originally by Geneon Entertainment, who dubbed it, and was released afterward by Funimation.

Plot concept: Kaoru Hanabishi, a college student who lives alone, met a beautiful but bewildered girl dressed in a kimono at a train station. He volunteered to guide her way to the address she was looking for, which happened to be in his neighborhood, but turned out to be an empty lot. Not knowing what to do next, Kaoru invited the devastated girl to his apartment and asked for any additional clues to her destination. She supplied him with a photo of two children whom Kauru immediately identified as himself and Aoi Sakuraba, his childhood friend. It turned out that the girl in front of him is Aoi Sakuraba herself, his betrothed fiancee who came all the way to Tokyo to marry him. Her revelation was not only surprising but also reminded the deepest part of Kaoru’s memory for why he left the Hanabishi family in the first place.

Ai Yori Aoshi Japanese Blu-ray Box Set Cover

Ai Yori Aoshi Japanese Blu-ray Box Set Packaging

Previous placeholder artwork:

Ai Yori Aoshi Japanese Blu-ray Box Set Cover

The visual novel game Trick or Alice recently revealed through a new promo a few weeks ago that the OVA will land with a December 22nd, 2016 release date for it. The first episode is being called Welcome Back, My Alice and now the release has been solicited to retailers. It doesn’t offer up much in the way of additional details in terms of what will be on it, but it’s now confirmed as a DVD release priced at 8,424 yen for the thirty-minute work.

Not surprisingly, it largely mirrors the production side of the game itself. The OVA has Shuki Shishido set as the director while also working on the series composition and scripts while Lee Simin is handling the adaptation of the character designs and serving as an animation director. The cast includes:

• Ryouko Tanaka as Arisa Minase (Alice)
• Shinnosuke Tachibana as Shizuku Minase (Black Rabbit)
• Satoshi Hino as Tooya Kamijou (Shadow) & Asagi Kamijou (Light)
• Ryouhei Kimura as Ren Kisaragi (Round)
• Hirofumi Nojima as Nao Kurotani (Cheshire)
• Toshiyuki Morikawa as Tsukasa Tokitou (Chrono)
• Kayo Nagata as Jikan
• Noriaki Sugiyama as Elizabeth

Game concept: On the night of her birthday, Minase Arisa is inexplicably thrown into a Wonderland much like the one from Lewis Carroll’s classic, a strange fairytale-like place that keeps repeating the same day over and over again. What’s more, its inhabitants—each bearing an uncanny resemblance to someone whom Arisa knows in real life—insist that she is, in fact, their “Alice”. Will Arisa be able to get away? Or will she choose…

[Source: Trick or Alice (OVA)]

Funimation’s got the fourth volume of the eighth season of One Piece coming up on November 8th, 2016 and it’s one that’s definitely a whole lot of fun as it works the younger days of Luffy, Ace and Sabo. This collection brings together episodes 493 through 504 in bilingual for, providing for twelve episodes of good stuff, as well as a listing of sixteen minutes worth of extras to be determined. It’ll also likely include a couple of commentary tracks as most of these tend to do that. Check out the first trailer for the release below!

Plot concept: A glimpse of the past, how Luffy and Ace met!

The battle at Marineford has come to a close, but the story of Luffy and Ace’s past has yet to be told! As a boy of only seven, Luffy is reluctantly taken in by the Dadan family of mountain bandits at his grandfather’s request. After many failed attempts, he finally befriends Dadan’s other charge, the moody and reckless Ace. Together with their friend Sabo, the boys loot the junkyard known as the Gray Terminal and battle mighty beasts of the forest. Dreaming of becoming pirates, the three form inseparable bonds of brotherhood. But the impending arrival of a Celestial Dragon throws the kingdom into a frenzy as they try to hide the garbage that has shamed their noble city. Playtime is over when Sabo’s family takes their son away and a sinister plan to destroy the Gray Terminal unfolds.

Wednesday’s are starting to get a bit more on track in Japan with the Olympics over and schedules coming back to where they should be. Hence the return of Case Closed this week alongside the usual array of other series that are out there.

• 7:00am - TWIN STAR EXORCISTS - Episode 22 
• 12:30pm - OZMAFIA!! - Episode 10
• 3:00pm - CASE CLOSED - Episode 830

The free side unlocks last week’s episodes for viewing!

• 7:00am - TWIN STAR EXORCISTS - Episode 21
• 11:30am - FATE/KALEID LINER PRISMA ILLYA 3REI!! - Episode 9
• 12:30pm - OZMAFIA!! - Episode 9
• 12:45pm - MAHOU SHOUJO? NARIA GIRLS - Episode 9

Funimation’s subscriber side has some new Broadcast Dub material up as part of their DubbleTalk block tonight.

	D.Gray-man - HALLOW	109	Dub	TV-14	9/07/16	Trailer
	D.Gray-man - HALLOW	109	Dub	TV-14	9/07/16
	Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope’s Peak High School	17	Dub	TV-MA	9/07/16
	The Disastrous Life of Saiki K. - Season 1	Special 49	Sub	TV-14	9/07/16
	The Disastrous Life of Saiki K. - Season 1	Special 44	Sub	TV-14	9/07/16
	TSUKIUTA. The Animation - Season 1	10	Sub	TV-14	9/07/16

While their free side brings out last week’s Tsukiuta episode.

TSUKIUTA. The Animation - Season 1

9

Sub

TV-14

9/07/16

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

The first new comic book day of September is here and it’s a touch light but intriguing. AfterShock is debuting a new series with Alters  while BOOM! Studios kicks off Skybourne. Dark Horse Comics has the first issue of Rise of the Black Flame kicking off today as well. Dynamite Entertainment launches The Great Divide and Boo, The World’s Cutest Dog as new series while Image Comics launches Eclips and Glitterbomb. Marvel is mostly about the ongoings this week but they do have Max Ride: Final Flight arriving.

On the DC Comics front, they’re debuting the Cyborg: Rebirth issue and launching the first ongoing for Supergirl alongside other ongoings. The Vertigo imprint is getting Everafter up and running with a new post-Fables tale.

On the Star Wars front,Marvel has the sixth Poe Dameron book and the Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones collection.

When it comes to manga, Seven Seas has the second installment of 12 Beast and the fifth volume of Non Non Biyori.

Warner Bros. Japan is handling the home video release for the second season of Food Wars: Shokugeki no Soma on DVD and Blu-ray for its home territory but is also working some secondary release material for the first season. The show was solicited previously as getting two DVD box sets for the first season with the first one released in late August and now the second one in late September. Artwork and packaging designs have been released for both and could be a portent and sign of things to come from for the North American release look.

With the second season, the thirteen episode series is getting spread across seven discs when it begins its release on September 28th, 2016. The series is getting seven Blu-ray discs released monthly priced at 6,500 yen for the first six while the seventh is priced at 4,500 yen as it has just the single episode and no pack-in CD. The DVD side is getting a single box set release at the end priced at 8,900 yen. Check out the details in the chart below for individual dates and known extras. We’ll be updating that as new cover art pieces come in.

Directed by Yoshitomo Yonetani, the series is being animated at JC Staff with Shogko Yasukawa handling the scripts and Tomoyuki Shitaya working on the character design adaptations. It’ll star Yoshitsugu Matsuoka as Soma Yukihira, Risa Taneda as Erina Nakir, Minami Takahashi as Megumi Tadokoro, Ikumi Mito as Shizuka Ishigami, Maaya Uchida as Yūki Yoshino, Ai Kayano as Ryōko Sakaki, Taishi Murata as Shun Ibusaki, Yūsuke Kobayashi as Zenji Marui, Ai Kakuma as Mayumi Kurase, Rina Hidaka as Urara Kawashima, Banjo Ginga as Senzaemon Nakiri and Rikiya Koyama as Joichiro Yukihira.

The series is currently running in Weekly Shonen Jump by Yuto Tsukuda and Shun Saeki with ten volumes to its name so far. Viz Media publishes the manga in North America digitally and in print form.

Plot concept: Soma Yukihira’s old man runs a small family restaurant in the less savory end of town. Aiming to one day surpass his father’s culinary prowess, Soma hones his skills day in and day out until one day, out of the blue, his father decides to enroll Soma in a classy culinary school!

Can Soma really cut it in a place that prides itself on a 10 percent graduation rate? And can he convince the beautiful, domineering heiress to the school that he belongs there at all?!

Second Season:

First Season:

Season 2 Covers

Food Wars Season 2 Japanese Volume 1 Cover

Food Wars Season 2 Japanese Volume 1 Packaging

Season 1 DVD Box Set Covers

Food Wars Season 1 Japanese Box Set 1 Cover

Food Wars Season 1 Japanese Box Set 1 Packaging

Food Wars Season 1 Japanese Box Set 2 Cover

Food Wars Season 1 Japanese Box Set 2 Packaging

Season 1 Singles Covers

Food Wars Japanese Volume 8 Packaging (click for larger)

Food Wars Japanese Volume 7 Packaging (click for larger)

Food Wars Japanese Volume 6 Packaging (click for larger)

Food Wars Japanese Volume 5 Cover (click for larger)

Food Wars Japanese Volume 4 Packaging (click for larger)

Food Wars Japanese Volume 3 Packaging (click for larger)

Food Wars Japanese Volume 2 Packaging (click for larger)

Food Wars Japanese Volume 1 Packaging (click for larger)

[Source: Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma]

Though most of the anticipation is really on the new feature film that will be coming out in 2017, getting new fans to connect with the work through the compilation films of Kuroko’s Basketball is underway first. With the first film having landed this past weekend, the official channel is now showing off a new TV spot to help promote three compilation films that cover the Winter Cup material. The run of films is currently setup like so:

• 09/03/16 – Winter Cup Sōshū-hen ~Kage to Hikari~ (Winter Cup Compilation ~Shadow and Light~)
• 10/08/16 – Winter Cup Sōshū-hen ~Namida no Saki e~ (Winter Cup Compilation ~Beyond the Tears~)
• 12/03/16 – Winter Cup Sōshū-hen ~Tobira no Mukō~ (Winter Cup Compilation ~Crossing the Door~)

The manga comes from Tadatoshi Fukimaki whose original series ran for thirty volumes between 2008 and 2014 while Extra Game ran for two volumes afterward.

Plot concept: A year has passed, and a famous American street basketball team called the Jabberwock has arrived in Japan and immediately faces off with STRKY, a team comprised of the recently graduated third years: Miyaji (Shuutoku), Imayoshi (Touou), Higuchi (Rakuzan), Kasamatsu (Kaijou), and Okamura (Yousen). After suffering a humiliating defeat, Aida Kagetora calls for a revenge game. Who better to defeat them than the Generation of Miracles?

Nozomi Entertainment announced at Anime Expo earlier this summer that their 2015 pickup of A Town Where You Live will now be a Blu-ray release. While we’ve got a bit of time before it comes out they’ve now released the first two episodes for streaming on YouTube, which you can check out below to see if it’s up your alley or not. The twelve episode series will arrive on October 4th, 2016 priced at $59.99 and will include the original Japanese language in PCM stereo along with English subtitles.

On-disc extras include the Clean Opening, Clean Closing, TV Spots, and Promotional Videos

Directed by Shigeyasu Yamauchi and working from the series composition by Reiko Yoshida, the series aired in the summer 2013 season with character designs by Terumi Nishii. It’s based on the original manga by Kouji Seo and was animated by Gonzo.

The cast includes Ayane Sakura as Asuka Mishima, Megumi Nakajima as Yuzuki Eba, Yoshimasa Hosoya as Haruto Kirishima, Aya Endo as Kiyomi Asakura, Chiaki Takahashi as Aoi Kirishima, Daisuke Ono as Kyōsuke Kazama, Nana Kouno as Akari Kaga, Saki Fujita as Rin Eba, Sayuri Yahagi as Mina Nagoshi, Toshiki Masuda as Takashi Yura and Yuki Takao as Nanami Kanzaki.

Plot Concept: How far would you go for true love?

All his friends said he was just being “stupid” and “delusional,” but Haruto just couldn’t give up on her… Yuzuki, the girl that showed up on his doorstep one day, stole his heart the next, and then left just as abruptly as she arrived. With the faint hope of rekindling the romance they’d shared, Haruto decides to pursue her, moving away from the rural outskirts of Hiroshima to the big city of Tokyo.

However, soon after arriving, he learns that Yuzuki has seemingly moved on and has a new boyfriend. No matter how hard Haruto tries, she refuses to see him and won’t tell him the reason why she left him. He could move on, as many have urged him to, but is that truly what Yuzuki wants? He could try winning her back – after all, he’s already moved to the town where she lives – but how much farther will he need to go?

With two volumes out since 2015 and a third volume due out at the end of the month, writer Junpei Inuzuka has revealed that Isekai Shokudou has been greenlit to get an anime adaptation. The series is seeing release in print form through Hero Bunko with Katsumi Enami handling the artwork for it. No details about the anime project have been revealed but we’re likely to get more as the third volume comes out.

Plot concept: The place is at B1 of the building with dog signboard in shopping street near the office street. The cafeteria titled Youshoku no Nekoya has the cat’s illustration on the door. It has been opened for fifty years and satisfied salarymen in the office street. Even though it’s called a cafeteria that provides Western cuisine, it has plenty of menu other than Western cuisine. For people of certain world, it’s a special and “only one” cafeteria. There’s one secret to “Nekoya”.

The cafeteria will be filled with “special guests” every Saturday, which it will be closed for public. When the bell rings, there will be costumers from different places of birth, growth, and race asks for rare, mysterious and delicious dish.
It’s rather a dish that people from office street used to, though. However, for those who come on Saturday = the people from certain world, they are not used to these dishes. “Nekoya”, brings special masterpiece, is being called by people of certain world as this…

“Isekai Shokudou.”

And so the bell rings, too, this week.

[Source: Nijipoi via MAL]

Nippon Columbia is handling the home video release for the Shonen Maid spring 2016 anime series and they previously laid out some interesting plans for it. With the third volume having come out a recently, the cover artwork and packaging for it has now been released, albeit only in small form as we held out for something a bit larger. The thirteen episode series is getting a four volume release where there are three episodes per disc with the fourth having four and getting a bump in price. The limited edition Blu-ray releases are priced at 7,400 yen each for the first three and 8,300 yen for the last. The regular editions are priced at 6,400 yen and 6,800 yen respectively while the DVDs are the same. The releases are scheduled to begin on June 22nd, 2016.

The show set Yuusuke Yamamoto to direct based on the series composition from Yoshiko Nakamura. Character designs were handled by Kana Ishida while 8bit is the studio behind it.

The cast includes  Natsumi Fujiawara as Chihiro Komiya, Nobunaga Shimazaki as Madoka Takatori and Tomoaki Maeno as Keiichirou Shinoazki. Supporting cast includes Natsuki Hanae as Ryuuji, Taku Yashiro as Hayato, Kazutomi Yamamoto as Ibuki, Yui Makino as Miyako Ōtori, Mitsuki Saiga as Yūji Hino, Yukari Tamura as Chiyo Komiya and Yoshiko Sakakibara as Kazusa Takatori.

The series comes from the manga by Ototachibana that began in Comics B’s-LOG back in 2008 and has eight volumes to its name so far. This was their second manga after the one volume release of Ghost Hunt Scramble! in 2007 in the same magazine.

Plot concept: Chihiro is left homeless with supposedly no relatives after his mom died. As he worries about what to do next, his uncle shows up and plans to take care of him…or is it the other way around?

Shonen Maid Japanese Volume 3 Packaging

Shonen Maid Japanese Volume 2 Cover

Shonen Maid Japanese Volume 1 Cover

Shonen Maid Japanese Volume 1 Packaging

[Source: Shonen Maid]

With the summer and fall anime series Days currently working through its run, it looks like that when the broadcast ends it won’t be the end of the anime. Retailers in Japan are now listing that the 21st and 22nd volumes of the manga from Tsuyoshi Yasuda will be getting bundled anime episodes on DVD. They’re being scheduled for March 17th, 2017 and May 17th, 2017. It looks like the first one will be a training camp at the beach episode and the second a different training camp episodes.

The series is being directed by Konosuke Uda with character designs produced by Kazuto Nakazawa. The series is being animated at MAPPA.

The cast includes Takuto Yoshinaga as Tsukushi Tsukamoto, Yoshitsugu Matsuoka as Jin Kazama, Daisuke Namikawa as Hisahito Mizuki, Takuto Yoshinaga as Tsukushi Tsukamoto, Yoshitsugu Matsuoka as Jin Kazama, Daisuke Namikawa as Hisahito Mizuki, Mariya Ise as Chikako Ubukata, Ayane Sakura as Sayuri Tachibana, Katsuyuki Konishi as Katsutoshi Nakazawa, Daisuke Ono as Atsushi Kimishita, Mamoru Miyano as Kiichi Oshiba, Takahiro Sakurai as Yuta Usui, Hiroyuki Yoshino as Hiroyuki Kurusu and Kaito Ishikawa as Tetsuya Nitobe.

Howl Be Quiet will be performing the opening theme son “Wake We Up” while the lead actors will perform the ending song “Everlasting Days”.

The series is one that began back in 2013 in the magazine and has been running pretty firmly, if quietly, since then with eighteen volumes released so far.

Plot concept: The two boys chance meeting on a stormy night.

With no skills or outstanding features, one boy hides a passionate heart, Tsukushi Tsukamoto. The otheris a lonely soccer genius, Jin Kazama. The winds of change begin to blow in the world of high school soccer as these two boys with nothing in common come together. The curtain on this hot-blooded, touching story is rising…

Tsukushi joins the Seiseki Soccer Club with Kazama and the wheels of fate start to turn. The prodigy, Jin Kazama. Star high school player and captain, Hisahito Mizuki. The calm and collected playmaker, Atsushi Kimishita. The towering forward, Kiichi Oshiba. Amongst all these talented players with high expectations of them, Tsukushi forges ahead.

He really just wants to spend time with his teammates, but feels like he weighs them down during the rigorous practices. To his teammates though, he becomes an irreplaceable existence before long, flaws and all. The unshakable bond they share leads to something miraculous…

[Source: ANN]

Bandai Visual is handling the home video release side of the summer 2016 anime series Love Live! Sunshine!! and it’s yet another show from them that’s Blu-ray only. While we’ve got a bit before the first volume debuts, the packaging artwork and design has been revealed for the second volume ahead of its October 26th, 2016 debut. The series is getting a seven volume release that begins on September 27th, 2016 in both regular and limited edition form. The first volume has just one episode and is priced at 3,500 yen and 4,500 yen respectively. The remaining volumes are priced at 6,000 and 7,000 yen respectively. All the volumes are solicited with English subtitles.

Animated by Sunrise, it was directed by Kazuo Sakai based on the series composition from Jukki Hanada. Yuhei Murota worked on the character designs for it.

The Aquors cast includes Inami Anju as Chika Takami, Rikako Aida as Riko Sakurauchi, Nanaka Suwa as Kanan Matsuura, Arisa Komiya as Dia Kurosawa, Shuka Saito as You Watanabe, Aika Kobayashi as Yoshiko Tsushima, Kanako Takatsuki as Hanamaru Kunikida, Aina Suzuki as Mari Ohara and Ai Furihata as Ruby Kurosawa.

Plot concept: Love Live! Sunshine!! follows the nine-member school idol group Aqours (pronounced “aqua”) at Uranohoshi Girls’ Academy in Numazu, Shizuoka Prefecture. Chika Takami, who is a fan of the Otonokizaka Academy’s μ’s school idol group, similarly forms Aqours in order to save her school from being closed down.

Love Live Sunshine Japanese Volume 2 Cover

Love Live Sunshine Japanese Volume 1 Cover

[Source: Love Live! Sunshine!!]

Anticipation is certainly high for fans when it comes to the second season of Sound! Euphonium and we’ve seen Kyoto Animation having fun with fans with the previous English based teaser that was released. Now things are getting a bit more finalized for the project as the official site has revealed an October 6th, 2016 debut for the show on most of the main networks as well as some of the satellite services.

With Naoka Yamada as series director and Tatsuya Ishihara as the main director, Jukki Hanada is handling the scripts and overall series composition with character designs by Shoko Ikeda and animated by Kyoto Animation.

The Japanese cast includes Ayaka Asai as Hazuki Katō, Chika Anzai as Reina Kōsaka, Moe Toyota as Sapphire Kawashima, Tomoyo Kurosawa as Kumiko Ōmae, Aya Hisakawa as Michie Matsumoto, Haruki Ishiya as Shūichi Tsukamoto, Kenjiro Tsuda as Takuya Gotō, Konomi Fujimura as Natsuki Nakagawa, Manami Numakura as Mamiko Ōmae, Minako Kotobuki as Asuka Tanaka, Minori Chihara as Kaori Nakaseko, Miyuki Kobori as Riko Nagase, Saori Hayami as Haruka Ogasawara, Takahiro Sakurai as Noboru Taki, Yōko Hikasa as Aoi Saitō, Yuri Yamaoka as Yuko Yoshikawa, Atsumi Tanezaki as Mizore Yoroizuka and Nao Toyama as Nozomi Kasaki.

The property released a new OVA with the seventh volume of the manga that came out on December 16th, 2015.

Plot concept: It’s finally time for Kumiko Oumae to enter high-school and begin the next chapter of her life. Being a member of concert band all throughout the lower-grades, one of her first orders of business is scouting out the band at her new school to see how they compare to what she has grown up with. After actually hearing them, however, Kumiko is…surprised to say the least. The concert band of Kitauji High School is terrible, especially compared to the borderline-national’s band Oumae was in earlier. Students in the band have gotten lazy and fallen into a slump in which none of them particularly care about the band’s future. But all of that changes when they meet their new teacher, professional composer Noboru Taki.

The Blu-ray only release of the Schwarzesmarken series from Avex Pictures is moving right along and now a new piece of the puzzle has arrived. With the sixth and final volume released recently, the artwork has finally made its way to Amazon in small form as not even the official site for the series has the artwork yet. The twelve episode series is getting a six-volume release, two episodes per volume, that began 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 the 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.

Schwarzesmarken Japanese Volume 6 Cover

Schwarzesmarken Japanese Volume 5 Cover

Schwarzesmarken Japanese Volume 4 Cover

Schwarzesmarken Japanese Volume 3 Cover

Schwarzesmarken Japanese Volume 2 Cover

Schwarzesmarken Japanese Volume 1 Cover

[Source: Schwarzesmarken]